Chapter 1211 – A Chosen’s Lesson

Jake watched the already filled-to-the-brim auditorium, his back feeling particularly sweaty at the sight. He saw the excitement of the attendees as they chatted among themselves, all of them full of smiles as they socialized.

He was genuinely surprised at the diversity of races and factions who would be attending, even though he had been told by the Viper that most factions would be interested in having one of their young D-grade prospects attend.

From his understanding, it would have been viewed as embarrassing if they didn’t have anyone attend, as that would be proof of their lacking political clout. Of course, none of this mattered for what was about to happen, besides maybe making Jake slightly more nervous, as these people were clearly considered geniuses of their grade, so they should have pretty high standards when it came to teachers.

Taking a deep breath, Jake kept observing until it was time for him to take center stage. One thing he had noticed was that the good teachers consistently showed up right on time. Not a minute too early or late, but exactly on the dot for when the lesson was meant to begin. It was a minor thing, but Jake would definitely do the same.

Mentally going over his preparations one last time, Jake found everything in place as it should be. He still had no way of knowing if what he had planned would produce good results and lead to a good lesson, but he was confident this was his best shot.

One of the things he had agonized a lot over was exactly what to teach. Nearly all alchemists employed formations and rituals to some extent, but it was an incredibly broad field of study with numerous branches and methodologies. Finding something broad enough yet also not too simple had been incredibly difficult, but Jake believed he had identified an area where he could offer a unique perspective.

Not to say he didn’t remain incredibly nervous about whether these D-grades would be able to make use of his lesson, but Jake had made his decision. He had also chosen this because even if it proved to be useless to some students, the mere act of Jake teaching it should prove beneficial.

Soon enough, the time for Jake to make his entrance had arrived. Checking himself over one last time, Jake made sure everything was as it should be. He had gotten a new outfit on the behest of Villy to look more presentable so he wouldn’t show up in full combat gear, which he definitely would have without the Viper’s influence.

With a final deep breath, Jake stopped watching the screen showing the auditorium and stepped onto the small teleportation circle as he went to teach his very first lesson in the Academy… and perhaps his last, dependent on how it went.

—

“Were you at the reveal ceremony?” Vendoli asked while occasionally throwing glances toward the podium down below.

“No, but one of my older brothers was,” the female beastkin called Chalette answered as she also joined him in throwing looks to catch the exact moment the Chosen arrived. “He and everyone else definitely took a moment to realize the Malefic One’s Chosen was indeed a human, and he even complained about how it didn’t make any sense.”

“I bet he’s shut up now,” Vendoli chuckled, shaking his head.

“Well, I haven’t heard him say anything since Nevermore,” the beastkin also giggled, clearly still not very fond of her arrogant and uptight older brother.

Vendoli also wasn’t a fan of the guy either, but her brother was approaching B-grade, while Vendoli was still only mid-tier D-grade himself, so he couldn’t say or not much. At least not yet.

As a pure human who’d grown up primarily surrounded by monsters and those who had descended from monsters, Vendoli didn’t have the best childhood, as he was a lot weaker in his younger days. His parents hadn’t been of a high grade either, so he was born inheriting no Records of note, meaning he had to start from F-grade and work his way up without any natural growth to speak of.

This meant he was always the weakest while growing up, and as he needed both a class and profession to make any kind of progress, he sometimes felt hopelessly behind. However, he’d kept working hard, and eventually, the local city lord had noticed his talents and referred him to the Academy. Not out of kindness, mind you, but because the Academy offered ample rewards to anyone who referred successful applicants.

Not that Vendoli wasn’t eternally grateful, as the second he’d joined the Order and the Academy, he’d felt his status change. Everyone looked at him differently now that he was a member of a Primordial faction. This had even happened slightly before the Malefic One returned to the Order, and it had only gotten better since.

What his peers back home hadn’t known was that Vendoli hadn’t done particularly well in the Order in the beginning. Without any backing, he always had to be careful about not offending others, and his race hadn’t helped him either, as the Order lacked humans compared to other races. He had often felt isolated and alone, and group projects had nearly always been solo endeavors.

However, even that had changed when the Chosen of the Malefic Viper had let himself be known. Everyone had expected him to be a dragonkin or at least a scalekin of some kind, but instead, a pure human had appeared. With time, he had only proven himself more and more, resulting in a shift in how members of the Order viewed humans in general.

Vendoli’s treatment improved, people wanted to talk to him, and he had even noticed a significant uptick in the number of human applicants to both the Order and the Academy. To say he was grateful to the Chosen of the Malefic One was an understatement, to say the least, as he felt that his fellow human had already changed his life despite Vendoli having never even met his idol.

All that would change today, as he would finally lay eyes on the most notable C-grade of the multiverse and the person in the world Vendoli admired the most.

“What do you think he’ll teach?” Vendoli asked with excitement as his own thoughts only hyped him up further.

“Does it even matter?” Chalette asked in return with a chuckle. “I would be fine if he just told a story about his travels to Nevermore or gave some basic crafting advice. My father kept reiterating that having too many expectations would only lead to disappointment. He said that the Chosen’s Path is clearly one of combat first and foremost, and that he likely wouldn’t have wasted time learning how to teach, as that would just have been a waste of time.”

“I’m not expecting the Chosen to become some expert teacher overnight, I’m just curious,” Vendoli said, shaking his head. “And for the Record, I would be more than happy to have him just talk about himself. I haven’t been able to find much information about the Chosen’s background outside of him being a Progenitor in the new universe.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Not much, no,” Chalette said with a shrug.

“No matter what, he must have been an outstanding and influential figure even before the integration,” Vendoli nodded.

“Obviously,” Chalette scoffed at the most obvious statement of the era. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he already ruled most of his planet even befo-“

Chalette shut up halfway through her sentence, as in an instant, the entire auditorium fell silent. The teleportation circle down below had lit up, signifying it was about to activate.

The two of them both looked with bated breath as the faint ripples of space brought with them a single human who appeared in the middle of the platform below. He wore an elaborate robe with the motif of the Malefic Viper in a design that usually only those with the highest of status, like the Hallmaster, would be allowed to wear. It was slightly altered, though, giving it a personal flair that likely belonged only to the Chosen.