Rise of The Demon General

Even though smithing was fascinating, Amon had no need for it after learning how to craft his flying knives. He went to the last building in the Specialization Class complex, the talisman making.

Amon had read some information regarding talisman making from books, but he had never tried it. Now, he intended to learn its basics. The class here provides tutors and tools, it was the best place to learn.

Talisman making involved using paper made of special material and ink produced from alchemy using spirit beast's blood infused with aer stones. Similar to the tools from the other specialization class, there were different grades of paper and ink for the craft. The ones provided in this class were, of course, the lowest grade ones.

The process of talisman-making was almost similar to engraving. It involves words of power as well. But while engraving produced a product that lasted, talisman making produce a product that was only to be used once. A talisman would disintegrate once it was activated and carried out its intended purpose.

Amon spent a few days inside this Talisman-making class to learn its basics. The basic word of power he learned during this talisman-making class was different from the ones he learned for engraving. The tutor, however, explained that some words of power could be used for both specialization jobs. These words of power were not circulated to the public, though.

The basic word of power he learned during the class was to make the talisman explode. It was the create the same talisman as the ones inside his space ring, the ones he had taken from Wei Lun's corpse inside the White Cloud sect's secret dimension.

He should have expected it. The one available for Wei Lun to learn was most likely the most basic talisman. Wei Lun was not a high-ranking member in the Wei clan to afford higher-level words of power.

Talisman-making was as punishing as engraving. One mistake in drawing the lines would end up in failure. The paper would then be wasted and a new one had to be used. A wrong thickness on the drawn lines could also contribute to failure. Thus, the academy limited a student to only ten tries within a day.

Before they were even given permission to use proper talisman paper, they had to learn calligraphy writing first. Only when the tutor saw that the student's writing was perfect most of the time that they were allowed to give talisman-making a try. Of course, writing while injecting aether into the paintbrush was much more difficult than when they were just training with calligraphy writing. Hence, most students still failed all the ten tries they were given during their first attempts.

Amon managed to succeed on his first day's attempt, but he still wasted eight tries, though. He produced two exploding talismans out of his ten tries of the day. This impressed the tutor a lot. The tutor said he had a great talent for talisman-making and showered him with praises, in the hope that Amon would continue to spend his time there.

The next day after that, Amon no longer showed up.

Amon was only interested in learning the basics, he didn't have enough time to focus on everything. He might only have enough time to focus on one specialization out of the four. He chose to improve his engraving skill.

So, aside from cultivating, training arts, and experimenting with poison on his own. The rest of his time he spent attending the theory classes when they were available and practicing engraving at the engraving class.

The daily matter with the Vicious faction he left to Xin Wuming. He gave him instruction and batches of the thousand Dream Powders when Wuming visited him daily to give a report on the faction's progress.

More members joined. Mostly because this new faction wasn't discriminating when accepting members. Vicious just accepted everyone that was interested. Another reason was because of the growing popularity of the Thousand Dream Powders. Many joined to get a free weekly quota or to get some extra aer stones income by helping distribute the powders.

During the occasion when Amon checked in on his territory, he found that Lin Anwen had joined his faction. Amon asked him why he didn't join the Bloodless where most senior Lin members were, he answered that he didn't know those Lin seniors. Amon was the only one he knew within this academy. The other Lin members who came with them, Lin Fen and Lin Baxiong, had failed to enter this academy.

Amon didn't mind, as long as Lin Anwen followed his command.

Despite the growing number of members, Amon gave Xin Wuming the instruction to organize the members so that only forty members were hanging out at any one time inside their territory. The others were told to spend their time inside the pagoda or training buildings or roamed around the main section. They were given strict warnings to not wander near the other factions' territories, though.

Still, despite the warning, incidents still happened. They were all living inside the same freshman section, after all.

This incident happened three weeks after the freshman students joined the academy. Xin Wuming came to Amon's residence in a panic. When Amon asked what was wrong, he said one of their members had been held by the Nobles faction.

The Nobles claimed that this particular member had trespassed their territory and thus he was apprehended. The leader of the Vicious faction had to come and offer a public apology as well as provide one thousand aer stones in compensation if they want the member back.

Amon sneered. He had been wondering why it took such a long time for this to happen. He knew that sooner or later, one of those factions would look for trouble. They were probably waiting to see who acted first and would act accordingly after seeing Amon's reaction. In the end, it was the Nobles faction that seemed to have lost patience.

If Amon didn't come to beg for the release of his faction member, then other students would see that the Vicious faction was all bark and no bite. That this fledgling faction was unable to protect its members. If this was the case, no one would be willing to join anymore. The existing members might even leave.

If Amon came and complied with their demand, that would show the rest of the students that the fledgling faction was beneath the five original factions. The Vicious faction would lose its reputation and this would dissuade other students from joining.

Either way, the Nobles believed with this move, they had crippled the Vicious faction. The other four factions had the same viewpoints. They didn't involve themselves in this conflict but they paid attention to how the matter was developing.

"Gather our members," Amon gave Xin Wuming his command. "But take the members separately. I will go to our territory and move with our members from there. You moved with the others. When you arrived..."

Amon told Xin Wuming what to do. After that, the two left Amon's house.

Arriving in the garden that is his territory, Amon saw around forty students with glum looks. They had heard about one of them getting snatched by one of the five factions. They were eager to go help this poor member, but they were afraid of offending those kids from the big clans. All of them here came from second-rate or third-rate clans. If they offend those big clans' kids, they won't have a good future. Some of them were already having the thought of quitting the Vicious faction.

Amon understood the meaning of their expressions. He thought it was normal. They had lived under an oppressed state of mind, where they had to bow to those bigger clans. The world they lived in was based on hierarchy. Those that didn't know their places were always getting squashed.

"Everyone! Gather around!" Amon called.

They saw their leader and came over with weak steps. They stood around facing Amon at the center.

After seeing everyone approached, Amon asked, "Are you afraid of those kids from the big clans?"

They looked at each other, but no one answered Amon's question.

"Are you afraid that you will get into trouble from those big clans for offending their kids?" Amon asked again.

Still, no one answered. Everyone knew they were indeed afraid. But being asked in such a blunt way, they couldn't help but be ashamed of their cowardice. Their heads hung low from embarrassment.

"There is no need to feel ashamed, I know you do," Amon said. "But are you going to let this feeling govern you? Are you going to let yourself forever be under their thumbs? Why do you come here?!"

Amon's voice grew louder with his latest question.

"Is it not to change your fate? Is it not to escape the circumstances of being in a weak clan where you have to always bow to those stronger clans? Did you not come here hoping that you can join the royal kingdom so you no longer have to bow to those clans? Are your resolves that weak? If you still carry that feeling of inferiority here, then nothing will change! The kingdom will not bother with weaklings. If you want to be acknowledged, then you have to show your strength. The strength to tell those big clans' kids that all of you are no less than them!"

"All those big clans, do you think they were big right from the start? They also started from nothing! It is with the courage to brave the waves that one can change their destiny. This kingdom of Echos, how do you think it came to be? It's because the founder of this kingdom defeated the old kingdom! If the founder didn't have the guts to stand tall and went against the previous kingdom, there will be no Echos kingdom. The current royal family will still be bowing to the old kingdom."

"Only by having the audacity to challenge these bigger clans, you will have a chance to overcome them. I now offer you the chance for that! I am going to head over and challenge the Nobles faction to free our friend whom they had held against his will. Any of you who don't want to come with me, you can leave now! We will go our separate ways. Only those of you who are brave enough to challenge your fate may come with me."

"Now, who wants to leave?!"