Chapter 368 - Reflect On Your Actions, Take Your Time
To a few of the powerful and rich inhabitants of Cato, what Finn had just recounted sounded like a dream. A chance of turning their beloved children from their spoiled rotten state, to independent warriors who had an actual chance of surviving anything the rough world of cultivation threw at them.
The rumor of such an academy spread through the whole city, and one by one, numerous families started to ask for an encounter with the current dean of the school. The first of these families was, naturally, the family of the couple whose son Finn had had an altercation with.
Their house was within the center of the city, and while not extremely big, this house was clearly of an impressive value. The cost necessary to obtain a permit to open a stall within the same area for a single day, was more than Daniel's whole academy yearly consumption of cultivation resources, which also paled in comparison to the prize of a whole mansion like the one in which this family lived in.
Inside their dining room, occupying the side of the large table opposite to the one where the married couple sat along with their older son, and young daughter, were Fynn, Cynna and Fyro, accompanied by the three people currently in charge of the academy. These three people were Master Kye, the Silver Alchemist, and finally, acting as the dean of the academy, was the old man Golden Cauldron.
Old man Golden Cauldron's character would never allow him to bother himself with simply go and talk with the parents of a candidate student, but since the academy was now in deep waters, and the two individuals were extremely powerful high humans, he had decided to go personally.
"It is nice to meet you, Sir, Ma'am." Said Daniel's spiritual essence teacher, the Silver Alchemist. He had been in charge of his father's company for years before they met Daniel, and from that, he had learned how to conduct himself when in the presence of stronger cultivators than himself. Nevertheless, while polite, his tone was not submissive, and it appeared to come from a place of habit.
The wife of this family appeared extremely dubious about the capabilities of inferior cultivators. In her mind, her ability as a mother was being challenged by strangers, and in a way or another, she could not bring herself to be okay with what her husband had suggested to her the night before.
Her Daughter, on the other hand, was looking curiously at the three students, who were sipping on the tea that had been offered to them by their butlers, in silence. Of the three, the one she found herself looking at multiple times, was Finn. He was looking at her parents straight in their eyes whenever they turned to observe him, and did not appear to be intimidated by them.
The girl's opinion of Fyro was also a positive one. She could feel how whenever he would pick the teacup up, he would inject into it an extremely thin stream of fire essence, which would increase the temperature of the tea to the boiling point. He would then drink it right before it could turn into vapor.
What had surprised her about this, was the fact that the Fyro's power was sliding right over the teacup, leaving it completely unaffected by the warmth. All of this happened in the time it took for Fyro to move the teacup up to his mouth, and that showed a perfect control that would even leave a fire elemental envious.
The only person she was not convinced about, was Cynna. She could feel that Cynna's power was not to be joked about, but thanks to the infinite resources her family possessed, her power could not match her own. That gave her a slight sense of superiority which conflicted with the inferiority she felt towards her prideful and confident demeanor.
Her brother, on the other hand, was more than simply unhappy with what was happening.
"The pleasure is mine." Responded the father of the two in an oddly polite tone. What was odd about his tone, was the fact that he possessed a power that went beyond that of the lower levels of high immortality, and if he wanted, he could have turned all of them into a mist of fine powder in instants.
For such a powerful individual to be this polite, meant that he had a good morale, and a just as good upbringing. "I have heard about your academy from one of your students, but tell me, what makes it special?" He asked with curiosity.
The old man Golden Cauldron and Master Kye remained silent, while the Silver Alchemist observed the expressions of the two siblings. After a few moments, he said, "I won't waste your time listing our facilities, as I already know what you are interested in." he then took a small pause before adding, "As a rule, influence does not apply within our territory. Students must earn what they use to cultivate, and they do it outside of the pampering of their parents."
A wide smile appeared on the face of the father. He was almost excited about sending his son away to correct his awful character.
Reflect on Your Actions, Take Your Time
Naturally, his son noticed his expression. More than once had he been reprimanded by his father, and more than once the threatening words "If only there was a place that could fix you your dumb head" had come out of his father's mouth during one of those moments. So, after noticing his father's approval, he turned to look at the Silver Alchemist, sprung up on his feet, and said with indignation, "Father, you can't possibly be thinking of sending me into that lowly academy! I already go to the best academy in the universal government!"
The Silver Alchemist and the rest did not say anything in their defence, and waited for the young man's father to talk. However, before he could reprimand his son, the latter noticed the expression of Finn, who was looking at him with what appeared to be pure disappointment.
"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT, YOU PEASANT!? If you hadn't taken me by surprise, you would already be dead." He shouted in anger. The shameful scene that had taken place a few days before was still fresh in his mind, and the sheer sight of Finn made him extremely irritable.
The young man wanted to prove to his father that nothing these three men could teach him, would possibly be of use, and he did that by provoking them. Unfortunately for him, there was no reaction in their faces. In fact, not even their students had turned to look back at him.
"I am talking to you!" He added with irritation before finally noticing that something was odd.
The faces of the guests, as well as those of the rest of his family, started to trace their motion backwards, and go back to the point where the Silver Alchemist had just finished speaking. As the last words he said reached the young man's ears once more, time stopped.
"What the hell is going on?!" Said the young man with a genuine degree of panic.
One more time, there was no reaction in the faces of the guests or his family, who went on with their conversation for only a few seconds, before time began to rewind again.
"That is the first time I am seeing something like this. What is that?" Asked the young man's father, which was now observing as his son was stuck into what seemed like a small illusion that repeated the same scenery over and over again. The reason why this man was surprised, was because nobody was capable of rewinding time. Backwards time was a dimension which humans could not perceive, and that was the reason why a perfect comprehension of time essence did not exist. The comprehension of time essence was a coin with a blank side which nobody had ever been able to see.
"Regardless of whether you will send your children to study under our care, this little trick will be use to him." explained the Silver Alchemist to the curious father.
"What are you doing to him?" Asked the man's wife with a hint of anger, that was only contained by her husband's calmness.
The Silver Alchemist turned to look at his father, who was quietly sitting on his chair and sipping tea.
For the first time, the old man turned to look at the woman, and said, "It is nothing dangerous. I have just stuck him within a small time loop that will present him with the same situation, until he guesses the right approach. You can dissipate it at any time, but I suggest you don't.. Unless you wish to guard your son for the rest of his life."
"That is absurd.." muttered the husband in shock. He couldn't believe that in his house, was a person who was capable of rewinding time. Even if just within a small space and for a few seconds, he knew for a fact that nobody within the universal government was capable of doing the same thing. Being sure of that, was a part of his job.
The young man desperately tried to walk away from this time loop, but the thin barrier that surrounded him, and that slid under his shoes like a hamster wheel, was preventing him from walking away.
After more than an hour, the young man had finally managed to calm down, and in a desperate attempt, instead of shouting or insulting, he simply sat back down on his chair, and remained quiet.
As he did this, the time loop finally broke, and he found himself back in his chair, with his family by his side chatting happily with the group of guests that was still sitting on the other side of the table.
"How fucking dare you! Mom, didn't you see what they did to me?!" He asked in outrage.
His temper, however, had not yet finished of putting him in trouble. Before anyone could respond to him, time started to move back to when he had first stood up in response to the Silver Alchemist. This simple event delivered a simple message.. Make a mistake, and start over.
"This won't work." Said the mother, for whom only a few seconds had passed, before adding, "It will only make him angrier."
This time, it was Master Kye's turn to speak. He looked back at the woman, and with an extremely serious expression, said, "It could be worse. We could have wished him harm, and you could have not been here to protect him."
"Haha!" The woman's husband suddenly burst out laughing. He felt some sort of odd satisfaction in seeing his son forced into being polite. After all the times he had needed him to step in to solve his problems, that was the least he deserved. Unfortunately, he and his wife were too busy to punish him, and with time, his mentality had grown crooked. Their daughter, on the other hand, while proud and sometimes rude, at the very least knew when to simply shut up. Nevertheless, this young woman was extremely impressed by what she had seen.
Unfortunately, the power of these people was not enough for her to accept them as her teachers. Their power was only within the late stages of immortality, only slightly higher than her own. In order to test them, she turned to look at her parents, and said, "Father, I am willing to give this academy a try, but I won't be its strongest student." She then turned to look at the Silver Alchemist, and added, "May I have a spar with one of your students?"
"If you wait for your parent's permission." Responded the Silver Alchemist.
The young girl was taken aback. She had inadvertently forgot to wait for her parents permission and demanded a spar from her guests, which could have been perceived as rude, but her behaviour had been corrected immediately.
In response, she turned to look at her father and mother, who soon after smiled at her in satisfaction, and nodded in approval.
"Very well, who do you wish to have a spar with?" Asked the Silver Alchemist.
The only one of the three whom the girl hadn't seen perform, was Cynna. She had witnessed to Finn's ability a few days before, and Fyro's control of fire during this very meeting, and since she felt some sort of competitiveness towards her, she simply pointed at Cynna, and said, "Her."
"Splendid. We should take this elsewhere, then." Said the husband right before a formation that surrounded the entire house activated, and the table, the chairs, and people sitting on them were teleported into a large training room.
Cynna stood up from her seat, walked next to the weapon racks, and became quiet. In front of her, were all kinds of different weapons.
The girl approached her with suspicion, before saying, "There is no need to wait for me to pick a weapon to decide which one you want. I will use the sword." She clearly believed Cynna to be waiting for her to pick her weapon, just so that she could have an advantage during her spar.
Unfortunately, she couldn't be any more wrong than that.
Cynna turned to look back at her, and responded to her accusation by saying, "I am waiting for you to pick the weapon that I will use."