CHAPTER 6 - DISCIPLE CULTIVATION SYSTEM CH6 PATH OF THE SWORD PT1(UPDATED)

The sharp echoes of Cassie's heels filled the enormous hallway as she brushed her auburn-colored hair back, her actions sparking cracks of golden lightning across her fingertips.

"Professor Cass!"

"Oh... Villier."

Stepping out of one of the classrooms, she passed by Instructor Villier—a pale youth with black hair in black robes. He was the current instructor of the second-year A-class, a man she had personally recruited from the Mages Association to teach the upcoming youth.

"Walk with me."

Gesturing for him to follow, Cassie marched forward. Instructor Villier straightened his shadowy robes, tailing after her.

"Is there anything I can do for you, ma'am?"

"Yes." Cassie nodded, her green eyes lingering with uncertainty. A few weeks ago, she had made a grave mistake, and after weeks of trying to forget it, it had finally caught up to her on this very day.

"You remember the job application forms I asked for a while back?"

*L"Yes." Professor Villier pushed his glasses up and nodded. A month ago, Lady Cassie had asked him to gather all job applications sent to the academy for her personal review. He had done just that, but now, seeing how grim the headmistress of the academy was, he couldn't help but question if he had made a mistake.

"Professor, did I by chance—"

"Nah, you're in the clear..."*l

Cassie paused, rubbing her face in exhaustion before continuing, "...Raviel always warned me drinking would get me in deep shit, and she had been right."

"Excuse me, professor, can you elaborate?"

Harboring so many questions, he inquired for more details.

"Well, when I was approving the new batch of teachers, I wasn't in my right state of mind. I thought I had it under control, and I should have—"

"—but you didn't."

With a sigh, Villier finished her sentence for her, getting the gist of what was going on. The headmistress, in her drunken state, must have hired an unqualified personnel, and now she was panicking.

It was no secret among the teaching staff that the head of the academy couldn't control her taste for liquor. With a body and soul as strong as hers, she could drink for days on end without getting drunk, but it did something to interfere with her judgment—and that had led to the current mistake.

The panic itself wasn't the mistake but the consequence of said mistake.

"So, what are you going to do?"

Looking up at her, Villier questioned, his honey-brown eyes seeking an answer.

All candidates chosen by the academy head would have to be vetted before they could officially begin working. Meaning, if she wanted to get rid of the problem, it had to be done during the vetting process.

"We'll change procedures a bit."

"..."

Villier was somewhat speechless but nodded nevertheless.

"For the new instructor, we'll forgo the written exams and, in its place, introduce a sparring test."

"Like the ranking assessment?"

"Yes."

Taking a turn at the end of the hallway, she continued forth, her once-panicked look replaced with confidence.

"I've done my research on the mistake. I'm confident he'll be too weak to pass."

"But ma'am, wouldn't that go against—"

"Worry not." She smirked, stopping in front of her office door at the end of the hallway.

She wasn't going to play off her mistake—she was going to compensate the young man for wasting his time.

"Cash or a job. I'll allow him to choose."

Ignoring Villier's disapproval, she sighed happily, pushing her office door open to prepare for the vetting in a few hours.

---

Legacy Academy was one of the four pillars of Academia City and the main setting of Abyssal Chronicles.

An institution so large it could serve as a town of its own, Art couldn't help but marvel at the massive brick structure erected all around him.

He stood beside a flowing fountain, the granite-red tiles under his feet crawling with flocks of doves and pigeons, turning to the call of the youthful students tossing fragments of bread and treats at them.

To his east was the distant city, shrouded in the sun's golden glow, and to his west was a massive expansion of gray structures bound together in what could be described as an architectural marvel.

Statues of fallen heroes were lined across the stairs leading to the institute, and ascending and descending those stairs were youths dressed in the academy uniforms.

The scene was reminiscent of his time in college—which he had, unfortunately, now skipped to become an academy instructor.

"I have what I need..."

Clenching his fist with a determined look, his sapphire eyes flickered with an undying light as he took a step forward.

"Are you Art, by chance?"

A voice full of intellectual arrogance caused him to look to his left, where a young man—a year or two older than him—stood, his gaze unimpressed by what he saw.

"A mistake, after all."

The man, with unnatural pale skin, black hair, and honey-brown eyes, pushed up his glasses and began to walk forward.

Art, somewhat baffled, stood there motionless, causing the man to glare back at him with impatience.

"Are you merely wasting my time, or do you have a monkey for brains?" he snapped.

"Oh... I should follow you."

With a naive chuckle, Art strode forward, causing the man to click his tongue in annoyance.

"So, where are we heading?"

Walking up the stairs side by side, Art inquired, earning a sharp glare.

"Do not talk to me with that tone of yours."

"I mean—"

"I'm your superior, you fool—in life and in status."

*"..."*

Art furrowed his brow but said nothing more.

Villier, satisfied he had put the mistake in his place, formed a crude smile, leading Art through the courtyard of the academy and finally into a modern-style building completely out of place in the medieval-aesthetic institute.

Stepping forward and entering through the automatic glass door, he led Art inside, where numerous other candidates had arrived to be vetted.

"Another rival!" a passionate voice said.

"What a cutie," a seductive whisper added.

"Pretty boy noble brat," a harsh voice muttered.

His arrival gained quite a mix of reactions, to say the least, but Art seemed unbothered as he separated from Villier and leaned against the wall, looking up and gazing at the numerous surveillance cameras installed in the large interior of the building.

"No written exams, huh?"

With a shallow smirk, he closed his eyes as Villier made his way into the center of the crowd and began his speech.