I shouldn't have been surprised that the merchant's quarter was underwhelming. With more than a few using their wealth to escape the city. There wasn't much of a merchant quarter left.

That left very little for me to spend my money on. Both Harold and Douglas had given all of the money they had earned straight over to me. So I wasn't lacking in coin by any measure.

With my crafting ability, I could more often than not tell when the weapons and armour were of good quality. At this point, most of the items for sale left a lot to be desired.

There had been few speciality crafters in the city even before the signs of the monster wave. Now there wasn't a single three-star crafter in the entire city. Without their materials and items, there wasn't much on offer that could catch my eye. Any of the other more mundane wares also didn't interest me.

My wanderings had taken me out of the true merchant quarter and into the entertainment quarter.

Which despite everything going on was the busiest place in the city. Since it was approaching nighttime. Countless people were out and about enjoying themselves.

It seemed that gambling was alive and well in the city. It was quite a rare sight in the otherworld. Both the Holy Empire and the Grand Human Empire had a far more puritan approach. Most of the things on display in front of me would have been banned in their realms.

It was only the union of the Blue Star that had brought those past times to the Spirit World in full.

Without any true rulers, the laws of the city seemed to be more nebulous. Even before the evacuation of the upper class.

I didn't have much of an urge to gamble my newfound wealth. After all my gift was gambling enough for me at the moment.

As the night loomed, there wasn't much else for me to do in the district. I had an enjoyable time seeing people happy in the spirit world for the first time. But that was the extent of it.

Making my way back to the villa, I took a bit of a longer route around the city walls. To see exactly how much space we would have to defend.

The geography was not on our side, as the open plain around us allowed for an attack from any side.

While the walls did stretch around the city, it was clear that some parts were better-taken care of than others.

Some I could barely see the runes that were supposed to be protecting the city. It seemed that I would have to begin imbuing enchanters as well to fix up those weaknesses.

Walking back to the villa, I almost wished that I hadn't looked around. As the work that would have to be done seemed to be only building up.

It was also a little off-putting to see the population of the villa grow once again. Eddie was still gone, but it seemed that he had only begun to put the message out to the people he knew.

It felt like the population of the villa had doubled in the few hours I had been away.

I had thought him to be a hermit, who was more of a loner than anything else.

It seemed that it couldn't have been further from the truth.

Half of the city seemed to be in the villa.

It also seemed that the message had spread about me. I was surrounded by staring people as soon as I entered the villa.

They didn't seem to want to come closer to me or answer any of my questions. But my final few minutes of the day were a little more disconcerting than I had been expecting.

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It was a little harder getting to my room this time around. I made sure to lock it as best I could. I didn't want anyone sneaking in.

I returned to my room a little earlier than I would have liked. It was the first time I hadn't used my full time in the spirit world.

I wanted a good rest before I tackled the academy tomorrow. No matter what I decided to graduate early. I would still have to spend the next few days in the Academy dorms. Never away from prying eyes.

I was a little hesitant as I got up the next day. It was unfortunately still too early to do anything with my gifts. Most of the timers were still going strong.

After getting my sibling ready, I made my way towards the city's 12th District Academy. It certainly wasn't the best around. But it was only one nearby that the state paid for. Which meant that everyone in my family had attended.

Of course, I had plans to change that for my siblings. I didn't want them to have to deal with the lacklustre teaching staff and the poor standards.

I went towards the head teacher's office. The meeting was the only reason I had to come to the academy so early.

Her smiling face greeted me as I came inside.

Professor Sanders had been one of the best teachers I had in my four years in the academy. But even with the smile on her face, I could tell that all she wanted was to get this meeting over with.

After all, it was a meeting she would have hundreds of times over the year.

"Take a seat there Alex. Congratulations on your awakening. How do you feel?"

I still wasn't sure how I was feeling about anything. The past few days had been a rollercoaster of emotion.

"Thank you for your concern professor. It has been an interesting time. I am quite pleased with my gift."

She nodded slightly at that, it was clear that she was barely listening to what I was saying.

"So. Will you be applying for early graduation? Or do you wish to spend the next few months sharpening your mind?"

I did feel a little emotional about the decision. While my time in the academy had been difficult. I had still expected to spend the next few months here. Now there simply didn't seem to be a point of sticking around.

"I have opted for early graduation."

She nodded slightly in return.

"I do see you are aiming for a spirit qualification. As you are aware, with your current scores it would be difficult for you to enter a top-class university. If you get unlucky even a lower-ranked University might not accept you."

She took a few more moments to look through my file. I knew what she would be seeing. A decent student but nothing above average. I expect it was only the fact I had a talented sister who had awakened a good gift was the only reason that she didn't try to convince me further.

"Very well, if that is what you have decided. Your final exams will take place over the next few days. I hope you are ready for them."

With that parting message, she gestured for me to leave. After all once I declared to graduate early I wouldn't be her student for much longer.

Since I had declared, I didn't have to attend any of my classes. Which was a blessing as I returned to my dorm room empty.

I checked my desk, my calendar had already been updated with the times of the exams over the next few days.

I had a few hours to kill before my first theory exam. So I returned to the Spirit World.

Fortunately, Eddie had left a few of the cores in my room. So I didn't have to head out into the villa and see how many more people had decided to pay a visit.

[Congratulations. Thirty-five students have passed the year and graduated from their first year.]

I was glad to see that more and more students were graduating. I nearly had the first year full of teachers. So I imagined I was close to reaching the peak of the amount of people who would graduate.

There were four genius students this time around. One Mage, One Knight and finally two crafters.

[3★ Alchemist Vang,

Skills: Alchemy(3★), Enchanting(1★)]

[3★ Alchemist Berger,

Skills: Alchemy(3★), Forger(1★)]

It made it clear that the difference between elite teachers and common teachers was stark.

I first drew the free common teacher.

I was happy to see that I received a healer. Which meant that three of my four first-year academies had a full roster. It was only the Aura Academy that was still missing a teacher.

After seeing how effective the elite teacher was in enchanting. I decided to move Elite Teacher Rivers down to the first year. Especially with his secondary skill. I was sure that he would be able to bring out the potential for a lot of students.

I drew a healing-inclined class. So I immediately had to spend 40 AP points to afford another full year. I would still be focusing on mages for the moment. Leaving the healers for another day.

With the deposit of another two Rank 5 cores. I now had 1000 AP to play with. This time I would be drawing four elite teachers.

With a wish for good luck. I drew my first elite teacher of the day.