Lin entered the qi perception classroom, a wide space filled with battered, mismatched cushions organized in rows. Evidently, they were meant for the students to sit on, 40 in total.
As the time between the first and late bell carried on, students filed in, pooling near the entrance without any taking a seat. When the late bell finally chimed, a deep, resonant voice urged them dully.
"What are you all doing, standing there? Take a seat."
The owner of the voice stood at the entrance, blockaded by the hoard of teens.
He had a tall and slim stature, his skin milky white. He kept his long, light blonde hair tied into a low ponytail, openly revealing his pointed ears, a distinct feature of the panzela race. A pair of small, rectangular glasses sat atop his nose, aiding emerald green eyes while a slight smile adorned his thin lips.
"Come on now. Choose your seat."
The students raced to get the seats with their friends. Meanwhile, Lin walked leisurely towards a random seat and plopped down.
A young boy with black, curly hair sat down to the right of Lin, fidgeting with his hands before introducing himself, speaking rapidly.
"Hi, I'm Wang Ling."
He flashed an awkward smile, clearly not used to socializing.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Hao Lin. Nice to meet you." Lin said politely. Then, the bell rang and silence overtook the crowd.
"Good afternoon, class. My name is Shui Aang." The teacher said while writing his name on the whiteboard at the front of the room. "As you all know, this is the qi perception class. Although most of you already know the basic concepts of qi, I will explain it for those who don't."
Taking a pause, Aang scanned the columns of eager students before continuing.
"Let's start with what qi actually is. Qi is the energy that makes up all living things. You, the person next to you, the blade of grass outside, they all have qi running through them. Additionally, qi is in the air, surrounding every inch of the universe…"
Shui Aang spoke wistfully, explaining the basics of qi and then some basic methods how to enter the qi perception state. After that, he left the students to their own devices, taking a seat at his desk.
Lin immediately got started on attempting qi perception, excited by the fantasy-like scenario. Sitting cross legged and closing his eyes, he steadied his breath and cleared his head.
Following the methods he was told by both the teacher and the guide book, he focused all his attention onto the back of his eyes. After just 3 minutes, Lin slowly began to feel a tingling sensation at the tips of his fingers and the nape of his neck, just like the teacher described.
Staying calm and focused, he honed in on that sensation. Then, everything went quiet, the tingling stopped, and orbs of light floated around in his sight.
He just had his eyes closed, yet a breathtaking scenery, resemblant to a starry sky, enfolded before him. Mesmerized, Lin sat there for a minute or two, enraptured by what he saw.
Eventually feeling it was time to go back, Lin removed himself from the state and proceeded to repeat the process over.
After 20 repetitions, Lin finally felt satisfied. Now, he could enter the state after only half a second of focusing on his eyes. Even more, he could open his eyes while staying in the state, but he still didn't know how long for, exactly.
Bored, Lin looked around at the other students, the sight prompting him to smile in amusement.
Some students had an expression that made them look like they were constipated, while others huffed every three seconds out of frustration.
Then he looked at Wang Ling beside him. The boy had a calm face and his mouth curled slightly, as if content. Just moments later, he opened his eyes and grinned in satisfaction.
'Seems like he got it.'
"What do we do now?"
Wang Ling whispered after realizing Lin was also finished, glancing at the other students who were still preoccupied with their attempts to percept qi.
"I don't know. I'll go ask the teacher."
"I'll come with you."
The two boys walked up to the teacher who was reading a book with interest.
"Laoshi?" Lin started. "Me and Wang Ling finished…"
"What do you mean by finished?"
Raising his eyebrows, Mr. Aang looked up at the boys as if they were wasting his time.
"We can enter the qi perception state easily now." Wang Ling replied.
"Eh? But it's only been 45 minutes!"The teacher raised his voice in agitation, clearly not believing them.
Some students sitting nearby looked up from their cushions, curious as to why the teacher was talking so loud.
"Uhm..."
Lin faltered, looking uneasy at the teacher's raised voice. He wanted to tell Mr. Aang to lower his voice so that they didn't disturb the others' focus, but he decided to stay silent.
Seeing the pair's awkward expressions, Mr. Aang cleared his throat.
"Ahem! Right. Give me a second."
He pulled out a mobile phone and started typing furiously, his face still portraying disbelief.
"I contacted administration. They'll send someone to test you. In the meantime just wait quietly."
With slight nods, Hao Lin and Wang Ling walked back to their empty cushions and waited.
"In 45 minutes… impossible." Shui Aang muttered in denial.
Around 10 minutes later, a young, burly man walked into the classroom and called gruffly.
"Here for students Wang Ling and Hao Lin?"
Upon being called, the pair stood up and followed the man through the vast hallway.
With a small huff, the man stopped in front of a doorway laced with intricate patterns. He put his hand on the doorknob and muttered some words that Lin couldn't decipher. In response, the intricate patterns glowed a deep blue and something clicked. Opening the door, a large office was revealed.
On the left of the door, a sitting area with a packed bookshelf sat near a fireplace. On the right was a large desk with cabinets lined up on the wall behind it. An old man sat on a chair behind the desk.
"Come in, come in." The man said with a cheerful look on his face. "I heard you lot can get into the qi perception state after 45 minutes of practice. I am the provost of this academy. It's nice to meet you."
He stood up and led them to the couches near the fireplace.
"Yes. Nice to meet you as well." Lin said politely. Wang Ling stayed silent.
"Alright, well, would you allow me to test it?" The provost asked, putting on a more serious demeanor.
"Of course." Lin answered with a casual smile. Wang Ling nodded curtly.
"Okay. Hao Lin, you're first. Get into the qi perception state."
Lin closed his eyes for only slightly longer than a blink.
"Ready." He said, nodding.
"Oho! That was fast!"The provost nodded approvingly. "Alright. Look at my hand, and tell me what color the qi is and its shape."
He said as he stretched his palm out in front of him. In Hao Lin's eyes, a shimmering green mana swayed like a tree against the breeze.
"Green, and a tree." Lin replied immediately.
At the immediate response, the provost couldn't help but be surprised. But it only lasted for a short moment.
Then, he turned to Wang Ling. He asked of the same thing and Wang Ling responded with a proud smile.
"Blue, a car."
The provost had that look of surprise once again, but his expression soon turned serious.
"Good. Now, you two can pick two classes from this list."
He said, handing each a long list of classes. Lin looked down to the paper in his hands.
————————————————————
Melee Weapon Combat:
-short reach blade training (1)
-long reach blade training (1)
-blunt weapon training (1)
Long Range Weapon Combat:
-archery training (1)
-throwing weapon training (1)
Alchemy:
-concoction brewing (1)
-qi technology (1)
Weapon Manufacturing:
-weapon forging (1)
-weapon qi enforcement (1)
————————————————————
"Your other two classes are mandatory. One being practice hour and the other being qi cultivation class." The provost added.
A short time passed, and after both Hao Lin and Wang Ling had contemplated on and chosen their classes, the provost set up their new schedule in the system.
Just like that, they were on their way to their second cultivation class, as one class period had already passed and it was now their 6th period of the day.
Lin chose 'short reach blade training' and 'weapon qi enforcement'. Additionally, mandatory classes were also fitted into the schedule which included 'individual practice period' and 'basic cultivation'.
Lin's first cultivation period was 'weapon qi enforcement'. Then, 'basic cultivation' followed by 'short reach blade training'. And lastly, 'individual practice period'.
A tall third year led Hao Lin to each of his classrooms. Her long brown hair fell in waves along her back and her serious blue eyes surveyed the halls as she gracefully walked in front of him.
As her straight back led the way, she chattered good heartedly about the teachers in each of his courses, going over their personalities and levels of strictness. She even gave pointers on how to act and warnings on specific things that might anger them.
Lin nodded as she spoke, absorbing every bit of information for later use. He knew it would prove useful for him and greatly appreciated her advice.
After she showed where the individual practice periods were held, she circled around and led him back to his basic cultivation class. As Lin walked, he went over the path to each of his classes, memorizing the way to heart.
Standing in front of the cultivation classroom door, Lin knocked and a student let him in.
Stepping in, a large, gymnasium sized room was revealed, with 50 desks linked to chairs sprawled disorderly. The students had pushed some desks together, chatting with friends and playing with their phones.
'Seems like there's no teacher, so the kids do whatever they want.'
Thinking it was irresponsible to leave rowdy teenagers without a supervisor, Lin was just glad that it wasn't complete chaos.
'Guess I'll just listen to some music.'
Lin thought as he pulled out his phone and some earbuds.
He had predicted that he might finish quickly, so he had brought them just in case.
Going through the apps, Lin opened one for music. Scrolling through the downloaded playlists, his fingers hovered over the selection.
"Wait what does music sound like now???" Lin muttered anxiously, hesitant and a little worried about how music might've developed over the years.
However, his worries proved to be unnecessary. He had imagined some strange sort of funk music that reminded him of aliens. Luckily, the music was not like that, quite enjoyable actually.
'Thank god…'
Lin secretly praised the gods, smiling with relief. He added a few titles to a personal playlist and started listening to them.
He spent the rest of the school day contentedly nodding to the music from 7,000 years into the future.