Reincarnation Of The Strongest Spirit Master

He could see black lines under the eyes of everyone, as if they stayed their past nights awake or something.

"What's going on here?"

William could tell something big was going on here. The doors that were wide open before were now tightly shut.

"What brought a kid of the second year here?" Just as he felt lost and confused about this, a deep voice came from behind.

"Senior, can you tell me what's going on here?" that dude wore a silver attire, just like many standing here.

William could also see few gold attires, meaning these disciples were gold grade, at least at fifth year.

"Coming here without knowing about this big day? Who are you?" The one who spoke to William was in his early twentieth, giving William no impression about his clan or family.

He was bald, with a long beard that gave him a unique look. "Sorry senior, I came here to meet with someone inside and didn't know anything about this big day."

William told the truth, and yet he felt many weird and even hostile gazes fell on his back.

"Don't bother with him," one of the few wearing gold attire disciples said, attracting the crowd's attention, "he is that porter who turned into a bronze spirit master in a few days!"

"Him?!"

"This kid?!"

"I heard he was a traitor!"

"I don't want to be associated with someone like him!"

William suddenly heard lots of remarks about him, mostly speaking about the false charge that he got cleared from.

When he experienced this, he couldn't help but recall Berry. 'Tsk! It really sucks when someone spreads false rumours about you indeed,' he inwardly sighed, didn't give all of them any heed while focused on the silver spirit master standing in front of him.

That dude showed a surprised look over his face before that look vanished and instead a look of respect appeared on his face.

"A traitor or not, that's an issue left to the academy to decide," that dude spoke in a loud tone, seemingly defending William, "what truly matters is how he did it!"

"I'm not interested in dealing with someone like him!"

"I heard many disciples from higher clans already announced their enmity with him."

"I don't want to attract the wrath of any of those scary clans."

"Alfred, it's better if you stayed away from him!"

William noticed how his reputation was very low in the academy! He never expected for his name to be widely known and be associated with such infamy.

He felt the urge to speak up and defend himself, and soon withdrew such a thought. He should focus on things he decided to do, not care about what others thought about him.

People were just like this, believing rumours and not showing any interest in the truth or seeking it.

"Don't bother with them," Alfred said, ignoring what others advised him about, "tell me, is there a secret behind what you did or what?"

"What do you think?" William liked this dude, and yet he kept himself away from trouble and answered back with a question.

"You are an interesting kid," Alfred laughed before adding, "if not for this day, I'd have asked you many questions. But now it's better for me to revise what I've learned so far."

"Revise? Is an exam going on today?" William got the hidden hint behind Alfred's words.

"It's an exam to decide the batch taking part in the upcoming spirit master competition," Alfred paused, seemingly hesitating about what he should add next, "I don't know how you don't know about it, but it's a big deal!"

"I lived as a porter for a long time," William said.

"Yes, I can see where you came from," Alfred sighed before looking around and whispered, "see? Most of us just came from no named clans or families. We aren't that far better than you. Only those without backing have to go through such strict tests. As for those from big clans and families, humph! Each clan and big named family already selected one of their disciples to join the competition without the need to take any test!"

William got what he meant. And when he looked around, he noticed that the mean age of all silver spirit masters was around twenty! And those few with gold attires were at least thirty!

That was a very high age compared to their rank! In any big clan or family, such ranks would be achieved at much younger ages!

"So…" William looked around and realised something. If they were common folks, then they must have associated themselves with one of the big clans or families in the academy.

And Alfred seemed to get what William meant by his unspoken words. "I work for the Red Falcon clan. It's not that strong compared with the likes of Long or the Bronze Lizard clans, but it's still a decent one."

"Having the backing of a good clan is better than having none at all."

"Hahahaha! That's what I think as well," Alfred laughed on William's words before adding, "I like you! Let's hang out together sometimes. But now, I have to excuse myself."

"Senior, can I ask about something else?" William hurriedly stopped Alfred. He got a good impression of such a common spirit master, and so he wanted to ask him more.

"You can't get inside with us," Alfred seemed to get what William wanted to ask about, "only those who reached silver rank have a shot here. Otherwise, it will be a huge loss of spirit crystals for you."

"Spirit crystals?" William paused, "how much exactly?"

"A hundred per person," Alfred said in a bitter tone. William knew how hard it was for such a common spirit master to store up such a small amount, "I know it's too much to ask, but it's the rule set by the academy."

"I see," William paused, turned around but he couldn't see any forging master from the department around.