Chapter 21: New Creation Academy, New Asturias Campus.

New Creation Academy, New Asturias Campus.

Lucius walked down the long hallways in his white and blue uniform, adorned with the insignia that his new status allowed him to wear.

The sound of his shoes echoed down the empty hallway. Most of the students were already in the classrooms, waiting for their teachers or already in class. Those who weren’t inside simply hadn’t shown up.

Above each classroom was a sign announcing which class was being held there.

He looked at the signs for Class S, Class A1, A2, A3..., Class B1, B2, B3...

And he kept checking the signs until he found the dreaded and despised: Class F-1.

Class F has only one classroom, just like Class S.

But while Class S has it because everyone there is special and few in number, Class F has it because the academy doesn’t think they should spend so much money on them.

Most of them are useless. Only a few are worth saving. So a single Class is enough.

When Lucius opened the door to the magical auditorium, he found a bluish floor that cast a faint glow upward onto a series of tiered seats, each with its own desk. These desks displayed different numbers.

That’s the ranking of each person sitting there.

The hall was the largest of all, but also the one with the fewest furnishings.

For such a vast hall, there were only two lamps providing light from above. Fortunately, the floor was illuminated; otherwise, no one would be able to see anything here. Nevertheless, many students used their own lamps for light.

As soon as he walked in, he caught the attention of all the students.

"You’re late on your first day, student Lucius," said the professor, frowning.

Lucius looked at him. "Late?" he wondered, glancing at the clock on the wall next to the blackboard. It clearly read 7:59 a.m. and 30 seconds.

"There are 30 seconds left," he replied clearly.

He wasn’t late; in fact, he was early.

The teacher frowned. "You call that being early?" he asked furiously.

Lucius smiled. "Are you familiar with the concept of punctuality, professor? I arrived on time. The fact that you want to work overtime has nothing to do with me," he asked sarcastically.

"You..." The professor pointed his finger at him, but Lucius didn’t care and went to sit down.

He didn’t like being arrogant, but sometimes people needed a reality check. From the moment he walked in, he could sense the change in this guy’s aura.

Besides, it wasn’t as if he was unaware of the Asturias’ subordinates. Although he’d never been involved in the family business, he did know that this guy worked for the Asturias. So he’d look for the slightest thing to complain about him. Paying him any attention is pointless.

Some people looked at Lucius as if he’d gone mad. Others, however, looked at him like a hero.

Just today, when that teacher was being so unbearable, someone taught him a lesson with cold, sarcastic words—just the kind he likes to use... That’s so satisfying!

Lucius proceeded to sit in the only empty seat, the last one, by the window. And as soon as he sat down, the seat connected to his system and revealed his ranking.

Local Ranking: 1,503!

The highest ranking in the entire classroom by a significant margin. Even the teacher who was lecturing barely had a ranking of 5,000...

’I’m ranked higher than the teacher. Not bad.’ Lucius felt good realizing this.

However, his ranking caused quite a stir among all the students.

Class F finally had someone in the Top 10K... No, actually, in the Top 100,000!

All the rankings Lucius saw displayed on the seats were also being shown on a screen above the blackboard: the class ranking.

The moment he appeared, his name was placed above everyone else present, in the first row.

Below him, the next name on the list was Khoy Larsen. His ranking was the second-highest in the class’s history: Rank 120,000.

Above and below him were only E-Ranks, but he was an F-Rank still struggling to climb to the next rank.

However, he had the most Mana Marks in the class: six marks.

’It’s strange that someone with six marks is still in Rank F. What kind of terrible marks does he have?’

However, the one with six marks was the best known in the classroom for being the strongest, so he couldn’t be that bad.

"Class is in session." The teacher interrupted Lucius’s thoughts and those of all the students the moment the exact start time was reached.

Everyone turned their faces forward to listen... Except Lucius.

This man had nothing to teach him. He pretended to pay attention out of respect, but his mind was on other important matters.

"Aren’t you interested in what the teacher is saying? I think there’s some value in his teaching." Suddenly, a whisper audible only to him broke his reverie.

Lucius turned to his side. The person sitting at the next table was staring at him.

It was a woman who left him in shock for a brief moment.

’What is this woman doing here?’ he wondered. He had no idea that there was a member of another of the great families at the Island Core.

"Surprised? I requested the transfer to get out from under my family’s control." She laughed, shrugging her shoulders. "How are you, Lucius Asturias?"

Lucius nodded slightly. This woman was just like him in some ways. Her family considered her trash and practically cast her out like a dog.

"Clara Thorne... I’ve been fine. I always thought you weren’t the type to run away from home, but it seems I was wrong." Lucius returned her greeting.

"Well, sometimes you have to cut ties in order to grow, don’t you think? Although, I haven’t been able to break free from that sphere of influence." She looked ahead at two students who were glancing at her out of the corner of their eyes.

They were watching her.

Lucius nodded. "The only way to break free from the sphere of influence of one of the founding families is to become as powerful as they are. For now, you’ll just have to live with it."

"Haha." Clara burst out laughing. "You’re right, Lucius Asturias. So? Will you answer my question?"

Lucius turned to look at the professor. "It’s not that I’m not interested; it’s just that I already know this material. I’m sure what he’s saying will be useful to you; you should pay close attention."