"What is this? I feel so connected with nature. Why do feel sad about these trees dying? They are just trees…" Azzy didn't know how to describe this new feeling he was experiencing.
He was feeling sad, happy, angry, and peaceful, all at the same time as he was experiencing the emotions of the trees, land, ocean, air, etc...
He also felt like he could freely control the particles around him, just like his limbs. The Reaper then dragged his soul to the mindscape to speak with him face to face.
Upon taking a look at the Reaper, Azzy was taken aback in surprise. "What the hell…" Inside the skeletal figure, he sensed the mass of death energy and located the Reaper's core.
*Woof* A bark of the wolf was heard on the side. As he turned his head, he saw the dense protos energy in its forehead and the mass of lightning energy at its core.
The Reaper then said, "Upon reaching the ninth tier, you are reborn with the divine physique of the gods, Azrael. Your regeneration ability is so high that no healing skill card will be necessary for you.
All that's left is to improve your mastery over the jewel of life. Once you do that, as long as your soul doesn't leave the body and there's enough natural energy in the surroundings, you won't die.
Your eyes gained divine sight, which will make you see the emotions of any creature, be it a living being or a monster. Unless one masks their true emotions or is more powerful than you, it works."
"Okay, that's a bit overwhelming to hear." Azzy was naturally excited to get a power-up and felt the impulse to test his newfound abilities.
The Reaper naturally sensed his feelings and further said, "Your body just formed a spirit core like the monsters and the gods. It is currently absorbing the natural energy from the forest. In the meantime, I think you should focus on improving your soul power now that you are here. Kill ten more monsters and I think you could easily make a breakthrough to the next realm."
"Hmm…" Azzy wanted to hurry up and return to the academy but he was feeling a strong inclination to listen to the Reaper's suggestion this time. He wasn't interested to raise his soul power too quickly. All he wanted was to go out there and fight the monsters.
After much thinking, Azzy made the choice of staying behind for the next 30-60 minutes.
***
Emerald Academy, Emerald City;
By sunrise, the sixty representatives of the academy gathered in the empty land before the administration building. They were divided into six groups and stood in lines with their respective teacher at the front.
Six of the seven teachers selected to attend the festival also were here. Only Azzy was absent.
The principal, who was finished with his encouraging speech, asked the vice principal to fetch Azzy.
Aaron has no idea where Azzy is either. He turned towards Albert, who was secretly assigned to keep an eye on that anomaly.
Albert could only shake his head in response. Even Flora and Snivy appeared clueless, although wondering the same thing that whether he is stuck somewhere due to an investigation on the missing Alder.
Feeling a bit lucky, Aaron proceeded to say, "Sir, we were getting late and cannot afford to wait for teacher Gary no matter what kind of personal reasons he have. We will pick a replacement teacher and get moving quickly."
"But…" The principal had a look of hesitation on his face. In his view, Azzy was the one who will not lead them in the combat tournament for the teachers but he should be present for the security of the students.
Meanwhile, the representatives from 10-B don't feel good when they heard him. Julius and the others might not have the guts to speak their true thoughts but Raydon is different.
Without any hesitation, he argued with the vice principal, "Sir, have you heard of the saying, The Heroes arrive late? Let those academies wait for us. We shall go when Mr. Gary arrives."
"Oh, the baby bird is waiting for its mother…" commented someone from the back. As the rest of the students burst into laughter, a frown appeared on Raydon as he warned, "We will see how many of you trashes will still be in the mood to laugh after humiliating yourselves in front of those geniuses."
In an instant, the laughter died out and there was a deafening silence in the place for a moment. Half of them looked worried and half of them looked angry.
One of the angry students is Serestia, who reacted before anyone else with a comment, "True strength comes not from physical power or talent but from an unyielding determination to overcome challenges and achieve one's goals. A person like you who doesn't hesitate to abandon your comrades for the sake of power will never understand what strength is."
"Hmpf. All bark and no bite. Wastage of noble heritage." Raydon glanced to the side from the corner of his side. She was standing in the same line, not far away from him.
"You…" As Serestia was about to erupt in anger, a voice was heard from the sky. "Stop wasting the time in argument and let's go."
Everyone raised their heads to look into the sky, where Azzy was seen floating in the air and looking down at them.
"When did you arrive?" asked Aaron with a bit of surprise. He was still blindfolded but the fact that his mystic eyes cannot sense Azzy's presence surprised him. It was the first time this situation happened. And he didn't feel good about it.
Azzy answered calmly with hands on his back, "When Mr. Danvary is giving his speech. I missed the right time to land. Anyway, let's go."
After giving his excuse, Azzy started flying away at a slow pace, not intending to land and walk with the rest of them.
Knowing Aaron's plan beforehand, Azzy doesn't want to show that he cares about the safety of the students as there is a high possibility that the enemies target the students.
The last time, Fenrir was just one enemy. This time, despite being weaker, there will be multiple enemies. He doesn't intend to have any baggage while fighting.
Roughly about a couple of hours later;
Five groups were traveling on a large eight-wheeled wagon pulled by four horses. On the other hand, everyone from Azzy's group was traveling on a platinum-grade flying card belonging to Raydon as they took the route of the sky.
The remaining members of the team are Julius, Susie, Ace, and Talia from 10-B; Serestia, Navi, Bill, Laura, and Charlie.
Basically, this team is Team SA and 10-B. Azzy was informed that he will be leading a team that will be representing the Emerald Academy in a combat tournament.
Hence, he was forced to take Serestia's team as a whole due to their ability to summon the 6-star-realm Hydra from the wild. Since the team should be 7 members, he selected Julius and Susie as they were originally supposed to join Serestia had the tri-tournament happened as scheduled.
Raydon and Ace were an obvious choice and Talia was selected as she is very smart but she cannot team up with the remaining 10-A students led by Flora.
He planned to send Raydon and Ace as a duo while dropping the solo category in the tournament. Meanwhile, Talia will participate in the debate as a solo.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Raydon and Ace didn't know it yet. And Azzy didn't care about how they will react either.
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