The other students glanced over with a hint of surprise. They had guessed as to who Xue Bing was, but they now understood that she was the teacher for space element related powers. It was no wonder she was appointed their class teacher, as space and time superpowers were treated as the highest.
Not to mention, out of the only two students she had, first place and third place were literally in her hands. This made the faces of the other teachers become slightly ugly, but they could only harrumph and take their anger out on the trash students by glaring at them.
This left the students feeling aggrieved, but what could they do?
Xue Bing smiled and nodded to the others. "Now, we will take you to the Black Land so that you may begin your first absorption. On the way, each of your teachers will explain some things to you about superpowers, the Black Land, the Zero Gate, and how you can become stronger in your respective fields. Make sure to listen attentively."
The students made sure to acknowledge this as Xue Bing placed a hand on Dante and Slessor's shoulders before leading them to a nearby door to the side. The other teachers were not so amiable to their students and led them to other doors.
Seeing Dante and Slessor's puzzled looks, Xue Bing explained. "The ranking of your superpowers is not done just to make you hate each other, but to decide how your benefits are disturbed. The Black Land possesses ambient energy that can be actively absorbed by anyone with a superpower."
"Even so, as if it is the way of the world, this energy has different densities in different places in the Black Land, so some places are more lucrative than others. Since the world is not fair and benefits take precedence to justice, we've decided to let those who rank higher be placed where the energy is densest over the others."
ραΠdαsΝοvel.cοm Dante's expression changed slightly and Slessor spoke her mind. "But isn't that short-sighted for such a so-called great academy? By letting those who are better always take the best resources, how would those who are worse catch up or bridge the gap? Why not just accept those with the best talents and ignore the rest?"
Xue Bing glanced at Slessor directly with her familiar 'neutral' smile. "Trust me, there have been many petitions to do so. To limit the influx of students, weed out the trash below the A grade and only let those above that enter."
"After all, the Black Land and the Zero Gate are not age or power locked. Anyone with a superpower can use them, whether the headmistress, a new student, or an aged elder on his deathbed with a superpower. Those who have graduated from your Unique Batch of earlier years crave the Black Land after graduation because they cannot easily increase their superpowers elsewhere."
Xue Bing sneered. "Do you know how much pressure they put on the academy each year to let them in? They have even formed their own group and with each batch we graduate, they get new fellows into their fold. Do you know how much trouble the Academy takes to limit the use of these precious resources to new students?"
"If these graduates could, they would even kill you younglings and take your place. When the Zero Gate opens every year, assassination and replacement attempts peak."
Xue Bing then looked away arrogantly. "Besides, the Eternal Academy has never claimed to be a place where you get to decide your rights and freedoms. What you receive and are given are decided solely by us, and you can only accept or cry about it."
Slessor frowned and clenched her fists in anger at being chastised in such a manner, while Dante could only shake his head. He might have thought something similar to Slessor, but he knew the end result of expressing it.
Expecting fairness where something so precious and rare in the entire universe was concerned? Was she living in fantasy land or was she the reincarnated saintess of social justice warriors? The only way anyone would harp about fairness given such a thing was if they wanted to use it to gain more benefits.
Besides, Dante thought, if she wanted fairness she could just…
"Oh, and since you are so worried about those below you, you can opt to give them your spot so that they can catch up to their betters. Should I apply for the change for you then?" Xue Bing asked nonchalantly.
Slessor paled and immediately rejected such a thing. When she saw the knowing smile from Xue Bing and the look of pity from Dante, her expression became ugly and she went quiet completely.
Dante knew that the lamia had learned a brutal lesson today about herself and about the world.
After that spell, the group remained silent as they traversed a tunnel that was lit on all sides with a delude of colors, but did not allow them to see outside. It was only when they got to the end where two cyborgs wielding weapons were guarding that they felt something different.
The cyborgs stopped Xue Bing and checked her qualifications before respectfully allowing her through. Dante and Slessor followed along and were admitted to an area they honestly half expected to see.
The Black Land was… just that, a black land, An expanse of pitch-black soil? humus? earth? or even sand? that stretched out as far as the eye could see, right into the horizon. There was no sun here, but the world seemed to be lit.
It was as if the sun was behind you since the sky was still relatively bright blue, but turning around showed that there was no such thing there either.
Xue Bing allowed Dante and Slessor to admire the area and express their shock before patting their shoulders. "Enough dawdling, try and sense the energy in the air."
The two snapped out of their delude and then focused. Dante honestly did not know what to expect by sensing anything, but the moment he did, he actually felt it.
It was strange, like how one could sense the water around them when they dove into a pool or body of water. You could feel it all around you flowing, and sometimes moving. It pressed against you because you were occupying a spot where it would have been, so there was a feeling of pressure.
Seeing that the two had been able to achieve this, Xue Bing was satisfied. She then slashed the air in front of her, and a rip in space appeared. Dante and Slessor were surprised by this, not knowing exactly what superpower Xue Bing had previously. However, they now had an inkling of an idea.
Xue Bing manually widened the gap and the other side showed a small cabin that was surrounded by black earth. She gestured to it with a smile and walked through her portal to appear on the other side.
Looking at their teacher who was smiling at them from the other side, Dante and Slessor shared a look before following through. The experience was quite banal, as it was less like teleportation and more like passing through a wormhole.
Xue Bing turned to the cabin behind her and explained its purpose. "Naturally, we can't just toss you lot here to absorb energy while sitting on the hard ground. This is the cabin for the top three, with three separate rooms for each of you to reside in."
Xue Bing glanced at the horizon. "Since first and third place are here, the second place should be coming soon."
Dante and Slessor were startled as they heard a tearing sound above them and gazed toward Xue Bing's focus. There they saw a small figure tearing through the atmosphere faster than a jet as it rushed toward them.
Before they could even become alarmed, the figure appeared before them suddenly, stopping all that momentum in an instant with no backlash. It turned out to be the teacher called Slyphia and in her arm was Humphrey.
The fellow folded his arms and pretended to be casual, but Dante could see that he was visibly trembling. He was probably new to his wind element power and had never done something like what Slyphia did.
Xue Bing glanced at Humphrey with amusement and then nodded to Slyphia. "Are you gonna stay here for him or are you gonna go back and sort out the others?"
Slyphia giggled. "Why would I bother with such trash? I'll stay here of course."
Slyphia's voice was slightly high-pitched and very sweet to listen to, but the three students couldn't help but feel a coldness in their hearts. Those poor blokes who were hoping that their teacher might give them guidance were left to fend for themselves while she came to curry favor with her most talented one.
This Eternal Academy… if there was one thing you should pray for, it was not for wealth, not for favor, nor for love, but by god, pray you had talent.
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