"Necessity is the greatest teacher of all because it gives you an unbelievable amount of focus and motivation."

[ Jonikc Academy ]

Azar helped Eno acquire that gigantic horn, they took it peacefully, in the same manner in which they robbed so many people. After all, the fighting facility was illegal. In case that the city guards were paying them an 'unexpected' visit the next day, they no longer had the need for the ornament, right?

The academy's gates opened, welcoming the students to a new day of learning and training. Azar took a deep breath and stepped forward with his right foot, for luck.

It was always better to begin everything with the right foot, at least that was what his mother taught him.

Ah, mother, brother, I really miss you, Azar thought.

He thought about them on a daily basis, but that was all he could do for the time being. It wasn't easy, especially at first, to live away from home. But he needed to, otherwise he couldn't guarantee their safety. Kaden won't hold back from shutting everyone's mouth.

For protecting them, he needed to be away and gather more power. All kinds of power. Everything that could be translated to power.

There's not that much time until June 18, Azar remembered.

His little brother's birthday will be on that day. It will be an important event as his little brother would have his coming of age ceremony. Azar could not miss it. And maybe by that time, Rivero City would be safe enough for his family to move in.

Azar wasn't in the same situation as Vlodemir and the rest. Divine Feather was an unknown variable, and he wasn't sure that his family would be safe there.

But those were plans for the future, Azar now needed to focus on the present. On the present feeling that brought back memories from the time he attended Fadim, together with his best friend and sweetheart.

What times, he thought.

Back then, he was considered a genius of the kingdom, undefeated between the peers of his generation. His uniform was blue at that time, different from the green one he was currently wearing . But times changed, and he knew that. After all, he changed as well.

With every step taken, Azar left his worries and plans behind, grateful for the opportunity he currently had . . . and maybe a little joyful as the happiness of the students started to influence his mood.

Azar was unfamiliar with the place, slowly following the groups of students. It felt like he was the same as them, his heart even started to fill with excitement and emotions, for no obvious reasons.

He walked casually, the uniform he received was fitting perfectly, without hindering his movements at all. That was something he liked, for his clothes to not restrain his movements. He felt constrained otherwise.

Not even his underwear was allowed to feel tight, that's why he sometimes didn't wear any.

Who needs it, no one can grow big an strong if he is constrained, Azar and his life partner down there, both liked to feel free and unhindered, that's why they became so strong.

Azar acted like he was a regular student, matching even his aura and disposition to the those walking near him. And this made his colleagues more open towards him.

"Hi, you're a last year, right?" asked a lyrical voice.

"Yes," Azar responded, turning his head in the direction of the voice.

"Me too," said the girl gesturing to her uniform. "I've never saw you before, have you just transferred?"

Azar smiled openly at the sociable girl who walk beside him. "No, I've been a student here for four years already. But I didn't came to the academy too often."

The girl gave him a long gaze before replying, "so you spent four years without taking the classes? I don't want to be rude, but why have you even joined the academy for?

"Yeah, I mean we are the second best academy in the kingdom. Bro, isn't it better to take a shortcut and learn from the experienced people?" another student entered the conversation.

"Exactly. The academy is a place where students have access to the best knowledge and training programs, all for a faster growth. Not everyone can get accepted into an academy, so why wasting your chance?" the girl added in friendly manner.

"You are right," Azar replied, "but I'm in a special situation. I trained with my master, so I got both the knowledge and experience. At the academy, I would've get the knowledge, but not that much experience."

"Bro, what's your current strength like?" asked the boy.

"Master Channeler, combat rank A."

"You serious?" the girl asked, not believing her ears. She was a level 5 [Adept Practitioner] with a support rank evaluated at [C]. And she was considered a genius.

The boy was shocked as well. He was also a [Master Channeler], but his combat rank was [C].

"I'm serious, why would I lie?" Azar asked. His eyes wandered around in search for a teacher.

"Ahem!" the boy coughed. "Your strength is acceptable, you are indeed worthy to be my fellow colleague." he boasted, puffing his chest in a show of might.

"Oliver!" the girl admonished.

"What, I was just playing." the boy defended himself. "By the way," he said looking at Azar, "my name is Oliver, the attention seeker over there is Luna." he pointed at the girl on the other side.

"You're an attention seeker, you barged into the conversation," Luna rebuked, angered by the boy's words.

"You can call me Azar," he said placing his hands on the kids shoulders to stop their childish behavior.

Oliver resumed his dignified posture while Luna shifted her gaze away, embarrassed.

"Azar, your strength is amazing, man, but the effort you put into training must be matching your achievements," Oliver praised.

Azar just nodded his head.

"See, that's the other reason why I said that the academy is a better place to learn. We have a lot of parties, and remaining between us, a lot of beautiful girls. Some of them are already taken, but we can't complain about the single ones.

"Oliver!" Luna shouted, exasperated by the boy's words and behavior.

Azar smiled. This was indeed a thing that he missed. The amazing parties between the students. Different from the balls or extravagant parties of the more mature people, the ones organised by the students had much more fun.

Social ranks didn't matter that much as long as the students were from the same academies. And there were a lot of opportunities to meet a partner. For a short relation or for a lifetime.

Some people considered that, at 20 years of age, one was late to start a family. A lot of nobles married at 16, while the more common people, around 18.

The trio passed the main entrance, Oliver and Luna remaining silent, both disgraced by the attitude of each other.

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Azar admired the building. It looked old, numbering a few hundreds of years, maybe. But it was in a good condition, the textural patterns of the architecture, still holding.

Azar and Markos had more then one thing in common as both liked beauty in every shape and form.

Bellow a fine arcade of slate, that connected two monumental pillars, Azar recognized his hot headed, good friend, Horthia.

"Good morning, Head Teacher Horthia, can we speak about something?" Azar asked in the most polite and common way for a student that he could come up with.

Horthia swallowed empty when he heard Azar's voice. That's what I needed at my age? he asked looking up. Calm down, calm down, you just need to have a normal and polite conversation with the devil, he said in his mind.

The teacher gazed at his student with concern, but he was instructed by the dean to take care of the young man, so he needed to comply.

"Of course my dear student, come with me," Horthia spoke in such a warming and friendly tone that Azar felt shivers going down his spine.

"You go first, I have something to speak with the Head Teacher," Azar said leaving his two colleagues behind.

Oliver and Luna exchanged gazes and remained frozen for a few more seconds. They could not believe that the Head Teacher would not only accept the question of a student outside the class, but also respond in such a polite manner. It must be noted that he only acted kind and polite only with the students from his clan.

Was Azar a member of their teacher's clan? The students seemed to ask themselves.

Leading Azar behind one of the gigantic pillars, Horthia asked abruptly. "What do you want?"

"What do I need to do? Attend classes, just spend some time in the library? Head Teacher Horthia, please inform me about my duties." Azar acted politely like a regular student. His actions, tonality, and words, making Horthia extremely pleased, and prideful as he was finally receiving the respect he deserved.

"Of course you have to attend classes, what do you take my academy for? You need to participate in all the classes and training programs, take notes, and act in accordance with your status." Horthia lectured in a superior tone.

But when Azar's smile disappeared and he raised an eyebrow, the Head Teacher changed his approach. "Here, here, I'll introduce you to one of your colleagues to learn and train together," Horthia said walking to the open area. "You can attend classes if you want to, but you definitely must be present for the trainings of the representative team!" he said looking for a trustworthy student to let the devil in his care.

Azar nooded his head. "So, the classes are optional in the end. And how do I know when the training sessions are?"

"My assistant will give you a schedule, as for now, you can follow the students with the same uniform as yours. You are from the same year and have the same classes," Horthia said without turning to Azar.

Jonick Academy, like the rest, trained its students for ten years. Usually, from the age of ten, to the age of twenty. But the students could actually train in seclusion or wilderness, and for any amount of time as long as they presented to the exams, and passed them. There weren't such strict rules as long as one had the abilities. That's why Azar could become a student who was trained away for four years.

Classes were optional for everyone and could be chosen by preference. The training programs being the true backbone of the academy as they forced the students do adapt to may environments, learn how to hunt, fight, and survive.

This type of system was used by all the academies, combining theory with practicality and giving the students the freedom to evolve on their own. The healers and support cultivators also benefitted from their own specialized training, but most classes were for all the students In the same year.

If a student reached the level where he could access the quests given by his spiritual guide, and he needed help for their completion, the teachers will assist him without a question.

"Binia!" Horthia called to a boy that was passing by. The young man left his group of five and reported to the Head Teacher. He was slightly shorter then Azar and had a weaker build, but he seemed sociable and energetic.

"Binia, this is Azar, a student who just returned from training. He spent most of his time away from the academy, and is unfamiliar with the classes and training sessions. He is one of the representatives for the upcoming competition, so I want you to guide and take care of him. Am I clear?" Horthia asked.

"Yes, of course teacher," Binia responded without hesitation.

Horthia nooded his head and after giving Azar a short gaze, he took his leave.

Turning towards Azar, the student extended his hand in a friendly manner. "I'm Binia, a pleasure to meet you."

Azar accepted the handshake and presented himself as well. "Azar, I'll be in your care."

Azar was curious about what kind of knowledge would a student learn at his age. And what kind of teacher will hold the lecture. Will it be a beautiful women that gathers more attention on her then on the lecture, or an old person who speaks a word today and the next tomorrow? It was impossible for all of them to be at the level of [Aikyam].

Binia was kind enough to not assault Azar with a ton of questions and just make some small talk while presenting the rooms they were walking by.

Truth be told, Azar wasn't that interested in what the academy had to offer. Maybe because his heart still had some anger towards this type of place, but he wasn't sure.

Binia led the way into a large auditorium where the students occupied more then half of the seats. At this time, there were no more seats in the front rows, so Binia and Azar headed at the back.

"What is this class about?" asked Azar after finding a place to sit.

"Teacher Drebis is an experienced hunter, so his lectures are mostly about beasts and wilderness. Sometimes, he even shows us how to loot the valuable parts from the beasts bodies," explained Binia who remained with Azar instead of going back to his group of friends.

"Alright, thank you!" said Azar imitating Binia's actions and taking out a peace of paper and a pen from his storage ring.

That ring was the only one remaining on his fingers as the other one was put away for safe keeping. Azar had more then one artifact on himself, but he rarely used them because it was an external source of power and not his own. He didn't like to depend on external strength, or show his hidden cards that could potentially save his life.

Without saying other words, Azar closed his eyes to meditate for the short time until the teacher arrived. He was also a skilled hunter, who made good money from his job. Back then, this was his only way of getting something on the table.

The art of hunting was the first thing he learned after managing to save his life from the hands of his teachers. The one who taught him this art was the first person he truly acknowledged as his master.

Without him, Azar would've been long gone because of the wounds he received. Back then, Azar was no healer, and especially because he needed to treat his own body that he learned the art of healing.

At this time, the doors closed without being touched as a man in his thirties headed for the middle of the room. He seemed to be a decent person as the aura he exuded was steady and clean.

"Good morning, everybody!" Teacher Drebis saluted with the hands behind his back.

"Good morning, teacher!" the students got up and responded in a single voice.

"This is your last year at the academy, and you will graduate in little time. As such, I want you to leave with valuable knowledge that can potentially save your lives. So today, we will talk about the places on the continent that you should avoid at all costs. An important mention is to avoid adventuring into relics without considerable preparation. I know that the treasures will tempt you, but nothing is more valuable then your life, remember that! As always, if you have a questions, I invite you to raise a hand, or ask me at the end of the lecture."

As Drebis made a pause, waiting for the students to prepare for the lecture, Azar didn't know if he should laugh, or cry.

Is this what they call valuable knowledge? If the students never left the safe zones until now, will they venture straight into the red ones after graduation? They aren't dumb, and there are no red zones in the kingdom, or in the vicinity. This is basic information, Azar said for himself.

[ACKNOWLEDGED! Continental Zones

The continent is the only known part of the world because some of the maps from the old times still managed to be preserved. It is believed that even the continent's exploration is only done in a 20℅ proportion, including the current regions inhabited by humans.

Safe Zones: Are the regions with no threats from the beasts. They can be the size of a country or the size of a city.

Danger zones:

White zone: region with a minimal threat level.

Orange zone: region with dangerous environment. Can host beasts up to the level of a king.

Red zones: Extremely dangerous regions where only those with at least the level of an Aikyam are brave enough to enter. They can hold beasts up to the level of calamity. ]

"The regions with the highest level of threat you can enter, with at least the level of a [Master Channeler] and a battle or support rank of at least [C], are the orange ones. But even in them, you need to be extremely careful. The trainings and hunting expeditions you did over the years will help you in ways that you can't even imagine. However, they will not ensure your safe return. There are many experienced hunters who still found their end even though they were stronger then their enemy. Every threat needs to be treated with attention as you don't know what a beast that fights for her life is capable of," Drebis explained.

[ ACKNOWLEDGED! Threat Leveles

Ranking system used for measuring the destruction capacity of the beasts.

Threat levels:

Common

Official

General

King

Emperor

Calamity ]

"As you know, from all the types of beasts that evolved over the years, the darkened beasts are extremely dangerous. And even after more then a few hundred years, we are still unable to identify their exact cause of apparition. But what we know for certain is that they live for just two things. To kill, and to eat. That's all they do, from apparition to the end of their lives," Drebis said.

Azar shook his head in denial. He knew the cause of apparition, like many other people who reached a certain level of understanding and had the opportunity to observe the beasts from up close.

And darkened beasts were capable of much more then killing and eating, but only if they had the potential to evolve. Most of the beasts that transformed into darkened beasts didn't have the potential to evolve any further. That's why they didn't even breed. Because their blood line was weak.

As the genes in their bodies reached the conclusion that the individual is too weak to spread its bloodline any further, they blocked the reproductive instinct. Letting the individual die as a failed product of the natural selection.