The days went by in a blink, and it seemed like everyone had forgotten what had previously happened.
Reith had been privileged to see Wesley's parents, and he apologized for failing to be quicker with his decision.
Wesley's mother had pulled him into a deep hug, thanking him for bringing back the boy's necklace at least.
Meanwhile, Derek was expelled from the university, as he was later found to have been bullying a lot of other students, which the Regional Insignia was not pleased with.
"You think they are even going to allow him practice his cultivation?" Isho asked Reith as they both stepped out of the cafeteria.
"Aiden has told me he would be taken care of, so I don't really know. I just don't want to cross his path ever again. He's even worse than Bandar." Reith said, and the two of them burst into laughter.
They sat on a bench close to the cafeteria door, and Reith remembered something.
"How's your cultivation going, Isho?" He asked before taking a bite into his sandwich.
Isho looked at him and sighed. "I have been trying to form my core for a while now."
"Woah. You already got a technique?" Reith was surprised, but when he thought about it, he realized there was nothing really shocking about it. Isho's family was very wealthy.
"Yeah. My dad gave me the family's technique. My brother had formed his core the next day after he received the technique. It's been two weeks and I haven't gotten anything yet." Isho grumbled.
Reith hummed, savoring the taste of his sandwich. "I don't think you should use that technique though."
"What do you mean?" Isho asked.
"You didn't get the same cultivation path related to your family line, so you might have to pick something else." Reith answered, causing Isho to think deep about what he said.
Then his face brightened up. "Maybe you are right, Reith. I'd speak to my mum now and I'd see you after your classes." Isho said, standing to his feet and running to his room.
Meanwhile, Reith sat on this bench, thinking about his own cultivation.
He had gone to the Golden Archive and he couldn't even afford anything on the ground floor. Even though the Regional Insignia had given him a special amount of golden points, he still couldn't afford them.
Conversion of gold coins to points would have also been an option, but he had sent eighty percent of the money Jeran gave him to the orphanage, and the rest was strictly for his upkeep in the academy.
"They probably didn't expect the poor coming to such an academy." Reith mused. He didn't want to think about it.
Since he couldn't find any cultivation technique, he had been working on thickening his meridian lines, and he noticed that this method helped with his Hana sight.
He was now able to see Hana flow without having to strain his eyes.
Ruach had also been teaching him a lot and had especially been focusing on his need to actually get pure Hana.
"But the last time I saw Hana was in that forest." Reith muttered to himself as he thought of his plans.
Then his watch beeped. It was the Ralaxy Watch. Aiden had allowed him to keep it after removing the recording feature as a way of apologizing to him.
Reith wanted to refuse it, but Peter had slapped his head right into place, and he had no choice but to accept it.
The watch beeped, and Reith knew it was time for his next class.
Strangely, Reith was the only one who had chosen this class.
It was the Nature and Beasts class. After the encounter in the forest, he was quite interested in knowing how things worked amongst these other living beings, especially the colorful Hana lines that had captured his attention.
Twenty minutes into strengthening his meridian lines as he sat in the class, the teacher still hadn't arrived.
"He's going to be late again." Reith simply muttered, and there was nothing he could do about the situation.
The door barged open, and a man with a rowdy uniform, a thick beard, and a small scar on his eyes glared at Reith.
The reason why students never came to the class wasn't because it was a boring subject.
Not at all.
It was merely because of this man and the way he drove chills down their back.
Everyone had heard rumors about him, and how he had nearly caused the death of his students on an exhibition trip.
And the time where he had counseled a student wrongly about using certain herbs, and the girl was never able to reach another level of cultivation again.
Reith had spent a week with this man, and his conclusion was basic.
"Welcome back, Sir. How was your day?"
Reith simply adored the man, realizing he was never like the rumor described.
The man scoffed. "You are still here, Kid? Do you want to die?"
Reith blinked, not saying anything.
Seeing the unwavering look in Reith's face, the man frowned. "Do you have something better to do than to be here? I have to come here every day and it clashes with my Alliance meetings. Finding even one student here means I'd have to teach you according to the contract I signed." The man grumbled, directing his anger at the stick in his mouth.
"Alliance?" Reith cocked his head. "Master, what's an Alliance?"
Taking a good look at Reith for a while, the middle-aged man sighed. "For the last week, I have been telling you to call me Mr. Lu. My name is not that hard."
Reith nodded. "Yes, Mr. Lu."
Lu rolled his eyes. The boy had replied the same way for the past week but still chose to call him 'Master.' This kid was way too stubborn for him to deal with, especially with his bad heart.
"An Alliance is a large team of adventurers. It is the name given to a big group of fighters too."
Reith nodded. "Adventurers." He muttered the word. He had heard of them one time. Reisa had mentioned it, and when it clicked, his eyes sparkled.
"Master, I have an idea. Take me to the Alliance meeting with you and then you can still teach me." Reith smiled. "Isn't that a win-win." He widened his smiled
"Not in my lifetime!"