Despite his obvious desire to test himself at the Sword Tempering Cave, Cedric held himself back.


    He has already seen everything he needs to see at the dojo, and his position as a student of the Sword Path ss was also established firmly. He could''ve gone to the cave as soon as the next day came but he didn''t.


    Cedric knew that he''d be distracted by it. Actually, he''s nearly certain that he would be immersed in it. He still has other sses to attend and he cannot miss them so he set it aside for now.


    Currently, he''s gone to another room within the Combat Specialization Tower to attend ''Elements 101'' ss since it''s Monday today. He didn''t want to miss it since it was his first ss and first impression matters.


    When he got into the ''ssroom'', Cedric discovered a theme somehow. Like what he experienced in his previous ss, the ''ssroom'' for this ss turns out to be unique as well.


    He once again found himself standing in a vast open field. He noticed a few notable things at a distance; a simple-looking ssroom mostly made out of wood, an open dome that''s protected by an invisible force, and a wide altar.


    ''I''m bing more and more convinced that each subject here has their preferred environment theme.'' Cedric mused to himself.


    He made his way towards the ssroom since that seemed to be the logical move. As he approached, he cautiously opened his field of senses and discovered that there were a few people there already.


    Amongst these people, he saw some familiar faces but one of them stood out amongst the rest. It was Isabe - the 3rd ce in the entrance exam, and for a moment there, he was surprised.


    ''...I guess she wants to learn the basics from another perspective entirely.'' He mused to himself.


    Shrugging, he entered the ssroom and instantly felt several gazesnding on him. Most recognized him, others were just curious. He didn''t pay attention to any of it and imed a spot for himself.


    He noticed Isabe''s gaze lingering on him longer than most but he decided to just shrugged it off. He didn''t want to put any meaning behind it since he personally didn''t know the girl.


    Cedric chose a spot next to the windows. They''re open so he felt the breeze caressing his face. He rested his head on the wall and closed his eyes, he also scanned his surroundings carefully as a form of warm-up, and that''s when he discovered something amiss.


    ''It''s faint but...somebody''s here. It''s probably the Instructor since they could somehow hide from my senses. They''re probably waiting until the time is up or until thest student arrives before making an entrance.''


    He spotted the presence near the altar. Again, it was faint, it only lingered for a few seconds and he was lucky to even have sensed that. Fortunately, the invisible presence doesn''t seem too dangerous. Now, only time will tell if his assumptions were correct.


    Time flew by and before he knew it, the final student arrived. How did he know that it was thest one? Well, that''s because the hidden presence finally revealed itself and was now making its way towards the ssroom.


    By now, Cedric was certain that this was their instructor, after all this man was wearing the same uniform as the others.


    This man was old. He''s bald, wearing rimmed round sses and relying on a cane to support himself, his back was also bent and his face was filled with wrinkles.


    Through physical appearance alone, many would immediately underestimate this old man but not Cedric.


    ''...are all instructors here this freakish?'' He sighed inwardly.


    The old man cannot hide everything from Cedric''s senses. He knew that if this old man was pissed off, he could wipe this entire dimension into nothingness with a single spell.


    Upon entering the room, most of the students finally saw the old man. As expected, some of them were not impressed. Cedric fixed himself and started paying attention, instead.


    "Hello, ss. My name is Michael dius, I will be your Instructor for ''Elements 101''. Call me Mentor, Sir, Professor, Mr. Mike, Mr. dius, or simply Instructor. Don''t call me Teacher or Master since those hold an entirely different meaning in this Academy."


    Michael''s voice was gentle. He wore a grandfatherly smile on his face as he greeted them, causing everyone to lower their guard down.


    "As you can see, I''m old." He let out a snort as he said that. "I''m around...315 years old. Old enough to be your grandfather''s grandfather. Old enough to be called a ''fossil'' by you youthful kids. But don''t worry, all of my senses are still working just fine and I''m not going senile anytime soon. I can teach well enough like this."


    His students were floored upon hearing how old he was. Most of them were expecting double digits for his age but they were severely mistaken. But more importantly, most of them haven''t thought that they''d get to meet someone this old in this academy.


    Leveling up and Tier Advancements could extend somebody''s lifespan, that''s a given knowledge to everyone. But given how everybody''s forced to face their own versions of hell, they''re more inclined to believe that human life is at a ''subscription period'' instead. So the idea of living long enough like this old man has still felt strange to them.


    "There are 15 of you in this ss," Michael stated which brought their attention back to him. "Not bad I suppose, I hope that it stays that way until the end of the academic year."


    "A few things that I want you to know in my ss." He cleared his throat before continuing. "One, I''m not strict with the attendance. If you find my lessons incredibly boring or you simply just don''t want to stay anymore, feel free to leave. I won''t stop you nor reprimand you."


    "That ties to number two, so long as you give me a satisfactory performance, you will pass my ss. I''m too old to be stressed by your shenanigans and I''m pretty sure that you kids have had enough of old people telling you what to do, so let''s not bother with those for the sake of our peace of mind."


    "The reason why I am sox with my rules is because of number three, everything I can teach you in this ce could be learned in the library. The books I''m using to teach you came from those ces and there are a lot of copies avable for you to peruse in your free time."


    "I''m only here to give you a different perspective on the subject. I have rich experience because of my age and you aren''t the first batch of students I taught. I can confidently say that, every popr superhuman out there that could wield the power of elements, at least 90% of them went through me and passed my ss."


    "However, like I said earlier if you''re notfortable with an old guy like me telling you what to do. Then feel free to borrow books from the library and do some self-studying to pass my ss. So long as you can show me satisfactory results, I wouldn''t hesitate to pass you."


    "Number four. There are a handful of freshmen in this ss from what I''ve gathered. You may or may not already know this but I''ll still say it. It''s possible to APs during my ss. You can earn them by participating in our discussion, performing well on exercises, doing well on tests and exams, etc. I''m not stingy with them either so don''t be shy."


    "And finally, number five. Maiming or killing shall not happen in this ssroom."


    Michael looked sharply at his students. Thetter felt the temperature drop when this happened, followed by a steadily growing pressureing from the old man, making it hard to breathe.


    "This is a ce for learning. If you want to settle your differences, go to the Arcane Arena. If you insist on defying this rule, I will not hesitate to strike you down myself."


    "This rule is enforced by the Headmaster herself and we Instructors, are given freedom to execute all manner of punishment we deem fit for offenders."


    "There have been people who didn''t take our warning seriously and were sentenced to death immediately. Don''t think that your identity outside will have any effect on this Academy. Even Monarchs and Emperors have to respect us Instructors while they''re here. You''re no different. Is that clear?"


    A series of agreements sounded after that. The pressure disappeared after that, causing the students to breathe a sigh of relief. Looking back at their Instructor nearly gave them whish because he was back to his amicable expression right after as if he didn''t just do that to them.


    "Great! 25 APs for everybody since you endured my pressure and for being cooperative." Michael gently cheered.


    His students were dumbfounded by the sudden switch but nobody dared to say a word in fear of provoking his ire.


    Then, the old man turned around and began writing something on the board. The students saw this and took it as a sign that their lessons were finally starting.