After a short walk, the group reached the building at the end of the lane. Surrounded by trees it was giving off a secluded vibe. Like the other buildings, it was primarily built with glass and bricks and gave off its own elegant charm.
It had 3 stories- four rooms on the ground floor, two adjacent to each side of the stairs, six on the second floor with the top floor being reserved for staff.
Their class lay at the far corner of the ground floor. It was a spacious hall with an incline. The seating, arranged in a wide semi circle, rose in tiered rows, accommodating up to 150 students. At the front, was a small stage, raised a few inches off the ground, a podium placed at it's edge, and a big board mounted on the wall.
The black haired man stood near the podium waiting for the students to settle. Due to his presence, everyone took the first seat their eyes landed on, and soon, the entire class was filled.
"A complete 150, hmm... Guess none of you are absent, that's good to know."
He cast a quick glance around the room before speaking. "Okay then...Let me introduce myself. My name is Renlo Halst- Mr. Ren to you, 'Sir' works for me as well."
Without giving time to the students to chit-chat amongst themselves, he continued "I am not here to know about each one of you. I'll learn about the one's I need to in due time. As for you people, you can get acquainted after the class ends."
Saying this, he strode towards the board, and began scribbling.
"Want to get acquainted?" Matt whispered to the group of three.
They were sitting in the middle row, towards the left side of the hall.
The three rolled their eyes at him and started staring back at the board.
Meanwhile, Zeill was trying to recall if he had ever heard of the Halst clan. But, twenty seconds were not enough to jolt his memory, so he pushed the thought aside. There was still plenty of time to find out- he would be staying at the academy for a while.
"So... I won't be taking much of your time today. I will ask, you will answer. Clear?"
"Yes" a combined sound of more than a hundred voices echoed the room.
"Then choose one of the topics," he gestured at the board behind him where three words were written.
'Awakened.'
'Power.'
'Shards.'
A low buzz started to resonate in the room as everyone started to murmur amongst themselves. Ren made no efforts to quieten them, simply reminding, "Decide quickly."
"Mr. Renlo," a voice called out from one of the back rows.
"Mr. Ren for you." Ren glanced at the boy in the back. "Speak."
"Mr. Ren... What are the topics about? Like..." he sounded a bit nervous "what should we expect from the topics?" he was clearly nervous, but, nonetheless, he asked the question.
"Introduction." Ren spoke, addressing the entire class. "I will introduce you to one of the topics of your choice. But it's just for today."
The class went onto a buzz yet again.
"What is Power?" Galen mused.
"How to get powerful, maybe?" Matt suggested.
"And shards." Avrin asked with furrowed brows.
"Anything wrong," noticing the shift in Avrin's expressions, Zeill asked.
"Nothing," Avrin said after a pause "it's just... many of us don't even know about Luminers, what's the point of discussing such topics?"
"Who knows, at least we'll learn something new, right." said Galen to the group.
The group nodded in affirmation.
"Mr. Ren"
Shifting his gaze to the source of the voice, Ren spoke "Yes."
"What does the topic, 'Power' mean? I mean...what exactly are we supposed to learn about it."
"Not much, I'll just give a brief overview about the people holding significant power in this land." He gave a quick look at the class and continued. "As for awakened, i will brief you all about type of abilities they possess, and for shards, I will mention some wielders, and a few known abilities."
Letting that information sink in, he said, "We'll do it the simple way...I will name a topic, and you will raise your hands if you want it to be discussed. Is that fine?" He asked facing the class.
"Yes."
"Power"
A few hands were raised, but not nearly enough to compete with the other two topics.
"Awakened"
Nearly half the class raised their hands.
"Hm, more interested in awakened?" Zeill asked, noticing Avrin's raised hand.
"At least I will have a better chance at being an Awakened than wielding a shard" he giggled.
"Shards"
Once again, half of the class raised their hands- this time, slightly more than for the Awakened.
"Hmm, Shards it is then."
Ren took a step back, and erased the other two topics from the board, leaving only one word on the board- Shards.
"First of all...I have no obligation to teach about any of these topics. But since it's the first day, I thought, let's talk about something which holds your curiosity." Casting a glance at the students he continued, "I will only be speaking on this for half an hour, then we'll move on to your curriculum."
The class gradually settled into silence, waiting eagerly to hear about shards. It wasn't that they had never heard about the term before, but it was usually in form of stories of some sorts. Stories about shards were found everywhere, which further fueled up their hype. But, until now, at least for the majority of them, shards were simply objects that granted you with some kind of power, but what were they really? For the first time they were about to find it out.
Well, not everyone seemed to be unfamiliar with them. Quite a few faces showed little interest. Even Zeill didn't seem to be particularly engaged. He glanced at his group of friends, who also seemed to remain particularly calm despite the anticipation present in the room.
He reminisced about the times spent with his master, and the fragmentary knowledge he had been taught about shards. But it wasn't that much, at least not to the point to satisfy his curiosity. So despite being a little less interested, a faint hint of expectancy tinged with curiosity flickered his eyes.
Ren had already stepped away from the podium, moved to the center of the stage. As the class settled he spoke "First of all, one thing must be clear to all, not everything is understood about shards."
He paced slowly across the stage while speaking, "What is known, is a very simple fact- Shards grant you with powers, powers you possibly can't imagine. And if you get one, congrats, your luck is beyond measure."
"I would have more chances of becoming an awakened," Zeill heard Avrin whisper.
Ren, who had been speaking, paused for a moment, and cast a sweeping glance over the class, Avrin felt as though the glance was meant for him. His posture tightened instinctively, his nerves creeping in.
"If everyone could get shards, it won't be a thing of desire." He threw a fleeing glance at the class, his gaze lingering on Avrin just a moment longer.
"Remember, there are many ways to achieve power. It's not a liner path, nor does it have a single point of start...There are many locus of power- Training, becoming a Luminer, Awakening an ability, possessing a Bloodline, Shards and what not...You may not have all them, but at least one...one is within you. " He paused and spoke with a steady tone. "Will. If your will is weak, nothing can make you stronger."
He let his words settle for a moment before speaking again, "Anyways, it's not power you guys chose, it's shards, so let's come back to shards."