Chapter 42 - Black Lotus Pagoda Part 1

"Essence of Souls: Intermediate Studies?" the official laughed, incredulous as Shu appeared in the office on the first floor of the library. "You know there's a prerequisite, right? You have to be at the fifth stage and at the second level of soul condensation, the proof that you have at least reached it."

"I am," Shu answered as he emitted his spirit force.

"Are you nuts! You might damage the books and scrolls!" the official yelled and quickly covered his mouth. "I get it. You are at the fifth stage. First year and at the fifth stage. We got ourselves a monster. Okay. You're approved. Your class is from 10a.m. to noon. Try not to be late."

"Oh, right. The time table is similar to Earth. Never really considered that due to my training. Never did follow a schedule," Shu thought as he received an official copy of his schedule.

"M-21. M-21. Ah, here it is. M-21," Shu smiled as he entered one of the more spacious buildings in the academy.

He entered the class room and found eleven other students in the room. Most of them were girls, but all the students were older than him by a year, at least. He decided to take a seat in the front and patiently waited for the class to start.

"Hmm? I don't remember seeing you? You in the wrong class, God Eater?" one of the students asked, politely, as he was the only one wearing a crimson jacket in the room.

"No. I am a first year at the fifth stage of the Spirit Shaman tier. My name is Shu. I come from the Lu Clan in the Yan Dynasty," Shu nodded as he stared at the other students.

"What? First year? How many are at the fifth stage, among first years?" one of the senior students asked.

"Just two others. One is a thug named Weiss. I don't know the other person's name, but people say she is a princess of some nation," Shu answered truthfully.

"Good morning, class. Welcome to Essence of the Soul: Intermediate Studies. We will be studying the nature of Mystic Stones in this class," a professor began when he walked into the room. "Hmm? What's a God Eater doing here? Hyperion don't use soul attacks."

"Hello, professor. Sorry to say, but they have weapons that do," Shu said and pulled out the two flying moon blades, the students admiring the purple flames on them. "The Hyperion humanoid I killed used this. Furthermore, Hyperion beasts have a certain howl that can stun people."

"May I?" the professor asked and Shu levitated the moon blades to him and watched him inspect the flames. "This! It's true. Somehow, the humanoid Hyperion have infused their spirit energy into these blades. I've never seen a Hyperion make such magical items. I don't seem to recall seeing you on campus before. Are you a first year?"

"Yes, professor," Shu answered as he put the blades back in his storage bag.

"I see. Well, welcome to Black Lotus Academy. Now, let's begin the lesson...." the professor said and two hours passed. "Okay then. See you tomorrow. Remember, Mystic Stones embody the soul of a Practitioner. Until next time."

"Hello, my name is Hinako Kaizuka. I am at the sixth stage of Spirit Shaman tier," a girl with dark brown hair green hairs smiled, her body already developing nicely to make guys stare at her once. "Is it true Hyperion beasts have a soul stunning attack through their howl?"

"I only saw one of them do it. It was my first time seeing one and there were too many to look at the finer details to differentiate them. Sorry," Shu nodded. "Um, do you know the way to the cafeteria? It's lunch time. Also, do the dorms provide food for magical beasts within the rooms?"

"Oh, I can show you to the cafeteria. As for the rooms, they are all enchanted from the fourth stage Spirit Shaman doors and up. This is because most people have a magical beast by then. Only they won't feel hunger or thirst. The mages haven't been able to convert mana into nutrients for the human body yet," Hinako smiled and Shu followed her to the cafeteria, some of their classmates also chatting with them as they headed there.

"Now the cafeteria might be a little bit noisy. A lot of people start fights, but fighting is not allowed in the buildings. The only exception would be combat classes, the cafeteria, or the stadium, a dome shaped building which is the third tallest, but encompasses the most space in the academy. There are three cafeterias. One is reserved for white coat, another is reserved for the faculty, and this is the one for everyone else," Hinako said as she pushed open the doors. "Oh? They're pretty loud. Best to get your food quickly and eat somewhere else if you can't protect your food."

"How dare you! I, the Great Weiss, was supposed to be the first year representative in the main school council and form the first year student council. Give up the position and the white coat!" Weiss roared as he drew a large, two handed sword and pointed it at the princess he saw before."

"Hey, Shu, those the two fifth stage Spirit Shamans you mentioned? What a lively bunch," one of his senior classmates laughed while the others agreed.

"Why should I? The people voted for me. It's not my fault you lost. You had your thugs present a horrible first impression. People don't like that. I, Princess Cassandra, will not bow to a bully," the princess said as she drew her rapier. "Strength is not everything. Might is useless if you can't hit your opponent."

"Why aren't the senior students doing anything?" Shu asked.

"Well, people with higher stages of cultivation only care about their cultivation. If you don't unintentionally involve them, they just watch the lesser students fight as if they were entertainment. The weaker students are always the most lively," one of his classmates grinned. "I'm at the peak of the seventh stage myself. Most of us only care about tournaments we're eligible for and new spirit techniques and magical items. Let kids be kids. We can easily break every bone of their bodies. However, most of us don't stay at campus."

"Where do you guys go?" Shu asked.

"All the best academies allow their students to get real life experience in life-or-death situations. The students call it, The Hidden Valley of Dragons. See, the mountains to the north are full of magical beasts. The forests around them are too. However, students have heard rumors of an underground valley full of draconic magical beasts. The principal and the teachers all admit it exists but tell anyone who finds it, and makes it back alive, not to tell others of its location," Hinako answered, a sad expression on her face. "It's because most people die in the mountains already. The principal hinted that the entrance is in the depths of the mountain range, the mountains that are covered in snow. I went there with my brother once. He had his arm torn off by a frost dragon magical beast. We barely escaped as it turned toward some mages who used fire magic at it. The worst part was, we were only at the foot of those snowy mountains and didn't explore it at all."

"Is he alright?" Shu asked.

"Yeah. He's back at my clan. Luckily, one of my clan's elders specializes in the soul. He's using his spirit energy to regenerate his arm slowly. Before I came back, his arm fully regenerated. However, it will take some time before he gets used to it. He graduated anyway and wanted to see the hidden valley before he left," Hinako smiled as they got their lunch and sat down at a table.

They watched as the Weiss began attacking Cassandra. Shu looked over and saw one of his classmates begin betting with others at their table. The senior students really didn't care at all. The strong ate the weak and the weak suffer the strong. That was the life of Practitioners. He looked over and saw that mages held their fights differently. They hesitated and he overheard them saying the price of a mana stone wasn't worth it to beat his opponent.

"Oh, this magical beast meat is great," Shu smiled as he put large pieces of them in his mouth with his chopsticks.

"You eat a lot more meat than vegetables," Hinako cried, but she also had a lot of meat.

"It has spirit energy in them. Eating more magical beast meat will definitely enrich the body more than regular meat," Shu grinned, while the truth about his hunger due to his demonic genes was kept secret.

"Die!" Weiss roared and sent a large fireball at Cassandra who dodged it while it continued its path towards Hinako.

"Hmph," Hinako sighed and waved her hand, disintegrating the fireball as if it never existed.

"Fire element user huh?" Shu grinned as he saw flames flicker around her hands while she waved her hand to destroy the fireball.

"You're pretty observant," Hinako smiled while Weiss accidentally sent another fireball at them when Cassandra dodged the attack.

"Hey!" Shu roared as his lunch burned to ash as half of the fireball hit his back while the other spread.

"You're clothes are not even singed," Hinako gasped as she looked to see if he was okay.

"I know a pretty good technique," Shu said as he got up and started gathering spirit energy into his right hand.

Lightning crackled around his right hand and he pushed his hand at Weiss's direction, sending out a pulse of lightning. Weiss yelled in pain as he was pushed back by the force, the audience staring to see who did it. Shu became a trail of shadows and appeared next to Weiss in a flash. He lifted him up by the throat and slowly tightened his grip as the boy's legs dangled in the air. Shu tossed Weiss into the wall, punching him in the chest as Weiss slammed into it. Cracks formed on the wall as Weiss coughed blood. The crowd followed Weiss, with their eyes, as he fell to the ground. He twitched once before losing consciousness.

"What? He burned my food," Shu shrugged and returned to his seat, after getting more food, as others began talking about him. They knew the third person of the fifth stage among, first years, was a God Eater. However, they didn't expect him to beat Weiss so easily.

"I'm so glad this is like a buffet," Shu smiled.

"You didn't kill him, right?" Hinako asked. "It's not against academy rules, but you might get attacked by his family. Cutting a limb is also bad, but breaking bones is okay. The medics can heal that."

"He'll be alright. He just won't be eating any solid food for a while," Shu shrugged.

A month passed since the first day of instruction. Since then, Hinako and Shu had been learning about soul condensation. Shu had even attained the third level, shocking his classmates. His soul ocean had doubled and more stars could be seen in the night sky where his two spirit reactors shined a soft light like a moon. His three elemental affinities had turned into sharks. His spirit sense range was now a mile away.

Since the incident, Cassandra had established herself as on of the top ten beauties. However, Weiss had changed tactics. Instead of opposing her openly, he decided to bide his time. Everyday, he has people who dislike Cassandra to join him. Two factions had appeared and most of the senior students had begun betting whenever the two sides clashed. Most people also forgot about Shu. He had kept a low profile since then. He didn't mean to. He was just busy cultivating in his spare time.

"Figures you would be here. If you had a weakness, it would be your craving for magical beast meat," Hinako laughed as she sat across from him in the cafeteria. "How are your magical beasts now?"