Chapter 238: The Rejected Student

The Year 2 Fire Affinity lecture hall was already packed with students by the time Lynx, Kira, and Emily walked through the doors. The hall was very big.

It had many rows of desks that went up high like stairs. Each desk had a small fire rune on it for heat. The walls were painted in dark red and orange colors. Floating fire runes were hovering above the desks. The air inside was warm.

The hall was noisy. Students were talking loudly. Some were laughing. Some were reading their books. Some were sleeping on their desks because they woke up early. The front podium was empty for a second, then Rose walked in.

The moment Lynx stepped into the room, the loud chatter inside vanished. It became silent very fast. Like someone pressed a mute button. Every female student in the room turned their heads instantly.

Their eyes lit up. Then hushed squeals broke out across the desks. The boys also looked, but the girls were louder.

"He’s actually in class today! I thought he would skip!"

"Look at his eyes... he looks even more handsome than before. Instalite pictures don’t show it!"

"Is he sitting near us? Oh my god move your bag, move!"

"Shhh, he will hear you!"

Rose stood at the front podium, wearing her dark professor coat with her fiery red hair falling over her shoulders. Her hair was long and wavy and red like fire.

Her sharp hazel eyes tracked Lynx as he casually walked down the steps toward an empty desk beside Kira and Emily. She had seen him coming from the window three minutes ago. She knew he would come. She was already ready to kick him out.

Rose crossed her arms, letting out a heavy, dramatic sigh that quieted the entire room even more. The sigh was loud. Everyone could hear it.

"Azarion," Rose called out, her voice cutting through the hall like a razor. Her voice was cold and sharp and clear. Everyone turned to look at her.

Lynx stopped mid-stride, turning to look at her with a smooth smirk. He had his hands in his pockets. He looked relaxed and calm.

"Yes, Professor Rose? Present and ready to learn. I brought my notebook and everything," Lynx said. He even lifted his notebook to show her.

Rose snorted, rolling her eyes. She rolled her eyes so hard that even the students in the back row could see it.

"Learn what, exactly? Your Fire Affinity comprehension is already higher than half the faculty in this building. You are a freak when it comes to understanding Affinities. And more importantly, look at this room," Rose said. She looked annoyed but her lips were shaking like she wanted to laugh.

She gestured toward the two dozen female students who were currently leaning over their desks, completely ignoring their notebooks just to stare at Lynx’s face.

Some were resting their chins on their hands and just staring. Some were trying to hide their hPhones under their desks to take secret videos. One girl in the front row was blushing so hard her face was red like a tomato.

"You’ve been in this room for ten seconds and my entire class has completely stopped paying attention," Rose said flatly, pointing a long finger toward the double doors. Her finger was straight and firm. "Out. Get out of my class. Right now. Go."

Kira and Emily burst out laughing, covering their mouths with their hands. They knew this would happen. They had bet on it before coming. Emily whispered to Kira, "I told you, five seconds."

"Professor Rose, that’s not fair," Lynx chuckled smoothly, resting a hand on his hip. He was smiling that charming smile that made girls scream. "I came here to be a good student. I woke up early to come here. I even took a nice long bath."

"You came here to be a distraction," Rose replied, her lips twitching with a faint, hidden smirk that only Lynx could catch. She was trying so hard to stay serious and cold, but she was failing.

Only Lynx could see the small smile hiding. "Go bother someone else. There is literally nothing I can teach you in this foundation class anyway. Your flame is hotter than mine. You know more than my textbook. Out."

"Alright, alright," Lynx laughed, raising his hands in mock surrender. He looked so handsome doing it that three girls in row two actually gasped loudly. He gave Kira and Emily a subtle nod. "Catch you girls later. Take notes for me, okay?"

"We will not take notes for you," Kira giggled. "You should take your own notes."

"You never take notes," Emily said.

Lynx walked out of the hall. The door closed behind him with a soft thud. Inside the hall, girls were still whispering about him. Rose had to clap her hands loudly to get their attention back.

Leaving the Fire Affinity hall, Lynx decided to walk over to the Ice Affinity Building. He was not giving up on attendance. He wanted to get at least one class today.

The hallways were quiet as he reached the Year 2 Ice lecture room. The air became colder as he got closer. Frost was forming on the walls outside the room itself.

The glass door had ice on it. Through the glass panel of the door, he could see Professor Selene, the famous ice-cold beauty of the academy, standing at the front of a frost-chilled room, speaking in her calm, monotone voice.

Her pale hair was tied back neatly in a low ponytail, and her sharp blue eyes radiated an untouchable, freezing elegance.

Her skin was pale and perfect. Her breath was visible in the cold air. The students inside were wearing thicker jackets because the room was so cold.

Lynx reached for the door handle, sliding the glass door open just an inch. Cold air rushed out immediately and hit his face. It was very cold, like opening a freezer.

Before he could even step a single foot inside the room, Professor Selene’s head snapped toward the door. Her head moved very fast, like a predator. Her blue eyes narrowed instantly as she felt his presence. She knew his mana signature. She could feel it even through the door.

"Do not step inside, Lynx Azarion," Selene’s cold, crisp voice echoed clearly through the door gap, stopping him dead in his tracks. Her voice was not loud, but it was very clear and very cold. It made the hallway feel colder.

Inside the room, several female ice students immediately sat up straight, winking and waving at Lynx through the glass window, completely abandoning their freezing spell practice.

One girl was blowing him a kiss. Another was waving both hands. They were not even pretending to study anymore.

"Professor Selene, I just wanted to join the lecture," Lynx said through the gap, his voice carrying a warm, playful tone. "It’s cold outside, you know? Let me come inside and warm up. I like your class."

"Your ice comprehension reached a High Rank before the tournament even started, during the tournament, you use you’re Ice Affinity so well, like you’ve been using it for centuries." Selene said, her voice remaining completely emotionless as she picked up a piece of chalk.

The chalk left a freezing trail in the air when she wrote. "You have nothing to gain from this class, and my students are already losing their focus. Look at them. They are not learning. Your presence lowers the discipline. Leave."

Lynx didn’t push it. He knew Selene was very strict. More than Rose. Instead, he leaned against the doorframe, looked straight into Selene’s icy eyes, and flashed her a slow, impossibly charming smile before winking right at her. He winked slowly and confidently.

For just a fraction of a second, Professor Selene’s hand froze mid-air. Her perfect composure cracked a little.

A faint, almost imperceptible pink hue touched the very tips of her ears. Her ears became slightly pink. It was very faint, but Lynx saw it because he was watching closely.

She quickly turned her back to the door, clearing her throat coldly. She pretended to write on the board again.

"Close the door behind you," she said, her voice a little faster than before.

Lynx chuckled softly to himself, sliding the door shut and walking down the corridor. He was smiling. Two classes down. Two rejections.

Next up was the Earth Affinity Building.

Lynx walked into the massive, stone-walled training cavern where Professor Brutus, the tall, muscular Earth Affinity master, was overseeing a group of students practicing rock density manipulation.

The cavern was huge. The ceiling was high. The walls were made of rough stone. The whole room smelled like dust and iron and wet rock.

Floating boulders hovered everywhere in the air. Some were small like apples. Some were big like cars. Students were trying to make them denser or lighter.

Brutus was a mountain of a man, built like a brick wall. His arms were as thick as tree trunks. His chest was huge. His head was bald and shiny.

But the moment Lynx stepped into the cavern, Brutus turned around and groaned out loud. He groaned loudly, so loud that the echo came back.

"Oh, hell no," Brutus grunted, crossing his massive arms over his broad chest. His voice echoed off the stone walls. "Azarion. What are you doing here? I thought I was free of you forever. I thought you would stay in your dorm."

"Looking for a seat, Professor Brutus," Lynx smiled innocently. He put his hands behind his back like a good student.

"I am not doing this," Brutus said, shaking his head firmly. His head shook like a big rock. "You trashed me in front of your little girls during the ascension trial, kid. You made me eat dirt. Literally. You slammed me into the ground and I felt very weak. Your earth comprehension makes mine look like basic gardening. What could I possibly teach you? How to make a pebble? You can make a mountain."

The earth students in the cavern laughed, whispering among themselves as they watched their usually terrifying professor turn down the academy’s top student.

They had never seen Brutus act like this. Brutus was usually very scary and shouted a lot.

"I’m just trying to get my attendance credits, Professor," Lynx laughed. "My attendance is at an all time low."

"Go get them somewhere else!" Brutus waved his massive hand dismissively, like he was shooing away a fly. His hand was huge. "Out of my cavern! You’re making my students think they can skip density control just because you can move mountains! They will become lazy! Out!"

Lynx shook his head with a chuckle. "Fair enough, Professor. See you at the sparring ground later."

"Not if I see you first, kid! I will hide!" Brutus yelled after him, but he was actually smiling a little.

Driven out of three classes in a row, Lynx made his way to the Lightning Affinity Building, hoping to catch up with Eira and Ava. That building was always loud and bright.

He walked into the high-voltage training hall where lightning crackled across ceiling conductors.

Blue and white lightning was jumping across the ceiling. The air smelled like ozone, like after a storm. Professor Jace, a lean, sharp eyed man, was standing near the front platform, explaining plasma compression to the class.

His voice was sharp and disciplined. He was wearing a black professor uniform.

Jace wasn’t overly massive like Brutus, nor was he short, but he carried an intense, disciplined posture. He stood straight like a soldier. He never slouched.

The moment Jace saw Lynx step through the double doors, his jaw tightened reflexively. His jaw clenched.

The memory of the ascension trial, where Lynx had forced Jace to his knees, making him split his lip and bleed in front of the entire student body and professors, still flickered in the back of his mind like a phantom ache. His lip twitched a little when he remembered the pain.

Ava and Eira, sitting together near the middle row, turned instantly, their faces lighting up with wide smiles when they saw Lynx.

"Lynx!" Eira called out softly, waving him over. She was smiling wide and her eyes were bright. She didn’t care that Jace was watching.

Before Lynx could even take two steps toward their desk, Jace held up a hand, his sharp eyes locking onto Lynx. His hand was firm.

"Stop right there, Azarion," Jace said, his voice stiff and cold.