Cole walked alone under the dark sky, the academy life still as vibrant as if it were day.
Though he was extremely sapped of energy, he still kept an optimistic smile on his face.
His self-growth increased his self-confidence.
"Things seem to be going well." He thought.
As if jinxing his situation, everything suddenly went silent. The vibrant world was nowhere to be found.
Cole, though flustered, still tried his best to maintain a calm mind, but the danger seemed to overpower his logical mind.
He hurriedly scanned his surroundings; he finally discovered something.
He wasn't in the academy like he thought he was; he was not completely surrounded by pure darkness.
Darkness surrounded him— it breathed as if it were alive.
"Why does something like this happen again?" Cole asked.
"Haven't I been low-key enough?" Cole continued, his emotion slightly raging.
Suddenly, the darkness vanished. It didn't vanish without a trace, though.
"Be careful, kid. You just escaped death," Cole heard, like a distant whisper.
Cole looked around him again. He was back in his familiar environment. The vibrance was back again.
Cole, though, didn't focus deeply on that anymore; he paid more attention to a particular point.
"That voice, that shadow, they felt oddly familiar," Cole said with a furrowed brow.
Then it clicked.
It was the same man, the one that took him to the weird building and gave him the recommendation letter.
"Why is he here again? How did I escape?" Question after question kept popping up.
Cole moved as fast as he could , the earlier fatigue completely vanished.
Ten minutes later, he arrived back in his hostel— his safe haven, at least for now.
Cole saw Bryan seated cross-legged with his eyes but he wasn't asleep as Cole expected.
He was currently seated in a lotus position, chanting his mantra, the flow of life energy in the room subtly converging towards him. He was cultivating.
Maybe due to the life energy he currently was absorbing, Bryan's shaved head seemed to be emitting a faint light that was just bright enough to be noticed and dim enough to not be a disturbance.
Cole's entry disrupted Bryan's cultivation, resulting in him opening his eyes to check who it was.
"You are back, Cole. It took you quite a while. What exactly happened with Miss Eleanor? Bryan asked in a steady tone.
"Ummm, we did a little extra training, that's all," Cole replied.
"I'm jealous," Bryan replied.
They continued sharing a conversation for a while before Bryan decided to continue his cultivation.
"I left you some food." Bryan said before closing his eyes to resume his cultivation.
Cole's heart warmed up a little by the nice gesture. His earlier doubt was seemingly fading.
Without standing on formalities, Cole immediately sat down to devour the meal.
The moment he was done, he headed towards his bed, planning to cultivate.
The event of that night gave him a deep sense of urgency.
"I need strength, and I need it fast," Cole decided.
While chanting the World Absorbing Mantra, Cole felt something different.
The flow was different. It was smoother, as if a small part of the blockage had been removed.
Cole didn't dwell on that point for too long though; he continued his life energy absorption. His body's life energy reserve slowly approaches the limit.
Completely lost in his cultivation, Cole failed to notice something, though.
Bryan sat on the opposite side of the room, his eyes wide open as he stared at Cole.
"I can't get any life energy; he is absorbing them all," Bryan thought.
"What a monster, how is he a 1 star?"
Having no choice but to stop his cultivation, Bryan directly lay on his bed, ready to fall asleep.
Cole continued absorbing life energy as the night grew deeper oblivious to the effect on Bryan.
Unknowingly, Cole ended up absorbing life energy throughout the night.
He wasn't fatigued though; instead, he was completely invigorated.
The next morning, flexing and relaxing his hands, Cole stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror.
His white hair was his most distinguishing feature. His body, too, too,was something noticeable.
Though lean from malnutrition in the slum, his body seemed to be growing muscular in the right places. His previous paleness was now replaced with a rosy look.
"Coming to the academy really is the right decision," Cole thought as he remembered his decision to attend the academy.
After admiring his physical changes for a while more, he hurried to prepare for the day's classes.
Bryan was already in the room waiting when Cole finally finished.
Cole noticed a change in Bryan's eyes. His eyes, which had always shown a nice neutral state, now displayed a sense of fear and respect.
"What could be wrong?" He analyzed as they moved together.
On getting to class, Cole slipped in as silently as he could, trying his best not to attract any attention at all.
His classmates' disgust and disdain were already obvious and established.
His attempt wasn't successful, though, as his path was blocked by a familiar classmate.
"How are your injuries?" The classmate asked with a grin.
"I am fine," Cole replied curtly.
"I am Moses," the classmate said as he stretched out his hands for a shake.
"Cole," Cole responded.
"Try not to lose next time," Moses said,as he left.
Cole could understand his reason for being there at a glance. He came to rub in his victory.
"Tch!" Cole hissed as he headed for his seat.
Bryan watched all of the exchange while nodding sorryly.
"You all don't seem to understand what you are dealing with," he said internally.
"I can't wait to see where this goes," he thought excitedly.
His alone time yesterday evening seemed to have given him a little bit of time to reconsider and understand quite a number of things.
The students continued their discussions happily, except for a selected few that isolated themselves.
Cole and Bryan were both members of that group.
About ten minutes later, a new teacher walked into their class.
She seemed different from the other ones, though; the other teachers always had an aura that displayed power, but this teacher displayed a feeling of deep calm peace.
It was Emily, whom Cole previously met during their entry test.
Emily scanned the class briefly, her eyes stopping for a brief second on Cole.
"We will be discussing life energy today," she said gently.
"What is its origin?" She asked sharply as her voice changed pitch.