RE: LORD OF TIME

"It’s impressive, isn’t it?" Abel asked with a smile as he pointed toward the huge crimson entrance.

The entire entrance of the Sun and Moon Academy, including its massive gates was constructed from Dragon Blood Stone.

It was an extremely rare material that only came into existence when special ores absorbed the blood of dragons.

Even a single fist-sized piece of Dragon Blood Stone would cause a huge commotion whenever it appeared on the market.

Yet here, the entire entrance of the Sun and Moon Academy had been built from Dragon Blood Stone.

Even with its status as one of the finest academies in the kingdom, the Sun and Moon Academy shouldn’t have been able to obtain such an enormous amount of Dragon Blood Stone.

However, from what William had learned in the original timeline, Duke Charles, who was also the principal of the Sun and Moon Academy had once slain a powerful dragon and used its blood to create this vast quantity of Dragon Blood Stone.

Dragons were considered royalty in the Ghena Empire and were among the strongest species not only in the Vermilion Realm but across the vast worlds.

So, for Duke Charles to kill a dragon by himself, it could be said that he was one of the strongest people not only in the Silver Wing Kingdom but even in the entire Vermilion Realm.

In fact, the reason the Sun and Moon Academy was able to operate freely without much interference from the nobles and provide even commoners with opportunities to rise was entirely because of Duke Charles’s presence.

He was one of the few nobles who disliked the idea of the nobility controlling the lives of all commoners.

It was true that cultivation techniques, battle arts, and other valuable resources capable of granting extraordinary power needed to be controlled.

After all, if such things were allowed to spread without restrictions, they would undoubtedly throw the kingdom into chaos because not everyone was suitable to wield such extraordinary power.

In Duke Charles’s opinion, controlling cultivation techniques was acceptable, but controlling people was not.

If there were talented and worthy individuals, they should still be given the opportunity to spread their wings and rise.

However, the noble families’ control over cultivation techniques and cultivation resources was so overwhelming that even if someone possessed extraordinary talent, they could only develop it by joining a noble family, working under them, and surrendering their freedom.

The Sun and Moon Academy had been established around three hundred years ago by Duke Charles to give everyone a fair opportunity to rise.

After the emergence of the Sun and Moon Academy, many other academies were founded as well, gradually forming the educational system that existed today.

In fact, Duke Charles had even received the support of the royal family when he founded the academy.

Although the royal family also wished to maintain strict control over cultivation techniques and other valuable resources, their purpose was mainly to prevent the kingdom from descending into chaos.

Unlike the noble families, they had no intention of controlling the people themselves as in their eyes, the appearance of talented individuals would only strengthen the kingdom as a whole.

However, for the noble families, the emergence of numerous talented individuals whom they couldn’t control was never a good thing.

Whenever a talented individual appeared, the royal family would have to grant them status if they wished to retain their loyalty.

Without status and resources, no gifted individual would remain in a place that couldn’t support their growth.

Therefore, a position that symbolized both authority and access to resources became necessary.

That status naturally came in the form of a noble title, while the resources mainly referred to Astral Rifts.

For the existing noble families, the rise of a new noble was no different from taking away their own resources.

The Astral Rifts that might have been assigned to them could instead be granted to newly appointed nobles, while territories they hoped to receive might also be awarded to someone else.

To the noble families, this was simply unacceptable.

However, they couldn’t stop Duke Charles and the royal family from establishing an academy like the Sun and Moon Academy.

Although the royal family and the noble families governed the kingdom together, the royal family still remained the supreme ruler on the surface.

Moreover, there was Duke Charles, whose personal strength wasn’t inferior to that of the royal family itself.

Even though the noble families couldn’t prevent the Sun and Moon Academy from being established, it didn’t mean they were powerless to influence it.

At the very least, they ensured that the academy couldn’t freely distribute cultivation techniques, battle arts, and other valuable resources.

Their reasoning was that if such resources were handed out too easily, the kingdom would inevitably fall into turmoil.

Only students who accomplished something and contributed to the kingdom should be rewarded with cultivation resources.

Thus, the task system was created.

And the tasks within it were far from easy.

Not only that, the noble families also sent their own children and representatives to study within the academy.

These nobles openly recruited talented individuals who either lacked a powerful backing or didn’t wish to struggle through countless difficult tasks just to obtain cultivation techniques and valuable resources.

Duke Charles couldn’t interfere with this situation either.

After all, it was perfectly normal for noble families to recruit talented individuals.

As long as those individuals willingly accepted the resources offered by the noble families and joined them of their own accord, what could Duke Charles possibly say?

It wasn’t as though he could force every student entering the academy to reject the offers made by noble families.

He wasn’t their nanny. He had provided everyone with an opportunity.

How they chose to make use of that opportunity was entirely their own decision.

If they wished to work for a noble family, that was their choice.

If they preferred to rely on themselves and work hard to earn everything on their own, that too was their choice.

"Let’s go. I will take you to the registration counter," Abel said, pulling William out of his thoughts.

William nodded and following Abel, he passed through the massive entrance and stepped inside the academy.

There weren’t many people on the academy grounds because the academy was currently recruiting new students and classes had not yet begun.

The academy would officially reopen on the 10th of July, which was still five days away.

William followed Abel until they stopped in front of a small building.

Even from outside, William could already see several new students inside, all of them there to complete their registration.

"Let’s go in," Abel said as he stepped inside first.

William was about to follow him when, all of a sudden, someone standing in the distance near the academy entrance caught his attention, causing his footsteps to halt.

’Liam.’

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(A/N: This Chapter primarily serves to introduce the Academy’s lore, which will play an important role in the Chapters that follow.)