The Principal walked to the grand chair that was situated beside the podium.
His long robes flowed silently behind him as he moved.
He stopped directly in front of it. His presence alone commanded a natural respectful silence without him having to say a single word.
He then raised both his hands in a placid open-pald gesture. It was a silent invitation for the vast assembly of standing students and faculty to be seated.
"All students please sit down," he said. His voice was soft almost gentle.
It was the kind of tone an old grandfather might use with his grandchildren.
Yet it possessed a strange resonant quality. His voice carried effortlessly throughout the entire cavernous auditorium.
Each word reached every single ear with perfect unimpeded clarity. It was as if he were whispering directly to each individual person at the sa ti.
This subtle but profound display of power caused a fresh wave of astonishnt to ripple through the first-year students.
They had never encountered such effortless command of energy and sound before. It was a very advanced magical skill.
Void who was sitting beside Eric leaned in closer. His usual teasing smirk was replaced by a look of genuine appreciation.
"This old man," he murmured his voice low enough for only Eric to hear
"he seems quite powerful. He is not just so old principal."
Eric his own gaze fixed on the figure on the stage simply nodded his head in agreent.
The Principal’s calm authority was on a completely different level. It was far more impressive than the boisterous intimidating power of the upperclassn.
One by one following the lead of the faculty on the stage and the senior students in their sections everyone began to take their seats.
Eric seeing the upperclassn in the adjacent rows sit down also sat.
His companions Void Kado and Ryan followed his lead sitting down with him. The entire auditorium settled into a hushed expectant silence.
The Principal then moved a few steps forward. He stood behind the large wooden podium. He surveyed the sea of young eager faces before him.
A warm benevolent smile a kind and grandfatherly smile spread across his own aged features.
"My dear children," he began his voice still gentle but now filled with a genuine warmth. It seed to envelop the entire hall like a comfortable blanket.
"I am overjoyed that all of you have been selected to join our esteed United Academy. All of you here today... you are the hope of this entire continent. You are the future of your respective kingdoms. You are the brightest and the most talented of your generation."
He paused for a mont letting his words of praise sink in. He wanted each student to feel the weight of his words to feel special.
"It is my sincere wish," he continued his voice rising with passion with real feeling
"that all of you will work diligently here. That you will study with great passion and with unrelenting effort so that one day you might even surpass the Emperor himself in strength and in wisdom!"
The Principal’s inspiring words were like a spark landing in dry tinder.
A wave of palpable excitent surged through the ranks of the first-year students.
They exchanged wide-eyed hopeful glances with each other. For many of them this was the ultimate aspiration the highest goal they could imagine. It was the pinnacle of achievent.
And to hear it validated to hear it encouraged by a figure as respected as the Principal was incredibly inspiring. In the hearts of many young nobles and royals a new fervent promise was made to themselves at that mont.
They promised to work harder than ever before to push further to strive for that impossible peak of power.
The Principal paused again allowing the students to savor the mont of shared ambition this feeling of hope. He then continued his tone shifting to a more narrative explanatory one.
"Typically," he said "every year new students arrive at our Academy." The students who had begun to murmur excitedly amongst themselves imdiately fell silent once more.
Their attention was fully captivated by the old man on the stage.
"And every year," the Principal went on
"these new students follow the sa established routine. They join one of the four existing student groups."
As he spoke he gestured with a sweep of his hand. He pointed towards the four distinct color-coded sections where the upperclassn were seated—the Golden Red Blue and Black factions. "As you can all see over there."
The mont the Principal ntioned the groups the warmth in the hall seed to cool. A familiar sickening knot of anxiety began to tighten in Eric’s stomach. He felt his heart begin to pound against his ribs.
A dreadful premonition a terrible feeling of what was about to happen took hold of him. It was a certainty that chilled him to the bone.
He’s... he’s talking about , Eric thought a sense of panic beginning to rise in his chest. He’s going to call out.
Void sitting beside him noticed the shift in the Principal’s tone.
He saw the direction of his speech. A wide amused smile spread across Void’s face. He glanced at Eric a knowing almost wicked glint in his eyes but he said nothing.
Eric also understood with a sinking feeling in his gut exactly where this was heading.
The Principal whose expression had been warm and grandfatherly just monts before now beca very serious.
His gaze swept across the vast auditorium bypassing the thousands of other students. And then it landed.
It landed directly unequivocally on Eric.
"But this year," the Principal declared his voice losing its earlier warmth.
It was replaced now by a tone of stern judicial gravity a seriousness that commanded the absolute attention of everyone present.
"One student has stood up. One student has chosen a different path. A student who wishes to create his own new group a fifth faction."
As Eric t the Principal’s intense focused gaze all the fear he had been desperately trying to suppress all the anxiety he had been holding at bay with a fragile wall of composure finally shattered.
It was visible for all to see. Tiny beads of cold sweat began to form on his forehead. They trickled down his temples. His hands which were resting on his knees began to tremble uncontrollably.
Within Eric’s body in his own internal domain Adam observed this entire exchange with a detached almost clinical interest. He watched the boy’s mind crumble under the imnse pressure.
Following the Principal’s shocking declaration a monuntal shift occurred in the auditorium. It was as if a powerful magnet had suddenly been activated sowhere in the room.
Every single person in the vast hall—every professor every teacher from the highest rank to the lowest and every student from the formidable battle-hardened fourth-years to the newly arrived and utterly terrified first-years—all turned their heads.
They moved in perfect unnerving unison. Their collective overwhelming gaze a force of thousands of eyes fell upon a single point.
It fell upon a single person Eric.
Eric who was already in a dire emotional state now felt the full weight of those thousands of eyes upon him. It was a pressure so imnse it felt physical.
It felt suffocating.
It was as if several huge dragons had descended from the sky and were all sitting on his chest crushing the air from his lungs pinning him in place for all the world to see and to judge.
Void however was clearly enjoying the spectacle. He was having a great ti.
The smile on his face was now one of pure unrestrained amusent.
The drama the tension in the room was reaching its absolute peak. And he had a front-row seat to the most interesting show he had seen in a very very long ti.
This was better than any play he could have imagined.
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