"Shit! I barely managed to pass the first year. What will I do if I fail the third year? I already have a mountain of debt piling up."

Under the cool shade of a banyan tree, a sharp-eyed young man was sitting with his back against the thick trunk of the tree.

"My father will disown me if I keep going like this. If it had not been for that bastard, I would not have lost so many points."

He slammed his fist against the trunk in frustration and grumbled under his breath.

"If I do not graduate this year, no respected foundation would take me in…"

The more he thought about it, the more he despaired.

"If only there was a way for me to suddenly become smart. Maybe awakening my sacral core right now would solve all my problems, but…"

He looked at the sky through the gaps between the branches and whispered, "but with my talent of two stars, even that is not possible."

Someone with a two-star awakening was destined to stay at the sacral core level, but that does not mean he could enter it at any time he wanted.

The lower the stars, the more time it took for someone to reach the next level in awakening.

Jeremy knew all this very well. Which was why he was sitting there, moping over his gloomy fate.

"I should go bully—guide some juniors and feel better about myself." Just as he was about to get up from his spot, a cold wind brushed against his face, followed by the sound of paper rustling.

Squinting his eyes, he caught a flying newspaper that suddenly came at him from somewhere.

Catching it, he looked around but found no one nearby.

"Where did this come from?" grumbling, Jeremy looked at the front page of the paper he was holding and paused. The entire first page of the paper was covered with a single story.

Holy Nun Strays From The Path Of Light And Sells Herself To A Devil!

—The Holy Nun of The church of Lucia succumbed to her desires and summoned the devil. She not only sold her soul to the devil for her sinful desires, but she was also swayed by its deceit and phoniness. She is now on the run from the Church!

— Was it Worth the price?

— The authorities demand that she turn herself in, and the church will pardon her sins and spare her life. All she has to do is serve ten years in the cold redemption cell.

The whole page was filled with paragraphs like this.

'Selling the soul to the devil in exchange for desires.' Jeremy whispered to himself, wondering. "Is there even such a thing as a soul, or do they like to exaggerate things to make the public fear these devils?"

Just as the thought rooted in his mind, Jeremy read through the entire news but only saw the warnings from the church for the people to not follow her steps.

If someone approaches them with such temptation, report them to the authorities or the law enforcement branches of their city.

There was only one newspaper industry in the entire kingdom, which was handled by the royal family on the surface but was greatly influenced by the church.

The Mars Times

Shaking his head, Jeremy slowly stood up. "I wonder if a devil will ever grant me something, but what can I give back in exchange?"

From what he knew, the deal with the devil was only made if you offered something in return; arguably, it could be his soul.

But he did not want to lose his life right after gaining power. He was not that dumb.

Just then—

Psstt!!

Suddenly a nearby pipe that the gardener had been using to water the plants cracked from the middle, and a jet spray of water was splashed in all directions.

Jeremy reacted by instinct and covered his face and head with the newspaper and ran away from the trajectory of the spray.

"Watch it, old man. You are ruining my new uniform." He shouted from the distance as the old gardener bowed in panic while trying to fix the pipe.

With a grunt, Jeremy walked away. Soon, he noticed an empty bench and sat down under the heat of the sun to dry himself.

He placed the wet newspaper to his side and leaned back with his eyes closed.

"Ah… what should I do?" Whining at his situation once more, he tilted his head to the side and caught notice of something about the newspaper when he opened his eyes again.

The paper was not entirely wet; out of all the words and headlines, some remained untouched and dry by sheer coincidence.

The crisp black words highlighted on the damp paper caught his eyes, and Jeremy started reading them.

Holy… Light… To… Devil… summon… the devil… claim what… desired… price… ten years… life.

Shhh!

The moment she finished reading the words, something slipped out of the newspaper.

A small paper that appeared to be some sort of pamphlet.

The sudden sound made Jeremy's heart almost leap out of his chest in panic.

Ba-dump!

He looked around in panic but saw not a single soul in the vicinity. Even the old gardener, a little far away, was nowhere to be seen.

"Wha… Wait, I have to calm down." Suppressing the panic in his heart, Jeremy slowly bent down to pick up the pamphlet from the ground.

Want to Test Your IQ? Connect the dots with appropriate colors.

Under the line, there was a set of many dots. These dots had different colors, which indicated which color to use to connect them.

They were black, blue, green, and red.

"I was scared for nothing." Jeremy felt like tearing the page in annoyance, but for some reason he could not bring himself to do it.

Instead, he pocketed it and got up.

He started walking towards the academy building, where he finally saw a few students coming out of it and realized something.

"So, it's already lunchtime. No wonder I did not see anyone." Since everyone was on the third floor, it was only natural some areas of the campus would be empty.

But then again…

"Where did that old man go?"

But a second later, he was no longer thinking about the old man.

Just as Jeremy was about to enter the building, lost in his thoughts, he collided with someone and stumbled back.

"Watch where you're going!" Even though he was at fault, Jeremy groaned before looking at the student.

The single leaf pattern on the young man's blazer immediately caught his attention.

"Ah, I apologize for that." The young boy with black hair spoke before turning to leave, but a hand gripped his shoulder, preventing him from moving forward.

"First years don't really have any manners, do they?" Jeremy grinned inwardly, feeling as if his wish had come true. "What is your name, kid? Do you even know how to apologize properly?"

"Eh, he is at it again?"

"Jeremy? Is he not satisfied by losing enough points already?"

Some of the second years noticed his actions and commented on the side. Hearing their voices, Jeremy grimaced inwardly.

Just as he was about to take his hand back in fear of losing more points, his face twisted in pain.

The boy, who was just mere fresh meat for him to bully, had caught his wrist and twisted his hand, making him groan in agony.

"Argh!"

"It should be you who should act like a proper senior. Even though it was your mistake, I apologized. By what authority are you acting so high and mighty?"

Releasing his hand, the boy sneered softly and added. "You should know that fighting is prohibited on the campus, or I would have taught you a proper lesson."

"You—" Enraged by his comment, Jeremy called upon his dragon energy.

Crimson God's Hands!

A spherical red orb manifested on his root core. It was brimming with power, half-filled all over. The power seemed scattered around within the shape.

The air around Jeremy rippled, and two hands appeared out of nowhere.

"Is he seriously going all out against a first-year?" Someone gasped.

"You know Jeremy. He is quick to lose his temper, and he is a self-righteous, arrogant person who acts before he thinks."

The blood-red arms hovering in the air formed a fist before plummeting down at the black-haired boy.

"He is done for."

Seeing the fist connecting with the young man's torso, everyone held their breaths in panic, but no one stepped forward to help.

Woosh!

Even when his attack landed perfectly, Jeremy's eyes widened in shock because the boy standing before him was no longer there.

"An afterimage?" someone gasped from the group, but no one knew for sure.

They all saw the boy reappearing behind Jeremy. Before the second-year student could even react, he was kicked to the ground.

With his hands in his pockets, the first-year student looked at his back coldly and said, "The name is Dean, Dean Black."

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