Chapter 303: Introductions

"W-wha… How did you get here…" He whispered with wide-open eyes, which led to a small chuckle from the man ahead of him.

*RING* *RING* *RING* *RING*

"Oh, seems like the bell rang. I didn't get a chance to introduce myself last time, Moby Kane… I am Artorias Kalameet, but you can call me Art. It is nice to finally meet you,"

The man simply smiled at him with what seemed like graceful love and care but Moby could not shake off the feeling that there was something else… 

And, before he could even respond, a loud voice rang throughout all of their ears. 

"Good morning students and staff! Congratulations on making it to your first day of class! This will be the beginning of your new journey. A journey that will be tough but not impossible with perseverance! Everyone, please stand for the international anthem!"

{ The world is our homeland, earth is our domain. All…}

Moby stood up for the anthem proudly like everyone else, yet he had simply zoned it out as he focused on the man in front of him.

He was that same golden-eyed man he had seen the previous morning. He came out of nowhere… No way he was there when he entered the room right? Had he been blind or this distracted? He could have sworn that seat in front of him was empty.

'He's been there the entire time. He was simply using some sort of item or technique to mask his presence. I'd watch out for him if I were you… He's quite the cunning one, I don't trust him.' Avilia spoke in his head. 

'Way ahead of you,' Moby inwardly nodded.

As the national anthem was going, Rigrit noticed that Moby and him shared the same class. He seemed to have a look of pure joy and excitement on his face seeing it. He tried to motion at Moby to catch his attention during the anthem. But, he was not paying attention no matter what. That was when he decided to give up, taking his seat as soon as things were all over. 

"That will be all for our morning announcements, have a nice first day everyone." The girl on the announcements spoke, which led to everyone taking a seat back in their chairs. The only man that remained standing was the teacher. 

He slowly placed his book back on his desk and picked up a tablet, not before stretching his stiff limbs. 

"It seems like everyone is here today. Glad to see no one got lost. Anyways, let's get right to introductions. My name is professor Zave Mylcen, and I am your homeroom teacher. I hail from country Y and I am going to be teaching you combat and history. As for my aspirations in life, I think many of them have been completed. I used to be a simple military school teacher only a few years ago but rose up the ranks to where I am now. Isabell, now it's your turn, please introduce yourself to the rest of the class, exactly like I did." He spoke with a smile, looking at the girl in the top right of the class.

The entire room seemed rather shocked at his demand. 

"Wait, isn't this going against privacy laws?!" One of the students blurted out, yet, instead of getting absolutely destroyed, he was calmly responded to. 

"I'm sure your parents told you that you should stay reserved and keep as many secrets as you can in order to get a competitive edge. But, for elite school, the only promise we have with any family pertains to secret techniques excluding spirit mode. Name, country, and aspirations don't seem like a big deal to me. I need you guys to get along with each other. We are all part of one team after all. So, isabella, please introduce yourself to the rest of the class."

Moby could sense the clear disapprovement from everyone, even if it did not show on their faces. Yet, they were in no position to reject the request, so they did as they were told. 

"Hello, my name is Isabella Mela, I am from country F. My aspirations for the future is to graduate and join one of the top guilds in the world. It is nice to meet you all," She stood up straight as an arrow before sitting down. 

"Good! Next!" Professor Zave called, leading to the person below them in the column to do the same thing. 

"Yes sir!"

It was all quite boring and generic. Moby was not able to tell if what they were saying for their dreams were real or simply a lie to the class. Most of them consisted of: Forming a top guild, getting a high rank in the military, joining a top guild, taking over the family business, and other things of the sort.

He wanted to almost fall asleep listening to them yet kept his full attention just in case something happened. And, his eyes were fully open once it came to be Rigrit's turn to speak.

"Hi, I'm Rigrit Oswald! I'm from country Z. And, my goal is to become, and prove myself as the strongest! That is all."

'Country Z? We come from the same country?' Moby slightly raised an eyebrow.

He was expecting more to be revealed about him now, but now that he thought about it, that would have been quite dumb considering he wasn't even willing to share anything in private so why would he in front of the entire class.

The turns once again made the rounds until it finally landed on him, and he felt everyone's attention was keenly on him more than anyone else, which did not bother him very much. 

"Greetings, My Name is Moby Kane. And, for now, my goal is to master as many skills as I can and get as much out of elite school as I possibly can," He bowed as he prepared himself to take his seat when the teacher interrupted him, the first student so far. 

"So, did you take the swordsmanship, Ki manipulation, mana crystal creation, crafting, enchantment, and ability creation courses?"

"Yes sir…"

"That's nice to hear! I did the same thing when I was your age. I hope to hear great things, don't disappoint and say it was too much work! If I did it, so can you!"

"Yes sir! You can count on me!"

"Good!"

Moby sat back down in his seat, this was one of the few times that the teacher smiled this much and he did not know why. 

"Next!"

Finally, it was the turn of the man in front of him. This one, he was extremely curious to listen to, even more so than Rigrit. 

"Good morning to you all. My name is Artorias Kalameet, but you could all simply call me Art. I am here by order of my mistress, and I will do anything in her name." He gracefully bowed. 

"And, what about your country? What is it young man, where were you born?"

"Professor, I do not originate from a country, I was born in a land far, far away on a different planet."

"Hmmm, very well. Thank you for the insight Art! Next!"

Artorias's answer left Moby more confused than anything. Everyone was so vague and cryptic, which he should have more than expected. 

People continued to say their introduction until it finally reached Hikari, the final person.

"Hello everyone, my name is Hikari. And, this is my sister Yami." She took a small pause as her hair immediately turned charcoal and her expression completely changed, catching absolutely everyone off guard. "We are sisters from country Z. Our dreams are to get along with people and live a normal yet exciting life. That is all." Yami finished her speech before sitting back down. 

*Clap*

"Thank you all for the introductions! And congratulations for those who have passed the second test of the school!" Zave's smile gleamed brightly as he pulled out a green crystal from underneath his desk, and the looks on the students said it all…

"For those who told the truth, congratulations! You passed, and for those who lied to my face, you will be losing 250 out of your original 100 points."

The class was in silent outrage, the reactions from the various students were obscene, shaking and sweating like crazy with an open gaze, a gaping mouth and shaky hands like they were ready to yell and complain but simply couldn't in fear or for even worse consequences. 

"It's funny how you could have all just said something extremely vague like "My goal is to graduate with high grades" But some of you deliberately went out of your way to lie to my face, your commanding officer!  You all think you are so slick and sly, It never ceases to entertain me every year."

"Remember, you need a total of 1000 points to make it past the first semester… I hope this will set the stage for the days to come, and what kind of environment this school is…" He spoke with a wide smile and a peculiar glint in his eyes, making everyone inwardly shudder. 

Indeed, it was a very good wake-up call for the uninitiated… 

The class still in shock, Zave continued smiling as he resumed speaking at his students, some of them spiralling down into depression or panic while others sitting there with silent outrage, and, of course, the people who told the truth, which included Hikari, Rigrit, Moby, Artorias and more were sitting there normally, ready for the next part of the lesson. 

"So, class. Since today is the first day of school, I'll give you a choice, and a chance for some of you to gain your points back… By show of hands, who here wants to sit down and listen to a 4-hour lecture about politics, how humanity formed an alliance against the shalkers and split the countries according to the energy sources. And, who wants to head to the arena to begin combat training?"