Chapter 760: The Aurelius Academy Principal

Chapter 760: The Aurelius Academy Principal

"Students, greet your Principal. King Cassian Aurelius, also known as the Barrier King."

Leo and the others’ eyes widened as they bowed to Cassian.

"We greet the Barrier King!"

Even Sylrael, Thalvyr, and Aeila greeted him with the same title, as it would be rude not to.

At that moment, the woman whose strength couldn’t be sensed brought out a vial filled with mystical liquid.

Leo’s system immediately reacted.

[Starfall Dew] - High Orange (6) Tier Treasure

-A rare liquid treasure formed from the dew of Starfall Orchids, which bloom only when a celestial phenomenon causes starlight to converge upon a single point. It suppresses divine corrosion and greatly accelerates bodily healing. However, the stronger the divine corrosion, the harder it becomes for the dew to repair the damaged body.

He has been hit by some divine attack? Leo immediately realised.

In other words, the divine energy that Leo sensed from the man wasn’t his, but the attack he had sustained.

Did he fight a god? Or a strong subject? Leaving that aside, Leo also looked at the man’s tall frame.

What the hell is this stature? Some kind of soul-fused form? Leo figured out, because he had seen Kaelion’s height grow substantially in his soul-fused form.

At that moment, the man finished drinking the dew and looked at the group.

"Welcome to my humble garden. I am very pleased to see you kids personally," he said as the woman’s hands started to glow more intensely, as if to compensate for any damage he might suffer while speaking.

"And my title and position come second. Firstly, I am your Principal. Keep that in mind, alright?"

"Oh, and I am not some beast. It’s my soul fusion form with my dragon tame and the only reason I am alive till now."

Leo and the others nodded, but Cassian continued without waiting for a second greeting—deeming it unnecessary.

"I would have met you all just after the freshmen competition, but as you can see, my condition isn’t exactly great right now."

Cassian spoke in a manner befitting a king even while being so grievously injured.

"We understand," Leo said.

Cassian nodded and continued.

"Well, now, if I don’t force myself a bit after such a historic win, then it would be wrong on my part. So here I am. Nice to meet you, Leo, Lily—prodigies of current age." He then looked at the others.

"Miho, future spouse of Prince Kaelion, and finally, Veronica. The genius from the borderlands."

Miho blushed slightly, while Veronica gulped nervously. Veronica didn’t even realise that Leon had been addressed as Kaelion, that too as a prince; she was simply trying her best to fight against the strong pressure.

He also looked at Sylrael, Aeila, and Thalvyr.

"The subject of the current age’s prodigy... I have to say, his choices aren’t bad."

"We always try to do our best for our Lord," Sylrael said with a bow.

Cassian nodded.

"Good. Anyways, let me get to the point. My condition doesn’t allow me to have a long chat."

He briefly looked at one of the women. She nodded and continued.

"First, let me inform you that the academy and I provide you with complete backing. You can use our name anywhere to assert your presence and even get out of trouble."

"Your troubles are our troubles. We will actively defend you from any crisis anywhere. I give you my word on that."

"This puts you in a position no lower than a Kingdom Prince—cough."

Cassian suddenly coughed and, after a pause, continued.

"Then... Life-Saving Talismans."

The woman waved her hand as 7 gold talismans with intricate red engravings appeared in front of everybody and shot towards them.

"Iss—!" Veronica winced at the burning sensation as the talisman stuck to her shoulder and slowly disappeared.

The others were strong enough not to show any reaction.

"This talisman is very special. No matter where you are in the world, if it senses that you are in grave danger—or you voluntarily activate it—it either teleports you directly into the academy or teleports an extremely strong professional to your location—your choice, which might be me if my injury is healed."

"Thank you very much for your grace," Leo and the others thanked him.

This was big. It meant that at any time in their lives, they had the power to summon a 7-star powerhouse to aid them.

"Then, I am personally allowing Leo and Lily to have their Celestial Library access increased up to the 6th floor."

"Then, missions."

The woman brought out 2 new smartphones.

"These new phones are even more advanced than the ones you currently have, with many more features and apps."

"But the most striking feature is that you now have access to Empire-issued missions, which include beast extermination, destroying demon settlements, aiding new city establishments, rescue missions, group missions, solo missions, and many others that can be chosen at your own discretion."

While speaking, blood started to seep from Cassian’s mouth, which the other woman wiped without even saying anything as he continued to speak.

"Additionally, they even provide mission notifications suited for your level—which aren’t mandatory if you want to do them. Rewards are automatically delivered to your territories depending on your contribution—you can also choose a specific reward. If no one wants the same reward, you get it, or else, a mini-auction takes place."

"Your previous phone’s data will automatically be synced."

The phones floated towards Leo and Lily as they took hold of them.

Doesn’t this mean I now have a reliable way to search for high-level beasts and hunt them to quickly level up? Leo immediately got excited, but he hid his emotions so that the monsters around him wouldn’t sense them.

At best, they would think Leo was excited about the opportunity to fight stronger beasts.

Leo, Lily and Miho were also handed three spatial rings containing Soul Essence.

Turns out, there were 5 Mid Orange(6) Tier soul essences. Consuming just 1 could elevate a common soul to uncommon, while consuming all—including the ones they got publicly could even push them from the lowest common to the middle range of Rare souls.

Now this is worthwhile... Leo nodded.

"Even though it’s sad, we cannot show too much to people around the world. Thus, this is a private reward."

Saying that, Cassian turned and looked at Veronica.

"Your reward is getting a chance to be tutored under one of the Empire’s most recognised master alchemist—Zephran Morcant. Do your best to learn from him. And naturally, the academy will provide whatever resources you need."

Veronica’s eyes widened. A master alchemist, a step above a Peak-ranked professional, which the academy was capable of producing!

Zephran Morcant was a legendary Master Alchemist renowned for his unparalleled knowledge of rare herbs, mystical minerals, and ancient transmutation arts.

He was once a wandering scholar from the early days of the apocalypse and had spent nearly 5 centuries exploring forgotten ruins and forbidden alchemical archives. Yes, he was one of the known long-lived men—even older than the Emperor.

Though people said he had lived this long thanks to his alchemical creations, after Veronica became knowledgeable about stronger individuals, she strongly suspected he was at least a 4-star being.

Zephran was also said to possess the knowledge to create elixirs capable of transforming both body and spirit.

"I will forever be grateful for this opportunity, and I will do my best to live up to the expectations," she said with a deep bow.

After that, Cassian turned towards Sylrael, Aeila, and Thalvyr.

"I would like to inform you that your status as slaves means nothing to me. What matters the most is your contribution in helping my academy come first. But..."

He looked at Leo and Lily.

"You know, there were beast essences included in the contribution rewards too, which would directly help a beast fulfil its energy requirements and even purify its bloodline to a great degree." After a pause, he continued.

"But we couldn’t manage to get appropriate beast essence for your unique tamed beasts and spirits. What I mean to say is, rewards for them—" he was talking about Sylrael, Aeila and Thalvyr.

"—and rewards for your beasts as well as spirits will be personally given by the three Emperors."

Leo raised both of his brows in shock. No way were they going to meet the other 2 Emperors besides the Human Emperor?

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A/N: I can’t generate an image of Cassian Aurelius due to the gory description... this is the best that was generated.

*pic*