After the man who had introduced himself as their class professor finished introducing himself, the entire study hall descended into total silence.

None of the students dared say a word, as they instinctually recognized the suffocating presence emanating from Mr. Windsor. He seemed like a hunter carefully admiring his prey, causing most of them to shiver slightly.

Elias slowly scanned the hall with shock, wondering why all his classmates were reacting in such an extreme way. He felt like their reactions were a bit too exaggerated, as some of them were even sweating like the muzzle of a gun was put to their head.

Even if he could sense the lofty presence the professor was giving off, he didn't think it was to the point of making them react with such intense apprehension.

Elias only felt a little bit of heat coming from the podium, like he was standing close to an open bonfire.

It really didn't seem too intense.

Turning his head towards Damien, Elias noticed that even if his friend was faring a bit better than most of their classmates, he was still in a worse state than himself. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, while his previously playful face now had a rare hint of apprehension on it.

As Elias was about to playfully tease his friend on how he was reacting, the professor's cold and indifferent voice suddenly appeared again only this time, there was a touch of approval mixed into it. "Looks like all of you were able to withstand my presence without fainting or throwing up. Not bad. I'm impressed."

After Professor Windsor's voice echoed throughout the hall, the sense of oppressiveness was instantly lifted from the surroundings, causing all of the students within the hall to hurridly gasp for air. They finally felt like they could breathe properly.

Most of them had lived regular lives before coming to the academy and as such, hadn't had such abnormal interactions before. These students had shocked and fearful expressions on their faces, their eyes communicating their disbelief at the previous ordeal.

They then began to chatter amongst each other while asking confirmatory questions, to make sure that they hadn't been imagining what had just happened.

The hall was eventually overtaken by the voices of shock and confusion.

The Professor regarded them with a calm and straight gaze, causing all chatter within the hall to immediately seize and instantly regain decorum.

He then proceeded to nod slightly at their conformity, before reaching for a file he had come into the hall with.

"I will be the professor in charge of your year, which means that I will be the one carrying out your general ed classes. This includes classes on Theosophy, Echelon System and Structure, Paranormal Studies as well as the two selectives, Advanced Numerology and Study of General Languages."

After turning over the file to its next page, Professor Windsor once again spoke in a calm voice, "The bulk of theoretical studies would be carried out within your first and second year, with it taking up a chunk of the grades for your exams in your first year. Theoretical work makes up 50% of your first-year grade, 20% in your second year and a negligible 5% in your third year. The aim is for you to be taught all you need to know early on and experience constant real-time practice, in order to increase your efficiency as Disciples or Apostles after you graduate.

"The goal of this academy is to prepare you for what is to come in the future, instilling a naturally calm and rational mindset all for the end goal of making you more level-headed in the face of danger, be it natural or supernatural."

Professor Windsor then walked towards the desk placed on the podium, before calmly placing the file on it and turning back to his crowd, "White Helm Academy isn't like a regular college ladies and gentlemen, do make sure you remember that."

The weight of the Professor's announcement caused the hall to once again descend into silence only this time instead of fear, most of the students were contemplating what he had just said, as this was the first time such information had been relayed to them.

Even if most of them expected to see a different type of educational environment in comparison to regular universities in White Helm, they didn't think knowledge acquisition would be this sidelined. It made it feel like the academy was actively encouraging them to ditch classes, after all, it's not like you'd fail if you put in the minimum effort while paring it up with good on-field results.

It was a crazy loophole in the system!

A student in the middle row apprehensively raised his right hand, signaling to the indifferent professor that he had a question.

The student's uniform was neat and proper, and he had a calm and respectful demeanor, giving him the vibe of a good and studious student that every teacher would love to have in their class. This didn't seem to faze Professor Windsor at all though, as he calmly nodded to the student while maintaining his cold look.

"You may ask."

The young man built up his courage before rising from his seat while taking a long, deep breath. "Good morning professor, my name is Ezra, Ezra Ellington. As for my question, doesn't this system encourage the students to not take their theoretical classes seriously? I mean from the second year as long as you do well with your on-field exercises, it seems almost impossible for a student to fail, even if they don't get a single score in written exams."

It seemed like the young man seemed to echo the thoughts of his classmates, as almost all of them calmly nodded their heads in agreement. It was quite obvious that they all felt the same way.

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Upon seeing how sharp and intelligent his students were, Professor Windsor revealed a rare look of satisfaction, as he didn't seem to expect them to grasp the underlying problem so quickly.

He offered Ezra a light smile, before signaling for the young man to return to his seat. "Indeed... You all seem to have instantly grasped the root of the issue. Well done. The founders of this academy obviously came up with a way to combat such a lazy and free spirit, and that's the 'Cumulative Result System'.

"This system, in summary, simply means that your graduation depends on your results spanning the three years you have been a student here. For you to be issued the graduation certificate and successfully pass out of this college, you have to have a minimum score of 60% across all theoretical exams taken, as well as 70% across all on-field exercises."

He then paused to check on the various reactions within the hall and after seeing most of the students silently contemplating, he inwardly expressed his approval of the character of his students.

After giving them a few more moments to organize their thoughts, he slowly turned his gaze toward Ezra's sitting position, "This simply means that your first year is the most important year when it comes to your theoretical result. Do not take it lightly, since a lazy approach to it can put a permanent dent in your graduating result. Does that answer your question?"

Ezra thought for a brief moment, before nodding his head with a look of realization.

Professor Windsor seemed satisfied with his student's performances thus far and walked back to the center of the podium with his hands behind his back.

"Now I'm sure you all must be wondering what these on-field exercises are. Simply put, they are commissions that have to be carried out by a group of five students, and performance in these tasks would be judged by me and I shall assign you a grade based on how I think you handled every detail in the scenario. The grade encompasses a lot of things like attention to detail, completion rate, and customer satisfaction amongst other things.

"Each group is expected to complete a commission each month and this commission would be randomly delegated, so its difficulty depends on fate and how lucky you are. But don't worry, every commission drafted for the first years is within an acceptable difficulty range, and all the professors will be on standby to assist you in case anything goes wrong, though that might affect your final grade."

Professor Windsor paused after this, as he used his eyes to scan the hall in order to allow any of the students to ask any question they had. It also seemed like he wasn't used to talking too much, and took these breaks in order to steady himself.

None of the students had any questions to raise so far, causing Professor Windsor to continue with his explanation, "These commissions can come in a vast majority of tasks and are usually related to supernatural phenomenon. However, you guys will be given a relatively easy task first in order to get you used to the general atmosphere, with the difficulty increasing with your performances. We wouldn't delegate tasks we know you can't solve.

"The groups would also be split accordingly, with each member embodying traits related to a particular divine authority. Luckily the number of students in your year is exactly divisible by five, meaning that there will be no problem when it comes to grouping. The list of groups shall be available in the administrative department tomorrow morning, so do make sure you check up on it and familiarise yourself with your colleagues. Any questions?"

The sound of whispering murmurs echoed throughout the hall, as the students were commenting within themselves on the complexity of the academy's educational system. It was nothing like a regular college!

Professor Windsor allowed them to communicate with each other, as he knew that the flurry of information he had thrown at them needed time to be assimilated.

A fairly delicate hand was slowly raised at the right side of the hall, which instantly attracted most of the attraction around it.

Elias who had been silent so far also turned towards the hand's direction, a look of surprise evident on his face. The owner of the hand was Lady Silver Swan!

From what Elias had grasped from their short conversation, Aamiya wasn't the type of person to take the initiative to draw attention to herself. This didn't seem like something she'd want to do.

'Sigh... It must have been so hard for her to blend into the crowd earlier, even I had looked around before but couldn't spot her. Now most of the attention would be focused on her throughout today. I almost feel sorry for her.'

Elias had a keen eye and was able to tell what a person was thinking due to their minute facial expressions as long as he had experienced interactions with them before.

This was how he was able to tell Aamiya wasn't asking this question because she wanted to, as her fair face had a subtle hint of helplessness and unwillingness attached to it.

Elias also noticed a silhouette seated very close to her as if the person was trying to use her to shield themselves from the gazes of the people around them.

As Elias was about to focus his eyes on the person and discern their looks, the stoic voice of Professor Windsor pulled him out of his inner thoughts.

"Yes, Miss Chelsea? You may ask your question."

As Aamiya slowly rose from her seat, every motion of her body painted a picture of graceful elegance and sophistication, the type that can only be acquired naturally and without effort.

With a smile capable of stirring the emotions of even the most heartless of men, Aamiya gestured in respect to Professor Windsor, "Thank you, sir. My question is if it is possible to turn down a commission once it is allocated, or maybe swap it out for an alternative if possible."

Professor Windsor lightly smiled at the young lady, causing Elias's brows to twitch slightly. It seemed like even their cold and reticent professor wasn't a match for the blooming nature of Aamiya!

Facing such a bright and radiant smile, it was almost impossible for one to maintain a look of indifference and disinterest. Her smile had a way of making others smile as well.

Professor Windsor didn't seem to notice Elias's amused gaze directed to him as he got to answering the question, "Well I wasn't told anything about this as this is my first day on the job. But from what I can gather, refusal to carry out a commission should lead to an automatic failing grade. As for the part of swapping, I doubt that is possible either since each allocated commission is tailored to what that specific group can undertake at their level. This is just my two cents on the matter though, and I can verify with the other professors later on. Is that okay?"

Aamiya respectfully remained silent throughout the Professor's explanation and gestured slightly to signal her understanding after he was done. She then proceeded to calmly take her seat and whisper something to the person beside her.

Professor Windsor naturally noticed all this earlier and realized that she was asking the question on another person's behalf. He shook his head slightly at the innocence of youth, before turning his head to the rest of the hall as the subtle smile on his face was replaced with his usual indifference.

It seemed like he could only offer such a smile to Aamiya, and thought it an unnecessary chore to maintain it after he was done with her.

"Now your first class of today is on Echelon System and Structure. This is where we are going to be addressing the basis of everything you experienced during your assessment process, as well as answering most of the questions I'm sure you have."

The professor then calmly walked to the front of the large whiteboard on the podium, before writing on it for a couple of seconds and turning back to the crowd,

"Now does anyone have an idea of what an 'Echelon of Faith' is?"