บท 30: MEETING HALL

In less time than Lexine anticipated, the Academy's main meeting hall was full and everyone had settled down. The seats were allocated to the different colors of uniform for each species. There were eight rows in total for each species. Desire explained to her that the higher your energy signature, the shorter the distance you sat from the podium that was in the middle of the room. Basically, everything in this new world was about how much energy signature a person had. Lexine was confused as to what exactly they meant by energy signature but Desire explained that it would be better elaborated by their lecturers.

The housemates had broken off into different directions once entering the hall. Since the hall was circular in design, the sylphs, where Lexine was seated as well, faced the Shadow beings. To their left was the Drakon kind, to their right the Werewolves. Between the Shadow beings and Drakons were the Anthropoids. All her housemates occupied the first rows. Did that mean they all had large energy signatures? That was probably why Karl placed her as their housemate so that they could protect her. Lexine internally nodded at the thought. If that was it, then it was a smart plan.

Lexine sat between Taevlin and Desire while Quira sat next to Desire. There were four other people in the row with them. They gave Lexine weird looks. Lexine felt uncomfortable because of their not so inconspicuous stares but paid them no heed following Desire's advice to keep her head high. Although she understood little of what they meant, her housemates had told her that no one would mess with her as long as her energy signature was high.

What was going on in these sylph's mind was simple. Who was this sylph who sat between Lady Vesna and Lord Taevlin? If she was a high ranking sylph, it would be difficult not to know who she was. However, due to the fact that Lord Taevlin was seated next to her, they did not utter a word about the addition to their ranks of the strongest eight in the academy but instead calmly gave their greetings. In any way, if she was seated next to Lord Taevlin, she must be of importance.

Lexine gave them a nod just like Taevlin did, with a frown on her face. If she emulated him, they would probably see that they should keep their boundaries for her sake. For the second time since Lexine met Desire, Desire spoke up using the mind wave Lexine so much dreaded. 'Griha, Farok, Corat, Rysha, a good morning to all of you.' She then bowed her head slightly.

Since they were still standing, they gave her a bow. 'A good morning to you Lady Vesna.' They then gave a bow to Taevlin who did not say a word but nodded his head at their greeting. When they bowed to Lexine, she also gave them a nod, emulating Taevlin once more. This froze them on their spot for a second. Although Lexine did not know it, her gaze was icier than Taevlin's. For Lexine however, she gave them the look she had perfected over the years in high school that managed to keep people a distance from her to prevent herself from being bullied. It was a tactic that never failed to work.

They hastily gave a bow to Quira before sitting. They now clearly understood why she had been placed among their ranks. Her gaze was as icy as her energy signature. It was astounding how much energy they had felt from her. They wondered which element she was able to control and which instrument she used. Lexine had no idea about this as she was concentrated on the figure that had walked up the podium in the middle of the hall.

The headmaster had on his usual floor-sweeping robe. The colors were purple this time, matching the earring that dangled on his left ear. Lexine came to the realization that their headmaster was a sylph as well and that shocked her. He was extremely talkative and not once had he spoken to her using the mind wave.

The hall fell into further silence upon his arrival. His lips were pressed into a thin line and if Lexine had not seen him smile during the party she had crashed, she would have thought he was just like a certain gray-haired kidnapper.

Even now, he spoke normally. "A good morning to all students." He did not wait for a reply as he went on speaking. "It is the start of a new academy year. I welcome all those in their first year. As for those in their last year, use it wisely, and learn from the in-field training as guided by your instructors. As the first spar of the year ended, the colosseum is open for all registered fights. Remember the rules and do not hold a spar without an instructor present. All species are to strive to get along. I do not desire a disagreement between species. Do your best to work together as students befitting this academy as well as learn from each other."

He paused as his gaze landed on Lexine. His brow slightly raised at the earring dangling on her ear. Artin and Taevlin had informed him of their ploy to have Lexine play the part of a distant relative of Lady Desire. He had agreed to it as he realized his prior plan to have Lexine reveal her identity as a human was utterly idiotic. The academy students would riot and he would have a disaster in his hands. He took out a scroll of parchment from his sleeve and unrolled it.

"The ranking this year is similar to that of last year." Lexine was confused, what ranking was he talking about? "In order of highest, Drakons, Sylphs, Werewolves, Shadow beings, and Anthropoids. The selection of the contestants of the yearly spar against species will begin at the end of the month so prepare yourselves accordingly. There will be a selection for the new committee in charge of the colosseum fights that work with the selection of students for the yearly spar. The committee will include one person from each species. Pick amongst yourselves."

This brought a number of whispers in the hall. Karl gave them a few seconds to chatter among themselves. There was complete silence on the sylph side as they probably conversed mentally. Karl cleared his throat when he felt they had discussed amongst themselves enough. The hall fell back in silence. Lexine was in awe at the amount of power he held. Since they put energy signatures at a high level, then perhaps Karl's was very high.

He glanced at the scroll in his parchment for a second. "There will be a change in the curriculum starting from tomorrow. All species will have joint physical training." A murmur was heard in the rows of the Anthropoids. Karl turned his whole body to face them. They immediately went silent. It was no secret that Anthropoids were physically weak. In addition to that, none of them could control any elements. This had placed them at the bottom of the food chain over and over again.

"For all those without schedules at the moment, please visit my office before the day ends. That is all for this assembly. Have a good year at the academy."

Immediately after he left, the hall erupted into noise.