The managers s.h.i.+vered in fear. They didn't know if the smile was a good sign.

"This is definitely a profitable trade. Place it on the shelf for 7 gold pieces and call it the Healing Beauty Lotion. If the boy comes again, let me know."

"Yes miss!" The managers responded in relief.

Nico sneezed unexpectedly as he walked into the Kelseran Empire Union Bank, or the KEU.

Banking had been a part of Kelsera for over 200 years, backed by the Kelseran Empire. All transactions needed 7-15 days to process, but it was better than carrying a large amount of gold pieces around.

There was a small outlet of the KEU in Rinlin, but it was very small and managed by three clerks. The KEU in Launtel was a large complex. They even had a separate wing exclusively for members of the merchant guild.

The KEU also doubled as a postal carrier service. Although caravan companies also had postal service, it was cheaper with the KEU.

Nico stored all of his gold in the bank and wrote a promissory note for s.h.i.+rley to begin renovation on the Ollie Shop.

Nico ripped open a letter from his mailbox and scanned through a scribbled note written by Rooster. "Farming ch.o.r.es, all good. But what the f*** is wrong with your managoats?!"

Nico rolled his eyes and placed the letter in his breast pocket.

After finis.h.i.+ng his errands, Nico arrived to Professor Quin cla.s.s at 4:15pm.

The twenty green-robed students in the small courtyard inspected Nico as he entered. The students had all trained together for the past seven to eight years, so they all knew each other. It was unusual to see a new student in their cla.s.s.

"Who's the new guy?" they whispered to each other.

"Don't know, have you heard about him?"

"No, not at all. There's only one well-known new student in our age group, and I'm sure he is in the elite cla.s.s with Professor Aseroth."

"But he gotta have some type of talent to be in our cla.s.s, we aren't the elite cla.s.s, but we are still the ranked A cla.s.s."

Their voices gradually increased into a full blown conversation.

"He's still wearing the blue robe, a gathering staged students in our cla.s.s?" One of the students standing with a couple of boys sneered.

"Come on now Corby, you're not afraid of the new kid?" asked Badan, a flat faced boy.

"I'm not afraid, just disappointed by the incoming selection this year," Corby responded. "The Academy reputation is going to drop if they continue to admit students with such low standards."

"I've heard they accepted more commoners this year."

Nico wanted to know why they chattered so much when he could hear them.

Professor Quin walked onto the courtyard.

"Is that our new professor?" The students whispered again.

"He looks scary."

"And ugly."

"Why is his face so boxy?"

Well, at least they didn't call me ugly. Nico glanced at Professor Quin, who looked immune to the insult.

Professor Quin waited until everyone settled down before he began his lesson. "All of you should have a cultivation method based on your potential. As your a.s.signed professor for this year, I will do my best to answer any questions or a.s.sist you when are stuck on a particular section. I am available on most days, so simply schedule a time at the registration hall to meet with me. We will not meet regularly as a cla.s.s, but check the announcement board every week to see if a cla.s.s is scheduled.

Today, we will have a tournament to see what you have learned so far."

The students buzzed up with excitement.

"I'll send out a critique sheet to everyone based on today's results," Professor Quin explained. "Cultivation is about enhancing our bodies, but to what end? The goal is to survive or win against the wilderness. If you're strong but can't keep yourself alive in a fight, it is meaningless. A knight stage cultivator can still lose to a condensation stage a.s.sa.s.sin if they are careless. Combat and awareness are very important to this year training.

There are twenty-one of you, so we will draw straws to see the match order, with one person having a free pa.s.s."

The students drew the numbered straws.

"For today spar, we will only use bamboo sticks." Professor Quin pointed to the rack of bamboo sticks. "Be careful with these sticks and don't underestimate them. With the right amount of spirit force, it can still be a deadly weapon. You may also elect to use the battle gloves. The fight will end when the winner breaks the opponent's first force barrier."

Professor Quin looked at Nico. "Have you completed the force barrier?"

"Yes sir!" Nico responded.

Professor Quin had half expected it, but still surprised. "Explain to me what a force barrier is."

"A force barrier is a body forming type cultivation technique. It is the most basic technique a cultivator must learn if they consider themselves a cultivator. The technique draws spirit throughout the skin of the body. Since it isn't released from the body, it doesn't require a lot of energy. Gathering staged expert can form half a layer, condensation staged expert can form a layer, and foundation staged expert can form three layers.

If the opponent attacked with enough force, the barrier would break and the spirit would scatter. The physical body would remain fine without a single scratch or physical trauma. However, the scattered spirit would take some time to recover before it could be reused."

Whew, that was a mouthful, thought Nico. He had read it three days ago with Ashe's help, so it was still fresh in his head.

At first, Nico had asked Jack since they were both required to learn force barrier.

"What is congeal?" asked Nico.

"Congeal is congeal, you know, congeal," Jack explained crunching his hands together.

Ashe overheard Jack's explanation from his desk and shook his head in annoyance. He was going to lose a couple of brain cells.

Nico decided to skip the word and continued reading. "How about this word, how do you p.r.o.nounce it?" asked Nico.

Jack looked at the word. "I think it's coat-clock-gu-late-tion."

Eh??? Nico stared blankly at Jack.

"I'm not even from Kelsera and can explain it better than you," Ashe felt exasperated.

"Well, you have a funny accent!" Jack harrumphed.

"At least I speak three different languages and you can barely explain one!"

Nico lit up. "Ashe, help me with this manual!"

"5 manacores," Ashe offered.

"Fine," said Nico, he still had plenty of manacores he had collected from Lindan Peak. The effects were waning and he mainly used them to feed Junior and Snowy.

Ashe helped Nico to read some terms from the Force Barrier manual.

"So it's similar to the robe we wear?" Nico inquired.

Ashe nodded. "Yes, but your blue robe is slightly weaker than a force barrier. The robe could protect the body from regular attacks, but it is not as effective against other pract.i.tioners."

"So can magicians use force barrier?"

"Magicians can also use force barrier, but their barriers are generally weaker and required less force to break. Magicians prefer to use Body Aura."

Body Aura? Nico and Jack both stared blankly at Ashe.