I can’t spot her. Maybe she’s already inside.

Adion looked around him, searching the crowd of hundreds of students crowding around him for Sell. They were all heading inside the Fifth Hall, where they would listen to some speeches, become familiar with their professors, and get informed about some essential matters about the Academy.

He had gone to the Academy with his brother and sister, but this introduction was only for first-years, so they had left him here and gone to handle their own business.

“Adion!”

Adion turned around and spotted the one who had called out. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the one he was looking for. It was a human with straight black hair, someone Adion recognized.

That was the guy who had his admission after me. What was his name again? Relmon something.

“Adion, nice to see you again,” Relmon said as he caught up to Adion.

“Mm, you too. Relmon, right?” Adion said, shaking Relmon’s hand.

“Relmon Zemer, branch family,” Relmon introduced himself once again with a friendly smile.

“You said that last time, too,” Adion commented, “Do you have to specify that you’re from a branch family?”

Adion knew that many old family clans had several branches and that there were differences between them and the main family, but he found it odd that someone kept bringing it up.

“It’s just to avoid misunderstandings,” Relmon said as he and Adion entered the grand building together, following the stream of students.

“What misunderstandings?” Adion asked.

“Well, a human from an elven Noble family isn’t very common. But with my talent and family name, people might assume I’m from the main line of the Zemer family,” Relmon explained. “I’ve been told that I have to make it very clear that I’m just from a branch family.”

“Oh,” Adion nodded.

I didn’t know the Zemer family was a Noble family from Iitha, but that makes sense then.

Adion knew that there were a lot of couples of humans and elves. It wasn’t something that was frowned upon. But that was only the case for ordinary people. With no way of making sure that such a union would result in elven children, Noble families had to keep away from such things, lest they change from an elven family to a human family in a few generations.

I think most human children in elven Noble families would lose their status as family members, but maybe there’s an exception if they are as talented as Relmon.

“That seems like it could get annoying after a while,” Adion said.

“It’s fine,” Relmon waved it off. “I assume you got into the diamond class?”

“Yeah,” Adion nodded, “You?”

“Me too,” Relmon nodded with a smile, “Hopefully, I’ll be able to get a ranking in the top 10 after the tournament. I assume you’re going for that as well?”

“Yeah, I’m taking the rank 1 spot,” Adion said.

“You think you can do that?” Relmon asked, “I know you have a powerful Gift, but there are two students who have already reached high Bronze; one of them is even a princess of Iitha.”

Adion turned to look at Relmon. He had said that last part with a lot of admiration.

“I’ll do my best,” Adion said.

“That’s all we can do,” Relmon agreed.

“What do you know about the princess, by the way? Seeing how you’re from Iitha as well, you must have heard some things?” Adion asked, curious about the rumors surrounding his girlfriend.

“I’ve never met her, but I hear she is one of the most beautiful girls in all of Iitha,” Relmon commented.

That seems about right.

“I also hear she is a training maniac,” Relmon said, “She doesn’t socialize like many other Nobles, always focused on getting stronger. She has a fire core, which is very rare among elves, and it is said that her fire has incredibly powerful concepts. A lot of people believe that there once was a powerful fire mage in the Amyss family, or else her power doesn’t make any sense.”

It’s true that her fire is incredible. I wonder if it’s gotten even stronger since we last met? I can’t wait to train with her again.

“It sounds like she’s very impressive,” Adion said.

“Yeah,” Relmon said and nodded slowly, “I wonder if we’ll have a chance to meet her? Diamond class is only 100 people, after all.”

“I already met her,” Adion said casually. A lot of people had already seen them together, so it wasn’t a secret. “We’re friends.”

“What? When? Really?” Relmon asked.

“Why are you so surprised? We happened to meet, and since we are top students, we had a lot in common.” Adion said.

He and Relmon finally entered the giant auditorium that was already filled with over a thousand students. Adion looked around but didn’t like his chances of finding and being able to make his way to Sell.

“But…it’s the princess,” Relmon muttered.

“I’m sure there are a lot of people of similar status here,” Adion said, “Calm down.”

“You’re right,” Relmon nodded, “I’ll have to get used to that idea. Want to sit together?”

“Sure,” Adion said, taking his seat in one of the rows next to Relmon.

“Do you think you can introduce us?” Relmon asked carefully.

Adion turned to look at Relmon and said with a serious expression, “No.”

“What, why not?” Relmon asked.

“I don’t trust you have good intentions,” Adion said.

“What do you mean by that?” Relmon asked.

“Quiet down,” Adion said, “It’s starting.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Relmon turned to the stage down below and noticed that it was still empty, with a lot of students still pouring in.

“It’s not starting,” Relmon said.

“Still,” Adion said, closing his eyes, “We should take this opportunity to grow stronger. I’ll meditate for a while.”

“Here?” Relmon questioned, “What core do you have?”

“Fire,” Adion said.

“Isn’t it a waste to meditate here then?” Relmon questioned.

Most people in Adion’s situation wouldn’t waste Will on turning pure mana into fire mana, opting to meditate in a place abundant in their mana or with a beast core of the same element.

“Progress is progress,” Adion said as he started manipulating the surrounding space mana into his core.

I’m not far off from reaching middle Silver. Is there a chance I can reach Gold before graduating?

The Academy had higher mana density than any place he had ever been to except for the previous headquarters of the Celestial Phoenix Sect, making Adion very pleased that he would be able to progress a little faster in this place than during the previous years.

But after only 15 minutes of meditation, the large crowd quieted down as a man walked onto the stage down below.

Adion opened his eyes to look at the man he had seen the first time two days prior.

Dean Lukas.

“Welcome, everyone,” Lukas said as he took his position behind a podium in the middle of the stage. His voice easily reached all the way to where Adion and Relmon were sitting, even if he wasn’t yelling.

There must be some kind of runes at work. Amazing.

“My name is Lukas Horrof, and I am the dean of Cyalis Academy,” Lukas began, “I have seen some of you during the admissions and hope to see the rest of you during the coming years, excelling with the opportunities available to you all here at the Academy.

“We will be welcoming some of your professors to the stage soon to inform you of some important details to keep in mind during your time here. After that, you will all be handed a schedule as well as a booklet with other available classes, should you be interested in taking them. But before all of that, our customary introduction speech. Boys and girls, please stand for the Headmaster of Cyalis Academy, Pure Soul Vermon Demorr!”

Immediately after hearing those words, and seeing the old white-haired and bearded man walking to the podium, every single student there flew up to their feet and gave a thunderous applause.

“The Headmaster! I can’t believe how lucky we are,” Relmon said from beside him, “He only returned to the Academy five years ago. Before that, it was decades without him showing himself. We were truly born at the right time.”

“Mm,” Adion nodded.

So this is one of the most powerful people in the world. I can tell that he is definitely more powerful than Fellion from his aura. Unless Fellion hid his full strength from me.

Adion observed how the Headmaster slowly walked to the podium while ignoring the reception of the students. Even if his white hair and beard spoke of a very old age, his back was straight, and he seemed to be filled with energy.

I wonder how old he is? How long can someone live when they get to the Pure Soul stage?

Adion was also curious if the same thing that prevented him from using his Authority on Mephina would prevent him in a different way with someone so much stronger.

He is far away, but he is still within my reach. I’ll see if he has that same cloud-like, unbreachable space around him.

Adion focused on the space surrounding the Headmaster, not like when he was freezing someone stiff in space, but just surrounding the man.

Incredible. There is a much larger cloud-like space around him than Mephina. I can’t take control of any space around him using my Authority.

“Wha…what’s happening?” Relmon nervously whispered beside him.

Adion realized the Headmaster had stopped abruptly and was looking into the sea of students. A cold shiver ran down his back as he could feel the same sensation as when Fellion poked his aura all those years ago.

Is this his aura sense? Why is he making it so obvious? To scare us? To scare me?

Adion soon calmed down as he felt Atao appear at the back of his mind, taking the edge of the situation. He started breathing deeply to think about what had happened in the last few seconds.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence. He felt what I did, even if I never actually grabbed hold of any space. Just the fact that I was testing the space around him alerted him.

Don’t mess with Soul mages in the future, even with my abilities. Good to know.

Hopefully, he doesn’t know it’s me. If he has discovered it, I’ll apologize deeply and blame it on my Gift.

“Hehe,” A low chuckle came out of the Headmaster’s mouth as he continued his walk to the podium.

“It seems like we have an interesting batch this year,” Headmaster Vermon said as he reached the podium and looked out of the sea of students.

That’s a promising reaction, at least. But I think I’d better stay away from anyone with an aura sense like that if I don’t want all my secrets revealed.

“Sit,” The old man said in a calm but commanding voice.

Every single student immediately sat down. Adion noticed how he and Relmon were not the only ones who were a little shaken by the previous experience.

“Don’t be so frightened,” Vermon said, shaking his head, “It was just a bit of aura sense. What should frighten you is when you can’t feel it. But we’re not here to talk about that. We’re here to commemorate the beginning of your journey here at the Academy.”

The Headmaster took a moment to look around the large auditorium.

“Congratulations on entering the greatest Academy on Shiora. I’m sure you’ve all worked hard to get where you are. But this is far from the end. You might have heard a lot of praise from family and friends before getting here, saying you’re a genius, a once in a generation. And for sure, reaching the Bronze stage at 17 years old is no easy task. But it is not good enough.

“Here you are just one of many. If you truly want to reach the top, you will have to work hard and surpass your limits. As much as we focus on knowledge here at the Academy, we acknowledge that knowledge is useless without strength.

“I’m sure that some of you have spent a lot of time preparing for admissions by studying, and are perhaps upset that it didn’t matter to determine your classes. But don’t worry, nothing has been in vain, as that knowledge will still serve you in the years to come, allowing you to grow stronger. If you perform well in your classes, you will receive credits. If you have credits, you can gain strength. And with strength, you can gain even more credits, creating a positive feedback loop for those at the top. Some might feel it unfair and that it will be impossible to catch up to the greatest talents here, but such is the way of the world. No one is going to hand you anything if you don’t show your value and work hard.

“The current Age is still very young, and as much as the focus of it is to discover the secrets of the past through research and studies, a lot of it can’t be done by weak mages. Mages need to be strong so we can explore this world. And strong so we can protect what we have managed to get so far. Not even the mages during the Age of Wonder were strong enough to handle the calamity that destroyed them, so we are far from strong enough to be comfortable.

“I’m sure many of you have heard of the potential return of the Fire Phoenix. Whether this is true or not, and whether you believe that the Phoenix is an enemy or savior, it is a reminder of how weak we all are. If we wish to have a lasting chance here in this world, a future for our family and our race, we can never become comfortable with what we have. We must strive to always reach higher, and dare challenge what is known and safe.

“As much as this Academy is a safe place for you young people to learn and grow, the world waits for no one, and neither do we. If you want the best, you’ll have to show us the best. Those of you at the top, I hope to see you fight to keep it that way. Those at the bottom, I hope to see you fight to change it. And at the end of it all, I hope to see you all at a higher peak than the generation before you.”

With those words, the Headmaster of the Academy turned away from the students and started walking off stage. After a few minutes of silence, the students once again stood up on their feet and applauded the old Pure Soul mage.

That was a short speech. I figured he would talk more about the importance of studies, but I guess he didn’t want anyone here to grow lazy. It might be an important wake-up call for some students who saw entering the Academy as their end goal.

With this speech, I feel like a lot of those in the lower classes won’t waste any time to change their situation.

“I guess we’ll have to continue to work hard,” Relmon said beside him.

“Mm,” Adion nodded.

Even though I’m far ahead of the other students here. I’m miles behind people like the Headmaster. I still have a lot of work ahead of me.