After everyone was ranked, and while the class and his teammates are still excitedly chatting among themselves, Kairos took a moment by himself with a smile on his face.

Alan and Jim, as usual, were up to no good. Edward was roped in a conversation with Luciette, blushing terribly and laughing nervously far too often. Tommy on the other hand, sat next to Snow, both of them not talking.

There were those that came by to have a chat with him, and many of the members of Snowdrifts, but no one suspected that should any of them held hostility towards Kairos, a hundred Greater Spirits that were hidden underground will pounce on them.

He planned to send some back home as guards, especially since his father and the villagers that work in his mansion are all vulnerable targets for his enemies.

With each Greater Spirit equal to an S ranker, and the added advantage of being neigh immortal, they are the perfect protectors.

Because the Combat Class are known to take up the entire day, none of the students has anything scheduled for the evening, and they slowly left in batches.

But when the group reached the student dorm, Kairos excitedly called for a meeting with the leaders of Snowdrifts. The boys and the four captains walk past the dorm matron, giving her a respectful nod before heading to Kairos’ room.

She thought wistfully for a moment, “These kids sure grow up fast. I wonder if they are steering clear of trouble.”

She remembered those intruders that targeted these boys in the past. Since then, she has stepped up the alarms, but despite that, she did not know that right now under her feet, there are many powerful Greater Spirits that are slipping past her, one after another. Each of them is more than a match for her in combat, though she is a decorated ex-soldier.

In fact, the Elementals following Kairos could freely go about the academy without anyone noticing as most defences lack the sensors to detect the Elementals.

Few think to set up protection against them, simply because it is impossible to enslave a spirit. Even those spirits contracted by the Academy are no different from employees that could quit whenever they wanted.

At most, a cultivator can form a contract of mutual benefits with them. Just like how a cultivator can direct the elements and harness their powers, but it is impossible for anyone to have complete dominance over such natural forces. Or perhaps, it is better to say, that mankind, despite how highly they think of themselves, is unworthy to lord over nature.

However, if others knew that these Elementals that follows Kairos would obey him completely because of the Spirit King, even the greatest practitioner would be stricken with fear.

When the boys gathered in Kairos’ room, he beckoned them to take a seat before telling them what happened during the ranking earlier in the day. On hearing that Kairos had briefly travelled to another realm all of them are bursting with questions.

“Is the sky blue?!” Tommy asked excitedly. If he could tell Snow, she would surely be impressed, even if it was Kairos who experienced it.

“Are there animals?” Edward gave in to his curiosity as well and broke his usual stoic silence.

“Do you have any buildings?” The captains leaned forward with great interest.

Questions like this continue to pop up, but for Kairos who only saw a small part of the Spirit Realm, he was unable to answer most of them.

Unable to handle their incessant curiosity, he quickly summoned the Greater Spirits, and three answered his call.

A wind spirit that clothed itself in luminous green vapours that hovered like an enchanting dance introduced itself as Zephyr.

A majestic frost spirit, Boreas, appearing before them with a feminine shape, like a regal queen clothed in aquamarine ice crystals.

And, a storm spirit, Tempest, which appeared as a rumbling violet cloud flashing with iridescent lightning bolts.

When they are introduced, everyone hopped up from their seats in excitement.

Even if they had experienced far more than many adults, they are still children after all and could not help but want to rush forward and pepper the Elementals with questions.

But only Zephyr replied, with a voice like a whispering wind, “Of coursssse, we have buildingssss…. Even Grand Palacessssss in the Sssssky…”

Ignoring them, Boreas flew to Kairos, preferring to stare at him in interest than to answer the others. How different is the one that their King bowed down to than the other humans?

Whereas Tempest, that went to a corner of the room was invoked different coloured bolts, and quickly started a bizarre song they had never heard before.

WAA! Aisa did not know lightning could make music~

The small Primordial dragon bounced over and danced next to Tempest. Her scales shone beautifully reflecting the colourful lightning bolts as she twisted her body.

Behind her, the other baby contract beasts started joining in after her, each dancing to the beat, even Alan’s tiny black turtle.

Never seen such display before, the eyes of every person in the room brightened at the music and the lights. They forgot all their curiosity, except one last question, “Is that a song of the Elementals?”

“Yessss,” Zephyr replied, but before it could finish its sentence, the guys already shot forward to join in the dancing.

It said, unheard by its missing conversation partners, “It’ssss a sss.sssong from my village… hey…? Even the mortalssssss ignored me.”

“This. Is. Amazing!” Jim shouted over the music, his eyes bewildered at the coloured sparks that could create all kind of sounds.

Even Edward, who recently seems to have a heavy heart, is enjoying himself and joining in. Nowadays, except when he is close to Luciette, the guys seldom saw his smile.

The Greater Storm Spirit nodded satisfactorily at the humans dancing to its tune. To have these little fellows appreciate its beauty, the Elemental become a little more fond of them.

Although they are sent by their King, they are still proud spirits whose hearts needed to be won over first. As they partied, Boreas decided to start decorating Kairos’ room with tiny permafrost crystals.

Not only are the crystals a beautiful blue that glows weakly in the dark, but they will also give out cold air that could cool down the room whenever the weather is too hot.

Kairos who noticed this laughed happily and thanked the Greater Ice Spirit, but as snowflakes fell, the five became silent.

This room felt like the winter they had never seen before. Even when the four captains continued to dance, the boys stopped to behold the wonder before their eyes.

They had heard of many great stories of the wondrous north, told to them by Vouno. Where crystals of seven colours fell from the sky, turning the ground white and adorning the vain Mother Earth yearly. In that place, men of valour fought great beasts and conquered the harsh wilderness. There are many legends came from that place, even an ancient kingdom that united all mankind for a short while.

In this tiny room, when they least expected, they are once again reminded of their dream that made them name their group, Snowdrifts. The wish that they may one day freely travel Gaia.

Of course, the Snowdrifts are now equipped with the funds to do so, but it is the freedom to do so that they truly wanted. And, to that end, they are still far from their goal. With so many factions eyeing on the Snowdrifts to satisfy their greed, only power could grant them true peace.

“Let’s go train,” Edward said suddenly, and the others replied him with a smile on their faces.

“Looks like we are thinking the same things. Let’s go then. Please follow us Greater Spirits,” Kairos said, and he went over to his cupboard, to the surprise of the Elementals. He opened it, revealing a crystal ball sitting on a shelf and led everyone in.

When they reappeared on the Crystal Valve training grounds, many of the Elementals that followed them into the Crystal Valve had a shock, similar to what the boys first felt when Kairos brought them here. Even though they aren’t human, they possess the same capacity for emotions.

Seeing such a large place fitted into a tiny crystal ball was enough to intimidate even the powerful Elementals. It is an incredible technique completely unknown to them. Their home, the spirit realm, isn’t another dimension but merely a celestial star orbiting around Gaia since they fell from Eden. The first humans had named it the Moon, and this name had stuck ever since. Though after the Spirit King sealed it off to preserve the realm’s energy, not even the Immortals had the chance to set their eyes upon the spirit world until Kairos.

Marvelling at the thick Heavenly Energy in the air, the Elementals had to find out who made the place. When they heard Kairos was the stratagem master that made this, the Greater Spirits bowed respectfully towards him.

These Elementals that live in accordance with nature had great admiration for the creativity of mankind that allows them to forge incredible formations and alter nature herself.

It is this potential they see in mankind that many spirits agreed to form a contract with humans. And, of course, because of the overcrowding in their realm and Gaia’s lack of Heavenly Energies, having a contract with a resourceful human could net the spirits more resources.

While the Greater Spirit admired the Crystal Valve, the children each looked for a spirit they have an affinity towards.

This is the first time the hundred Greater Spirits revealed themselves to the group in full force, but they quickly noticed that there are no transcendent Elementals among the hundred.

“How come there are no time Elemental spirits or other kinds like that?” Jim asked with a worried look on his face.

He is one of the rare practitioners with multiple affinities, but none of his types are among the Elementals. Having a strong connection with Chaos & Void, Holy and Darkness, all of which are transcendent elements, he became worried if he would not have a partner later.

Not only him, but the other brothers all have multiple affinities and most of them, also with the transcendent elements.

The Greater Spirits easily answered Jim’s question. Because of the mortal realm’s poor amount of Heavenly Energy, the Elementals require places with high concentration of natural elements to survive. For the transcendent Greater Spirits, there simply are no such places for them, and they are stuck in the Spirit World.

It took them a while, but after mentally choosing the one they want, the fighting spirit of the nine children rapidly increased. To form a contract with a spirit, they need to defeat it, and despite their strength it is never an easy task. Yet, they craved to see their own limited.

Their previous battle had barely tested them. With this many S ranked Elementals that won’t die even if their physical shells are destroyed, they couldn’t help but feel their hands itching for a fight.

“Shall we have a spar?” Tommy asked before anyone else, eying on a Greater Spirit.