Beatitudes

Golden pattern.

" Now that you've have all been addressed on those matters, it's time you're introduced to the first course of your study.... Fundamentals of the Elements "

With a heavy aura pressing down on everyone in the hall, the bustle and excitement in the air was quickly diluted, it was fundamentally impossible to resist, and to Jaden and the other two who had felt the aura of those two outstanding sixth year students and assumed it was the highest pressure they could face, it was even more stunning.

Ignoring the looks of shock and amazement on their faces, she spoke up with her clear and calm voice that was like still water,

" Who can explain the intricacies of the mortal unlocking phase up to the first six stages?, Anyone who can give a proper answer will be awarded a hundred academy points from me. "

To the students who were just made to know about the significance of the academy points stated, it was more or less like a bolt from the blue sky as most of them almost instinctively raised their hands whether they even knew it at all or not.

" You over there. "

Seeing the vast number of hands in the air, the expression on the beautiful woman's face remained unchanged as she casually looked around and pointed at a boy sitting in the middle area of the seats, his bright face that gave off a aura of innocence brightened even further as he shot up with excitement and immediately began to say all that he knew about it.

" The mortal unlocking phase has ten stages, with the first six stages known to be the six fundamental sealed stages, for every stage broken through it grants the practitioner a fundamental attribute of the body that have unlimited potentials, breaking through to the first stage grants one... one.. on.. "

With the bright and enthusiastic expression on his face he quickly explained all that he knew until he got to the attribute of the first stage and faltered in voice and expression, you could see the formation of slight sweat on his forehead as he turned red with embarrassment, realizing what happened, the people who felt displeased with him being picked to answer brightened as they raised their hands again, the guy clearly didn't know what to say next, it was their chance to get the academy points.

" I-I seem to have forgotten the rest, I'm s-sorry "

With a red face he apologized as he admitted his memory loss issues, hearing what he said some people including the Bloat chuckled and sniggered as they kept their laughter from bursting out with their hands over their mouths, as Bloat laughed wantonly at the back seats, he felt Ayo who gave a nudge and tried to show a stern expression but failed from holding back the chuckle within himself, Jaden just looked on with a straight face that had hints of twitching on it. Then after a wave of heavy pressure, everyone was knocked back to soberness as the woman remaining unfazed looked at the boy

" You can take your seat."

After that she turned her head elsewhere as the boy slowly sat with red cheeks, the people by his side poking at him with faint smiles in their faces. Almost immediately she pointed at another person who raised their hand the first time, " You can answer the question, make sure you're sure of what you want to say. "

Turning to see who was picked to speak up, the whole class seemed to freeze on their seats as the figure stood up, bright light shining in the eyes of all the young boys, some even had their mouths wide open.

" Jaden it's her, princess Snow "

Bloat tapped a dazed Jaden as he said with a fervent light in his eyes. It was the girl that they saw yesterday that rooted them to the spot with her white hair and otherworldly beauty as she did again today, when they got back to their dormitory last night and recalled her visage they talked for a bit of time about her as they speculated at her name and identity until finally giving up and naming her thus, "Princess Snow", it was in acknowledgement of the snow white hair that showed a stark contrast to her skin color yet giving it a very complimenting look and making anyone unable to forget her. Even at this point her appearance was as stunning as previously as Jaden looked on unable to say a word as her back figure reflected on his eyes, the same heart racing feeling he got yesterday hit him hard today right now, they all knew she was a student as she had a very youthful look but never did he expect her to be in the same year as him, he had been slightly wishing to see her again and walk up to her but unfortunately now that he did, it was neither the time nor the place.

Ignoring the stares around her, she stood up and spoke with an indifferent look, yet her voice felt like honey to their hungry souls and some of the boys had all blood rushing down to their second brain and third leg the next instant. " The first stage after breaking the seal entails the awakening of strength after which the second stage entails that of agility, the third stage entails defence and body coordination, the fourth involves that of the five senses awakening, the fifth stage grants one bodily regeneration abilities while the sixth stage borders on the ephemeral, the sixth sense is awakened, that which we call the will of a practitioner. "

The woman on the podium had a satisfied expression as she nodded her head and opened her lips,

" Very well said, I'll award a hundred academy points to you as well as award twenty five to the previous speaker for at least mentioning something reasonable. "

After speaking she waved her hand in front of her as her eyes glazed over and she seemed to tap somethings in the air, after which she dropped her hand and her eyes focused once more,

" As of now, the bands I handed to you all has already completed the bond between it and you, it will only be accessible by you alone. To communicate with it you can give a mental command to it to 'open interface' while you wave your hand in front of you..."

As she said that surprise colored their faces and then all quickly did as she said, some even fumbling as they murmured out the open interface command, to their surprise it worked as such as a deep blue interface with a futuristic design and fancy background appeared before them, listed words appearing before their eyes.

" When you do that you'll be the only one privy to your interface unless you will it to be shown to others. Three listed words below you'll see an option that allows you to view your academy points balance, you can confirm the academy points there young girl, you can take your seat. "

" Thank you very much, madam. "

With curiosity in her gaze princess Snow confirmed the woman's words as she took her seat, little as a fairy.

All this while, Jaden had been staring at her, focused completely on her backside as random thoughts passed through his mind, he couldn't say what was going on with him but he could tell he was very much interested in her, very much. He watched her as she sat and listened to the words their teacher had begun to say, for a long while he kept on staring as the time passed by quickly.

"...... So that's all for now. What I want you all to do next is to prepare for the next class next month alongside your other courses, for now I'll encourage you all to take your spare to cultivate some more, I expect to see a quarter of the class or more having already broken through into the first stage, breaking through at the early stages could not be any more easier but that can't be said to be the same for the later stages, so I'd advise you to make precious use if your time, because even the help from the academy can only get you so far if you make use of it alongside hard work, the academy doesn't support slacking off and lagging behind for reasons born from your laziness. Also take a bit of your time to explore the virtual space of the academy and the arena, those two places are reasons why the academy is said to be number one and unsurpassable, they'll help you a lot in your cultivation alongside other things as well. See you all in a month. "

With that she walked off toward the exit reserved for the staff of the academy leaving the students behind who had differing expressions on their faces.

________________________________________________________

Night time in the academy had few people walking around through the buildings, with a few buildings in pitch black darkness, one of these buildings was the dormitory where Jaden stayed alongside his two new best buddies, but currently the building was fully plunged in slumber as Jaden could be seen sitting cross-legged on his bed facing the faint starlight coming through the windows, while other slept he cultivated, although something he had no problems doing, he was naturally tired at this point of the night with all the activities that went on since the morning came along, but he fought back the wariness as he sat cross-legged with a tranquil expression on his face. The quiet of the night mirrored the situation within him but was the opposite of his emotions as excitement threatened to disrupt his concentration. Looking within him you could notice the seal keys placed at different points within his body all lit up as they glowed with a bright white light stained with yellow flashes.

He was breaking through to the first stage!

When the beautiful woman earlier today ended the class and stated her expectations of at least a quarter of the class breaking into the first stage, she estimated that the fastest among them to take at least two weeks and three days to do it and that would be if the person was the one she heard was blessed with a ten circle talent, never did she expect any of them to already be breaking through not any later than the same day!. But that wasn't much of a shock to Jaden who had already been told such by Astral, he was aware of it himself that he was going to break through sooner or later, no later then the next day, which was why he worked extra hard to break through right now. If news of this got out, the uproar it would cause in the academy wouldn't be a small one, but he naturally wouldn't publicise it after Matthew's warning the other day.

Currently within him, the eight keys of glowing light could be seen to have a thick line of white light connecting them as it moved at a moderate pace, it started from the one at the point of the connection between the neck and the upper body and had already connected six of the keys in a queer pattern of light. Outside the thirteen circles was floating and glowing with a otherworldly platinum white color, twelve of them in the shape of a circle as the sovereign circle floated outside the circle moving in a circular motion around the other twelve.

After a bit of time passed, the line of light connecting all the keys finally reached the last one as it moved into it and seemed to wrap around it. At this point the completed pattern of light could be seen, glowing a bright white and showing a weird never seen before pattern consisting of nine lines. As the pattern glowed brilliantly, looking outside you could the same pattern being reflected as it floated within the circular shape the twelve circles formed at his back, anyone looking at Jaden at the moment would see him to be covered in a halo of light as the pattern pulsed both from within and outside within the twelve circles, the thirteenth circle at this point had enlarged completely to cover the twelve circles and that within it in another circle. And flashing faintly outside the thirteenth circle floating perpendicularly to the one of the twelve circles within was the same pattern as it glowed in a golden light that matched the color of Jaden's hair at the moment creating a moving picture of beauty and otherworldliness.

After moments of glowing and flashing, the lights around him receded as the circles behind him faded into his body like they were never outside in the first place. At that point, his eyes opened showing a flash of golden light alongside the golden pattern in the silvery-white pupils that showed excitement at the next moment. After calming himself, he entered a moment of detachment as he called a name that gave a response the next second from far away, moving into his consciousness shortly after. Feeling the additional presence within him, he glowered with pride as he spoke faintly after the hours of cultivation

" Astral! I did it, I broke into the first stage."