“So, who are you?” The angel leaned closer. Her eyebrows knitted into a frown as she stared at the children.

Phylia frowned and stepped forward, but Himo grabbed her shoulder. He wondered if the angel was a student or a teacher, but the white suit she wore gave him the answer.

“She’s Phylia; I’m Shu Himo.”

“Phylia... Himo…” The angel put away the book and crossed her arms. “Never heard those names. What have you—” She froze and shot a gaze behind Himo. “Teacher?”

“I told you to not call me ‘teacher’ outside.” A male angel patted Himo’s shoulder from behind. Like the female angel, he wore a white suit. “Nice to meet you, Himo. I’m the headmaster of this academy.”

“N-nice to meet you too.” Himo felt a shudder. The pressure from the headmaster was over tenfold that of the others. A longevity realm cultivator! Is this going to be the clichè where overpowered people keep popping up? Even so, he took a heavy breath and calmed down.

The headmaster chuckled and glanced at the crowd. “Relax and act as proper teachers. These two children will be our students from today. They’ll start in class D like the others. Also, bring a… ehm… how was it called again?” He frowned for a second before he snapped his fingers. “Right! Bring the ‘loyaltery orb’. Really, who came up with this name?”

“Eh?” While a teacher rushed inside, the female angel looked at the two children. “The orb? Why would that be needed?”

“She’s a shape-shifting monster tamed by Himo.”

“A shape-shifter!” The crowd was stupefied. Some teachers exchanged glances, while others stared at the child in curiosity.

Himo’s lips twitched. So it’s true that shape-shifters are rare.

[Obviously. The system is never wrong.]

Himo rolled his eyes.

“Himo.” The female angel walked up to him. “Sorry for our hostility before. Lately, there’s been some trouble, so everyone’s quite tense.”

“Trouble?”

“Don’t worry about it.” She smiled. “That’s our job.”

Before Himo could reply, a teacher returned with a transparent orb. “This is the orb.” He gave it to Himo. “You need to hold it together with your tamed monster so that you can both inject khenqi inside. The results vary depending on the light that the orb will emit—the brighter, the better. As long as it makes a decent light, you can bring the monster inside.”

“I see.” Himo poked it. It was smooth and light; it didn’t seem to have visible mechanisms. How does it work? He looked at it for a few seconds before turning to Phylia. “Let’s try.”

She nodded and placed a hand atop it.

Under the curious gazes of the headmaster and teachers, the two injected khenqi into the orb. At first, the orb didn’t react, but abruptly, it turned into a radiating sun, nearly blinding all the watchers.

“What the—” As the female angel held back from swearing, many teachers shielded their eyes.

“This is… absolute loyalty?” The headmaster widened his eyes. “A loyalty so deep that it borderlines into an insane obsession… just how is this possible? I could understand if it were just a standard beast, but for it to happen with a sapient monster…” He turned to Himo. “How did you do it?”

“Phylia, you…” Himo smiled. He couldn’t refrain from stroking her head. While Phylia relished on his head pat, he turned to the headmaster and grinned. “I think I understand the reason.”

“Do tell me.” The headmaster nodded.

“At first, I was unsure about it, but now I’m almost certain.” Himo smirked. “I must have some kind of special charismatic aura!”

[Oh, not again with that non-existent aura.]

It must be that!

The headmaster staggered backward. The crowd froze. An awkward silence gave way to the rustling winds, interrupted only by a cough from the headmaster.

“A-anyway, since you’ve passed the test, you can both enter our academy.” He soon regained his smile and waved to the teachers. “Everyone, return inside and ring the assembly bell. I’ll show the way to the dormitory to the new student. Then, I’ll bring him to the auditorium. Also”—his tone grew serious—“word of their test result mustn’t go out.”

The crowd nodded and walked inside.

“Now, follow me.” The headmaster glanced at the two children. While the three strolled toward the egg-shaped building, he asked, “So, how much do you know about our academy?”

Himo thought for a moment before replying. “Its name?”

“Anything else?”

“Nothing.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

The headmaster sighed. “Your brother really didn’t tell you anything at all…” He shook his head. “I’ll just give you a quick introduction. In this school, the main subject is strength—how to fight—but there are also side-occupations such as smithing, formation making, and many more. Also... I mentioned the D class before, correct?” 

Splaying his right hand in front of Himo, he continued, “Our institute is mainly divided into five classes: D, C, B, A, and S. Going by that order, the latter ones are harder to get into, but they will also provide benefits—certain places are open only to higher classes, for example. Additionally, there’s a special section, but that’s more like a separate branch that never shows itself, so you shouldn’t worry about it."

Himo nodded. So I’ll end up in the separate branch.

[The user sounds oddly certain about that.]

That’s how it always goes. It’s an unwritten rule for the main character.

[There’s no such rule.]

“There are two ways to get into a better class.” The headmaster continued, “The first one is to participate in a test, the second is to challenge someone of a higher class to steal their place.”

“I see.”

“The next test is going to be a month from now. You have to remember something, however.” He pushed open the main door and grinned. “Who doesn’t proceed is expelled. You have a year’s time to reach the C class. Three years to reach the B class. And five for the A class.”

“What about the S class?” Himo followed him inside. A red carpet connected the entrance to a metal counter. A blonde woman—an angel—stood behind the counter, fiddling with several layers of paper documents.

The headmaster looked at him for a second before answering. “There’s no obligation to reach that.” He walked up to the reception, and the receptionist gave him a golden badge. On it was engraved the letter D. He tossed it to Himo. “Hold this, it’s the proof that you’re a student. You’ll need to use it to enter certain sections of the academy. Also, since Phylia's your tamed monster, that badge will apply to her too, given that you’ll be accompanying her.”

Himo nodded and put it in the storage.

Afterward, the three traversed a hallway beside the counter and reached a second room. The round room was empty of everything aside from dark, abyssal doors that covered each side of the room.

“What is this?” Himo’s eyes lit up. He walked close to a door, a door that resembled a black portal.

The headmaster chuckled. “The rooms of the academy are connected by those doors.” He pointed at the signs atop the doors. “If you enter in one, it’ll teleport you to the destination signed on here.”

Teleportation… Himo’s eyes lit up. He leaned closer to one door, looking as though he was about to fall in it. This world keeps getting fantasier!

“Before you go to explore by yourself, we have a few things to do.” Walking through a door on the side, the headmaster said, “Follow me.”

“Okay.” Himo looked at Phylia. “Let’s go.”

After they traversed the door, an endless corridor greeted them on the other side. A red carpet slid on the ground as countless wooden doors occupied both sides. Chandeliers on the ceiling lighted the place, emphasizing the smooth white walls.

Himo widened his eyes. “It’s like a five stars hotel’s corridor!”

“Hotel?” The headmaster tilted his head, but he didn’t linger on that. He gave a numbered key to Himo and said, “This is the dormitory for D class students. If you rank up, you can access even better dwellings.” After saying that, he walked to another portal-like door. “Come, the tour is almost done.”

Himo and Phylia followed him again. The three crossed a few portals and soon reached their destination. An atrium.

Under four massive chandeliers, thousands of students watched the stage from their seats as they chatted with others. Among them were humans, elves, and beastmen, but there were little to no angels. Even the weakest of them were in the first string of the dantian core formation realm.

“Eh?” Himo stared at the rows of students. Wasn’t this supposed to be a genius-filled academy? How come there’s so many?

“Now, now, don’t stand in a daze and find a place to sit.” The headmaster chuckled. “Get ready, I’m about to announce the admission of three new students—you two included. Think up some short speech to introduce yourself.” Grinning, he walked out of the portal they had entered from.

Himo froze. Someone else is joining the academy too?

[That’s what bothers the user?]