NOVEL NEXT Chapter 14
14 ~ Ask and It's Free
Coleman Academy, as one of the leading institutions among academies, boasted top-tier teaching resources. Located in Coleman City, an external dependency of the Elf Forest, the academy enjoyed absolute neutrality and never had to worry about war disrupting its academic environment. With a well-established reputation, the school never lacked for teachers or educational support.
Under normal circumstances, someone with Dylin’s level of talent would never have been admitted. But due to the special nature of his soul, he’d been accepted under exceptional conditions—whether that was luck or misfortune remained to be seen.
From academic systems to campus environment, from daily lessons and training to extracurricular entertainment and leisure, not a single detail was overlooked.
Every facet was designed to provide the best possible education.
Naturally, this included student meals.
But here, the word "cafeteria" carried a very different meaning. It wasn’t like in his past life—a chaotic mess of long queues, greasy, low-quality food, and poor hygiene.
At this elite institution, the cafeteria was held to the same standard as the classrooms. With its vaulted ceiling and pillar-lined architecture reminiscent of a palace, even the rowdiest individuals instinctively lowered their voices upon entering. Aside from the clinking of utensils and footsteps, no other sound existed in the dining hall.
Just like entering a library, the atmosphere demanded silence and restraint. No one wanted to be the one drawing all eyes with a loud noise.
And with such an elegant environment, the food itself naturally lived up to it.
The academy had thoughtfully accounted for the differing palates of various races:
There were multiple dining halls—one for humans, one for elves, one for dwarves, one for beastkin…
Prices ranged from affordable to luxurious, meeting the needs of students from all backgrounds.
Typically, students dined in the section designated for their race. Outliers with peculiar tastes were the minority.
As for Dylin, he didn’t eat in the human section, nor the elf one, nor any of the beastfolk areas.
When it came to food, he existed outside the Three Realms and beyond the Five Elements—belonging to no category.
That morning, after leaving the temporary dorms, he bypassed the human dining area… the elf one… the beastkin one… and finally reached a small stall behind the cafeteria.
There, he casually grabbed two pieces of dry bread and left.
That was his breakfast.
Don’t ask. Ask and it’s free. He was saving money.
He wasn’t alone in this. Because Divine Child awakening happened at random, there were noble-born Divine Children with silver spoons in their mouths, and then there were ordinary ones… and then there were the truly unlucky: orphans with no home, no family, no support.
Coleman Academy prided itself on valuing talent above all—but that didn’t mean tuition came for free.
Until they achieved glory and wealth, these less fortunate Divine Children had no choice but to rely on work-study programs and cut back on daily expenses wherever possible.
Early curriculum was light and easy to understand.
In fact, Dylin didn’t even need to pay attention in class. With his talent level, it didn’t matter—he couldn’t even properly use Divine Analysis, so banking on anything else was a bit too optimistic.
The dorm he currently lived in was a temporary one. Technically, they weren’t yet full students of the academy—at least not officially. That would be decided in a month, after the Freshman Crown Tournament.
Coleman’s system was simple: the better you performed, the better your resources. Top performers were grouped into the elite class and received the best education. The majority ended up in the average class, while the lowest tier—the so-called "remedial class"—still received respectable education, far superior to other institutions.
Importantly, students in that lowest tier were always given opportunities to rise. If they could prove themselves later, they too could join Class A.
Dorm assignments were also handled a month later—based on team arrangements.
That’s why everyone had panicked when Astrid joined Dylin’s team.
The dorms weren’t split by gender. Students shared a large house, each having their own private room.
Living under one roof with a member of the opposite sex who had once saved your life? Who knew what could develop from there?
At that moment, Dylin sat comfortably in a warm classroom, arms crossed, listening attentively.
Apart from professional courses on being a Divine Child, and barring outdoor training, students had general classes: history, cultural studies, local customs.
Dylin found these topics fascinating and paid close attention.
By evening, school was over—no different from his old world’s schedule.
But today, he couldn’t just head to the cafeteria, eat, and collapse into bed.
Yesterday, after registering both for team membership and school enrollment as Teresa, he had made an appointment with Miss Blaise: 6 p.m. tonight for Teresa’s Divine Princess enrollment test.
A Divine Princess who had inherited divine blood but had not yet awakened her Divine Authority was considered unawakened. During this phase, she didn’t yet possess active Divine Authority—only the most basic Divine Authority Domain.
Testing an unawakened Divine Princess wouldn’t yield the most objective data.
Moreover, Divine Princesses couldn’t be measured solely by cold, fixed stats. Their true worth wasn’t in numbers, but in battlefield achievements—records that stood like medals in their dossiers. That was the real measure of a Divine Princess.
For now, the academy’s test focused on her Divine Authority Domain—the innate aura unique to each Divine Princess. Based on the domain’s nature, the academy could roughly determine her future combat role and the form her Divine Authority would take.
Dylin was just as curious as anyone.
What type of Divine Princess was Teresa? Once awakened, how would she rank compared to the top-tier Divine Princesses of Coleman Academy?