Chapter 21: Chapter 19 - First Lecture
Hurriedly, they headed towards the lecture hall, which is the location of the first class this week.
For new students within the Academy, they practically had a free schedule, for the young children who have recently joined the Academy an emphasis was placed more so on improving their cultivation level as the majority of children have not even begun cultivating yet.
For the children, this makes casting spells and using martial art techniques impossible for them at this moment in time, therefore it was best to place all of the children's effort onto cultivation. At the same time, a young child wasn't suitable to cultivate and learn about Warriors and Mages yet, as by using an example in her previous World, it was like making a bunch of six-year-old kids study high school level Maths, it was impractical and beyond their ability to do so.
There may be prodigies who are able enough to begin this early, however to the common six-year-old child, this is not something they were capable of doing and would bring more damage to them in comparison to the benefits.
Instead, the children would be provided with a suitable cultivation method based on their talent, and it is also compulsory to attend the lectures which are about their attributes.
Within these lectures, the children would learn the basics about their attributes, and this is a means of building up a foundation for them in preparation for when they begin their training into becoming a Mage.
In comparison, Warriors would be taught similarly, though their classes are more or less focused about building up their bodily strength and learning fighting techniques. This was were her knowledge would prove useful, as all Warriors would more or less learn a martial arts technique which did not require essence as if they were to ever run out of essence to support their martial arts techniques in battle, then they would end up defenceless.
Previously Zhang Wei already informed her that the physical martial arts technique, which doesn't require essence to use was underdeveloped compared to her previous worlds techniques. This was a result of the Warriors in this World concentrating mainly on martial arts techniques which requires essence to use, as although physical martial arts technique was useful to Warriors, it was nothing in contrast to the power gained through techniques which are supported by essence.
For the pursuit of power, this left the physical skills even less developed in comparison to her former World, although the top powers in this World likely had physical arts just as good, if not superior than her own, this couldn't be said to the regular Kingdoms who unlike the Four Empires have a far weaker heritage.
To Li Fen this provided her with a unique edge within the future, although being unnoticeable at this moment in time as a result of her current body belonging to a child, the older she grows and as her cultivation improves further, the more of an advantage in terms of physical skills will be displayed.
Li Fen felt a sense of excitement as a result of this because at least the martial arts she trained herself harshly to achieve a mastery of, would not go to waste within this World. She also knew that there was still a long way to go in improving her skills and that back in her previous World there were many who were far better at Martial Arts than she was.
So, knowing how useful the skills she learnt was, she resolved herself to commit them to muscle memory. Exhausting your essence fighting in a war was relatively common, and this would lead to a Warrior having to rely upon their physical skills. There was a saying that in War, the ones who had a good foundation in physical skills were always the one to live the longest and Li Fen knew that she may have to one day rely upon her bodily strength to defend herself.
Besides, with her prestigious bloodline and powerful body, it would be a major waste of potential if she didn't train her physical skills.
Without realising it, Li Fen, Xue Mingxia and Yan Chunhua have already arrived at their destination. Standing outside the entrance, Li Fen noticed there was a cluster of children outside, indicating that they arrived on time.
The small group of children finally noticing their arrival, glanced at their group nonchalantly until their eyes landed upon Li Fen. The children's eyes lit up after they suddenly saw Li Fen's arrival as if they have seen a celebrity they began chatting to each other as they debated whether or not to approach Li Fen and the girls next to her.
Finally, a boy within the group gained the courage to approach them.
"Yan Chunhua!" The boy said smilingly, as he winked at her in a way to indicate her to introduce her to Li Fen.
Yan Chunhua blushed a bit in embarassment at the boy's arrival and shown no obvious intention of introducing the boy to her.
The boy looked a bit ashamed at Yan Chunhua failure to introduce himself, without knowing what to do, he stood still smiling like an idiot.
Li Fen, on the other hand, continued to narrow her eyes as she observed the young boy who approached them, yelling Yan Chunhua's name. Her tense muscles quickly relaxed as she noticed the shy smile plastered on the boy's face. It was obvious that the boy wasn't here with bad intentions.
"Hey, Yan Bohai." Yan Chunhua replied, knowing that she had to acknowledge him.
"Humph. Is that how you treat your dearest cousin? I have been waiting outside this class for the past ten minutes, if it wasn't for your insistence, I wouldn't have even been willing to take extra classes." Said Yan Bohai grumpily.
Within the Academy, it was optional if whether you wanted to attend a class which teachings were based on an element you do not have, to the children in the Academy this was mostly extra work and a waste of time. However, to the Academy, they still described the benefits of doing so, in a battle with an opposing Mage, if you lack an understanding of their attribute you may be put at a disadvantage despite having a similar cultivation level as a result of being clueless about the opposing Mages element.
In life, a death battle, knowing an enemies element well, maybe the difference of winning and losing, to the true talents of the Academy, gaining an advantage even if it's a slight one from attending these extra classes was something they viewed as worthwhile in the future. You never know, maybe if you are struggling in a battle against an enemy with a similar level of power, the difference with having a bit of understanding on their element may end up being the edge which made you victorious.
Still, to a slacker such as Yan Bohai, this was something he considered a complete waste of time, and the only reason he even came here was because of his cousin's insistence.
Honestly, maybe even Li Fen wouldn't be so enthusiastic about learning about an attribute which she could never manipulate if she never secretly had the Water element herself. As previously mentioned, a perk of the Silver Dragon bloodline is that they have an affinity for every element, and the purer the bloodline is, then the greater their talent with this affinity.
Zhang Wei has already hidden this from the talent testing tool, as it was obvious of the consequences of people knowing that she could manipulate every affinity.
Although at this moment in time her affinity talents were by no means considered the best in the four Empires, so it wasn't like she was the most talented human there is, having a talent in every affinity was enough to gain the attention of the four Empires.
Zhang Wei said that this bloodline talent will grow even more perverse within the future because, with the continuous strengthening of her bloodline, the talent she possessed in each affinity will eventually be comparable to the top geniuses within the World. She may even eclipse that if her bloodline was brought back to the peak after the Silver Dragon bloodline was one that originated from an even stronger World than this one.
"Ah, I already told you the true benefits by doing this brings! You are an heir to an estate in the future and have great expectations placed upon you. You don't want to not live up to your Dads expectations in becoming a genius, don't you?" Yan Chunhua said persuasively.
Yan Bohai sighed regretfully, "Hmm. I guess you truly know me best, now I'm going to have to attend these classes regularly with you. Though at least you brought the prodigy along, that at the very least make it somewhat entertaining."
Suddenly, the students who were previously speaking noisily quietened down, as a middle-aged man who worn blue luxurious robes appeared.
The middle-aged man walked proudly like a peacock, as he condescendingly looked at the children.
"Ah, Elder Li. Looks like we got some bad luck this time, the guy is a noble extremist. He views commoners as a waste of resources in being let into the Academy and believes nobles are the only ones who should be allowed to cultivate within Academies. Of course, this guy is foolish and narrow-minded, ignoring the consequences of such thinking, but the Academy tolerates him because he belongs to a powerful family, and despite his views is a capable teacher."
Elder Li who was the subject of the conservation, hawk-like eyes scanned the students one by one, every noble he saw his eyes lit up in approvement and as for the commoners, he looked at them with noticeable disdain.
Eventually, his eyes arrived at Li Fen's group, upon viewing Yan Bohai and Yan Chunhua with a hint of resentment appeared in his eyes, as the faction which they both belong to, was a Noble Clan with a clear opposition of his views. And in comparison to his clan who had a long-lasting history, Yan Chunhua's and Yan Bohai's Fathers were previously commoners, who earned their noble titles through their contributions to the Kingdom causing Elder Li to loathe them as he viewed them no differently from commoners.
Xue Mingxia as a commoner was also not exempted from his look of disapproval, though upon looking at Li Fen, his eyes widened in surprise before a sneer hung upon his lips.
Sniggering with disdain, Elder Li thought, 'That's right. No matter how talented she is, she will forever be a commoner and will remain one. It doesn't matter if she gained a Noble Title, as she will forever be born from commoner blood. Her best use is to bring her betters status and glory, in return wasn't it rewarding enough in serving her superiors?'
To Elder Li, Li Fen serving the Academy wholeheartedly was something expected of her, as a commoner she should be grateful that she is even being allowed to be graced in the present of Nobles.
"Alright, enter. We have some who are here to aimlessly listen so they can slack of cultivating, but I expect the majority of you to learn much today." He said, clearly glancing at each of the Nobles among the children as he emphasised the ones will gain something from his teaching.
As for the 'slackers', it was obvious who he was referring to, as Li Fen's group was the only ones who didn't have the Water Attribute among the Students.
Earlier on in the Year, not many children will attend other classes of their attributes and instead focus upon themselves, only those with confidence will attend other classes at the beginning, so the sight of students attending classes not belonging to their elements will become more common int he future. But, at the moment Li Fens group was the only ones doing so, likely because the year has only started recently.
Seemingly not noticing Elder Li's comments, Li Fen and the group walked unperturbed into the classroom alongside the other children.
It had to be said, despite Elder Li's flaw in being resentful of commoners, he was truly good at his job.
Even though he looked down upon commoners, he didn't treat them unfairly and gave everyone in the class an equal opportunity in learning something. Including answering the questions posed by the students patiently and calmly.
One of the reasons why Elder Li was tolerated in the Academy was because of this, even though he showed clear favouritism to Nobles and didn't hide his hate for commoners, he still gave them an equal opportunity in his lessons.
Very quickly the class finished, and Li Fen was left fascinated at the knowledge gained. To Li Fen this was her first step into the World of Mages, and even if this was merely an introductory class into the Water Element, it was still a thrilling experience for her.
The basic knowledge provided by Elder Li was the foundational knowledge into the Water Attribute, and it began by describing a basic understanding of the Water Element, its uses and so forth.
Although not yet was there any description on how to use spells, it allowed her to gain some insight into the cultivation method of Mages and the Water Element itself.
"Ahh, glad that's over. Throughout the entire thing, that old foggy was starring at me with a look of hatred." Yan Bohai worded.
"That's because even a fool would know that you were only pretending to pay attention, half the time you were staring at the ceiling absentmindedly." Yan Chunhua replied.
"Hey, at least I came. We are the only ones in the entire year who even bothered to show up to a class unrelated to us anyway, so at least that counts for something." Yan Bohai said causing Yan Chunhau to huff in dissatisfaction.
"Alright, quit arguing. Anyways, want to head to the library? Not only is there knowledge on Mages, and so forth, it is also close to a few other important areas in the Academy, so it will allow us to take a look at what the Academy has to offer!" Xue Mingxia said.
The others quickly agreed as Xue Mingxia led them to the library.
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