Professor Windsor cast his expectant gaze on the group of students, hoping to see one or two of them attempt to answer the question. He had been told a lot of good things about this batch of novice Apprentices, particularly about their incredibly impressive performances during the written exams.

A student amongst them had even achieved the academy's highest scoring result in the exams this year, causing him to hold a bit of expectation regarding their intellectual abilities.

That was why when he noticed them looking towards him with blank expressions as if it was a question they hadn't thought to ponder over before, his eyes carried a bit of disappointment.

He was about to turn towards the board and give them an explanation when his side eye captured the image of a hand hesitantly rising from the crowd.

Its presence instantly drew everyone's attention, as they were curious to know which of their comrades was bold enough to attempt a question unknown to the rest of them.

Most of them had only ever heard the phrase being mentioned the day before during the assessment process, with a small majority being privy to it beforehand, but not being aware of the innate intricacies surrounding the holy phrase.

Even the elven princess, who should have been more aware of such religious jargon due to the observant nature of her race, as well as her standing as a successor in the elven royal family, also had a hesitant look on her face.

All of this only served to make their interest in the person increase, as they wanted to know who could be privy to more hidden information than a princess of a major race!

Professor Windsor also looked towards the person with a bit of surprise, before giving them the signal to stand up and answer the question.

The figure of a young man, around 17 or 18, rose from the crowd with calm confidence. The young man seemed to be unfazed by the numerous gazes being thrown at him by his coursemates. Even if he did feel bothered by it, Professor Windsor felt like he did a good job at hiding it, as his face looked as serene as a gentle lake.

His deep amber-colored eyes stared directly at the professor, as if Mr. Windsor's cold indifference failed to faze him in any way. "Good morning professor. My name is Elias, Elias Nor."

After the young man introduced as Elias respectfully issued his greeting, Professor Windsor nodded absentmindedly, before picking up something noteworthy about the young man's name.

"Nor? Isn't that the last name that acts as an umbrella for all orphaned children under the Church of Grace?"

Elias respectfully nodded to the professor, signaling that he was right."Yes sir it is. I was dropped at the Lowe Parish of the church when I was but an infant, and I've lived my entire life under the comforting shade of the Benevolent Mother, absorbing their teachings and religious doctrines for as long as I can remember."

Professor Windsor nodded at the seemingly long, but clear response. Even if the young man seemed to be giving him a lot of unnecessary information and would come off to others as an overenthusiastic believer, his underlying message was clear—he was letting the professor know why he could attempt to answer the question!

'So smart at such a young age... Impressive.' Professor Windsor inwardly applauded Elias while giving him the floor to answer the question.

The young man seemed to take a moment to recollect what he was about to say, before starting off with a calm and audible tone.

"I would like to start by saying that I am not actually aware of the actual definition of this highly regarded phrase, and I'm only attempting to describe it based on the little pieces of information I overheard while growing up in the Parish, as well as the entire assessment process we were put through yesterday."

Elias then paused and put his hands calmly into his pockets, before making his voice drop a bit lower, "With that being said, I feel like the phrase 'Echelon of Faith', seems to pertain to an umbrella term describing, or shall I say denoting, the step to step change of an individual into the realms of divinity.

"It should pertain to a system highlighting innate specific beliefs, which pushes some naturally gifted individuals under the tenants of the five divine authorities of the true gods. The tests we were made to undergo seem to be the most important part of kick-starting this step-by-step process, as it aims to separate us into the divine authorities which innately fit us the best."

After noticing that the entire hall was looking at him with gaping expressions, the young man's brows seemed to twitch slightly, before relaxing and bowing to the professor respectfully. "At the very least that is my vague idea"

The entire hall descended into silence once again, which seemed to be the signature ambiance of the class today. They didn't expect such a detailed explanation, the young man had totally shocked them!

The most bewildered person in the hall was Professor Windsor, as he couldn't believe that such an explanation came from a newly admitted student.

The young man had perfectly captured the basic essence of the system!

He had on a look of shock on his cold face before the principal's concluding remarks from this morning echoed in his mind.

Apparently, the principal had told him to pay special attention to a young man amongst the first years, as he had been the one to smash the previously held written exam record this year.

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He didn't pay too much attention to it, but he seemed to remember that the name given to him by the principal seemed too similar to this young man's name.

Yes, the young man's name was also Elias Nor!

Professor Windsor suddenly had on a look of realization, before once again nodding in acknowledgment while signaling for the young man to have his seat.

He stood in front of the podium with calm poise, his previously reticent demeanor now a little bit more approachable. "Short and also managed to capture the important points, well done. Ladies and gentlemen, like Mr. Nor said, the Echelon of Faith is basically a categorical structure, aimed to distribute competent individuals into specific areas of divine expertise."

He paused, before looking at the students with a straight gaze, "This is where you start to take notes."

The previously engrossed students were startled awake, before pulling out their writing materials to take down the lesson.

They looked quite serious and energetic, making the professor feel very satisfied.

"Established and introduced thousands of years before the current New Testament Calendar, the Echelon of Faith system aims to impact the blessings of divinity onto our mortal souls, enabling us to fight against the encroaching darkness present below the calming daylight.

"There is a lot of catastrophic chaos present within our delicate world, and our mundane abilities are not enough to ensure our survival. Our mortal bodies are too weak, our minds too frail and our spirits too tender to combat all that aims to target the stability of our mundane lives. In front of the agents of death and darkness, we are but timid lambs cowering in front of a pack of jackals."

Professor Windsor's tone took a sudden change, a hint of pious solemnity hidden beneath his words. "This is why the orthodox deities who aimed to protect and shelter us, established this system to allow us to dictate our own survival. It is not that they couldn't easily vanquish the various evils themselves, but over-dependability breeds a lax and careless attitude and would eventually lead a society built upon that concept to ruin.

"The gods, due to their omniscient nature, noticed this and gave us the ability to ensure our protection ourselves. We end up cherishing the works born from our own hands more, after all."

He swept his gaze around the lecture hall, taking in the images of the rookie Apprentices either being engrossed in his teachings or scribbling on their writing materials.

They all seemed pretty focused, causing him inwardly nod in approval once again.

'This is only their first class and almost all of them are already taking it quite seriously. I didn't expect teenagers to be this easy to work with. Seems like I have a knack for this teaching of a thing.'

After showing himself with self-affirmations, Professor Windsor moved towards the whiteboard, before writing out something on it and moving out the way for the students to see.

"Now there are various terms associated with this process such as The Spiritual Sea, Inner Body of Truth, Divine and Etheric Dust, which will be explained to you during your introductory Theosophy and Paranormal Studies classes. For now just pay attention to them so that when they are explained, you'll be able to properly link them to the entire process."

After watching the students give him nods of affirmation, Professor Windsor moved to the board, before pointing to a part he had written on the board. "The first step in the Echelon of Faith process is undergoing the Spiritual Resonance Test, which was the first test you all undertook during the assessment process."

"The Spiritual Resonance Test basically determines whether you are fit to be a divine holder, as well as which divine category you fit into. This is done by determining how saturated your Spiritual Sea is by the Myriad of Spiritual Colors present within it, as well as noticing which divine color perfectly saturates your Inner Body of Truth."

Professor Windsor looked around the hall and as he expected, the teenagers all had perplexed expressions on their faces. They all seemed to be very unfamiliar with all of the terms being told to them, which was perfectly natural.

The man thought for a bit and decided to give a brief explanation in order to ease some of their confusion. "I understand how confusing this might be, trust me I was once in your shoes. Simply put, the Spiritual Sea is a higher-level plane existing between our physical world and whatever exists outside of it. It is the area where the deities dwell, as well as the end goal for roaming spirits. Think of it as a world that's entirely separate from our own, yet connected in some odd way."

The confusion on the student's face seemed to dissipate a bit, as even if it was still confusing, it was better to get a few bits of information than nothing at all.

Professor Windsor looked at the clock on his table, noting the time he had remaining with the students dwindling fast. "As for the Myriad of Spiritual Colors, think of it as part of the gods will that exists within the Spiritual Sea, while your Inner Body of Truth is the perfect form of your soul.

"Now back to my explanation, during the resonance test, the goal is to notice what particular color hue saturates your Inner Body of Truth among all the main five color selections. A person's Inner Body of Truth reflects their true self identity and because of that, it dictates what divinity you are innately suited for. This would prevent the issue of incompatibility, as wielding a forced divine authority can lead to the weakening, or maybe even the shattering, of the person's soul."

Upon the mention of such a grave and scary situation, most of the students looked sullen, as the very concept of their souls tearing felt very uncomfortable to them.

Professor Windsor nonchalantly dismissed their worries with a wave, as he let them know that the entire premise of the academy was to make sure that wouldn't happen.

He then went on to further explain how the Soul Saturation works, explaining that it had to be stimulated by some form of external stimuli.

During the early days, Professor Windsor explained that people had to make use of small-scale mind and soul rituals to tap into their Inner Body of Truth, which wasn't the safest and most optimal option. But nowadays, Psyche Priests helped to carry it out effectively and without problems, which is what their assessment officers were

Due to their innate authority over the mind domain, Psyche Priests offered the best and safest way to tap into the inner reaches of a person's psyche, mitigating any risky situations and unwanted side effects.

The students seemed instantly fascinated by the description of a Psyche Priest and their ability to tap into minds, as this was the first time something supernatural was directly told to them, causing them to whisper fascinating ideas to themselves.

It seemed like the world of fiction had seemingly become a reality!

Professor Windsor spent a few moments causing them to settle down this time, promising to actually introduce the topic in full during their next class.

The man sighed helplessly at how free and energetic teenagers could be, as he felt like they didn't yet understand how grave the journey they had decided to undertake was.

The stoic professor then calmly moved towards the board, speaking to them with his face facing away from them. "Now that we have covered the basics of the Spiritual Resonance Test, let's move on to the next stage, which is the Ceremony of Blessings. If you want additional information on the former topic, you are free to peruse the public library in your free time."

The man then walked towards the hall with a steady gait, before stopping in front of them with a somewhat peculiar expression,

"Now for the fun part, how would you all react if I told you that as of yesterday, you all stopped being regular, mundane people?"