“As his assigned Instructor I demand to know what the exact details are!” Instructor Wei shouted while slamming her hands on the desk causing it to creak loudly.
An ancient looking man was sitting behind the desk, he calmly looked at Instructor Wei whose features were mostly hidden under the hood.
“I do not have the authority to disclose this matter to anyone, the Chairman himself won’t either. Please stop pursuing this,” the man replied.
“So it’s going to be the blind leading the blind? Do I need to buy a white cane as well?” Instructor Wei asked sarcastically.
“Instructor Wei, I suggest you take a more formal and respectful tone with me,” the man replied calmly.
“Formal? Respect? You were still sucking your thumbs when I was already roaming the world. Respect is earned, not gained by your title as Vice Chairman!” Instructor Wei purposely emphasized certain key words to make her point.
“Instructor Wei, I admit that perhaps I am not worth your respect and that you are my senior in the outside world. However in this Academy, it is not about you or me, it is about this office,” the Vice Chairman replied, his demeanor still calm.
Instructor Wei was about to retort but held back. What the Vice Chairman said is true, the offices held by both the Vice Chairman and Chairman are to be respected regardless of who is in office. It was a legacy that everyone respected, and she better than anyone should know.
“The only way to get answers is from the MeisterSchloss Council of Elders,” the Vice Chairman offered an alternative to her.
“Menon? What has that buffoon have got to do with this?” Instructor Wei asked.
“Due to a certain agreement, our Academy has a gag policy on all matters regarding the student Chen Zhen Xia,” he replied, there was a glint in his eyes, seemingly trying to communicate something more than just what he said.
“I see, then I will leave,” Instructor Wei replied, walking towards the door, “I apologize for my behavior.”
“No need to apologize, the me of my youth would do exactly the same thing in your shoes,” the Vice Chairman replied with a mysterious smile.
“Take care of yourself boy, you aged too much over the years,” Instructor Wei replied with her back towards him, already entering the antechamber.
As Instructor Wei was alone in the antechamber, she muttered under her breathe, “That damn bastard Menon again!”
Leaning back on his chair, the Vice Chairman closed his eyes, thinking of his youth. It was a wild one filled with adventures, mysteries, dungeons, romance, destruction and mayhem.
Many of them had a slender tall female cloaked from top to bottom hiding all her features, the only part that could be seen were her lips.
Even as he was reminiscing, the door leading into the hallway closed, on it was a door plaque.
---
Academy of the Six Elements
Vice Chairman
Wanping
---
**********
“Beep beep beep beep.”
“Mhhprrghh!”
“Wham! Crash! Pling ling ling.”
The sound of something hitting the wall rang throughout the apartment, followed by the sound of glass breaking and shattering onto the floor.
The glow of the sun could barely be seen, as it ascended slowly while still hidden below the horizon.
It was Xiaoxia’s dorm. To be more correct, his penthouse. The brochures did not lie about the Academy taking care of its students.
“Sir, are you awake?” a voice called out over the telecom, another device which Xiaoxia is beginning to hate.
“Mmmpprrgghhh.”
“Sir, if you are late, Instructor Wei is going to be very upset,” the voice calmly replied.
Xiaoxia bolted up immediately, he was actually having the best dream of his life, when suddenly the image of Instructor Wei shattered the scene with a spiked mace while smilingly wickedly at him.
“I am awake!” he called out, hurriedly getting out of bed and heading for the shower at the other end of the room.
At this time a young man entered the room, dressed in black pants, long white sleeved shirt, a maroon vest and a black bow tie. It was his personal butler.
“Fred, did you help me get what I asked?” Xiaoxia asked as he entered the shower.
“Yes sir, the package is on the dining table,” Fred replied.
At this time another person entered the room, she was a middle age lady dressed in a conservative maid outfit. She started to make the bed and tidy up the room. At the same time clearing up the remains of what was once an alarm clock.
Xiaoxia spent just 10 minutes in the shower and quickly got out, drying off himself then putting on his uniform.
“Thank you Fred, thank you Miley,” Xiaoxia thanked his butler and maid as he left the shower and walked into the dining area.
“Anthony, so what do we have today?” Xiaoxia asked as he took as sit at the dining table.
“We have croissants, pastries, eggs, streaky bacon, cheese, smoked fish, sausages, fresh fruits, bread and beverages,” Anthony replied.
“Get me everything,” Xiaoxia was already salivating.
Without so much as a word, Anthony immediately took out a large covered platter and place it in front of Xiaoxia.
“Haha, you really know me,” Xiaoxia said, opening the lid to find everything inside.
“Sir, you are one of my best gourmand, I feel honored to have someone eating everything I cooked,” Anthony replied with a smile while pouring some beverages into various glasses and cups.
Anthony was a Master Artisan, or some would say a Master Chef. His level was not below Yralim, Menon’s chef.
“You are welcome! But the truth is your cuisines are really good,” Xiaoxia replied.
“Thank you sir,” Anthony graciously bowed at the compliment.
In the meantime, Xiaoxia was looking at the package Fred had gotten him.
“I really hope this works,” Xiaoxia muttered to himself. Looking at a package on the table, he wanted to give it to the girl he rescued.
During that time he hurriedly left the scene to avoid trouble, so he did not know her name.
But he readan article in the Academy’s bulletin mentioning the incident. It contained the girl’s name and reported that she had broken and dislocated all her fingers during the incident.
Xiaoxia felt bad, as he knew he was the cause of her injuries when he ripped off the gloves from her clenched fist.
He had asked Fred to find out where her dorm is and plan to visit her after classes today. The address was on the package, she is living in the Gold Class Ki talent dorms.
**********
Every student is given a private dorm room, the sizes ranged from normal dorms at 200 square feet to the 2,000 square feet penthouses. The décors even at the low end dorms were ostentatious and the higher end ones were exceedingly opulent.
Nearly 9 million students lived in the dorms throughout the campus. The dorms were huge monolithic skyscrapers that plunged into the skies. The smallest had a base size of 5 acres and up to the biggest at nearly 10 acres.
Their heights easily topped out over 2,000 feet for the smallest structure and over 4,000 feet for the bigger ones.
The Academy provided all students their own personal staff that catered to their well being. Personal butlers, maids and chefs were just some of them, there are others as well.
S Class students were better off than the rest, they had a personal chauffeur and flying craft assigned to them.
Moreover the penthouses throughout the various student dorms were S Class only restricted areas, even Instructors could not access them unless clearance was granted.
The entire population of nearly 160 million staff were also living on campus. Their housings were also massive and rivaled the student dorms. Although at a far lesser luxury level, there were much more of them as compared to the student dorms.
***********
“You are early today,” Instructor Wei spoke as Xiaoxia arrived at her office.
“Yes Instructor, I just found out I am able to use my personal spatial transportation device to travel within the Academy’s spatial portal,” Xiaoxia replied showing her the device.
“From what I understand, only high grade personal devices qualifies,” Instructor Wei stated a matter of fact.
“Yes Instructor, this one was given to me by the Arch Duchess Amelia of Crescent Lake City” Xiaoxia added.
“Good, from tomorrow if you arrive earlier and I am not in yet, cultivate your Ki over there till I arrive,” Instructor Wei pointed to corner of her office where a platform was. It had a mat on it that look well used.
Sole plates were banned in the Academy due to various past fatal accidents. There are spatial gates situated every around the campuses, but the dorms were rather far from them. It was by chance that one of the brochures mentioned the use of personal spatial transportation devices, just when Xiaoxia was looking for a way to easily move about.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Come, follow me I want to introduce you to someone,” Instructor Wei said and was already leaving the office.
Xiaoxia quickly followed Instructor Wei as they walked down the hallway. They soon approached another section of the Instructor’s offices and entered one.
“Tell the Instructor I am here to see him,” Instructor Wei informed the attendant as they entered the antechamber.
“At once Milady,” the attendant replied, moving into the other room.
As they waited, Xiaoxia was very curious, there were many gadgets, flying contraptions as well as sole plates hanging around the antechamber. There were also a large number of literature on the shelves that covered every wall.
The antechamber they were in was bigger than Instructor Wei’s office. Xiaoxia wondered how big the office will be.
“Milady, the Instructor will see you now,” the attendance informed her as he re-entered the antechamber, “Please follow me.”
Instructor Wei entered the room with Xiaoxia behind her. As they entered the room, Xiaoxia was staring with eyes wide open at the amount of gizmos and gadgets, the number of them surpassed those in the antechamber.
“Welcome to my humble abode!” a man’s voice was heard, his back was facing them and it seems he was occupied.
“As we spoken, this is the boy I wanted to introduce you to,” Instructor Wei replied without any formality.
“Huh boy? What boy?” the man asked, but was still busy with his stuff.
“Did you forgot the damn thing I spoke to you about?” Instructor Wei furiously asked.
“Woah woah wait a minute,” the man turned around, suddenly standing still as he look at Xiaoxia.
“You!” he pointed a finger at Xiaoxia.
“Me?” Xiaoxia was confused.
“Yes you! That boy I saw at the welcoming festival,” the man replied excitedly.
“Do you know him?” Instructor Wei was also confused and questioned Xiaoxia.
“I don’t know him Instructor Wei,” Xiaoxia replied honestly.
“How can you not? You took one of my prototype sole plate and flew off. You even saved one of my members,” The man smiled in reply.
“Well my member now, not at that time though,” he added.
“Ah! Toupee man!” Xiaoxia cried out suddenly, remembering the middle age man who was in the booth of the flying club. He had lost his toupee at that time.
“It is Instructor Sem to you young friend!” Sem asserted his position, his face a little embarrassed.
“So you two met before?” Instructor Wei asked, trying to hide a grin after hearing Sem being called the ‘toupee man’.
“Not exactly Wei jie, it was an emergency situation,” Sem answered while addressing Instructor Wei on a very informal basis.
“Sem, so do you recall now why I am here?” Instructor Wei asked.
“Yes yes give me some time, hmmm,” Sem was thinking, suddenly his eyes brightened up and he said, “Ah! I remember, you want this boy to be educated similar to what the martial arts alliances do for their children.”
“Yes, and you already agreed,” Instructor Wei told him.
“Wei jie, can it be another time, I am busy with something now, pretty please,” Instructor Sem pleaded, his hands now holding on to the stuff he was busy with.
“No Sem, I cannot live another day if this boy here is not properly educated,” Instructor Wei rejected his pleas and insisted, “Today after classes you will educate him within the best of your abilities, and continue to do so daily till he is no longer a country bumpkin.”
“Sigh, boy what is your name?” Sem turn to looked at Xiaoxia and asked.
“My name is Chen Zhen Xia, people call me Xiaoxia, my parents call me Xia Er,” Xiaoxia replied bowing and cupping his hands.
“Ah such fine manners, Xiaoxia will you like to join my flying clu….”
“Not now Sem, we are on a very tight schedule,” Instructor Wei interrupted with a stern voice.
“Wei jie, you take the fun out of life,” Sem replied, putting down the stuff he was holding while looking very sad.
“I will try to get you something for your hair to grow back,” Instructor Wei promised.
Sem’s eyes brightened and quickly said, “Thank you Wei jie you are the best!”
“Ok its settled then, I will leave now, Xiaoxia will come later once classes are over.”
“Ok, see you later Xiaoxia,” Sem replied and wave at them while they left. As Xiaoxia glanced back, he could see Sem trying to put that stuff on his head.
Instructor Wei and Xiaoxia next moved to the training hall where they proceeded to the highest level. This area had multiple training rooms that were reserved only for S Class students.
Picking a room, Instructor Wei place her right hand over a panel and the door opened. Then Xiaoxia changed into a training attire at one of the changing booth inside.
“Xiaoxia how long has it been since you started here?” Instructor Wei asked, as he came out.
“It has been exactly 2 weeks Instructor,” he replied.
“Good, I want you to move over there and start to cultivate and under no circumstances should you stop or move, do you understand?” Instructor Wei asked.
“Yes Instructor,” Xiaoxia replied. He moved to the right side of the room where the cultivating platform was, and started to cultivate.
Xiaoxia had neglected cultivating Ki since he started using the sole plate, most of his free time was spent flying around in it. So when he was asked to cultivate Ki in front of Instructor Wei, he was a little rusty, and the Ki absorbed was very little and low in quality.
Instructor Wei was a little furious and ordered him to cultivate Ki every single day in the training hall.
With the assistance of technology, the training area had a much higher concentration of Ki as compared to the outside. At the end of the first day, Xiaoxia had already polished his cultivation to its original state.
In the next 13 days, he already surpassed his previous self by a huge margin, he is now able not only able to increase his Ki reservoir, he is also able to refine and absorb higher quality Ki.
“Not bad, do not stop until I ask you to,” Instructor Wei complimented him, while measuring and checking his stats. She did this by pressing three fingers at certain points on his wrist. The measurements do not require machines like Menon whose Ki Realm was not high enough.
“Ok, now I want you to move your Ki slowly around your body.” She instructed.
Xiaoxia slowly tried to circulate his Ki around his body, starting from the Ki center and moving up into his chest and slowly into his arms.
Suddenly she pulled back her right hand with a sharp gasp. At exactly the same moment, Xiaoxia felt a tremendous surge from his Ki center, rushing through his body and into his arms before dissipating into the surroundings.
“You can stop now,” Instructor Wei had already stepped back a few feet, and asked, “Xiaoxia, have you learnt any martial arts during these two weeks?”
“No Instructor, I only picked up a few manuals from Captain Jongbae about 2 to 3 months back,” Xiaoxia answered.
“Let me look at them,” Instructor Wei took the manuals as Xiaoxia unloaded from his quantum bag. She could feel the numbness in her right hand from the Ki surge.
“These are just basics, are you sure there is nothing else?” Instructor Wei asked, while rubbing her hand to rid it of the numbness.
“Yes Instructor, these are all the manuals, I read them and followed the instructions during my time in the city.”
“Did Captain Jongbae also instruct you?” Instructor Wei asked.
“No, I learnt them myself,” Xiaoxia replied, in a split second he remembered something, “Instructor!”
At this point, Instructor Wei did not care that Xiaoxia almost forgot to address her correctly. She had not expected the backlash, as far as she recalled there wasn’t any incident that was even close to this.
She did not place any form of defense when she measured his stats, even the Academy did not teach this to their older students.
If she only been a split second later, the backlash would have ruptured at least three of her major meridians, damage that took a long time to heal even with the best resources.
“Xiaoxia, we will immediately start to train, only cultivate your Ki when you are in your dorm room,” Instructor Wei informed him. She had to start his training this instant.
She did not understand why and how he did it, but Xiaoxia had jumped to Duelist Realm 7th Tier. It was too soon too fast.
13 levels, at the speed he is going, only one thing came to her mind.
"He is going to kill someone if he does't learn to control his Ki now."
Copyright © 2015 Loke Weng Tuck. All rights reserved.