"How about it, are you convinced now?" he looked down at his opponent who was hugging a black wolf.
The opponent, soothing the whining black wolf in their arms, then looked up at the boy in the cyan jacket and lowered his head in acknowledgment.
"That's right, follow me," he said, helping his opponent up, and the two walked away down the path.
"Matthew has won again," someone whispered nearby.
"Among the new generation, probably only Orcas can give him a good fight," they continued.
"Just so happens that Orcas also has a tiger-type companion, making it a 'battle of the double tigers' this year."
"Is Orcas that impressive?" a girl who hadn't been paying much attention asked curiously.
"Very impressive, the Silver Blade Tiger by Orcas's side is now at Slashing Blade Sequence 4 and has hardly ever been defeated."
"To be at Sequence 4 already, and he's just a sophomore..." the girl's eyes widened in surprise. At Yuanting Academy, the main companions of second-year students were mostly Sequence 2 or Sequence 3, and those who had advanced to Sequence 4 could probably be counted on two hands.
"Indeed, and Orcas often visits other academies for exchange learning. He's quite well-known in the institutions of the Northern First District. Most people think he'll be the representative figure of Yuanting Academy in the next two years."
"So enviable~" Many people expressed similar sentiments.
Tilan, who was listening on the side, looked at the large spider nudging her ankle and compared her own situation with everyone else's.
It had to be said that the gap between the North-South Academies was substantial. As the capital of the Jade Skirt in the South First District, most resources were concentrated there. At Edith Academy, there were probably over two hundred second-year students who had advanced to Sequence 4, while at Yuanting there were likely less than ten.
In fact, Yuanting Academy wasn't considered bad among the northern colleges, which meant that other academies also had at most about ten second-year students who had reached Sequence 4.
This was already quite impressive. If it were an excellent regional academy, like the Irene Academy Tilan had once applied to, the mainstream of second-year students were still primarily at Sequence 2, with Sequence 3 students making up roughly one-tenth.
At the more common academies, such as the one Clara was attending, nearly half of the students had just advanced to Sequence 2, with the other half still circling around Sequence 1.
Studying is a somewhat painful thing. One might think every student would strive to learn transcendent knowledge and aim to advance as soon as possible, but most people lack this sense of crisis. Instead, their time is taken up with internet, games, parties, travel, and fun, with the average high school student in the federation not studying more than two hours a day.
Until reaching Sequence 4, the competitive advantage brought by the Transcendent Sequence isn't particularly noticeable, since the tools of this age are so well-developed. The widespread use of AI allows most people's work to be simple operations, but the downside is that most people's wages aren't high, since the jobs require little skill and have strong replaceability.
After reaching Sequence 4, things significantly improve. Further on, individuals at Sequence 5 typically form the backbone of society, being elite figures in various companies and businesses, while those at Sequence 6 are the core staff in large corporations or major enterprises. Someone at Sequence 7 often heads up certain projects and is considered a Master Level figure in their field.
Sequence 8 is too distant a goal for most people to even consider.
After walking around the Academy a bit, Tilan headed back towards the Ring Bird Wind Tower. Along the way, she could see large birds flying overhead every so often, some with students riding them—most were juniors and seniors, a good number at Sequence 4, and every once in a while, there'd be the rare Sequence 5.
If one could cultivate a Transcendent animal to Sequence 5 before graduation, or reach Sequence 5 themselves, they'd rank among the top students at Yuanting Academy. However, at Edith Academy, nearly 90% of students reach Sequence 5 before graduation.
It's due to such vast differences, the six major academies—considered the top tier schools of Jade Skirt—are constantly enveloped in an aura of prestige, their every move watched by all.
The minimum requirement to graduate high school within the federation is Sequence 2, and even so, there are still 20% of students who cannot graduate normally. The majority of schools that lag behind go unnoticed, and an ordinary life is but a speck of dust, swallowed up by the masses.