Chapter's out! Enjoy! Read also on the WuxiaWorld Forums or on the website ;3

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Book 1, Chapter 1 - Truth and Consequence (1.3/1.3)

Once again glancing at the figure on the podium, Synth groaned. He already had had more than his fair share of bad luck on the way to the academy, but why must the current scene in front of him also be on that list of 'bad things' that had happened?

Standing on the podium was a tall and slender woman, who appeared to be roughly around the age of sixteen. With fine, delicate features, a slim sword holstered on the left side of her waist, and clothing that displayed her well-proportioned curves, the woman on the podium would truly be considered a top-class beauty.

However, while many of the male students were enamored by the woman's mature charm, Synth, on the other hand, truly wanted to just run and hide somewhere far, far away.

The shock on his face soon gradually turned to one of hatred and disgust. The reason why he made such an unsightly appearance in the face of such captivating beauty was because, this woman was someone who looked a bit all too familiar to him...

She was exactly that 'patrol guard' that he had run into on his way to the academy, and had given him an almost near-death fright.

What is she doing here? How is a Chevalier a guest speaker at an institute that nurtures Invokers???

Just as Synth was wondering why the woman he had met that night was here, the woman on the podium abruptly began speaking.

"Congratulations to all of you here who are sitting in the auditorium. This means that you all have passed the entrance examination, and have chosen to embark on the path of an Invoker. My name is Lilia Synclaw, the daughter of William Synclaw, the head of this school."

Upon hearing this, Synth let out a slight sigh of relief. At first, when he saw her, he thought that she was not wholly convinced of the story that Synth had come up with and came to investigate. However, after she had introduced herself, this was not the case.

She was only here because her father was the school head, and probably was asked to tell the new students about what life on campus was going to be like.

However, I should still stay low. Even though she isn't here because she's suspicious of me, it still would be bad if I drew any unnecessary attention.

Even though Lilia was not here specifically for Synth, he made a mental note to stay out of her way whenever possible. After hearing her short introduction and the comment that she had made on the previous day, Synth was naturally able to deduce her situation.

The only reason why Synth had run into her last night while she was on patrol duty was because she was forced to volunteer to do it. Her father probably wanted to build a good image for the academy, and thus sent his daughter out to do community service type work.

And even though she was a Chevalier, the reason why she appeared to lecture and guide the new students was because her father was the school head. Although she had not chosen the path of the Invoker or did not have enough aptitude for it, as her family did run the school, she naturally would be familiar with the way the academy ran.

Her father must have been busy. That's probably why she's being sent in as a substitute.

Thinking up to this point, Synth pushed those thoughts out of his head and began listening intently, lowering his head as well to try to blend in with the crowd. At the current point in time, he really did not want to be noticed by Lilia.

Appearing to not have seen Synth's characteristic black hair with strands of gold intertwined within, Lilia began speaking about what life in the academy would entail, and began going into detail about the class options that one could take.

"Everyday, excluding weekdays, classes will begin from 8:00am all the way until 11:00pm. Classes take up roughly an hour and a half to two hours, and are based on a set schedule. With the exception of the Runic Languages and the Battle Basics classes, everyone is free to choose the other classes that they want to take."

"You have to take a minimum of three classes, while the maximum amount of classes you can take is five. Runic Languages Class begins at 8:00am and ends at 10:00am, while the Battle Basics Class begins at 10:10am and ends at 11:10am."

"From there on, will the elemental classes start. Light-element classes will begin at 11:15am and end at 12:15pm. Earth-element classes will start at 1:00pm and end at 2:00pm. The reason why there is a forty-five minute break between the light element and earth element classes is because lunch break is from 12:15pm to 12:55pm."

"And in that order, the other elemental classes follow as well. The Water-element classes will start at 2:05pm and end at 3:05pm. Fire-element classes will start at 3:10pm and end at 4:10pm. Wind-element classes will start at 4:15pm and end at 5:15pm, and finally, Dark-element classes will start at 5:20pm and end at 6:20pm."

Suddenly, one youth spoke up from the crowd. "Are those all the classes available? Didn't you say that classes end at 11pm?"

Hearing this, Synth frowned, and wanted to laugh. The impatient youth had not let Lilia finish, and had just cut her off so abruptly.

Maybe, Synth thought, If you let her finish, you'll know the answer without having to ask.

Looking at the youth who had spoken up, Lilia gave him a cold glare. Although her features were still beautiful while she was frowning, her eyes contained no hint of mirth in them at all, and instead radiated coldness. This soul-penetrating gaze made the youth who had talked out of line instantly freeze up.

Seeing that she had effectively shut the youth up, Lilia once again returned her gaze onto the group of students clustered in rows in front of her, and began speaking again.

"After the Dark-element Class is over, there are special selective classes that take place during the night-time. However, seeing that the quality of the new freshmen is rather terrible, I will not bother explaining."

"Also, for the times when you do not have a class, you can have the time off."

After Lilia had noticed that everyone seemed to slowly take in her words, she cleared her throat to get their attention again. Although classes were a very important part of the curriculum, it must be noted that advancing their Channeling Energy and the inter-school competition tournament was important as well.

"Classes will not be on the weekends. However, I advise you all that you spend this time to diligently train and advance your Channeling Energy. If you don't make it to a two-star Mind Invoker by the end of the first year, you will be expelled from the academy. With this in mind, once a month, we will hand out one World Essence Crystal to each student to help them cultivate their Energy Base."

A World Essence Crystal? They're going to give such a rare and valuable item to us, to help us cultivate???

That was the thought that was passing through almost all the minds of the new students, Synth included. World Essence Crystals were rare relics that contained World Essence within them. World Essence was close to nonexistent now in this current age, and although it was possible to train it in the natural environment, the process wasn't exactly quick. Training by absorbing the World Essence within the crystals was a much faster alternative, making the Crystals very precious resources.

Nobody would just wantonly give out such precious items. However, Lilia had just said that they would each receive one of these World Essence Crystals every single month! This was the reason why so many of the new students were shocked beyond comparison.

Ignoring the countless astonished expressions, Lilia indifferently continued, "The last thing that I wanted to tell you all about is the inter-school competition. Every two to three years, we choose the best students to participate in a school-wide competition, competing to see which academy can produce the best talents. Naturally, if you are chosen for this event, we will provide special bonuses to help you prepare for the competition. If you so happen to win, an extra bonus will be included as well."

After Lilia had said this, there were quite a few students who began to ogle at her. Synth, noticing the expressions that these youths sported, let out a cold snicker.

Lustful brats. You guys will all sooner or later die in the arms of a woman.

Although Synth was still a young man, he had much better control over his desires than ordinary youths. After all, by forging himself from doing hard, physically exhausting training, he had naturally acquired something of an iron will. His mother's departure only helped to harden his heart towards the opposite gender as well.

It was quite obvious that Lilia's words, "extra reward", had sparked something of a fire in some of the youths, who were currently having quite obscene thoughts towards her and her body.

Quickly taking a glance at Lilia once again, Synth sighed in praise. Under the darkness of the night and the panic that he had been through, he had not been able to truly make out all the finer details of Lilia's figure when he had first encountered her.

Now, seeing her figure not hidden by the darkness of night, Synth was truly stunned because of her beauty. The way her brown hair draped over her shoulders and the white dress that she was wearing that was somewhat tight around her bosom, truly made her exude a mature charm, one that did not match her age. However, it was undeniable that with her looks, she would ignite flames in the hearts of most men.

Lilia had noticed these somewhat lewd gazes at her as well. However, she just chose to ignore them, while she finished her speech. Taking a deep breath and exhaling, she once again began talking, "That just about sums up what I wanted to tell you all. Oh, right. There's one final thing. No matter what, do not provoke your seniors. Otherwise, you just might find yourself challenged to a duel that you can't refuse according to school rules."

Not paying any heed to the confused gazes that many of the youths were sending her way, Lilia wordlessly got down from the elevated podium and left through the back door of the auditorium. The three guards that were standing by soon came up, and the same one who had spoken earlier walked up to the front and gestured to the new students to be quiet again.

"Alright. You all should know the basics of how the Magecroft Academy works after Miss Synclaw's explanation. We will now lead you to your dorms. The freshmen and second years occupy the East Wing of the campus, while the third years and forth years occupy the West Wing. The fifth years occupy the North Wing, and the sixth years occupy the South Wing. Don't get the directions mixed up."

The three soldiers soon began to lead the line of students towards the East Wing's dormitories, and everyone began walking again in single file, exiting the auditorium. Unbeknownst to Synth, someone was coldly watching him on top of the auditorium...

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Noticing that the group of freshmen were beginning to leave, a gentle figure descended down from the top of the auditorium. Not too fast and not too slow, the figure landed gracefully on the ground. Seeing this scene would shock most people, as the auditorium building was quite high, and to be able to jump down without breaking any bones and landing so gracefully like that was almost unimaginable. Something like that was also impossible for a normal person and even Invokers to do, which meant that the person who had descended from the skies was a Chevalier!

Gazing at the figure of the boy that she had run into last night while on patrol duty, the figure's lips curved upwards into a sneer, while coldly focusing her gaze on Synth's rapidly retreating visage among the other new students.

With a cold laugh, she softly murmured, "It appears that there truly is more to your background that meets the eye. I'll personally investigate this matter..."

That woman disappeared almost instantaneously, seeming almost to blend in with the wind with every step that she took. Soon, there was nothing left to be seen except for a few blurry afterimages still lingering in the air...

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"So, this is where I'll be spending the next three years of my life?"

Quietly mumbling while looking at the rather unimpressive but ridiculously large building in front of him, Synth began to follow the rest of the students into the interior of the structure, with the three guards still leading in the front.

When everyone was gathered in the lobby of the dormitory, one of the guards turned around and announced, "We're at the dorm. I will now be giving everyone a key to their room. You will be sharing your room with one or two roommates as well, so try to get along."

Nobody seemed to be surprised upon hearing this news. After all, there were quite a few people in the academy, and if they had to provide individual housing for everyone who attended the academy, that would truly place an enormous amount of unnecessary financial burden on the academy's shoulders.

Waving his right hand, a few hundred keys mysteriously appeared in front of him, all floating in the air. With another wave, the guard sent the keys flying toward the direction of the youths, and they all landed neatly in everyone's hands.

Waving his right hand again, what seemed to be tiny, colorless crystals appeared in front of him as well, and the guard sent the tiny crystals flying in the same directions that the keys had, one crystal landing neatly in the hands of each youth.

Not paying the shocked gazes of the youths any mind, the guard explained to them that their room number was unscripted on the key, and to just go looking for a door with that number. He also explained that the tiny crystal that he had given them was a World Essence Crystal, and told them to begin their cultivation of Channeling Energy. Right after the guard had said this, he and his companions left, leaving the few hundred students by themselves in the dorm's lobby.

Well, there's no need to waste time. Might as well settle in first.

Ignoring the other youths who seemed to be at a loss, Synth quickly took a look at his key, and made a quick mental note - his room number was 457.

Walking silently, Synth slowly slipped away from the crowd of new students, and began wandering the huge corridors of the dormitory, slowly and meticulously trying to find his room.