Cultivation Through Artifacts

Early in the morning, two boys in similar-looking uniforms were slowly walking up on the street, toward the direction where Moon Academy was.

They were talking amongst each other spiritedly when suddenly the boy on the left stopped walking and pointed forward.

"Hey, what is he doing?"

The other guy glancing where his friend pointed at, saw as a boy around the same age as them was running toward a tree on the side hurriedly.

However, just before the guy could have answered his partner, an unexpected sight happened.

Suddenly behind the boy, an old man appeared out of thin air and swung his hand in an attempt to touch the boy's back.

"Isn't that the... Eh?"

The dude wanted to finish his question when suddenly, the boy who was about to be touched from behind jumped to the side and started to run back toward the gate from where he just came from.

"Huh? How was he able to see him?", asked the one on the left, but the next second his shock became a level deeper.

The old man appeared next to the boy's side again, but this time instead of a gentle motion he moved to grab the boy's shoulder with a crazier speed than before.

"Such speed... Why is he going strong against a newbie?", asked the guy, thinking that the boy now was definitely done for.

However, to his surprise, the boy avoided this attempt too and continued to run toward the gate.

"He must have a powerful Talent associated with Sensory Enhancement.", said the guy on the side with a serious expression.

The two watched as the old man who they knew way too well attempted to grab a kid with crazy speed but failed every time.

"If the aim here is to pass through that gate then that boy will definitely do it.", said the boy on the right, but his eyes widened suddenly when he watched as the old man vanished into thin air in the next second.

"Where did he go?"

While the two looked around in the hope to find the old man, the boy finally reached the entrance, putting him only a few steps away to cross the gate.

"He will make it.", said the guy on the right, however, the guy on the left shook his head and said, "No. Unfortunately, he won't."

And just as those words sounded, the old man appeared right before the boy, with his palm inches away from his face.

"There is no way for him to avoid that from such a close distance while moving forward.", said the guy on the left, however, the next second his eyes became extra wide.

It was because the moment Khal was about to get grabbed by Jas by the head, Khal tilted his head to the side and let the hand pass by him, right above his shoulder.

However, Khal knew that wouldn't be enough for him to pass the gate without getting touched, so he moved his hands and grabbed Jas by the wrist.

"I have won!", shouted Khal, and with a strong motion, he pulled Jas toward him.

By using the momentum he created with the pull, Khal was about to step through the gate, when suddenly he noticed as Jas's body twisted in an unnatural manner and his other hand went toward his head like a whip.

"!"

The two guys on the side seeing this looked extremely surprised. The move that Jas just did was something that even they wouldn't be able to do, knowing that they were several years younger!

However, Khal seeing this wasn't surprised at all. With his Heaven's Eyes, he was able to see everything, so he has already noticed the change in Jas's body even before he started to move.

"Nice try!", said Khal, and without hesitation, he stomped powerfully into the ground.

Stomping into the ground with his right feet, while kicking back with his left, Khal's body did a backflip forward, making Jas's face to turn to shock instantly.

Barely avoiding Jas's hand which passed right below his head, Khal flew right through the gate and landed on the ground in a stylish manner.

"I passed!", shouted Khal happily with both of his fists in the air. Even Lisa looked incredibly happy after seeing his performance and instantly punched her tiny fist into the air.

Jas who just got beaten, massaged his wrist gently and glanced at Khal in silence.

Feeling the gaze on his skin, Khal instantly calmed down, and after deactivating his Talent he cupped his hands together and bowed slightly.

"I hope you will let me enroll into Moon Academy!"

Jas seeing that Khal acted humble even after winning dusted his clothes off gently, and after putting his hands behind his back he smiled.

"Welcome to Moon Academy kid. I expect great things from you. Now then, take this."

As he said that, Jas threw keys to both Lisa and him and said, "These are Moon Academy's 'VIP' rooms. Both of you deserve to be there, however, it's not given to you for free. As for what you need to do to keep those keys, I will explain it in greater detail on tomorrow's announcement."

Hearing this, Khal and Liza looked at each other in confusion, but Jas just simply smiled and waved his hand.

"Don't worry, you will soon understand it, so go now. I still have things to do, so don't waste my time."

As Jas said that, he turned around and walked back toward the gate, leaving Lisa and Khal back there in silence.

***

After successfully passing Jas's test, Khal and Lisa decided not to go instantly toward their rooms but wanted to see how the Academy look liked from the inside.

Walking on the streets, the two looked at the several shops, buildings, and facilities that were around the place.

Some shops sold food, weapons, and potions, while there were a few open buildings where Khal could see blacksmithing or even pharmacy.

And what was even more surprising, that every person walking on the streets had the same uniform on, with a white moon emblem on the left side of their chest part.

"I hope we will get those uniforms too.", said Liza, mesmerized by the girl's uniform great style.

While walking forward slowly, suddenly Khal halted and noticed a very small shop on the left side inside a narrow alleyway.

The reason why he stopped was that at the other side of the window, masks with shiny pebbles placed into them grabbed his attention.

Except for their color, they had the exact same appearance that he currently had embedded into his bracelet.

Seeing those pebbles, Khal started to walk toward there, but the moment he saw what was around the masks, he raised his eyebrows instantly.

"Aren't those things... Artifacts?"