Chapter 137: The Rank of the Star Pattern of Dawn

"Cough, cough..." Miyabi Hotaka, who was eating breakfast with her head bowed beside Tomoe Tachibana, suddenly choked and started coughing violently. She took a sip of water and looked at Tomoe in surprise, realizing for the first time that her usually mature Blaze-mate had such an imaginative mind.

"Yes, there is nothing particularly wrong. Yechen held me gently last night as well," Julie replied to Tomoe with a statement so misleading that it left her to continue eating her bread in blissful ignorance.

"Ye, Ye, Yechen... you shameless wretch!" Tomoe, clearly having jumped to the wrong conclusion, stammered as she shouted at Yechen.

"Hm?" Yechen, suddenly branded a shameless wretch, turned his head in confusion and asked, "Is there something wrong with hugging?"

...

"It is said that only one in a thousand people can adapt to the Star Crest of the Dawn."

"Stare!!!"

"And then! The physical body of the person implanted with it is strengthened, and at the same time, their spiritual soul is also enhanced!"

"Stare!!!"

Rito Tsukimi was a beautiful young woman, and her lecture content was quite detailed; in that sense, she could barely be considered a good teacher. Even so, most of the students in the classroom had no intention of listening to her.

The reason lay in an overwhelmingly intense gaze emanating from within the room, surrounded by such dark, oppressive energy that everyone else couldn't help but shift their attention toward it.

Rito Tsukimi, who liked to act quirky and cute but was actually violent by nature, had been repeatedly interrupted by someone while teaching, and her inner fury was already soaring. Despite the several throbbing vein symbols appearing on her forehead, she maintained her smile, while Tomoe, shrouded in heavy, dark miasma, kept her gaze fixed squarely on Yechen.

Rito Tsukimi's anger vanished in an instant. As if she had discovered something interesting, she adopted a fake, cutesy tone and said, "Oh my! Teacher Rito is working so hard to teach, yet student Tomoe isn't even listening and keeps staring at student Yechen. Could it be love at first sight? Students these days are truly blessed! But it doesn't quite look like that, does it? Could it be that student Yechen did something to wrong student Tomoe?"

"Could it be that Yechen was not satisfied with just Julie and committed some heaven-defying, earth-shattering act against Tomoe? Tell your teacher, student Tomoe, and I will surely stand up for you!" Rito Tsukimi’s eyes were clearly etched with the word 'gossip,' and she eagerly awaited whatever scandalous revelation Tomoe might offer.

"That guy Yechen didn't do anything; I don't even know why she's acting like this!" This sounded like something someone else would say, but the words had clearly come from 'Yechen's' own mouth. The entire class stared at 'Yechen' in astonishment—who refers to themselves as 'that guy'?

"So, so! Could it be that you aren't Yechen? Could it be an alien that wants to invade Earth possessing Yechen's body? Reveal your true form, you monster!" With a backflip, she landed on the lecture desk, raised one leg, and struck a bizarre, comical pose while shouting.

"Do you want to die?" It was only then that someone noticed Yechen's tone was slightly different from yesterday. At the very least, Yechen was usually very polite when dealing with others; now, his voice carried a coldness that held people at arm's length.

"Haha, that's not a funny joke~ Ooh, Yechen is acting so strange today~!" Sensing the killing intent unintentionally leaking from 'Yechen,' Rito Tsukimi masked her inner craving for battle and excitement, pretending to be afraid.

"It is indeed a joke. At least, I don't want to kill you right now, but I am not Yechen," Yexing responded with a cold attitude. Before class, Yechen had suddenly pulled Yexing out, claiming he had discovered a new ability and went to research it with Ruoxing and Ruochen, leaving behind a disgruntled Yexing to take control of the body.

"Student Yexing? Ooh, let me think, I believe the Young Mistress mentioned it. Yechen has a dual personality, similar to having two souls in one body, and possesses two Blazes! Hey, hey, neither the newly emerged Yexing nor Yechen has shown their Blazes yet. Your teacher is very curious about what your Blazes actually are!" Only a few people knew about Yechen and Yexing's Blazes, and Sakuya Shiokonome had not told her.

"Just teach your class and mind your own business!" As Rito Tsukimi stared at Yexing with sparkling eyes, a fist appeared above her head and slammed down hard. Shiina dragged her away from Yexing and back to the podium.

"Yexing, it's been such a long, long time!" Perhaps because she had only seen Yexing appear a few times over the years, Saeko Busujima couldn't control herself and enthusiastically hugged Yexing's arm, casting aside the image of the stoic goddess she maintained at the academy.

"Are you an idiot?" Yexing was a bit unaccustomed to Saeko's sudden action, but he felt no aversion. He tapped Saeko's forehead lightly and pushed away the head resting on his arm, saying, "It has indeed been a long time. Your progress is quite decent."

"I have always aimed to catch up to you, Yexing, and become your most outstanding subordinate. Of course, after achieving that goal, I have even greater ambitions~!" Saeko laughed, not minding at all that Yexing had pushed her away.

"Having ambition is a good thing, but so far I haven't discovered what exactly about you could be called ambitious." Recalling Saeko's usual behavior, he began to tease her.

"Hm? Shiina, is something wrong?" He asked, sensing a change in Shiina's gaze.

"No, nothing." Shiina hesitated but didn't say it. The moment Yexing had just teased her, he had displayed a trait typical of Yechen. Could it be that they were gradually merging after splitting?

"Saeko and Shiina, it is class time now! As your teacher, I will punish you if you keep wandering over here!" After having her rabbit ears plucked off by Shiina, Rito Tsukimi reverted to her role as a teacher.

"Teacher Rito, as second-year top students, we have the authority to skip class, so it doesn't matter! Besides, Teacher Rito is just talking about trivial things anyway."

"That doesn't mean you can disrupt Teacher Rito's class! And I, Teacher Rito, am teaching very diligently! Uh, where was I? Hey! Answer me! Caveman!" Wanting to continue the lecture to prove herself, Rito Tsukimi forgot where she had left off and simply pointed to someone to remind her.

"Hmph!" A student with eyes so small they were mere slits, his entire body covered in well-developed muscles, stood up and struck a bodybuilding pose.

"Yes, yes! By training the body, one becomes stronger. Therefore, our curriculum includes a great deal of combat training." Rito Tsukimi, with her non-human level of perception, spoke naturally based on the student's pose.

"How on earth did you understand that pose?!" The urge to retort became impossible to suppress at that moment.

"Don't worry about such things! There is one more very important matter: the Star Crest of the Dawn also has different ranks. The ceremony to raise one's rank is called the Rite of Sublimation, which is held without fail at the end of every term! If you don't train properly, neither your physical nor mental ranks will improve. Don't think rank is unimportant—if you don't raise your rank by one level within a year, you will be! EXPELLED!" She emphasized the words 'expelled' heavily, as if giving a kind warning.

"Expelled again!!!"