The Demon Monarch System

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Just as Odessa told him before, as Apollo became immersed in cultivation, the bells symbolizing the beginning of class tolled. Moreover, they were much louder than they typically were due to the special state of the class taking place today. Thus, there were no absences allowed. Those who were absent would face disciplinary action.

Also, the instructors were given orders to forcefully fetch them should they run later than 10 minutes. However, this was a class everyone was interested in, why would they become a straggler by failing to present themselves.

Apollo then opened his eyes while the peals of the bells continued to resound in his ear, "Attempting to advance my internal state is truly much slower here. Even if I absorb the Anima Crystals, the atmosphere doesn't allow me to enter the state needed to seamlessly absorb what's inside to convert to my own."

Once done, Apollo rose to his feet and exited his living quarters. While doing so, he came in contact with everyone else. Similar to his predicament, the aura around Adeon and Ragnvald seemed slightly difficult to conceal. Hence, Apollo came to an immediate conclusion.

'They must have used the experience granted by the earlier battles to advance their cultivation. Furthermore, it doesn't appear to be on the physical level. If I'm not mistaken, their Soul Temples should have undergone a faint maturing. That means they're closing to contracting a Spirit,' Apollo mused.

On the other hand, Ragnvald silently inspected Apollo. Part of him was still unable to fathom the fact he could go against a Spirit. Even if he used a special technique, the repeated trauma should have mutilated his internals. Yet, he didn't even take a trip to the academy's Spirit Infirmary.

This led Ragnvald to become curious about him, 'Something is odd. Not only do all his techniques seem as if they're made to kill. His aura is mixed in with unadulterated murderous intent. Could it be that he's some type of evil cultivator? Or, could he be one of those special cases mentioned before. Humans who came in contact with the Terrors and miraculously lived to tell the tale.'

While he mulled over this fact, Apollo's mind laid on other matters, 'If I join the Institute of Umbra Night, there's a chance of awakening the Second Baleful Step, however, if I join the Institute of Vermillion Flames, there's a chance of understanding Hellfire at a deeper level. Which one benefits me more?'

All of a sudden, while he was lost in thought, his Tainted Temple emitted a signal of danger. Instinctively, Apollo raised his arm before him. At the same time, he utilized Hellfire Manifestation. But, when he saw who it was, he dropped his guard and halted the strike right before their neck.

"Nadida, unless you want to lose your life, I suggest not sneaking up on me," Apollo uttered with a small frown. One minor mishap and his hand would have punctured her throat. In fact, since his hand was so close to her neck, Nadida could feel a searing pain creeping up her neck.

"I was just testing you! You seemed so lost in thought that I thought it would be fun to jump you. So tell me, who were you thinking about, hmm? Could it be that girl you've been hanging around recently? What was her name again," Nadida responded. 

Even though she feigned ignorance, she released a breath she had been holding. Additionally, she took a subtle step back to settle the cold sweat running down her back, 'He's getting more dangerous. It's like his first instinct is to kill. What's happening with Apollo?' 

"What's with the weird question?" Apollo countered while giving Nadida an odd look. Likewise, Adeon glanced in her direction as well. Albeit cold, it seemed some matters were enough to spark his interest.

"Eh? Why are you deflecting and questioning me now? I asked first, mister. But, since we're on the subject of questions, where have you been this last month? Not once did I see you venturing the campus. It's like you were holed up somewhere," Nadida inquired with a hand on her hip.

In response, Apollo raised an eyebrow, "That's exactly what I did. The reason for being here is to take advantage of everything they give here."

"Yes, but there is also a hidden agenda. We are to use this time to garner allies. When we graduate, we'll have to form small units who would then have to achieve merits to move up in the chain of command inside the World Reclamation Task Force. You can't believe we're simply here to train, right?" Nadida answered with a slightly exasperated expression.

For a while, Apollo was silent. Truth be told, only a few people could even enter his list of possible allies, the rest seemed to possess an ingrained notion of superiority. If he were to try to secure favors, he was sure a conflict would ensue. 

As he was now, there was no time for him to worry about trivial things such as that. Hence, Apollo shook his head, "There is no reason to seek out allies. I firmly believe that future situations will arise that make your own allies present themselves. Should you move now, you'll just find an ally who operates under the guise of friendship. Once that happens, you open yourself up to betrayal," Apollo muttered.

Afterward, their journey fell quiet. During the entire journey to the Teaching Hall, not another word was spoken. Soon enough, everyone arrived inside and took their respective seats.

However, as they looked around, they realized something. Besides them, there was no other person inside the teaching area. Naturally, small murmurs started to sound as the youths grew restless.

"Where's Instructor Glaive or Headmaster Geneva? Are they supposed to leave by example? DamN! I was sleeping so good," Typhir groaned while shaking his head animatedly. The others wanted to chuckle but they all fell silent. 

Due to the pin-drop silence, Typhir raised his head and looked around, "Uhm, why have you all gotten so quiet? Wait… are you telling me they're behind me?"

"No shit, sherlock," Odessa replied with a roll of her eyes. For days he had pestered her and she had grown quite sick of his presence. Nevertheless, there wasn't much she could do. While under the academy's roof, she had to abide by their rules.

"Mr. Estrada, you are correct. Us, of the older generation, is supposed to guide you all down the right path. So, our tardiness is something that can't be excused. However, you and these sleeping habits need to be corrected. Thus, I shall assign you to chop down the tree in the surrounding woods. Remember, only chop those with this marking of a flame," Headmaster Geneva smiled while placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Y-yes ma'am!" Typhir replied without delay. Yet, inside he loathed the fact he opened his big mouth. 

Meanwhile, shortly after Geneva's appearance, numerous silhouettes appeared. Surprisingly, almost all of them besides 2 of them were unfamiliar to Apollo. But, Geneva began to explain the situation.

"As you all might have heard, today I will select the Institute you'll attend for the next 4 weeks. On top of daily training, you'll be allotted 1 hour per day to use the respective energy chamber of your institute. Further information will be given by your instructor once you arrive there tomorrow. As of now, Glaive will explain to you the purpose of the Institutes," Geneva announced before taking a step back.

In turn, Glaive walked to the middle of the room. "As I told you all today, you'll be learning about Spirits. Thus, allow me to give you a first-hand presentation of what you should look forward to."

After exhaling, Glaive formed a sequence of hand seals, a portal opened before Glaive. From inside, a thinly dressed girl with completely white eyes sauntered through, "This is my Spirit, Emilia. As you can infer, her specialty has something to do with her eyes. She is just one type of Spirit amongst the countless options. In addition to types, there are also forms. For example, this."

With a snap of his fingers, Emilia changed into pure energy that flowed into Glaive's eyes. As that happened, a change took place. An obscure mask with a thin film that obstructed Glaives eyes appeared.

"Some Spirit may possess the ability to take on other forms. Emilia can take on the form of these visors. In exchange, my ocular senses are heightened based on the amount of Spiritual Essence exhausted. Also, keep in mind, my Spirit can be considered a lower class. The higher the class of your spirit, the more their assimilation form melds with your body," Glaive informed the others.

This intrigued Apollo, based on the shoddy information he was given before, he was under the assumption that a Spirit couldn't take on an object form if they were a humanoid, "Instructor Glaive, I have a question, does that mean all spirits can perform this?"

"No. In fact, some of the higher spirits can only empower themselves. But, in exchange, they acquire an even stronger ability. It just requires the cultivator to attain at least the Spirit Lord Realm to activate. Generally, this ability appears when your Spirit breaks into the Heroic level," Glaive answered. 

Then, Apollo asked the question on everyone's mind, "Is a Spiritual Cultivator limited to one Spirit?"

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