Rumors of bullying started spreading around the campus after the recent altercation was reported. Usually, a little squabble between students are ignored by the school but due to the extent of the injuries received by the victim and the background of the people who reported it, the school at least needed to show some action. Additional cameras and temporary patrols were installed as a response.

Sadly, the reported offenders did not receive a heavy punishment. They were just reprimanded, suspended and asked not to do it again. They were somehow able to twist the story that it was just a simple misunderstanding and they regret what they have done. Prejudice against the non-natives have existed for years so the school thought that this was just some isolated incident and the students just need to have more interactions with themselves.

Due to this report, bullying incidents have disappeared for the next coming weeks. Even during class, many strong natives are being careful of being too rough when sparring with non-natives. The transported, including the seniors, have become more attentive of their surroundings. The names of the ruffian natives were also shared between them so they would know who to be careful with. Additionally, this enabled the transported to be more unified.

Currently, a number of students were hanging out inside the lobby of the old music building. As the new Arts and Music building was already made, only a minimal number of people actually come here. With its significance diminished, so does its appearance. Nevertheless, it was still being kept well enough to be used due to its historical value and quite a few stubborn teachers who prefer to stay here.

Hendrix is one of the latest students who joined the circle of musicians in Dracanae. He started in Dracanae two school quarters before the current quarter. He was still in the novice class which isn't really unexpected since it would usually took at least a year for a student to advance. While playing a string instrument similar to a guitar on his free time, Frode approached him and that's how the two became friends. The day that they were ambushed by Helar's gang was the day he was about to tour Frode in the old music building.

Hendrix was currently seated on a chair facing Frode. "Are you sure you are okay now Frode?" Hendrix asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah! I'm really okay. How many times would you ask me that?" Frode laughed. Compared to before, his injuries are nowhere to be seen.

Hendrix smiled, seeing that Frode could still joke around. "Its really great that the attacks from them stopped."

Kron sighed, not knowing whether he sould be happy or sad. "Yeah. I'm not sure how long this would last but at least we would have more peaceful classes."

"I think their suspension is too short! Why are they not even expelled?" Ichika whined, furrowing her brows, thinking that that the punishment was too light.

"Hmph! I'm pretty sure that they are planning something. Don't let your guard down." Adriana scoffed. "I'll try to find the people who are protecting them."

"Let them come. I'll teach them more lessons!" Cyrus smirked.

"Hey everyone! Have you all played instruments before? Why don't I tour you around the buildng." Hendrix interjected, feeling that the atmosphere started to get serious again.

"Of course I do!" Cyrus replied, looking smug at Hendrix. "I am trained since I was a child."

"Really? What instrument can you play?" Hendrix asked, his eyes shining with enthusiasm.

"You play instruments? That's amazing. I never knew that!" Adriana said sarcastically, founding what she heard hard to believe.

"Hmph! I am proficient with many instruments. But the one I am best at is the triangle!" Cyrus said.

Ichika chuckled after hearing Cyrus .

"What's funny?" Cyrus frowned. "Do you even play any instruments?"

"Well.. not much really... piano, violin, cello, flute, guitar, dr-" Seeing everyone looking at her with disbelief, Ichika stopped, feeling embarrassed.

"Woah! You should join our music circle!" Hendrix shouted with awe.

"Hmph! How do even have time to master so many instruments?" Cyrus asked, feeling doubtful.

Ichika waved her two palms, feeling flustered. "Uhh..no...no... I'm not really that good but I just know how to play them."

"It's still commendable that you are able to learn a lot of instruments." Kron said, smiling at Ichika.

"What about you Kron? Do you play any instruments or even sing?" Frode asked.

"Uh me? No!" Kron shook his head. "I haven't tried it. I probably won't do great. I don't think that I can also sing."

"How would you know if you don't try?" An older looking woman suddenly arrived behind the group, wearing a long dress, reminiscent of the victorian period.

"Professor!" Hendrix shouted, bowing afterwards. "Everyone, this is professor Kelis! She is one of the best musicians in Azalaze history! In fact, her epithet is the orchestra because of her unique ability!"

Everyone bowed and greeted Professor Kelis.

"Come on now! My ability is nothing special. There are also many more people better than me," Professor Kelis said. "But this is the first time I am seeing so many new students interested in music. Why don't I personally test you?"

"But we didn't come here-" Cyrus was stopped before he could finish. Adriana hit him with an elbow.

"Thank you professor Kelis. That would be great." Adriana said, smiling at Professor Kelis.

Unknown to the newly transported awakened, Kelis is one of the more popular personalities in Azalaze. She is not actually an alumna of Dracanae but of Anthurium Conservatoire but decided to teach here to spread her love for music. Professor Kelis is able to generate instrumental sounds with her ability which allowed her to perform an entire orchestra by herself. Additionally, she could produce additional voice with her mouth. This means that she could talk to two people at the same time or sing a duet by herself.

As the group walked through the building's corridors, they were greeted by a symphony of sounds and a vibrant atmosphere filled with creativity. Through the open doors, glimpses of dedicated students are honing their skills with their respective instruments. It was a sight that was rarely seen in Dracanae. Their focus was on the pursuit of musical excellence instead of power or knowledge.

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"Interested?" Professor Kelis asked, looking at the people around her. "Honing your survival or fighting skills are definitely important but we should also not forget to enjoy ourselves or life won't be that fun. Don't you think?"

Kron and the others nodded their head in response.

Not a moment later, they entered a large music hall. In the stage, there were 10 people performing together. Sitted in front were a dozen people acting as their audience. They initially ignored the newly arrived group until they saw Professor Kelis. Everyone in the room stopped and greeted her but Kelis ordered them to continue their performance. The group sat down and listened until the musical piece was finished and it was all worth it. The sounds of the instruments blending together was enough to immerse themselves to a wonderful feeling, forgetting their earlier issues.

Adding on top of it was the voice of the girl standing in the middle of the orchestra. Her angelic voice was so distinct that even with the instruments, it was still dominant. Everyone in the group of students seemed to be mesmerized. Kron felt that he hasn't heard a voice as good as her with the modern singers on Earth. Ichika seemed really happy as her smile was wide and her eyes shone with wonder. Even Cyrus who was usually full of confidence was meekly listening all the time.

Once the small orchestra finished playing, a loud round of applause immediately break out. Everyone was in a great mood as they praised each other. It was a really inspiring sight that Kron felt a bit envious. After talking to the audience which are also their friends, they approached professor Kelis.

"Professor Kelis. We didn't know that you would be here this early. Was it to your liking?" Aria, the young woman who sang, said. There was something heavenly in her appearance with her pure white clothing. Every other student Kron met seemed to pale compared to her. Only Ichika seemed close.

Professor Kelis chuckled. "Trying to be humble Aria? But my young friends here seemed to like it."

Cyrus immediately looked down. Adriana and Kron looked away. Hendrix and Frode were starstrucked. It was only Ichika who looked at Aria directly.

"Nice to meet you! I am Aria. Ohhh--- Do I know you two?" Aria asked, scrutinizing Adriana and Cyrus.

"Uhh you must be mistaken." Cyrus said, shaking his head.

Adriana sighed, rolling her eyes, looking at Cyrus despicably. "Hi Aria. I'm Adriana Eresmus and that's Cyrus Ammon."

"Oh! From Eresmus and Ammon families! Must be when we were kids and you are actually Cyrus. You are quite a bit famous." Aria chuckled.

"You mean infamous." Adriana whispered.

Cyrus ignored Adriana and gulped due to nervousness.

Aria then looked and smiled at the remaining people.

"Hi! I'm Ichika and this one is Kron." Ichika said enthusiastically. She seemed to be really interested in befriending her. "And that was really a great performance."

"Oh! Thank you but that was thanks to all my friends here!" Aria said, twisting her body towards the people behind her, causing the people behind her to return the praise.

"Stop that Aria!" Franz, the lead violinist, said. He then looked at Hendrix. "Didn't think that you will be able to recruit a lot of people."

"Well... its umm... supposed to be only Frode." Hendrix nervously replied, scratching his head.

"Sorry to interrupt your introductions but I think we should proceed with our business." Professor Kelis interrupted, standing from her seat.

"Uh.. Yes! Professor!" Franz replied.

After saying their goodbyes, Professor Kelis left with Aria's group. They seemed to talk about a musical competition that the group was participating in. The music hall was quickly emptied, leaving Kron's group behind. They stood at the back of the music hall near the exit.

"What happened to you? Infatuated with her?" Ichika asked, laughing at Cyrus.

"Shut up! You don't know her!" Cyrus argued. "That woman is from the Parcels' house!"

"Parcels? You mean one of the 4 great houses?" Kron shouted in surprise. Kron already learned before that these great houses have control of the second Daan crystal in Azalaze. Even among the noble houses, the great 4 have influence and power far above the rest.

Adriana nodded. "Yeah. Can't believe that I won't only meet professor Kelis but also Aria. There are rumors that she would soon be included in the top adventurers rankings."

Adriana proceeded to discuss what she knew about the rankings. The adventurer's ranking are only open for awakened who are already given the permission to travel outside the city. It is roughly estimated that around 100,000 awakened are considered for top adventurers. They are all at least A-ranked citizens. These top adventurers are given special priority regarding new technologies and given access to valuable information.

Rankings are mostly based on their overall contribution to the city. Those that are able to come back with new knowledge or discovered a new path are rated very highly. Of course, those who have a very strong combat abilities are also ranked high. With a population of more than 200 million and with more than half of it have adventurer license, it was very hard to be placed on the top. As an example, professor Kelis was ranked 84,762 for her contribution on music and her discovery of the effect of different sounds to certain animals.

Someone young getting to the top of the rankings would be a big news but since Aria was part of the Parcels house, it was most likely expected of her. Still, she was only around the age of Kron but she was already in the experienced class. This means that she not only awakened early but also was considered to be good enough to start in Dracanae institute a year earlier.

"Hmph! I'll also get to the top of the rankings as soon as I am given an adventurer's license." Cyrus said.

"Yeah! Yeah! Maybe after a decade!" Adriana commented.

"So the other top rankers are just as special as her right?" Ichika grinned. She seemed to be really delighted hearing about other talented people.

Adriana nodded. "Yeah. Why? Planning to get to the top?"

"Uhh.. no.. no.." Ichika denied. " but well.. its not bad to have a goal. What about you Kron?"

"Top ranking huh? I don't really care much about that but maybe the perks and the knowledge about this world would be good." Kron thought, shaking his head. "Well, I think that that is still too far for me. I still have a much more urgent issue to solve."

"Still thinking of Guson's gang? Well, I do support your revenge." Cyrus tapped his shoulders.

"Its not really about revenge." Kron looked up. "Its more of trying to change myself." He thought before smiling. "We can't let them cause issue to my fellow transported after all."

"There's only a few weeks left before the end of probationary period. Assessments would be coming up." Adriana frowned. "I think that's when they would strike."

Ichika glared angrily, seemingly pondering something. "I think so too so everyone must take care. Those who were following me disappeared but during my recent classes, I felt more people watching me."

"Same here. I saw Anais approaching people that I interacted with. I'm not sure if its just a coincidence." Frode interjected.

"They must be trying to get information about us. The 3 times that Guson challenged me and I lost, he seems to be really prepared." Kron sighed before looking determined. "But recently, before the incident, he was only sending his friends after me and doesn't seem to pay attention anymore. I will make sure that it would be his downfall for starting to underestimate me."

"Well, why don't we spar together? That would be better than training by yourself right?" Cyrus asked, challenging Kron.

"Uh! Is that okay?" Kron found the idea brilliant.

"Yeah! Unless you are scared!" Cyrus grinned, mocking him.

"Hmph! Why would I be?" Kron scoffed, getting influenced by Cyrus' confidence.

"Hey! Kron's my sparring partner!" Ichika interjected.

"Well, why don't I also join? It would be good for me too." Adriana added, not wanting to be left out.

The next few days would again be a busy day for the group as they would focus their effort to improve themselves. It was not only to take on Guson's gang but also for the upcoming assessment exams. For the transported, passing this exam would be a big relief. Failing could result on repeating the basic classes and at worst getting kicked out of Dracanae. This means that they won't have the school's protection anymore.

Not known to the transported who are accepted in schools, those transported who were not accepted are made to work hard to have enough credits to keep themselves well fed. Many of them were not given even basic education on this world and their best chance to change their life is if they are actually hiding an ability that they didn't know that they have unlocked. Otherwise, they would need to continue toiling for others until their hard work would be rewarded.