The teacher had arrived.
It was a middle-aged man, probably in his forties. He had some grey hairs here and there, and he carried a sword at his waist.
It was that one teacher that had guarded the academy's gate at the night Shang had arrived.
Shang definitely wasn't the biggest fan of that teacher. For some reason, talking with him was annoying and frustrating.
"Alright, everyone," the teacher announced when he arrived. "Let's get started with today's lesson."
"May I ask a question?" the grey-haired woman asked with a loud but polite voice.
"What is it, Sarah?" the teacher asked.
"Isn't the power of our bodies the very foundation on which the grades are decided?" she asked.
"Yes, so?" the teacher asked with a bit of annoyance.
"Then how come the new person in our grade has a body at the Peak Soldier Stage? He should be part of the Preparation Grade," Sarah asked.
Just as Shang had expected, Sarah was bothered by Shang's presence in her grade.
The teacher frowned with confusion. After hearing Sarah's question, he looked around the gathered students and quickly found the odd one out.
When he saw Shang, the teacher snorted a bit in annoyance. "Of course you would end up in my class," he grumbled mostly to himself.
Shang wasn't certain how he should respond. Should he say sorry? Should he say hello?
In the end, Shang didn't bother with reacting at all and simply did nothing.
"I don't know. Let me ask," the teacher said to Sarah.
"Thank you," Sarah said politely.
The teacher summoned a small crystal and looked into it. "Soran, what's going on? Why is there a Peak Soldier Stage student in my Advanced Grade?"
"Hello, Loran. Isn't it a nice day?" the exasperated voice of Soran came out of the crystal.
"Yes, yes, hello, Soran," the middle-aged teacher, teacher Loran, said with an annoyed voice. "So, why is there a Peak Soldier Stage student in my Advanced Grade?"
"Are you talking about Shang?" Soran's voice asked. "Did he finally show up to his lessons?"
"I don't know his name," teacher Loran grumbled.
"Then why don't you go ask him?" Soran's voice said.
Teacher Loran grumbled. "Hey, you," he shouted as he looked at Shang.
"Yes, I'm Shang," Shang answered.
"I didn't even ask my question! It's common courtesy to let others finish speaking," the teacher grumbled.
Shang frowned. "Isn't it obvious what you were going to ask? We can all hear your discussion. I just wanted to hurry things along."
"Hurry things along?" the teacher snorted. "Then how come we are talking so much about this topic? If you had just given me the time to ask my question, we would already be done."
"That's bec-"Shang started to shout, but he stopped himself.
Then, he took a long breath.
This man was now his teacher, and Shang shouldn't argue too much with him.
"Yes, teacher, I won't interrupt you again," Shang said with a bit of annoyance.
"What?!" teacher Loran nearly shouted. "Why did you give in?! It's obvious that you do not truly believe what you're saying! Do you think I'm so stupid that I would fall for that?!"
Shang gritted his teeth in frustration. "Because I don't want to get into an argument with the very person that I'm supposed to learn from," Shang said a little louder.
"So, what's his name?" Soran's voice came out of the crystal again. "You haven't answered in a while. Did you get into an argument again?"
Teacher Loran had just wanted to shout back at Shang, but Soran's voice stopped him. "Yes, his name is Shang. So, why is he in my grade?" he asked again.
How did the other students react to that exchange?
Surprisingly, they weren't surprised at all.
Judging from their reactions, it seemed to be normal for teacher Loran to get into arguments all the time.
"There's a reason behind it," Soran answered.
"No shi- crap. I'm asking what the reason is!" teacher Loran snapped back.
"If I could tell you the reason, I would have told you, Loran," Soran said with a bit of annoyance. "However, I can't tell you the reason since it's confidential. Just know that Shang is in your grade by the orders of the dean."
Silence.
The dean?!
Usually, it was Soran who decided on all the different classes and grades. He was solely responsible for assigning the students to the most fitting class. The dean never got involved in all of that. The dean was busy with all kinds of administrative work, meetings, and so on.
However, he had made an executive decision for Shang?
Why?
The students very rarely heard of the dean. They saw him enter and exit the building from time to time, but that was about it. So, why did he suddenly get involved when it came to this student?
"The dean's orders?" teacher Loran asked again.
"Yes," Soran said. "As for Shang's development, you only have to check on two things. If you have me on speaker, please deactivate it since the other students are not supposed to listen in on private matters of other students."
'Speaker?' Shang thought with a weird expression. 'Is that crystal a phone? I mean, it kind of is, but it still feels weird to hear the word speakerphone in this world.'
Teacher Loran put the crystal to his ear and walked a couple of meters away. After that, he spoke quietly into the crystal.
The other students waited for about a minute until teacher Loran returned.
"Alright, let's start with the lesson," teacher Loran announced.
"Excuse me, teacher," Sarah, the grey-haired woman, said. "What about my question? Why is he in our grade?"
Teacher Loran frowned. "You heard what I heard! You know what I know! What answer do you expect from me? He's here under the dean's orders. If you have a problem with that, go complain to the dean!"
Sarah frowned at the barrage teacher Loran had unleashed on her. "Thank you, teacher," she said with a bit of annoyance.
Teacher Loran snorted silently. "Alright, so let's start with class."
"I've got a question," Shang interrupted.
"What?!" teacher Loran snapped back. "Stop trying to delay the lesson again and again! What's up with you?!"
"This was the first time I interrupted," Shang said with a frown. "The previous two questions came from someone else. This is the first question I've asked you today."
"I don't care! You're the reason why class is late! Ask your question after the lesson!" teacher Loran shouted.
"I don't know if it can wait for that long," Shang said.
Teacher Loran groaned loudly. "Fine! Go ahead! Ask!"
"How do I reach the General Stage?" Shang asked.
For a second, teacher Loran looked at Shang with surprise.
Why?
Well…
"How can you be so stupid?!" teacher Loran shouted. "You know very well that you are not supposed to reach the General Stage!"
"I fucking know that!" Shang shouted as he couldn't control his frustration anymore. "I'm asking so that I can specifically avoid doing that! I don't want to reach the General Stage on accident!"
The students looked with complex expressions at Shang.
Accidentally reaching the General Stage?
They were working with all their power to one day reach the General Stage, but Shang was afraid of accidentally getting there?
And what was teacher Loran's answer?
"That question could have waited for after class!" he grumbled with frustration.
"And how am I supposed to know that?!" Shang shouted. "I don't know how to reach it! So, I also don't know how much time I have left to ask!"
At the side, Astor sighed.
Why were teacher Loran's lessons always late?
Why did he always have to fall into an argument with someone right before the lessons started?
