Chapter 110: Senior Apprentice Brother
The rest of the class was solely on how to use spiritual energy for defensive measures. Everyone listened carefully; even Xu Min found it interesting; as the class ended, he stayed in his seat for some time. His eyes narrowed, and his hand gently stroked his chin as he was in deep thought.
What he had learned today could help him improve his defenses, but it was also the same as teaching him how to fight against elves. It seemed his teacher was especially helping Xu Min out, but he had no reason to do so. The teacher was clearly an immortal elf himself. Thus, for his teacher to tell him the weaknesses of elves was this not too strange?
Shaking his head, Xu Min decided not to think about it anymore. He stood up to leave. As he did, he noticed that a few elves were still present. All of the elves were looking at him curiously. If he had his eyes opened earlier when the killing intent spilled out for a brief moment, he would know that the ones looking at him were the same ones who noticed something, but he did not realize this.
"I don't have time for duels right now," Xu Min mumbled to himself with a slight annoyance before he turned to leave. He was constantly waiting to be stopped even though no one tried to stop him; he heaved a heavy sigh of relief as he left the classroom with no more trouble.
Just as he left, however, he noticed that it was not going to be as simple as he has thought. Outside a whole group of elves were waiting for him., An elf who was clearly stronger than the ones he had battled at the sparring fields led all of them. Nonetheless, this guy was not as strong as the ones he had caught his attention in the classroom.
Although these experts were weaker, Xu Min was not that overconfident in his power. There was a lot of elves. After the battle in the Immortal Valley, he understood if he fought many enemies at once, he needed to be wary of the possibility of berserking. If he truly went berserk again, he could not help but fear for these elves' lives, not to mention his life if he was to kill many of his fellow students.
Berserking was something only he could allow to use against opponents stronger than him or against crowds that he needed to kill quickly. He felt pressured by the group of experts in front of him. Dealing with these elves would not be simple.
"Senior apprentice brother, what are you doing here?" An amused voice suddenly sounded out from behind Xu Min. This voice belonged to one of the men who had been seated in the classroom just moments before. Looking behind him, Xu Min found that everyone had left at the same time as he had. These experts were all smiling as they stood behind Xu Min, making him feel even more uncomfortable.
Xu Min was not paranoid, but he was new to this academy. Only the immortals had shown him politeness. So far, all students had been hostile. Therefore, he was on alert as soon as he associated with the students.
"This human beat up my younger brother!" The one they referred to as senior apprentice brother said, "If I do not avenge him, how can I continue being his older brother?!"
His eyes were filled with hate; his teeth were gnashing hard against each other, and his entire entourage was nodding their heads. They all agreed with this older martial brother of theirs. Quite a few experts had been beaten up by Xu Min this morning, and they all wished to see him get beat up instead.
"If you are going to battle, why don't you let me join in for fun then?" A sweet and alluring voice came from behind the group of elves. Everyone turned around to see who dared to interrupt. It was a fairy who was seated on a small stone. Her clothes were blue as deep as the sea, her hair shone like gold, and her blue eyes were so sharp that it felt as if they could see the very soul of the one they looked upon.
"Why would you defend a mere human?" the senior apprentice brother questioned the woman. It was impossible for him to have any real hostility towards her. Instead, he was more confused than angry.
"He is a student at our academy," the fairy said with a shrug of her shoulders, "he is a classmate of mine. If I don't even protect my classmates, then what kind of person am I?"
Hearing this the three elves behind Xu Min laughed out loud. Their voices were completely unhindered, and not even the slightest bit of worry could be heard. It was completely unrestrained, and the face of the senior apprentice brother turned completely red.
"I admire you. You are without a doubt a light fairy, but this is a matter between men!" the senior apprentice man hissed at the woman. He was clearly insulted by the young woman and the three elves behind Xu Min. Even so, he dared not talk back to them. Instead, he tried to find a way to fight Xu Min.
"Is it a matter for you to interfere with?" one of the elves behind Xu Min also stepped forward. His aura was so domineering that even Xu Min narrowed his eyes.
"This matter is about a duel which took place in the sparring field. We have a rule saying that no one can seek vengeance for a battle lost in the sparring field. However, here you are, trying to take revenge for a brother who lost."
"He was tricked by a human!" the senior apprentice brother stayed adamant. "It was not a fair match of the sparring field! He tricked everyone into believing that he was weak, and then he used his maleficent powers to defeat his opponents!"
"Maleficent powers?" the light fairy sounded genuinely insulted for a moment, "you consider elemental powers to be evil? Thus, you are claiming that, us, fairies are evil? Instead of being so mean to him, is it not much more admirable that he can control both spiritual power and elemental energies?"
The more she spoke, the more ashamed the group of elves that had come to pressure Xu Min became. Every word was like a sharp knife that kept turning inside his pride, chopping it to bits and eventually he was just shaking from embarrassment and anger. Instead of pursuing his original goal of challenging Xu Min, he just turned to leave.
"No need to rush away like that," Xu Min suddenly spoke up. His words confused everyone present. The whole reason the light fairy and the three elves stood up for him was that they found him interesting. He had so many secrets, and they wished to understand this human who had done what was impossible.
"We can choose to battle now, or we can meet at the heavenly ranking. Either is fine for me, a mere elf like you, I do not fear you." Xu Min snorted. His words caused everyone to look at Xu Min in a new light.
Some thought he was insane. It must be that the victories from the earlier sparring matches had gone to his head and made him arrogant so that he did not place anyone else in his eyes, while four people were of a different understanding.
The three elves and the light fairy all stared at Xu Min surprised. They had understood that Xu Min contained plenty of secrets and hidden strengths. If he were so certain of his victory against this senior apprentice brother, then he probably would win.
The classes were split up into the age of the students rather than their talent, and this senior apprentice brother was not stronger than any of the three experts behind Xu Min. Nor was he stronger than the light fairy, but even if they were to battle him, they would face some difficulties. He had been at the academy for a long time and had completed plenty of missions. This experience rewarded him with a lot of resources. As well, even though his rank was only of the sixth star of the Warrior rank, his combat ability was quite high.
"Are you ready to fight me right now?" The senior apprentice brother was silent for some time after asking the question. He had been in life and death situations against some beasts in the Immortal Valley and right now he was feeling a chill going down his spine. This chill was similar to what he felt when he stood in front of the most awe-inspiring beasts he had met before.
Feeling like this, the senior apprentice brother became apprehensive. He understood now that this human expert had some secrets, but he was riding on a tiger's back and was unable to get off. Even though he wished to retract his challenge, it was too late now.
"You want to wait until the Heavenly Rankings? Keep dreaming. My younger brother is not even able to attend this year's heavenly ranking because of you! I need to get my vengeance now. Let us go to the sparring fields right now since classes have ended for the day!"
Just as the senior apprentice brother had finally gained the courage to speak up while standing straight and looking all righteous, the light fairy sighed and spoke up once more, "classes are over for you elves, but they are still ongoing for classmate Xu Min," she said with her sweet voice, "he has to attend the fairy lessons soon. Since it is like this, he cannot go to the sparring field before tomorrow morning."
Hearing the light fairie's words the senior apprentice brother's face turned at first sour but then slightly relieved.
"If that is the case, then we might as well wait for the Heavenly Ranking," he said and shook his head, "I will let you train until the time for the the heavenly ranking. Then we will see who is the strongest!"
Without waiting for an answer the senior apprentice brother turned around and started walking away from the office. Just as he walked away, the Immortal teacher appeared out of nowhere and looked at him.
"You need to be more careful. Although you feel that you can deal with this man, you cannot deal with everyone. A little bit of humbleness goes a long way." he smiled. Xu Min bowed deeply out of gratitude. It was clear that this teacher wished Xu Min the best and the warning was out of his best interest.
Turning around, Xu Min also bowed to the three elves and the light fairy. "Thank you all for your help to block this senior apprentice brother," Xu Min said the heartfelt words. A smile appeared on his face, completely stunning the four other experts.
They had indeed tried to help him. In the end, they had also succeeded in making the duel get delayed, but they also understood that for Xu Min, this was not necessary. Seeing Xu Min displaying such respectful greeting, they were all stunned. It did not last long, they quickly all smiled before the light fairy stepped forward.
"Class will start soon, come with me. I'll take you to the classroom."
Xu Min nodded his head. With a respectful distance, he followed behind the fairy, not too close nor too far away. He looked at the scenes rather than the beautiful fairy in front of him.The woman was surprised by his ability to completely ignore her beauty since not even the elves were capable of doing that.