Lian walked into Class A and immediately noticed several unfamiliar faces. For some reason, most of them looked toward him as he entered.
He spotted Lin Ling in the crowd, waving him over.
Lian walked over and took the seat next to him.
"Dude, what the hell were you doing all day?" Lin Ling asked. "You just show up in the middle of the day. The teachers here are way stricter than Class D."
"I had some important business to take care of," Lian replied. "Did anything happen today?"
"During morning attendance, you were missing. Margaret got pissed and started saying how it's your first day in Class A, but your Class D behavior clearly hasn't changed."
"What's her problem?" Lian asked.
Lin Ling cut in immediately.
"Actually, it's her job."
The history period continued as usual.
The teacher spent most of the class talking about historical events and geopolitical conflicts. He constantly praised their country's glory and always found a way to turn every lesson into a speech about patriotism.
The next class was combat training.
Everyone gathered inside the training hall, where rows of swords and other weapons were lined up along the walls.
A woman in her late thirties stood in the center of the hall. Her expression was foul enough to make several students straighten up the moment they saw her.
There were faint wrinkles around her face, and a few strands of grey hair were visible.
She looked over the students who had arrived late.
"Ten laps."
The students who were late immediately started running.
Lian stood at the back of the crowd, watching the woman in the center of the hall.
So this old hag was Margaret, huh?
She was Sequence 3 middle stage, the highest rank held by any instructor in the academy. She had served in the military, unlike most of the other faculty, who were only peak-stage Sequence 2s and had little combat experience since they all came from clans.
Margaret looked over the students.
"There have been a few changes to the Class A roster. I hope all of you are at least Sequence 2. Otherwise, the coming days will be difficult for you."
"Yes, instructor."
The students replied in the affirmative, their voices a little stiff.
Lian looked at Lin Ling and smacked him on the back of the head.
Lin Ling's glasses fell off.
"Ouch! Why did you hit me?"
He picked up his glasses from the floor and put them back on.
"You just looked way too tense," Lian replied. "Like you were stressed out or something."
Lin Ling leaned closer.
"Do you know anything about our combat training instructor?"
Lian thought for a second before replying.
"No clue, man. Class A has special instructors who are exclusive to this class, right? Since this is my first time here, I don't know any of them."
Lin Ling sighed.
"Well, all you need to remember is that she takes pleasure in insulting and torturing students. I'm telling you this because I got targeted last semester when most of us reached Sequence 2. I was one of the weaker ones, so I got special treatment. And I still get that special treatment even now that I've reached Sequence 2, since everyone else is relatively stronger than me."
He glanced at Lian.
"For you, it's going to be even worse. You're the only Sequence 1 in the entire class. To her, someone like you who hasn't even managed to ascend after an entire year and a half is a worthless disgrace."
Lian stared ahead absentmindedly.
"Sounds like an annoying hag with attitude issues."
Lin Ling frowned.
"Bro, that's a bit rude. And why aren't you taking this seriously? I'm not joking when I say your fate is going to be worse than mine."
"Well, if it's guaranteed to happen, there's no point worrying about it or trying to change it. Your best course of action is to position yourself and plan how you'll respond when it happens."
Margaret stood in front of the class, holding a sword in one hand.
"Swords are superior to most other weapons. Does anyone know why?"
Her eyes moved across the students before settling on Lin Ling.
"You. Answer."
Lin Ling straightened up.
"Because they're adaptable. You can attack, parry, block, and counter with a sword. It can be used at different ranges and adapted to different situations. Spears are better suited for keeping an opponent at a distance, while axes rely more on heavy strikes. Bows are effective at range but become useless once someone gets close."
Margaret nodded.
"Correct."
She continued explaining the fundamentals of swordsmanship, moving between different stances and demonstrating how each could be used depending on the situation.
A sword wasn't just about striking. Reading an opponent's movements, recognizing their habits, exploiting openings, and sometimes creating those openings yourself were all part of the fight.
She occasionally brought up battles from her time in the military, explaining how she had applied those principles against actual opponents.
Margaret then called Lin Ling forward and asked him to demonstrate the techniques she had taught last semester.
Lin Ling tried his best, but he clearly made several mistakes, and Margaret punished every one of them. By the end, he was struggling to stay on his feet.
Lian barely paid attention to the fight.
Every interaction revealed something about a person. Their words, habits, reactions, even the way they treated others. With enough pieces, you could build a rough fingerprint of someone's personality and start predicting how they might react.
From what little Margaret had shown so far, Lian had already formed a rough character fingerprint.
She worshiped those above her and looked down on anyone beneath her. She was arrogant, and her ego seemed rigid enough that even a minor challenge from someone she considered inferior would probably be enough to crack it.
Lin Ling was already exhausted, but Margaret showed no intention of stopping.
"Please, instructor. Can we stop for today?"
Margaret struck him again.
"Do you think your enemies will stop attacking just because you're tired?"
Lian simply watched.
Around him, the other students kept their heads down. Nobody wanted to be the next target, and a few whispered among themselves while watching Lin Ling take hit after hit.
At first, Lin Ling only had a few bruises. But as the spar dragged on, they started piling up. His cheek was swelling, a dark mark had formed beneath one eye, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Then a sharp voice suddenly cut through the crowd.
"Just what do you think you're trying to achieve by doing all this?"
The training hall went quiet.
Several students turned toward the voice.
Who the hell was this guy?
Even by normal standards, that was a pretty rude thing to say to a teacher.
The whispers spread through the crowd as everyone's attention shifted toward the person who had just spoken.
Margaret stopped.
For a moment, she looked genuinely angry and surprised. Someone had actually talked back to her.
That had never happened before in the academy. Even students from powerful clans and wealthy families knew better than to challenge her openly.
But this guy...
Who the hell was he?
She scanned the crowd.
"Someone dares to challenge me? Come out and show your face."
Lian calmly stepped out of the crowd.
Lin Ling's heart sank.
I should've known it was him. Even when I heard his voice, I still hoped it wasn't Lian.
Margaret stared at Lian.
"What were you trying to say earlier? I didn't hear you."
Lian stopped a few steps away from her.
"If you're only trying to teach him, I don't see why you need to beat him half to death."
Margaret's expression hardened.
"You talk big, but I don't see any courage behind those words. Your words mean nothing if you lack the strength to back it up."
She pointed toward the weapons rack.
"Use any weapon you want. If you can land even a single clean hit on me, I'll acknowledge what you said."
Lian walked forward without any change in his expression. He picked up the sword lying beside Lin Ling and held it in his hand.
"I'll take it from here."
Margaret raised her sword and took her stance.
Ether started flowing into the blade. A faint green glow appeared around its edges, becoming brighter as more Ether gathered around it.
Lin Ling's expression changed.
"Wait..."
He looked at Lian, clearly worried. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but stopped.
The other students had similar expressions. Margaret was actually going all out.
Only people who had mastered Ether to an extreme degree could materialize it enough for it to be visible to the naked eye, and she was using that advanced technique against a Sequence 1.
But Lian didn't seem to care.