บท 56: First Day At The Academy

A few days later.

Today was the first day of the new academic year at the Earth's Supreme Academy.

A teenage boy along with many others stood on the training grounds of the Academy. Though the people here numbered in hundreds, the training grounds were big enough to easily accommodate thousands. Therefore, the hundreds looked very little in amount compared to the area of the grounds.

Amongst these people stood Ray, his eyes wandering on the horizon while he stood by on his own with his hands in his pockets. It was so because Ray was currently chatting with Aurora as they both analyzed their chat with the dean.

A couple of days ago, Ray met the dean at lunch to discuss the matter of the new manor he was to buy from the dean. He had arranged everything and just as he brought out the topic of the manor the dean waved and cut him off,

Saying, " Ray, the manor is yours to take if you like it, I will sell it to you if you have money now or you can pay me later. I called you here for another important thing, it's related to what's to come in the future".

Hearing this, Ray tensed up, and the previous smile on his face vanished, replaced by a frown. He asked,

"What happened",

"The higher-ups have been getting restless as we have started to detect mana seeping into the world's atmosphere, it won't be long until the barrier dissipates and the world merges with System Online",

"Therefore, we have taken drastic changes and we would also be hardening the curriculum of the academy while also taking other measures that will be let known to you on the first day. My purpose for coming here today is to warn you that you need to power up faster as things will be getting pretty nasty soon",

The dean replied to him,

Hearing all this, the frown on Ray's face deepened. Ray reached out his hand and picked up the glass of water beside him and drank a mouthful of water.

Then keeping down the glass, he said in a grave tone,

"I understand dean, I am trying my best to prepare for what's to come and that is also why I am buying such a big mansion, it's to turn it into a fortress in times of apocalypse".

Hearing this, the dean sighed,

" It's good to hear that you have started taking precautions beforehand, we have estimated the time and it will take six to eight months before people would start awakening and dungeons have started to appear as well. We are doing our best to handle the situation before people start awakening their potential and things go awry".

Ray heard all of it but one detail made him wary as he asked,

"Have dungeons started to appear?",

"Sadly, yes",

The dean replied,

"Just yesterday a dungeon appeared near the academy, but right now only basic types of dungeons have appeared, nothing much. It would take at least a year for higher types of dungeons to appear".

" This is also another reason for me to meet you, I wanted to inform you that the Academy would also allow students to take part in dungeon explorations but only a few could do so as tokens are required to enter the dungeons, hence I took the liberty to get you a token considering your special status".

With that, the dean took out a darkish green token and put it on the desk, with that he said,

"Consider as my gift to you and I hope you would be able to use your powers and abilities to help us in the future",

With that, the dean stood up from his seat and left the restaurant. Leaving behind a bewildered Ray.

Ray looked at the token and took it in his hand, observing it for a while. After that, he kept that token and walked out of the restaurant as well, not before paying the bill.

Sinking back from his thoughts, Ray took a look around him and saw the students chatting with each other. He looked around and counted there to be at least 200 students. Which was quite a lot compared to the amount that passed the test. But still, everyone didn't need to give a test to enter the Academy. Some used their connections while some had the talent to speak for them.

Taking a look at his watch, Ray realized that it was almost time for the introductory ceremony. Hence, he stood attentively as he waited for the introductory ceremony to start.

And soon enough, a loud voice boomed,

"Attention Everyone, welcome to Earth's supreme academy".

Listening to the booming voice of the man everyone turned their heads in the direction of the voice and were bespectacled by what they saw, over there they saw the dean of the academy himself floating above the ground and calmly observing them.

The dean on the other hand seeing that everyone had his attention spoke,

"Now that I have got everyone's attention, let me formally welcome you all to Earth's supreme academy",

With that, the dean waved his hand and a stage appeared below the ground where the dean stood.

After that, the dean spoke,

"Now, Mr. Joshua would guide you",

With that the dean turned into a blur and sped off into the distance, leaving behind a large impression of his strength.

"Ahem!!",

A voice sounded, everyone turned to look at the person whose voice they heard, and saw a man standing on the stage with a mic in his hand,

The man spoke in a charming voice,

"Good morning recruits, I am Mr. Joshua and today I will be your guide and host for the introductory ceremony today".

"Now, before I start, I would like all of the recruits from the elite class to move forward and make an orderly line. Other than that, I would like the selected class monitor from the elite class to stand at the front of the line",

Listening to this, Ray took a step forward and then,

Whoosh,

A wind blew by and Ray appeared in front of the line. A glance back and he could see the number second recruit on the rankings standing behind him, looking at him with bewildered eyes,

Nia looked at Ray completely astonished, she could not believe what her eyes saw. With just a step she had seen Ray cover a distance of 100 meters.

A lump of saliva got stuck in her throat as she gulped hard while her eyes were filled with astonishment, adoration, and fear. Yeah, she feared Ray, not because of his strength but due to his speed of improvement just a couple of weeks ago, she had seen Ray and at that time his strength was at the beginner of the intermediate tier, but right now he had crossed that threshold and it was hard for her to know where his strength stood.

On the other hand, Ray knew his strength very well. After he had not been idle the whole time, and with his newly formed mana core. His improvement speed had skyrocketed. Therefore in the past few days, he had advanced to the pseudo-advanced tier and was at the cusp of breaking into the advanced tier.

Meanwhile, a glint passed through the eyes of the guide, Mr. Joshua, as he observed Ray's strength and nodded to himself.

On the other hand, all other were also astonished as they had only seen dust kicking up at one moment, and at the other, Ray stood at the front of the line.

However not everyone had seen the commotion, after that,

The guide spoke,

"Now that everyone has settled, and formed lines, I will start with the introductory ceremony",

With that, the ceremony started.

....

A/N:- I would like to thank everyone who is reading the novel as only reading supports the novel too and helps me write more chapters for you all. So don't forget to vote and add the novel to collections if you all like it.