Chapter 157: Affinity Grades

’I guess there are no changes then. The words of our Class Instructor are not different from what was in my Grave mark.’

’Politics, economy, and well... Botany and Medicine in a sense I guess... I’ll attend these three classes. My knowledge on the current politics and economy of the demon world is not up to date and I have not been able to obtain information on how the current demon realm works.’

’After living as a king for nearly three decades in my past life, I have a lot of experience battling in different environments with my army and while I was all alone.’

’As for Social Infiltration... Hmm... I might attend a few classes if I like, but I don’t really need it. It doesn’t appeal to me.’

After thinking about the classes he planned on taking for the World Pillar, he decided to recall and list out all the classes he was going to attend.

’For the Body Pillar, I’ll be attending the Vertical Mobility class, Anatomy, and Endurance and Pain Conditioning... Three classes in total.’

’For the Mind Pillar, I’ll be attending the Tactical Pattern Recognition class and the Mental Partitioning class... Two classes in total.’

’For the Shadow Pillar, I’ll be attending all three classes. The Chaos Runes class, the Formation & Arrays class, and the Energy Control class.’

’And for the World Pillar, I’ll be attending three classes also. Politics, Economy, and Botany & Medicine.’

’That’s eleven (11) classes in total out of the seventeen... Fair enough.’

A few seconds after having this thought, Instructor Valdin spoke.

"This is your classroom. Obviously, not all your classes would be held in your classroom, you can check your Grave Marks to know where each class would be held. Your weekly stipend has also been sent to all of you from the moment you entered the academy."

Simon and the others checked their Grave Marks, and after interacting with it, they saw that their merits have increased according to their weekly stipend.

"Today, you won’t have any class. You can use today to familiarize yourself with the academy. I’m sure it’s confusing to many of you since the structure of the academy and the clan as a whole is extremely unique compared to other tribes, clans, and kingdoms."

"However, what we’ll do today is test your shadow affinity."

The eyes of everybody widened slightly, and even Simon was surprised.

Now, this was something he didn’t know.

"We all have information on the affinities you have because your family sent them to us and we’ve verified it ourselves, but this is the Shadowgrave Clan, and the most important affinity is the shadow affinity. Having a shadow affinity raises your value in the eyes of the clan, though it also depends on the grade of the affinity."

Simon’s eyes flashed the moment he heard this, and several thoughts flashed in his mind.

’So, they know the affinities we have. But I doubt they know I have a spatial affinity because of my excellent control over my demonic energy. If they knew I had a spatial affinity, I would be treated so much differently compared to now.’

Aside from the fact that spatial affinity was extremely rare, the major reason why it was extremely valued is not just because of how rare it is.

The reason is because of a single word-

Rifts.

Rifts between worlds.

A demon, human, or god with a spatial affinity was an extremely powerful and also dangerous force to be reckoned with when it came to rifts.

But that’s for the future, not now.

’I know that if the clan knows I have a spatial affinity, they would value me more... However, there’s also the likelihood where they decide to try and extract my bloodline or even treat me worse because they would be worried about me hating the clan after what they did to me.’

’Exposing my spatial affinity is dangerous, and I’m not willing to make that gamble. I’ll keep it hidden until it’s time for me to use. I died in the past because I exposed all my cards, I can’t do that in this life.’

’Besides, I won’t be able to control my chaos until I become an Archfiend.’

Simon’s expression became slightly solemn as he thought of Archfiends and the ranks beyond.

One of the reasons why he could defeat Fiends as a Lesser Demon is because the difference between a Fiend and a Lesser Demon was just higher physical capabilities and more demonic energy.

But from the Archfiend rank and beyond, fighting above a major rank was not an easy feat in the slightest.

Even fighting above a Minor rank was also not an easy feat.

’There are six simple grades when it comes to the grading system of affinities. F grade, E grade, D grade, C grade, B grade, A grade, and S grade. There’s a grade above that, but that’s just a legend.’

’Each grade also has sub-grades. There can be Low A grade affinity, Intermediate A grade affinity, High A grade affinity, and Peak A grade affinity.’

’Even Thorgan’s shadow affinity was most likely not up to that. Probably S grade or A grade at worst. I wonder what mine is.’

’Regardless of what grade I get, it’s certain that my value in the clan would increase but it would definitely not be enough for them to remove my slave status.’

’Even though it won’t be enough for them to remove my slave status, I’ll have more protection and consideration from the clan... even though it’s just a little increase.’

Simon looked up, and his eyes reflected the darkness above.

Unlike outside the academy where he could see the sky and even the twin moons, there was no sky in the academy.

Only darkness.

The sources of light were the lanterns and rune glow throughout the academy. In the academy, one had to get used to the darkness.

"Alright. Follow me to where we’ll test your shadow affinity."

Instructor Valdin said, and Simon and his classmates followed their class Instructor with several thoughts running through their minds.