Jim's smile grew wider as Siera shouted: "He got himself a pantheon! The long lost pantheon!!"
They all exchanged glances before Kro asked:
"Do you mean… no way!" he paused while not believing himself.
"Yeah," Siera giggled before hitting Deno in the leg where her hands could reach, "you lucky bastards, you are now all officially outer disciples of the academy."
"What's the pantheon of us then?" Jenny asked after a short wave of cheering and laughter from everyone.
"The Fairy pantheon," Jim said and the eyes of those aware of the inner structure of the academy like Gordan, Kro, and Roo got themselves a scare.
"No way," Gordan said, "the pantheon was long lost since ages… since the fairies."
"See? This is what everyone had inside," Siera nodded like this was her own victory, "now we need to go to the outer disciple building to make you all listed there."
"Isn't there a ceremony for outer disciples?" Jim asked.
"Nah, the academy doesn't bother with those," Roo said before adding, "but it's better than nothing."
"In fact I was planning to enter the outer disciple circle in the academy," Rick confessed and the three others nodded.
"Alright," Siera smiled before adding, "you didn't lose a thing by joining him. He is now a privilege inner academy disciple with a big shot to gain a guardian to his own."
"A guardian?" Deno asked.
"It's a master of the academy stepping forward to personally care for him," she explained.
"You mean godfather, right?" Jim asked.
"Another name to the same thing," she giggled, "get used to it, many things here have this trait."
She led the way while saying, "Do you have any intention of making allies?"
"Allies?" Jim asked before adding, "can you tell me more about the nature of the academy."
"Brutal," she simplified things in this single word before adding, "without backing your only hope is to have strong allies."
"Hmm… what for?" he asked while everyone kept their mouth shut.
"Because the challenges can be endless," she sighed before adding, "there is a trait in the academy that each new year fresh disciples have to be crushed all over by those who are older by one year."
"All of them?" Jim asked, "even the core disciples?"
"No exceptions given," she glanced at him before adding, "terrified?"
With her childish look and tone he couldn't help himself from smiling. "What year are you at?" he asked.
"Sixth," she raised her chin high before adding, "I'm an inner disciple too, and my sister was…" she paused before changing the subject, "tell me, do you have plans to add any more to your group?"
"Outer disciples you mean," he said before shaking his head, "I frankly dunno about that."
"Don't listen to that old fool's words," she whispered while adding, "you're going to need all the help you can master. After all you are going to be the focus of many challenges this year and years after."
"Me?" he sneered before glancing back at his team, "my team is strong."
"And few," she argued, "you are going to face teams in a hundred or even more."
"What?!!" he wasn't the only one surprised by this, and she just nodded to him. "You should work fast. As others are celebrating now, you can aim earlier to have more followers."
"But…"
"Don't limit your choices to the best, after all in any battle cannon fodders are a must."
He didn't speak anymore until they reached the main building responsible for the outer disciple affairs. Through the way he kept thinking about her words, and found an interesting fact that amused him much.
"I know nothing at all about wars," he sneered, laughing at himself before deciding to follow her advice for now.
"Listen up," as they reached the building he turned to face his team, "go inside and try to scout anyone who might join us."
They nodded while going towards the big building surrounded by thousands of disciples. "Didn't know the academy accepted all of them," he muttered.
"This is nothing," Siera shrugged, "if you waited for hours here, you'll be more astonished by the total numbers getting in and out."
"Wow," he honestly remarked.
"By the way," she came closer to him, reaching almost to his elbows, "people here use the monster's orbs as the main currency."
"Is this the currency I will get from the academy?" he asked.
"No, the academy will give you real coins," she said while taking two things all of sudden from thin air, startling him. "Don't panic, I have a storage ring after all."
"I like those rings," he winked.
"Naughty boy, men should give women rings, not the opposite," she joked in a tone that didn't suit her shape, "anyway, this rounded thing here is the monster orb, and this flat thing is the academy coin."