“Wow, Zach! You’re now a Prospect candidate too!”
Hal, Zach, and Amelia went back to their apartments. Hal was happy when Sir William said that Zachariel would be distinguished as a Prospect candidate along with Amelia.
Although he did not become a Prospect candidate, he was not disappointed.
“What about you Hal?” Zachariel inquired about Hal’s mana core grade.
“Well, about that. My mana core’s only at grade 4. Besides, I did poorly in my tests.” Hal laughed dryly. After all, it was his laziness that had caused his results to be this bad.
“Hal, if you had only worked harder, there could have been a chance that you would be a Prospect candidate too!” Amelia reprimanded her lazy brother.
“Alright, alright! I know my wrongs, okay?” Hal surrendered to his sister. Amelia just snorted while Hal tried to change the topic.
“Anyway, the school will start 30 days from now. What are you guys going to do during this time?”
“Cultivate.” Zachariel did not hesitate. He was more concerned about the reason why Supreme Elder Azzad had helped him, and getting stronger was the only way for him to get an answer from the Supreme Elder.
There’re also the mysterious green lines present in his mana cores and dantian. Maybe the Supreme Elder has answers to them too.
The twins were stumped about Zachariel’s decision.
“Zach, aren’t you a bit too eager to become strong?” Hal was twitching his mouth. `Can’t you take a break for a moment?`
“He’s right Zachariel. I know you’re probably worried about why Supreme Elder Azzad helped you, but rushing things will not be good for your health.”
Amelia was also worried about Zachariel. He may become a cultivator freak where only cultivation was his main source of pleasure in life. Most of the time, these ‘freaks’ would become even crazier and hallucinate the fact that they had become strong then die because of that.
She didn’t want that to happen to him.
“Don’t worry. I know how to take care of myself.”
The two were doubtful about what he had said. They looked into each other then nodded. They were planning to drag Zachariel out of his lonely life and wanted him to experience youth.
Unfortunately, their plans did not go as expected because of two reasons.
As students of the six Great Schools, they were given their keys to their personal rooms in their dormitories the next day. The dormitories were the same for each Great School, where students from different schools could meet with each other. The male and female dormitories were separated from one another, however.
They were prohibited to enter the dormitories of their counterparts.
Zachariel would always lock his door. He didn’t respond either when Hal tried knocking several times. Hal tried to forcefully open the door but was stopped by the guards and he almost got into jail for that.
Hal was also the other reason why the plan was a bust. He was so ‘outgoing’ he had made friends instead of asking Zachariel out. He tried the first time, then went out to socialize and forgot the original plan.
Amelia gave up after a few days. Her brother became more stupid when they enrolled in the Great Schools and it infuriated her. `Whatever. I hope Zachariel would be fine after 30 days.`
The days continued.
The situation in the Medullan Forward Camp was stabilized, and it has been reinforced with more fighters. Even Grandfather Albert was stationed there. No more beast tides happened, and it was quite peaceful than they had expected.
Still, they didn’t let their guard down.
On one of the tents within the medical area, a mint-haired girl entered.
“Suzie, how’s little Zachariel doing?”
A woman was sitting in the center of the medical tent. She was wildly fondling the knife in her hand and rubbing it with her smooth fingers. She was smiling seductively at the girl who just entered.
“Madam Anabella, I heard that he became a Prospect candidate and entered the Great Weaponry School.”
The woman named Anabella suddenly let go of the knife and became emotional.
“Oh, a Prospect candidate.”
`Did father told him about it?`
She hoped for a yes and no. Tears flowed from her eyes. She started trembling and hugged herself. She was both happy and scared at the same time.
Suzie was shocked. `Madam Anabella, the Sadist Healer, is crying?`
This woman was the fiercest woman she had ever met. Madam Anabella never backed down and fought back, even though she was just a healer. Seeing her in this state shocked Suzie so much she could not believe that the Sadist Healer actually had a soft side.
She stood there, listening to her superior crying. She was conflicted about whether she should leave or keep her in company.
Anabella stopped crying after a while. She wiped the tears on her face with her hands. “Sorry, Suzie. You’ve seen that part of me.” Anabella was embarrassed for crying in front of the young girl. After all, Suzie had only seen her brave personality.
“Are you interested in my son?” Anabella changed her mood in no time. She started teasing the little girl to relieve herself of the previous depressing atmosphere.
“Madam Anabella, what are you talking about? I’m not- “. Suzie was embarrassed and her cheeks flushed red. Although she would see Zachariel whenever Madam Anabella brought her to the household, she had rejected such thoughts because the guy was of a noble bloodline while she was just an orphan.
Especially since Zachariel was now a Prospect candidate, she harbored no thoughts of making a move on him.
Anabella coquettishly laughed at how cute Suzie looked.
“Looking at your embarrassed face excites me. I’m joking, just joking.” She stood up and ruffled Suzie’s hair. “But if you choose to do so, I won’t object to it either.” She left the tent and went to where her husband was to tell him about their son’s current situation.
They then went to where their father Albert was to verify the questions that they had in their minds. Luckily, he hadn’t told Zachariel about it yet, and the couple was happy.
However, they still felt bad and scared after a while, wondering what would Zachariel think of them if he knew about that matter.
On the other hand, the list of the new human Prospect candidates was announced and everyone was shocked by their discovery.
The Strom family had two Prospect candidates this year. It would be acceptable if it was from any other noble household whose foundation had stood for many centuries. However, the Strom household had only started their path in nobility when Grandfather Albert became a famous figure and was given the title by the previous Emperor.
Producing two Prospect candidates in a single year was already a stretch for some noble households, much less the Strom household.
“Amelia Strom, mana core of grade 6. Wood essence.”
“Yeah, barely surpasses the requirements of being a Prospect candidate. How lucky!”
“Haven’t you noticed?”
“Noticed what?”
“Zachariel Strom’s mana core grade, or even his dantian grade, were not announced but he was distinguished as a Prospect candidate. Isn’t that strange?”
They pondered about it until one of them spoke.
“If I remember correctly, he should be that person who blew up the platform when Grandmaster Silver arrived from the Medullan Forward Camp.”
“If he really was, then that could explain why the deans did not show his grade. If his talent was also that good, they no longer needed to test him too.”
“Moreover, one of the Supreme Elders came and helped him advance.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Wait, why don’t you know anything about this?”
“I don’t know. Probably the news has yet to spread?”
“That’s weird. A Prospect candidate being helped by a Supreme Elder should be a large piece of news and everyone in the Imperium should have known it by now.”
“Yeah, you’re right. It does sound a bit weird now that I realized it.”
“Anyway. it was also the Supreme Elder who killed that divine demon beast from the Medullan Forward Camp.”
“Damn that guy’s lucky. If I have his talent, I would show it off to the world and many powerful and beautiful girls from the nobility would approach me and give me their hand for marriage.”
“Look, a pervert. Let’s avoid him.”
“Hey, what’re you talking about? Me, a pervert? Is it bad to dream once in a while?”
Everyone ignored him and continued with their own discussions.
“Anyway, look at Prince Kane Cromwell’s results!”
“Yeah, 6 mana cores, all at grade 9.”
“Damn, even the Exalted Monarch could not match up to him if they both took the school selection event at the same time.”
“Are you an idiot? Of course, it’s obvious Prince Kane would win! He’s the Child of Destiny after all!”
The discussion then turned to the other Prospect candidates. After a few days, the discussions heated down. Instead, they were now excited for the first day of school for this year.
The new students were excited to enter their selected Great Schools, while the seniors were excited to see the youngbloods.
It was the 30th Day of Exios in the 1682nd Year in the Expansion Era.
“Lina, Lina, Lina!”
Luna excitedly whipped her chains around. She could not wait to fight the Prospect candidates later this afternoon.
“Sister, stop waving them around, please!”
Luna’s room was already in a mess because she kept on using the chains to thrash everything into pieces. Lina could only shake her head and sigh.
“Lina, I just can’t contain my excitement so I’m going to wave them all around! I can’t wait to fight with those Prospect candidates, hehehe.”
Luna crept onto the wall. Her eyes enlarged as if she saw a very delicious prey. She was daydreaming again.
Laughter resounded in Luna’s room. It was so loud, the other students avoided it whenever they pass through, in case the demon inside would go out and start a rampage and implicate themselves.
The other Prospects were also excited to meet the new Prospect candidates.
“Hey Egg-head, don’t scare the new students. Your perverted nature is extremely dangerous if you don’t know it yet.”
“Shut up, McCorny. Your ugliness could be the main reason that would scare the students instead.”
“What’d you say?!”
Edward and Cody started their round of insults again. The fellow senior Prospects of the same batch were already used to it. `Here it comes.`
“Rainald, you look calm as always. Wanting to impress the girls this afternoon, eh?”
A glare was shot out behind Edgar. He felt a chill in his spine. `What was that? Is someone on to me?`
He looked behind and only saw Cassia, but she was looking straight ahead with a poker face. `Strange.`
Meanwhile, at the Imperium Palace.
Emperor Marcus sat on the throne. Kane stood straight below him.
“Kane, do not disappoint me.”
“Yes, father. What about that Zachariel?”
“I’ll deal with him. You do your best in school.”
Kane bowed and left the room. Although his father had said that he will be the one to deal with Zachariel, he still has some plans for that brat.
`Zachariel, I’m going to make your life miserable for going against me.`
After the door was closed, Emperor Marcus lifted his hand and a figure emerged beside him.
“I want to know everything about Zachariel Strom. Everything, do you understand?”
He narrowed his eyes and sterned his voice after saying the last sentence.
“Yes, your Imperial Majesty.” A horrid voice resounded from the figure and vanished to the shadows.
`Strom Household, I wonder what secrets are you hiding from within.`
In the Central Continent. The Tower.
Azzad was reading a book. Its contents were ancient.
He sensed something in the direction of the Imperium Continent. He looked over and immediately knew what was going on.
`How naïve of you, Emperor Marcus. I have already shown to you my intentions, yet you chose this path instead. Doing that will be your undoing.`
Azzad had already determined the fate of Emperor Marcus. He has no plans of stopping it, however. He did not care about what would happen to the Imperium, and he was not worried about Zachariel either.
`Looks like things are going to get rough soon. I wonder if he could control himself later on.`
