Chapter 220: Astra Application
Melissa stared at Asher’s finger without moving, utterly frozen in place. She did not know how to feel, nor could she comprehend what to even think in that very moment. Yes, she had studied the class files meticulously, memorizing the names, faces, and ranks of all two hundred students she was assigned to teach.
She knew some of them were undoubtedly geniuses, after all, geniuses appeared in every generation, but what she was witnessing right now transcended the ordinary bounds of talent. What stood before her was not simply genius. It was monstrosity incarnate, if the word itself could even begin to capture the phenomenon unfolding in front of her.
She knew Asher was the Tenth Sun of the prestigious Wargrave family, a title carrying both weight and legacy. But unlike many others, Melissa had no knowledge of the boy’s failures, specifically, the two failed awakenings that had shadowed his path.
How could she have known? The Star Academy never bothered to keep such records within their archives. To them, such matters were trivial and irrelevant. They only maintained files on matters related to admission into the Academy and on occurrences within a student’s time enrolled.
Anything else was discarded as inconsequential.
’Even Thalric wasn’t this ridiculous...’ Melissa thought to herself, still frozen as she remained in her lowered position, unable to move her gaze away from Asher’s display.
The rest of the class, noticing that their instructor had not moved a muscle, could not help but swallow hard. A single, chilling thought drifted into their collective minds, an unspoken realization.
The Tenth Sun had not failed.
Some of them shook their heads in disbelief, already beginning to accept the absurdity of it all. Others quietly resolved to work harder, desperately hoping to bridge even a fraction of the gap they had just witnessed. And then there were students like Ryaen, who simply did not care in the slightest. She would always move at her own pace, never rushing, never yielding, and never measuring herself against others. Her pace was, in her own mind, the best pace.
Melissa did not bother waiting for Asher to further reduce the size of his Astra sphere. It was unnecessary. The boy was already controlling an Astra mote, and there existed nothing lower, nothing finer, than that.
With that understanding, she finally lifted herself upright. Turning away from Asher, she dismissed the floating countdown beside her, the glowing numbers vanishing instantly. Descending the small flight of stairs, she returned to her stage with a composed air, planting herself once more behind the podium.
"Asher Wargrave will be awarded two thousand points for his perfect Astra control," Melissa’s voice thundered through the lecture hall, resonant and authoritative.
The minds of the students collectively ground to a halt. Two thousand points? To them, that was a staggering amount. None of them had ever earned anything close to such a reward, and here was the Tenth Sun, receiving it effortlessly on the very first day of class.
’Wait... nothing was said about earning points from instructors in the Academy rulebook,’ they all thought at once, confusion gripping them like a vice.
Melissa, as though she had already anticipated their doubts, as though she had lived through this scenario countless times before, spoke again, her tone calm and steady, almost as if she were reading their very thoughts.
"This method of earning points was not mentioned within the Academy rulebook because it is nearly impossible to achieve," she explained with deliberate clarity.
"Students can only earn points in class when they perform the impossible, as Asher Wargrave has done. Even then, the maximum is two thousand points. At Star Academy, the extraordinary is the minimum standard. To be extraordinary is expected of you; it is not something for which you will be rewarded. That is the expectation we set for you from the very beginning."
Her words concluded in a chilling calmness that reverberated through the hall.
Asher felt the weight of countless gazes fix upon him. But he did not react outwardly. He sat there nonchalantly, his posture relaxed, unaffected. But beneath that calm facade, his mind remained razor-sharp, absorbing every word Melissa uttered with careful attention.
With a single demonstration, Melissa destroying the lecture hall wall earlier, Asher had reached a conclusion he had previously ignored or brushed aside.
Astra application.
Yes, his Star Energy granted him Perfect Astra Control, but the manner in which he used that control was entirely up to him. Up until this point, he had only been using it to fine-tune his attacks, minimizing Astra loss and wastage with surgical precision.
But now Melissa had shown him something else, something far broader, something he had neglected. She had opened doors he had left unopened, whether from oversight or from arrogance.
Asher sighed quietly to himself. Just because one was given something extraordinary did not mean one automatically knew how to use it. In terms of raw Astra control, there was no comparison. Not Melissa, not anyone in the Academy, perhaps not even beyond it, could match him. But in terms of Astra application, he still had ground to cover.
And that was not a burden. That was an opportunity.
Asher did not allow frustration to seep in. This moment represented progress. Already, on his very first day of class, he was learning something new.
’An extra two thousand points isn’t bad. That brings my total to thirty-five hundred. More points means more training time...’ Asher thought with a subtle nod of his head.
The rest of the class, hearing Melissa’s words, could only click their tongues in frustration. To be told that points could only be earned through classes, and only by achieving the impossible, was a bitter pill to swallow. But they did not complain. They knew the truth of it: if earning points in class had been easy, the Star Academy would have included such details within its rulebook. The omission was itself a statement.
Melissa, without missing a beat, shifted her focus back to the students. She instructed each of them to summon the best Astra sphere they could form. From there, she began addressing them one by one, her sharp mind focused simultaneously on all two hundred students. She did not miss a single detail, except when it came to Asher, of course. There was nothing left for her to teach him in terms of pure control.
Still, she could not dismiss him. She could not tell him to skip class. He would remain seated and attend her lectures, just as the Star Academy demanded.
Unlike the fierce, crimson-eyed gaze she had worn earlier, Melissa now exuded calmness. She worked with patience and precision as she guided each student. With every Astra sphere demonstration, she measured their limits, assessed their flaws, and pushed them along individual paths, each tailored to their current capabilities.
She knew well that among these two hundred, there would be hidden diamonds buried in rough stone. Students without mentors, students whose potential was dulled only by lack of proper guidance. Their poor control did not matter to her, it only marked the beginning of their refinement. She would find them. She would shape them. And she would turn those rough stones into diamonds that gleamed with undeniable brilliance.