While its magnificence certainly couldn't hold a candle to the royal palace, Aitheras Academy itself still looked like a castle. Large, sturdy walls surrounded the area similar to barriers of a major city, with guards stationed like vigilant statues adding another layer to their strict defenses.

Since their carriage had a clear symbol of the Salvador household hanging on its banners, the guards merely acknowledged their presence with a glance while they passed through the giant gate.

Up close, the infrastructure of the academy looked even more imposing. A vast garden occupied the spaces between the roads, all of which lead to a big water fountain in the middle. Zeke noticed the sparks of mana dancing around the center, if not for his keen senses, he would've mistook them as water droplets shimmering beneath the morning sun.

Every building had a different design, though mainly built from ivory white bricks and scarlet rooftops. The largest facility stood before them with grand stairs leading up to the entrance, its doors opened and ready to receive its students.

Their carriage came to a screeching halt in front of those stairs, and soon Einar Alston opened the door for the two of them, “We're here. Lilia and I will take care of your luggage so just go wait for the reopening ceremony in the grand hall.”

“Alright, thanks,” Zeke got off first before extending his palm for Circe. Without saying a word, she lightly grabbed it and exited the carriage as well. “You got the key, right? It's not the knight's dorm this time so don't get it mixed up.”

Einar's expression remained still, though a hint of frustration flickered through his gaze for a moment, “...Yes, Young Master. No need to worry, I won't make a mistake.”

Zeke chuckled at the knight's response as he watched their carriage leave, letting the others behind it drop off their young masters and ladies. “I know you won't. Ease up. We'll be going now.”

At his words, Einar huffed and smiled. He lowered his head into a courteous bow, “Have a nice day, Young Master, Lady Ruelle.”

Circe casted a glance at Zeke, and their eyes met each other. Despite the silence between them, they understood each other clearly with just their gaze. One single look of affirmation; an attempt to ease a sense of anxiety that came with the new setting. Circe's lips broke into a smile at the realization, and so did Zeke's. Without saying a word, they ascended the stairs, hands still clasped tightly together.

Vaulted ceiling made the hallway feel way larger than it already was. Though the murals drawn atop caught their attention, the students around them also seemed interested. Judging by their reactions, it seemed like a new addition.

“...What do you think they are?” Circe whispered her question, eyes captivated by the beautiful blend of colors, each drawn meticulously into characters of an epic: a knight and a dragon locked in combat. “There should be some sort of meaning…I can't think of anything though.”

“Aitheras Academy's crest is a wyvern, not a dragon, so that rules out one possibility,” since Circe had her neck craned to stare at the artwork above her, Zeke kept his eyes straight as he guided them down the hall. “Could be that…the knight is the swordsman and the dragon is the magician. Dragons are considered the strongest in terms of magic. They give titles to powerful mages, like how the Grand Mage has the nickname: White Dragon of the Tower.”

“...Is that so?” Circe lowered her head, now interested in the neat red carpet laying out their path. “I don't pay much attention to the story stuff, let alone the lore. Though it feels a little unfair that dragons symbolized magicians.”

Zeke scoffed, the corner of his lips twisted upwards, “What? You think that it's unfair to put a human against a giant fire-breathing lizard?”

Circe faced him with a raised eyebrow, though her voice had a sarcastic hint to it as she smirked, “It's a giant fire-breathing lizard that can fly, Zeke. Hairless monkeys stand no chance.”

“Hey, hey. Look who it is!”

Before Zeke could reply, someone else spoke up. His voice held such arrogance that both of them felt annoyed the moment they heard it. Needless to say, an older boy had successfully garnered their attention, along with dozens of others that looked their way out of curiosity.

Two male students stood before them, the one that'd spoken earlier had onix black hair and familiar purple eyes. He held himself with vanity as he stood staring them down, arms crossed and chest puffed up like a big bull. Next to him, an identical figure eyed them with a blank face, his bronze hair held a similar shine to Circe's—to Ruelle Peregrine's.

Zeke saw how Circe looked at those two, but he didn't need the hint to figure out their identities at all. He knew them by name based on the game's description of their personality: the twins of fire and ice. “Lord Albert…please mind your manners.”

“Oh come on, Silas,” Albert, the one with black hair, shrugged off his stern words, “I'm just happy to see my baby sister. What's wrong with me greeting her?”

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“Happy to see her?” Zeke scoffed, unknowingly tightening his grip around Circe's hand, “I heard you ignored her while she was in her own house. Stop it with your fake ass acting and get lost.”

“Or what?” Albert spreaded his hands to the side, shrugging as he taunted, “Are you gonna cause problems on your first day? Come on, there are a lot of witnesses here that will back my claim that you threw the first punch. Right, Aiden?”

His twin brother, Aiden Peregrine, nodded along. The cold expression he had differed vastly from Salvador's signature resting face. While their cold demeanor radiated grace and strength, Peregrine's held nothing but hubris.

“Besides that,” Aiden finally spoke, his voice slightly deeper than his brother's, but oozed the same arrogance nonetheless. He lifted his chin like a king looking down at his subjects. “You're not even in our league anymore, Silas. I heard that you changed your faculty to magic. What dirty tricks did you pull? I can't believe a noble swordsman would do something so ridiculous for a mere woman.”

Those words sent the crowd into a flurry. Their whispers of disbelief resounded through the air, echoing Aiden's statement that Silas Salvador had switched from swordman to magician. Even though Zeke had his attention on the two Peregrine brothers, he overheard them saying that he changed his course to follow his fiancee.

“Ridiculous? You're the one who's ridiculous, you misogynistic fuckers…” Zeke mumbled as he turned away, his voice drowned out by the hushes around them.

“What was that?” Albert took a step forward as his hands balled into tight fists. Even though he’d heard nothing, he immediately assumed that Zeke insulted them.

He kept quiet and dragged Circe along with him. Although all the noise would soon die down as someone suddenly walked up to the podium at the very front of the hall.

His mere presence held enough pressure to command the room into silence. Even Albert's anger subsided the moment his eyes landed on the figure before them. He had pale blond hair tied into a small ponytail by a matching ribbon; a cute look that contrasted his formal pearly suit and cold golden eyes. Despite the ice in his gaze, his smile shared the same warmth of the sun's rays shining through the windows around them.

“Greetings, students of Aitheras Academy,” a gentle voice boomed with authority around the grand hall, “My name is Desmond Tierney, and as of today, I am the new Headmaster of Aitheras Academy.”

As Desmond paused, curious whispers filled in the brief silence before the man spoke again. “An unfortunate event had required us to reconstruct our facilities nearly from the ground up, hence we had to close our gates for an entire year. An entire year of valuable knowledge that shall not be kept locked behind our doors no longer!”

He gestured dramatically, though still kept his manners moderate for his speech. “I may be lacking in many ways due to my inexperience, but I swear upon the gods and our empire that I will fulfill my duties to the best of my abilities. This is my message to you: the future of Oriens, this space shall be your second home, and a place where your talents shine like stars! Let us begin the reopening ceremony of Aitheras Academy!”

The moment those words trailed into silence, a round of applause erupted from the students. Zeke and Circe even found themselves clapping along with them. Only one in the entire crowd kept themselves from going with the flow; Aiden raised his hand high and asked. “My apologies, sir! But what about our old Headmaster?”

Just as abrupt as they came, the applause ceased. Desmond's lips curled further upwards, and he replied calmly, “He resigned due to personal reasons, Mister Aiden. I know I do not possess the same qualities as Lord Nolan, but I am confident that I can fulfill his role as the Headmaster.” Desmond turned to his side, “But I understand your concern. If you wish to confirm my qualifications, I will let the Grand Magician give his confirmation as we continue the ceremony as scheduled.”

Right on queue, a bright magic circle manifested on the stage next to Desmond. Mana twirled around each strand in a helix before they solidified into a humanoid shape. When the light dissipated, Solren Pryce appeared with his trusty staff in hand.

He smiled just as brilliantly as his magic and spoke, cutting through the students’ surprised mumblings. “Hello everyone!” If they didn't know any better, none of them would've believed he was the Grand Magician based on his mannerism alone, “It might be a tiny bit sudden, but yes, our old Headmaster, Lord Nolan Doyle had chosen to retire from his position. Don't worry though! Me and Cre–I mean, the Royal Knights Commander guaranteed that Lord Desmond is qualified for the job!”

Aiden Peregrine meekly lowered his hand, although his expression remained the same. As he spoke, he lowered his head in a bow, “It was not my intention to doubt Lord Desmond, my apologies if I had spoken rudely. I have no qualms about the King of Machinery becoming this academy's headmaster.”

Hearing that, Circe leaned in closer to Zeke, “...What's the King of Machinery? Desmond's title?”

“Yeah,” Zeke whispered back, “Desmond's mana is below average, but he makes up for it in his talent in magic engineering. He invented all the modern technology with the Magic Tower, but it's safer to say that Desmond's the brain behind all those projects and the Tower just supplies him with materials.”

“Oooh,” Circe nodded along, “It's a bit odd for him to be the headmaster, but I guess he has enough fame and influence for the seat.”

“Desmond was a commoner before,” Zeke continued explaining, “But due to his contribution to the advances of Oriens’ technology, King Arzhel gave him the title and land of a Viscount. It might be low on the power pyramid, but he's definitely a force to be reckoned with.”

“Now that that's cleared up,” Solren took back their attention as he clasped his hand. Suddenly, cards manifested out of thin air and fell into the students’ grasp: one for each person. “There isn't much to talk about for a ceremony~ you're just here to receive those and hear about the new changes we've implemented in the academy!”

At the front of the silver-plated card was the student's picture and basic information, ranging from name and gender to the faculty and rankings, similarly to the ones addressed in the timetables. “Those are your Identification Cards. Make sure not to lose them at any cost! They're veeerrrry important because they will contain information about individual students!” Solren continued to speak, his voice laced with enthusiasm, “Not only can you see your total scores real time, you can also view your class schedule from the card!”

At those words, all of the students brought up their timetables. They appeared like holograms hovering above the card. Zeke and Circe noted that it had a similar feel to the system window. “It seemed like the rankings are all reset,” he peered over to look at Circe's schedule, realizing that she also did the same thing, “Not a surprise, since we missed an entire year, it'd be unfair to put them in the same ranks.”

“...Hey,” Circe raised an eyebrow, gaze remained fixed to Zeke's holographic timetable, “Why is your schedule practically the same as mine…?”

A frown creased his brows. Zeke glanced up briefly and met eyes with Solren, who in turn gave him a playful wink. The Grand Mage resumed his talk as if nothing happened.

“...It's probably Solren trying to be considerate to Silas.”

“You will be using your ID Card for pretty much everything in the academy from now on,” Solren snapped his fingers and created a big screen behind him. Images of a large canteen then appeared on them like a projector. “From roll calling to borrowing books from the library, and even buying food and using other facilities in the academy! You have to trade in your real money for an equal amount of currency in your card. Of course, you can withdraw your money at any time you'd like just by heading to the special booth stationed in every canteen or facility that requires money in exchange for their services.”

Solren snapped his fingers again and changed the images on his magical projector. This time, it showed a large colosseum. “As you've already noticed, your original rankings have been reset. This isn't just because all of you have taken a year long break, but because a lot of you had taken it as an opportunity to switch faculties. Due to this, the Rankings Month will be held earlier than before. You only have three months to prepare for this alongside your test for the Students Ranking.”

Despite all the groans and grunts from the students, Solren continued to smile as Desmond now took his turn to speak. “That is all for today. You may check out your dormitories or the academy layouts during your free time. There will be no classes until afternoon. If you have any questions, refer to the handbook we've given you, or ask the professors in their respective offices. All of them are willing to clear up any confusion for you. I hope you have a wonderful time once more at Aitheras Academy. May the gods’ blessings be with you.”