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"You guys ready?"
Seeing all of them nod, Old Lee flashed a kind smile and beckoned for them to step inside the carriage. Their destination?
The Heavenly Cloud Institute Inner Branch, located at the Inner Court of the Final Haven Kingdom.
While inside the carriage, Raven can't help but to pay attention to the scenery outside. Seeing these familiar streets, landmarks and establishments gave him a feeling of nostalgia.
After two hours of being on the road, Old Lee and the students eventually reached their destination. In front of them, the tall and sturdy gate of the Inner Branch stood before them. They chose to enter the smaller entrance on the side since the main gates will only open to make way for special reasons, and their arrival isn't one of those.
"State your purpose." One of the guards blocked their path and asked sternly.
Old Lee didn't say anything and instead gave a letter to the guard. Upon looking at the contents of the letter, the guards eyes widened and gave the kids a look of admiration.
"We welcome your arrival, Instructor Lee." The guard bowed towards him and looked at the kids and said: "As well as young geniuses."
He then turned around and gave the signal to allow them passage, everyone returned a bow and continued their way inside the institute.
As soon as they stepped one foot inside the institute, they immediately felt the atmosphere around them change.
The air was fresh and lively, the world inside the institute seemed livelier and colorful, the greenery was abundant and the wide open area in front of them looked like it was something that was stolen from the paradise lands.
Raven smiled at this instance, he could instantly tell that they entered the protective formation of the institute. Just like treasures, medicines, weapons, and etc. Formations also followed a certain grading/ranking system. From his judgements, the formation should be a B-grade with functions like protection from outside harm, gathering and filtering energies and detection.
"As expected, the atmosphere here truly is different." Ellen whispered with a thick astonishment on her voice.
"I totally agree." Anne nodded. "The energies present in here are thicker compared outside, this alone is a great boon towards cultivation."
"You all can marvel about this place later, for now let's go towards your new abode so you could settle down your things." Old Lee chuckled and reminded them.
The students nodded and followed him since he was the one who knew the way. They walked away from the massive rectangular open field and went towards the main building in the distance. Once inside Old Lee left them in the lobby for a while and came back holding their uniforms and their new badges that signifies their authority. He also told them to change and place the badge on their chest immediately as they have to go somewhere else.
Once the students were done changing, they entered a room together and they met up with the current director of the Inner Branch.
"Old Lee! You finally arrived." The vivid and deep voice of the director echoed inside the room. Old Lee stepped forward with a smile, shook the director's hand and asked…
"Did we make you wait?"
"Not really, the class isn't even here for now." He shook his head and looked over towards the students behind Old Lee. "Are they the new additions?"
"Yes, they are."
As soon as Old Lee said this, the atmosphere immediately went cold. The students saw how the Director's face changed into warmth to absolute coldness. This change was too abrupt that they were caught completely off guard when he flared his horrifying aura to them. Needless to say, it wasn't only them who was shocked...
'Hoh…' the director grinned inwardly. At first, he was expecting this to go according to what always happened before but looking at the students, who immediately responded by looking at him while going onto formation, made him extremely shocked and grateful afterwards. He could immediately tell that these kids were no strangers to battle, their confidence of taking him on might be extremely foolish but at least they have a backbone.
The director then burst to an uproarious laughter. He retracted his aura and said: "Haha! My bad, my bad! You guys are fine. Come here all of you." He then beckoned for them to step forward.
The students then looked at Old Lee with gazes filled with question and confusion. The old man could only smile wryly as he nodded his head.
The students fell in a straight line, they stood in front of the Director and waited for his next instructions.
"My name is Victor Noli. I am the current Branch Director of the Heavenly Cloud Institute's Inner Branch. I am also in charge of the Genius Class so we will definitely meet again." Victor's grin was wide, this might appear extremely friendly and welcoming to normal people but to someone like Old Lee, this meant trouble for the kids.
Victor them took something out of his spatial ring and gave it to the kids. "This is your time tables. Remember to read them carefully and show up in time, I don't want any tardiness during my classes. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir!"
"Good! Now show me the back of your palms."
This command puzzled the students yet again, yet they held their arms forward and did what he asked them to. Victor then took out a stamp and marked the back of their palms. The confused students checked the markings but was immediately shocked to see it disappear.
"Unless it's absolutely needed, you won't be seeing those marks frequently." Victor smiled and quenched their curiosity. "This marks serves as your proof that you're a part of the Inner Branch, most specifically, the Genius Class. We all know that your badge and you uniforms could easily be taken away, so we had set up this kind of security. There is no rule forbidding you to reveal any information about the marks, but we would highly appreciate it if you could keep it a secret."
The students nodded in agreement and no longer inspected their hands.
"One more thing." Victor said before they left. "Your classmates aren't actually here yet. They're in the middle of a smelting trial, so I'm afraid that your classes would be delayed. Nevertheless, you will be informed once they come back, so be on the look out for that alright?"
"Oh? This should be the first of the Biannual Examination correct? Where's venue this time?" Old Lee asked out of curiosity.
"Immersion Forest." Victor said with a wide grin.
Old Lee's eyes widened a bit before saying: "You people are crazy. There will be casualties and you know that. How do you plan on answering the families of the deceased?"
"Simple." Victor answered swiftly, "We'll show them the signed papers about the smelting trial. Then they have nothing to say." He added afterwards. From the tone of his voice, it seems that he had nothing to do with anything should problems arrive.
Old Lee could only shake his head in disbelief, with a defeated sigh, he bid goodbye to the director and went outside of the main building.
"What was that all about Grandpa Lee?"
After exiting the building, Luna immediately asked this question since she felt that it was inappropriate to ask him while they were in front of the Director.
"You know that there is a Biannual Examinations in the Genius Class to determine whether they could stay or not right?" The students nodded as this was a commom knowledge that they knew from their families.
"The Biannual Examinations takes form of Smelting Trials, which means that there is a high chance of having some casualties." Old Lee's voice became a bit heavy as he continued, "This time, the venue of the Trials is at the Immersion Forest, or most commonly known as the 'Cursed Forest'."
As soon as Old Lee said this, Luna's eyes dilated in horror. "Unbelievable! How could they send students to an 'Unstable Zones'!?"
Raven's ears rang as he briefly searched his memories about the Immersion Forest. Unstable Zones are named as such since, like how it is called, these places are extremely chaotic. These places had been in the Kingdom for a very long time, many had tried to debunk their true purpose but they have yet to succeed.
According to what Raven remembered, the Immersion Forest in particular is more dangerous compared to the other unstable zones. Once inside, one would face terrifying illusions that could make one lose their minds or even cause their souls to be lost for the rest of time. If one does not have a firm heart or a treasure that could fend off illusions, then it's not advised to enter that place. As to why this was a thing, no one was entirely sure of the reason.