Isho and Reith stepped inside the class, and the whole class focused on them.
The teacher, who was facing the board in the middle of a lesson, turned to them. For a few seconds, she simply stared.
Then it clicked in her mind, and she turned to the class immediately.
"Everyone. Today we will be having two new students join our classes. Please pay attention to their introduction and treat them well."
Then she beckoned to Reith.
"Please step forward. Introduce yourself along with your talent grade and your cultivation grade. We trust you both were part of the Regional Insignia's personal recruitment."
The lady had a smile on her face.
Reith simply nodded, and the lady's smile widened.
"Everyone in Class 1S was specially hand-picked by the Regional Insignia, so I am expecting a lot from you too," she said, patting his back.
Reith felt like he had been sabotaged, and he swallowed.
"My name is Reith Sorakaza, and it's my pleasure to see you all. My talent grade is SSS."
Before he could continue, someone gasped in the class, and a loud hush fell over the room.
The teacher chuckled, moving closer to Reith, and whispered in his ear.
"You don't need to lie for recognition. Everyone here has something remarkable because they were hand-picked by the Regional Insignia too."
She gripped Reith's shoulder.
"Don't you think an SSS talent grade is going over the top? That kind of thing hasn't been heard in the region in generations. What next? Your cultivation path would be the infamous path of the Golden Lion Koi?"
The teacher rested her hand on her waist, tilting her head.
Reith raised his hand to his head, then bowed his head, surprising the teacher.
"I'm sorry, Miss, especially if it sounds like I'm lying. But I was graded with an SSS talent grade."
His voice was audible, and the whole class took a sharp breath.
If this guy had a great cultivation path, he would surpass them all in the coming years with a large gap.
With his head still lowered, Reith kept speaking.
"However, if it would calm your heart, my cultivation path was graded to be lower than the F grade."
"...."
Everyone was speechless, except Isho, who clenched his fists by his side.
He was angry. He could see their reactions. They were relieved. Relieved that Reith would not be able to amount to anything with his low grade.
Isho closed his eyes. He did not deserve his cultivation. It should have been given to Reith.
If he had gone instead of Reith, maybe he would have gotten that empty path which fitted his low talent.
Urek would have simply been able to work to her full potential with Reith.
The teacher smiled and patted Reith's shoulder.
"I'm guessing your city must have made a mistake in grading your talent if your path is this low."
Then she raised her gaze.
"With hard work, you can prove yourself even with your cultivation path, as long as you get the right technique," she mentioned.
It was her job to help her students, no matter how ridiculous they were.
Reith simply nodded.
He was not going to convince her of anything. Even those in his city never believed that the boy who was burned by hana would have such a talent grade.
It had been cross-checked multiple times with various hana orbital devices, but it was still the same.
He went to take his seat, ignoring the whispers in the class.
No one wanted to sit beside him, and there was a lonely seat at the back where he moved to.
"My name is Isho Reinhardth. My cultivation was graded S level, and please can I keep my talent grade personal?"
Isho asked, refusing to look at the faces of any of the students.
Hearing Isho's question, Reith sighed. Maybe he could have kept his Cultivation path grade secret too.
The teacher simply nodded, although her heart was moved.
S-grade paths rarely appeared in generations, and when they did, it was at a rate of one in ten thousand.
Even though she had an A-graded cultivation path, she was still slightly jealous.
Reith's eyes widened when he heard Isho's cultivation path level.
No wonder it was able to withstand Bandar's A-level attack.
At that time, both of them were attacking with only strength, and Isho had won.
Reith could not help but wonder what would happen if they used hana-based attacks.
It would be massive and exciting, but Reith was sure Bandar would never opt for a friendly spar.
That dude was always bloodthirsty.
Isho walked to where Reith stayed, and when someone offered him a seat beside her, he did not see it because his eyes were focused on another seat beside Reith.
The class soon settled, and the teacher began speaking.
"I'd like to introduce myself again because of our two newcomers. My name is Ms. Susan. I'll be your home teacher. There are various classes, and you'll need to choose your classes based on your cultivation path affinity," she said, turning to the board.
Reith listened attentively.
Back in the city, he had not gotten many chances to focus in the classes. He had part-time jobs in order to pay for the orphanage bills and provide support.
The only classes he had deemed important were the hana and body training classes because the practicals were more important than most of the theories.
After the awakening of his talent grade, he was deemed as a golden student and had even gotten more free time, spending them working.
Someone raised her hand.
The girl had a pink ribbon around her hair, but it did not remove her oppressive aura.
"Ms. Susan, you told us about certain cultivation meant for attack, defense, support, and those kinds of affinity. What about elemental affinity, Ms?" the girl asked with a soft voice.
Reith had wondered about the same question too.
He could tell the Heavenly Path was an all-rounder, but he did not want to do all the classes.
He also did not know the element he had affinity for.
The image of Ruach throwing that massive fireball towards his head appeared, and Reith let out a crooked smile.
Susan nodded.
"Thank you, Julia. But you'll have to complete a set of classes before you can be promoted to learning about the elemental part of cultivation."
The teacher continued, turning to the students.
"Also, everyone. Your parents or guardians must have explained to you the importance of a cultivation technique and the difficulties of using one. Most especially the benefits."
She paused for a while, then chuckled.
"I don't want to dump you with too much information on your first day, so if you need to get cultivation techniques and your family hasn't provided one for you yet, you can head over to the Golden Archive."
Looking around, Susan noticed a hand up.
"Yes, Reith. Please ask your question."
"Are the cultivation techniques free?"
Yes, that was what he was concerned about: spending.
Even though Master Jeran had given him some sort of golden card, he was not going to waste it.
He needed to send something back to church.
Susan smiled.
"No, they aren't. But you can't buy them with the usual currency. You need points."
She walked to her desk and took a book.
"Since this class was specially chosen by the Regional Insignia, you all will have a chance to get those points."
"What are the points, Ms. Susan?" Reith asked again.
He was about to say another thing when Susan nodded at him, and he took his seat.
"The points earned in the academy are split into Golden, Silver, and Bronze points. You earn them by completing tasks laid out by the academy or by individuals. Students can also earn points at the capital city by working for the citizens."
Reith raised a brow.
These people had planned for everything.
If he wanted to buy a good cultivation technique, he would have to get a lot of points.
Looking to his side, he realized that Isho was heavily focused too, and it was pretty obvious.
A good cultivation technique was the last thing to determine if you would make it to the top.
Natural design and certain things some would call luck did not give you the chance to make a choice.
But choosing a cultivation technique would be done by you.
And the one rightly matched with your path would make you soar.
Susan sat on her chair and crossed her legs, looking at her students.
The next second, she spoke again.
"Everyone should be at the gate of the courtyard by 7 a.m. tomorrow morning. There's going to be an Expedition Hunt. Class dismissed."
With the last sentence, she vanished right before their eyes.