Eternal Freedom's Ascension-Chapter 40: Buying Cameras (1)

Apollo Silverstein—the most notorious first year in terms of reputation. Although there was no occasion of him being engaged in a brawl, his intimidating aura was more than enough to scare away several students.

Right now, almost no one in Class-D dared to defy him, or even question him. Currently, Class-D were having their last class for the day, and the students were tired and barely listening. However, the topic being taught was important, so they were paying attention.

Instructor Steve, Class-D’s class teacher, was standing on the podium with a serious expression.

"Soul Crystals are important in the evolution of an Awakened." His eyes shone as he explained. "When you awaken, your Crystal Core opens up within you. It is almost inaccessible physically, but is a part of your soul’s manifestation. Inside your Crystal Core is a sea of spirit essence, the fundamental energy of all life."

A few students who had been dozing off snapped their eyes open, interested in the class.

Noting their attention, Instructor Steve nodded slightly. "To replenish spirit essence or hasten the saturation of your Crystal Core, it can be absorbed from the atmosphere. However, this method is painfully slow. Therefore, the use of Soul Crystals come in. As you might have guessed, a Soul Crystal comes from the corpse of a Nirad Creature, therefore contains ample amount of spirit essence."

A brown-haired bespectacled student raised her hand in silent questioning. Instructor Steve gave her a subtle nod.

"Instructor, is there a difference between these Soul Crystals? Would the Soul Crystal of an Awakened Beast contain the same spirit essence as that of an Awakened Monster?"

Hearing her question, the man smiled slightly. "Good question. Indeed there is a difference between them. However, it isn’t just about quantity, but also quality. The spirit essence from a higher ranked creature is purer and much more than that of a lower ranked one."

The girl nodded, then asked another question. "How do we get Soul Crystals in the academy? I don’t see any beasts around for us to kill."

Instructor Steve’s expression hardened. "That is naturally considered. Soul Crystals can be bought using your credits. Also, the school organizes a monthly expedition that all students must participate in to hunt down Nirad Creatures. It always happens at the end of the month, so be preparing yourselves for your first, true combat."

The classroom tensed subtly, as many students were forced to remember their Awakening Assessment Quests, a bitter memory for most. Apollo’s eyes squinted slightly, but all signs of displeasure disappeared in a flash. Instead, he broke into a wide grin.

’Heh... killing... killing... killing. So much interesting.’

Ignoring the murderous intent emanated from Apollo, Instructor Steve continued the class. Minutes passed by, and the bell finally rang.

When he left the class, almost all the students let out tired groans, then began to chat amidst themselves.

"Ugh, fuck! My head hurts... too much knowledge."

"Hah? Weakling, I’ve already created my second Force Node and finished reading all my books."

"Who hasn’t created their nodes? Though I admit it’s a bit tiring."

"Yh, I almost passed out."

Slowly, the conversation shifted to the recent topic that was taught.

"So there’s a raid at the end of the month, damn I wanna avoid it!"

"Fuck! That’s true. We can just buy those Soul Crystals in bulk. Easy peasy, right?"

"Stupid people, it seems your quests have traumatized—"

Bang!

Apollo suddenly slammed his table, silencing the whole class. Under their tensed gazes, he sat domineeringly on the table, his legs on the chair.

"Quiet."

The lingering murmurings died down, creating a tense and oppressive silence. His purple eyes scanned the expressions of his classmates, then gave a disappointed scoff. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Are you all fools? Do you think the raid is avoidable? Heh, shut your traps and get ready to fight. I won’t tolerate a slacker in my class."

Several eyes twitched at his words, displeasure rising from within. What did he mean by ’my class’? Wasn’t he just a student like them? Why would he be behaving like their class teacher? However, despite their irritation, no one dared to speak up. Apollo wasn’t notorious for nothing.

"You—"

Just as Apollo was about to continue, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Confused, he rapidly checked who could have messaged him. Surely, he didn’t have friends who chatted idly, no?

Still guessing, he whipped out the phone and checked.

|Sherlock Holmes: Yahallo, Class-D. It’s good that everyone is here right now. I’d love not to waste too much effort.|

Immediately he read the message, Apollo’s eyes sharpened. He didn’t bother looking at the door like Iruca did, but raised his head to the cameras. His mind was sharp, and he immediately deduced the source of observation. Instantly, another message was dropped.

|Sherlock Holmes: Nice intuition. I’m leasing the cameras to you for 1.2 million. A duration of three weeks. First week of resumption is not included.|

Unconsciously, Apollo’s hand tightened around the phone. With just those two messages, he already understood everything. Throwing his head back, he laughed.

"What? Think you can threaten me? 1.2 million? Absurd!"

His classmates looked at him weirdly, unable to understand the situation. However, Apollo’s eyes were filled with quiet fury, making them unable to talk. Even his lackeys were silent.

|Sherlock Holmes: Sure, sure. You can decide not to pay. However, I won’t be surprised if your Class Rank Points fall to a pitiful amount.|

The purple-haired delinquent’s expression hardened, and his body stiffened. He understood the direct threat of those words. On the first day of resumption, he had beaten a few students in the class, right in front of the cameras. At that time, he wasn’t aware of the effect of his actions on his Class Rank Points.

Now however, was a chance to mitigate the damage that had been done. The situation put him in a tight spot, and he hated the feeling of being cornered.

"Doesn’t matter, right? You’re not selling the first week."

He scowled, suddenly realizing this.

|Sherlock Holmes: Then we can discuss a negotiation for that day’s erasure. Perhaps 300,000 credits?|

"Hah? Don’t be cocky!"

|Sherlock Holmes: Welps, then 500,000?|

Apollo’s eyes almost popped from their sockets, and he immediately fell silent. This was blatant threat and extortion! Raising the price for 300,000 to 500,000... did he think credits were distributed daily?!