The morning’s combat class nearly ended in chaos, leaving Vinny with lingering fears. Fortunately, he wouldn’t encounter Aesphyra in the afternoon class.
Well, may there be no Aesphyra in heaven.
The halls for cultural classes at Carillian Academy were separate from those for elective courses.
Vinny’s first elective was an advanced class on armor-type Soul Armant.
He arrived at a side hall in the elective building, its arched gate adorned with silver embossed armor patterns.
Inside the courtyard, rows of armor stands displayed various types of armor, scale and cloth armor from the ancient Carillian Empire, leather and chainmail in the style of the Tyrell Empire, tribal lallar armor, and plate armor from the Calla Kingdom.
The distinct features made it clear: this was the hall for advanced armor-type Soul Armant.
Armor-type Soul Armants were a niche subject, both at Carillian and other academies, and had essentially stopped developing.
Despite this, Carillian Academy still offered a specialized course for this unpopular Soul Armant and built a grand, luxurious classroom for it.
Vinny entered the hall. It was class ti, so theoretically, the classrooms should be full. Yet, the vast hall was eerily empty, with only a few classes having any students at all.
Vinny found his assigned class and discovered that, aside from himself, there were only five other students. Everyone exchanged glances, silent and awkward.
The middle-aged man sleeping on the desk at the front sensed soone entering and lazily raised his head, yawning as he stood up from his lesson plan.
“Alright, it seems our class is mostly here. Let’s begin.”
This was “mostly here”??
Vinny glanced around the classroom. With only six students, it felt more like a tutoring session than an actual class.
It seed armor-type Soul Armants truly had no takers.
This probably wasn’t the only advanced class for armor-type Soul Armants, but having only six students was pitifully few.
As for the middle-aged man at the podium, unkempt, with a scruffy beard, wearing a faded Carillian instructor’s robe, and hair hanging over his forehead, he had been sleeping on the lesson plan instead of preparing for class.
This teacher didn’t seem reliable at all.
“Alright, let’s skip the small talk. First, I need to confirm: none of you unfortunate or confused souls accidentally chose this class after misreading the Soul Armant type, right? You didn’t mistakenly select armor-type Soul Armants when you actually absorbed a different type, did you?” The man lazily leaned on the lesson plan, arms crossed.
Was there really soone like that?
The entrance was pretty clear.
All the students, including Vinny, couldn’t help but think this.
“Um, is this the advanced class for armor-type Soul Armants?” Just as everyone was thinking this, a hand timidly raised.
There really was soone like that??
All the other students, including Vinny, looked at the boy who raised his hand with exasperation.
“If you chose the wrong class, go change it now. It’s not too late.” The middle-aged man, however, didn’t seem surprised, as if he was used to it, and pointed toward the door.
“O-okay, thank you, teacher.” With that, the nervous student left the class.
Now, there were only five students left in the room.
“I knew it. There’s no way this year’s batch of armor-type Soul Armants freshn would be this many.” The man shrugged.
Huh? Five people, and that’s considered “many”??
Clearly, not just Vinny, but the other four students thought the sa.
Vinny glanced at the other students in the class. It was male-dominated, no, it wasn’t just male-dominated; there were no females at all.
Well, what girl would choose armor-type Soul Armants??
“Alright, the rest of you should all be users of armor-type Soul Armants, right? I assu you’ve all done so research on your Soul Armant type before coming here. As you can see, this type of Soul Armant is very special, special in that almost no one chooses it, and those who do often do so reluctantly. If they had better options, no one would pick this hopeless Soul Armant type.” The man spoke freely, not holding back in front of his new students.
The students listening to this felt sowhat uncomfortable.
Was this really what a teacher should do on the first day of class, tell them outright that the Soul Armant they chose had no future??
And this was a Carillian Academy teacher. How could he be like this?? Did they get unlucky and end up with the worst teacher in the faculty?
As the saying goes, lies don’t hurt, but the truth cuts deep. This statent made most of the students feel sowhat offended.
Indeed, if their magical aptitude hadn’t limited them to lower-tier Soul Armants, they would never have turned their attention to armor-type Soul Armants.
That was the truth, and this middle-aged man had simply laid it bare, tearing off the veil of pretense.
However, not everyone felt this way, Vinny, for instance.
He had chosen armor-type Soul Armants because he could see his compatibility with it, but for most, it was exactly as the man said.
“Given that, you should also know that things everyone flocks to aren’t necessarily good, but they must have so rit. Things no one chooses might not be worthless trash, but there’s always a reason no one picks them.”
“What I’m saying is, don’t aim too high. You’ve chosen armor-type Soul Armants, so stop dreaming about standing out. In terms of destructive power, you can’t compare to mage-type Soul Armants. In one-on-one combat, you’re no match for warrior-type Soul Armants. In mobility, you’re inferior to assassin-type Soul Armants. And you have no support abilities whatsoever, utterly useless.”
“To put it bluntly, you’re the bottom of the barrel, completely outdated. If you had any other choice, who would pick this??” The man spoke carelessly.
This guy.
Vinny raised an eyebrow.
This teacher had a unique personality.
“You might not like hearing this, and that’s fine. I don’t expect you to agree with . But one day, when you’re breaking through to the Master realm, maybe you’ll rember and my heartfelt words, and think there was so truth to them. Then I’ll feel like I’ve done my job as a teacher.”
“What I’ve told you is based on decades of experience and insights into armor-type Soul Armants.
Of course, now that you’ve entered Carillian Academy, you’re probably feeling pretty full of yourselves, young and reckless, thinking, ‘What kind of teacher is this guy? Who’s he to lecture ? Who knows what the future holds? With my talent, surpassing this washed-up, big-mouthed loser will be a piece of cake. I’ll see sights he’ll never see in his lifeti.’”
“Honestly, I sincerely hope you’ll see sights I’ll never see and reach heights I’ll never attain.” The man paused, then added, “Alright, enough of that. Let introduce myself. I’m Franklin, the instructor at Carillian Academy responsible for teaching armor-type Soul Armants.”
“Let’s cut to the chase. Since we’re all armor users, let’s talk in terms of armor. Co on, show your armor, starting with you.” Franklin pointed to the first student on the left.
At his words, the student activated his Soul Armant, and a set of black armor appeared on his body.
“Two-star Soul Armant, Shadow Armor.” Franklin examined the black leather armor that materialized in a swirl of black smoke before nodding slowly. “Passable, I guess.”
“?” While the others didn’t pay much attention, Vinny couldn’t help but look at Franklin.
What did he an by “passable”??
He could instantly recognize the students’ armor Soul Armant nas, so he must have so competence. But if he already knew it was a two-star Soul Armant, why add the “passable” comnt??
Could it be that this guy could also see a person’s compatibility with their armor-type Soul Armant??
But that was impossible, right??
Next was the second student, whose Soul Armant was a set of yellow brass light armor with a face guard.
“One-star Soul Armant, Copper Wall.” After naming the Soul Armant and examining it for a mont, Franklin nodded. “Not bad. There’s so potential here.”
At this point, Vinny really started to suspect that Franklin could sohow gauge a person’s compatibility with their armor-type Soul Armant.
But how??
The next student’s armor was quite unique, a luxurious tal suit adorned with wolf fur shoulder guards and a cape.
“Three-star Soul Armant, Wolf King’s Armor??” Recognizing the armor, Franklin looked at the tall, burly tribal youth with a strange expression. “What’s your na?”
“I’m Barbatos, teacher,” the tribal youth replied gruffly.
“Barbatos, your magical aptitude is at least three stars. Why on earth did you choose armor-type Soul Armants??” Franklin asked. “Were you tricked into it, or did you make a mistake?”
“Reporting to the teacher, neither. It’s my love for armor-type Soul Armants!” Barbatos declared proudly.
“...” Franklin fell silent for a long mont before speaking. “In the future, you might regret this.”
“No, teacher, I can guarantee I’ll never regret that decision,” Barbatos replied without hesitation.
Franklin, after a pause, gave his assessnt. “Your potential is indeed the brightest here. I hope it stays that way.”
Next, it was Vinny’s turn, and all eyes turned to him.
Vinny, following their gazes, summoned his Soul Armant.
With a flash of silver light, a majestic set of sealed silver scale armor appeared before everyone.
The blue tassel on the helt fluttered without wind, and golden eagle patterns erged on the chest and shoulder plates. The abdominal armor bore embossed designs, and the entire suit looked sturdy and reliable.
Vinny noticed that after advancing to the Artisan rank, Armor Fortress had undergone significant changes. While the upgrade from Initiate to Apprentice had only added a few lines, the transformation from Apprentice to Artisan was much more pronounced.
The armor now appeared more solid, the short tassel had grown longer, and eagle patterns had appeared. The shoulder guards had also beco more ornate.
“One-star Soul Armant, Armor Fortress? No, wait...” Franklin’s expression shifted from indifferent to hesitant, then to outright shock as he examined Vinny’s gleaming silver armor.
“No, no, this isn’t normal Armor Fortress.” Franklin’s tone carried a hint of disbelief.
The other students were also curious about what was going on with Vinny’s armor.
“Armor Fortress shouldn’t have this many intricate decorations. What’s going on with you??... Oh, I see.” Franklin’s initial surprise gradually gave way to understanding as he pieced things together.
“No wonder you chose Armor Fortress... Did you know about this beforehand? But that’s impossible, right?”
This question left the other students puzzled, but Vinny understood.
Vinny didn’t respond. Sotis, silence was an answer in itself.
“Student, what’s your na?” Franklin asked seriously.
“Vinny.”
“I an your full na,” Franklin repeated.
“Vinny Varelis,” Vinny replied.
“Varelis??” Not everyone in the class was from the kingdom or empire, so so were unfamiliar with the na Vinny.
However, the surna Varelis ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) was well-known, especially to those from the grand duchy. They knew exactly what that surna represented.
They all turned curious or surprised gazes toward Vinny, wondering why a scion of the Varelis family, a male, no less, had chosen to absorb an armor-type Soul Armant.
“Ah, so you’re that Vinny Varelis, huh? If I recall correctly, you ranked twenty-third in the entrance exam.”
Vinny was surprised. He had thought this seemingly unreliable man was just a slacker collecting a paycheck. But it seed he had actually done his howork and paid attention.
Moreover, from his apparent ability to gauge a person’s compatibility with their armor-type Soul Armant, it was clear he wasn’t ordinary.
Did he have so special ability? Or was it purely based on experience??
The latter seed more plausible, but it was also more terrifying. How familiar with armor-type Soul Armants would one have to be to achieve such a feat??
“Indeed, rumors aren’t always reliable.” Franklin gave Vinny a aningful look before examining the last student’s Soul Armant and offering his evaluation. He then returned to the podium.
“You’re the worst class I’ve ever had, that’s sothing other teachers often say, right?” Franklin began.
“But what I want to say is, you’re the class with the most potential out of all the students I’ve taught.”
“I hope you don’t waste that potential.”
“Especially you, Vinny Varelis. The goddess may have closed your doors and windows, but she didn’t completely trap you in that room.” Franklin gave Vinny one last look before turning back to pick up his textbook.
“Alright, let’s begin class.”
“The first lesson is a basic one. I know these foundational theories can be dry, but please bear with and listen carefully.”
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