—

“So, how do you like your new toys?” Raven teased after a rigorous day of training. It had to be known that he was asking them this while dragging them back to the house by their collars.

“My arms…they hurt…heavy…” Paul said whiningly, seemingly hallucinating. The arm that he used to hold the shield is visibly swelling from the training. The hand that held the spear on the other hand was trembling here and there, the webbing are slightly bleeding and swelling as well.

“I need to train my left arm, it can’t hold the sword properly.” Mark said weakly, his right hand was fine but his left hand wasn’t, it swelled like a sponge filled with water. It was also visibly trembling from time to time.

“Don’t worry, we have time. You’ll get used to it.” By the time he said this, he then threw both of them inside of the medicinal basin, he turned around to take off his clothes and jumped in himself. The two already passed out from exhaustion but he knew that they’ll wake up in just a bit.

Unbeknownst to the two, this type of heavy training had already stretched their stamina over and over again. It won’t take long before they are able to withstand an all day training without losing consciousness.

The bathroom was silent for about an hour before the two regained their consciousness, they hurriedly took off their clothes and absorbed the efficacy of the medicinal bath. The absorption lasted for thirty minutes before stopping.

“Oh right! We have classes tomorrow right? Man…” Paul said while stretching.

“Right, I almost don’t want to go and just focus on training.” Mark sighed.

“Hoho…” Raven laughed mischievously which made the two look over his direction. “Funny you say that…take a look at this.” He then tossed a token to Mark.

Paul and Mark looked closely at the token and suddenly, their eyes bulged in shock.

“Where the hell did you get this!!!” Both of them exclaimed. Raven placed a finger on his left ear and replied:

“I picked it up on the way home.” Paul and Mark’s face darkened, how were they supposed to believe him?

The Heavenly Cloud Institute value all kinds of talent. The instructors know that the kids in their school wanted to be stronger so they will focus more heavily on training instead of theoretical studies and history. This is why they set the classes once a week only. However, there exists a way on how to allow them be exempted to classes entirely so that they could focus on their training alone.

And that is by applying for a Class Exemption Passes.

The applicant student will have to be tested by the instructors completely and if they passed, they will be allowed to be exempted in class, there are different kinds of passes: weekly, monthly and yearly. The Weekly Pass is in the form of a letter, the Monthly Pass is in the form a plate and finally, the Yearly Pass is in the form of a token.

Undoubtedly, what Raven passed to them is a Class Exemption Token.

Their shock is totally understandable, after all one had to basically answer a year’s worth of theoretical studies and historical knowledge just to get this. It is rumored that only five of these tokens exists each school year. And now Raven was claiming that he picked it up on the street? How is that possible?

“Now, now.” Raven chuckled, “This just shows that I, your handsome brother, am really capable right? Praise me mortals! Go ahead!” He laughed mischievously.

“Dude! This is no laughing matter! Not even I could save from expulsion if they knew you stole this!” Paul said solemnly.

“What do you mean stole?” Raven wore an offended expression, “How rude of you! That was given to me by Old Lee.”

“Old Lee? Isn’t that our instructor? How could he possibly have this with him?” Mark asked confused.

“He’s not ordinary person. I’ll say that much.” Raven said mysteriously, Paul and Mark was a bit stunned as they heard this. “Anyways, I got it cleanly okay! I didn’t steal it. You guys could relax and focus on the training. I’ll be making more things that could make us stronger.”

With this the two was already convinced and went to their rooms to sleep.

***

Somewhere over the vast territory of the institute, a small and humble abode could be seen hidden behind a series of hills. This place was akin to an oasis in the middle of a raging dessert. The abode was simple yet carried a trace of elegance. It is surrounded by all sorts of flora and fauna which allowed the air to be fragrant and even sweet at the same time.

In front of the abode, a girl could be seen sitting cross legged. Her beauty eclipsed even the prettiest flower of this place, she radiates a gentle and approachable aura yet distant and proud at the same time. Her black hair was akin to a waterfall, and her figure could cause many men’s heart to shudder.

This is Luna, meditating in front of her home inside the institute.

Ever since that day, when she was freed of her torment, she discovered tons of changes that had happened to her. For one, her cultivation slowed down at a very alarming rate. She knew this was because of her removing her connection with the hairpin. She can’t really do anything about this since, just like that guy said, she will die if she insisted on fusing with it.

Another is that she was very conflicted right now. One of the main reasons why she can’t stay home was because of her torment, yet now she was already cured, she finds herself reluctant to go home. She loved it here, her lifestyle is humble yet honest at the same time. She didn’t have to wear any masks of deceit on so on. Plus her childhood friends are here.

Speaking of which…

Luna felt a slight distortion on her surroundings, she opened her eyes and saw two silhouettes approaching from a distance.

One was a crimson haired beauty. She wore a tight fitted shirt that hugged her figure and shorts that went halfway through her thigh. She’s also wearing a sleeveless jacket and her hair was gathered into a ponytail. This is Ellen Redcrest of the Vermillion Sky Clan.

As for the other, she was a blonde beauty. Her hair was tied up in braid and there was a white flower on her ear. She wore a green shirt where the sleeves reached her elbows, she also has a wore a skirt that reached her knees while also wearing some leggings. This is Anne Fiore of the Western Star Clan.

Seeing them made Luna’s eyes shine. She stood up and waved her hands. As the two girls went closer, she lept towards them and encased them in a tight hug while asking: “Ellen, Anne! How come you guys are here?”

“To molest you!” Ellen said playfully while running her hands on her waist and started tickling her. Luna giggled and escaped her clutches.

“We asked permission from Professor Lee and he agreed.” Anne said chuckling.

“Come, let’s go inside.” Luna grabbed their hands and led them inside her house.

The interior of the house was just as humble as what it looked like outside. Shiny stone floors, marbled walls and wooden furnitures. The windows are open so that the fragrant scent of the flowers outside could seep in. Luna led them to sit down while she went to her kitchen to serve some tea and sandwiches. Once she’s done, she went to the living room and sat down with them.

“So, how are you doing so far? Any discomforts?” Anne said while receiving the tea.

Luna smiled and said: “Never been better. I don’t have those whispers and malicious thoughts in my head anymore. I also don’t feel any burden in chest.”

“That’s good, it seems that you really are cured now.” Ellen said while munching on a sandwich.

“Mn…” Luna nodded dazedly, she was actually hesitating if she should tell them that her cultivation had slowed down and the other stuff as well. Anne noticed this so she immediately asked:

“Is there something that want to tell us?” Concern was present in her voice.

Luna fidgeted and decided to tell them. “It’s nothing much really. I told you that I separated with the hairpin right? I just noticed that after I did that, my cultivation speed seemed to decrease at an alarming rate. I’m not sure about what to think…”

“Oh! Well that certainly is concerning…” Anne frowned as she heard Luna’s confession. The girls didn’t hide many things from each other, they have been good friends since they were little and that bond naturally made them closer. Of course Ellen and Anne also knew her predicament, if it weren’t for their safety then they would stick together as much as they could.

“Nope!” Luna and Anne were startled when they heard Ellen exclaimed. “There’s a ‘bigger’ problem aside from that!”

Her face was a bit savage as she made a claw using her hand grabbed…Luna’s chest.

“Kya~” – Luna

“Oh my…” – Anne