Lyon moved up the stairs while thinking about how he was going to spend the rest of the time before orientation started. As he walked, thoughts continued to fly by in his head about what to expect in this upcoming semester. When Lyon first left home that morning he thought he was already mentally prepared for every possible situation that was going to be thrown at him, but little did Lyon know that even before meeting any of his peers he would already be facing difficulty adapting.
It wasn't until Lyon had reached the registration desk that the reality of the situation began to fully sink in that he was going to be away from everything he ever knew without a clear understanding of what he was getting into. Looking at his surroundings now, he could feel a small seed of panic that was here to unnoticed begin to grow in the pit of his stomach and couldn't help but dart his head around left and right in the hopes of seeing something, anything really that was at least a little familiar in the strange melancholic feeling stairwell.
With discomfort growing Lyon decided to take a closer look at the area around him in the hope of finding a way to calm down before his emotions could get any further out of control before he even reached his assigned room. Peering closer at the walls around him, he noticed that the soft light filling the area wasn't actually coming from any direct sources of light but rather the illumination originated from the walls themselves, or to be more accurate from the softly glowing runes contained inside each segment of the walls.
Upon peering at the walls in a little more detail he realized there was another thing he hadn't noticed and once he did was stunned at how he hadn't noticed sooner. Laying in a circle slightly further up the wall just out of the range of the direct light was a collection of ten murals. They seemed strangely familiar to him so he took another step closer, when he stopped he noticed that he was now fully encompassed in the shadows as the lights from the runes seemed to avoid this area almost as if the lights were too scared to shine upon the murals that sat there.
Allowing his eyes to adjust he peered deeply at the images in front of him. Each mural depicted a being cloaked in shadow that blurred out most of the surroundings with the exception of a single word that was hung directly above each of the shadowy apparitions. Each of them sported a different word, starting with Physical, Astral, Mental, Unity, Divine, Mondaic, Logoic, Fornacis, Lussios, and ending with Epos. That was when he realized exactly what these were, the ancestors.
The very first of the humans to open up the path for Kei cultivation and to make a path for humans of the distant past. It is said in legend that before they came into power, humans were the lowest, weakest race in the world. That was when ten heros arose from the human race, wielding magical powers and weapons alongside beasts that appeared from the very void itself. They rose up against the other races and fought a great war that lasted for ten years and left the humans as the victors when the dust finally settled.
It is unknown what happened in the five years directly following the Great War but by the end of that period the ancestors had vanished but the remaining humans had gained a weaker version of the same power. Instead of continuing to wage war, the human leaders of the time decided to form a peace treaty in which those who shared the affinity could learn to wield the same power as the humans and so the first generation of cultivators since the ancestors' departure were born.
In order to pay homage to them, and due to the highest order of power being achieved after the tenth breakthrough, each realm of cultivation was named after one aspect of the ancestors. There is no available information on what aspects lead to these names but it has long since become the norm for all the people of the world. Noticing that he was feeling better, he continued to take in everything around himself to get myself familiar with the new home.
While weighing the pros and cons of trying to explore now or wait until after orientation Lyon couldn't help but stop his footsteps after seeing another section of runes that appeared to be of a different variety inlaid into the dark, grainy walls that seemed to be made from a unknown wood with an unusually high concentration of Kei energy imbued into it.
For reference, a pound of a similar quality wood could allow a normal commoner family to live like a noble for several decades. All that is still not taking into account the rune work done to amplify the effects of the wood that the Academy had processed into each individual section of wall. After mulling over his options, he shook off whatever shock he felt and ignored the glowing walls and murals, deciding that he would check out the room a bit and then just cultivate his kei energy reserves for the rest of the time.
Decision made, he continued up the stairs to the first floor of dorms and reached the entrance to the first year's male corridor and pushed open the door. Making his way down the hall, doors with numbers emblazoned onto them with kei energy appeared in front of him. The doors were also decorated with spatial runes that proved the space inside the rooms was much larger than it appeared from the outside.
Azera appeared on his shoulder again, appearing to have gotten bored of being inside the Kei space, and looked around the new environment surrounding her with flashing eyes. Thinking of Azera's usual antics, Lyon warned her not to cause any problems while in this place considering they weren't in the manor anymore. She glanced at him, blinked her eyes innocently, then turned her head to continue scouting out her new territory.
Shaking his head half amused and half worried, Lyon continued moving forwards and looked to the token in hand once again to confirm what room he was looking for. Reading the card, the number 10 could be seen on the back of it. He looked to his left and viewed the different rooms more closely. He noticed that the left side of the hall had even numbers, while the right side had odd numbers starting from one hundred and working their way down to one.
Eventually, after finding the room he entered after placing the room card against the door. Walking in, the insides of the room were much larger than expected. There was a living room the size of a normal three person dorm room lying right beyond the entrance. A KV(keilivision) was mounted on the wall directly to the left of the door further in. The room was sparsely furnished with a small couch and two reclining chairs located on either side of the room.
There was another door leading to the guest room next to the reclining chairs and my new bedroom door was found on the other side of the room next to the couch. A few feet away from the bedroom door was an open corridor that led to the kitchen that was already fully stocked with premium beast meat and spiritual fruits. Walking into the new bedroom on either side of the entrance Lyon just came through there was what appeared to be two doors marked with more spatial runes.
The one on the left was painted black leading to a training room and the other one was situated to the right and painted gold leading to a meditation room that was overflowing with Kei energy leading to it forming into a faint mist. Not seeing anyone around, Lyon made his way back towards the bedroom. Walking back into the room, he noticed a soothing aroma wafting throughout the area. Now that he was paying more attention, Lyon realized that in stark contrast to the white and gold themed living room, the bedroom was furnished with a queen sized bed that followed a royal purple and black theme, pushed up against the back wall, with a desk placed next to it.
The walls were an unusual ombre of gold color that started fading the closer it got to the floor ending in black just above the floor. I turned to see two Incense candles placed on either side of the bedroom that gleamed like purple beams of subdued light with engravings marked into them that strangely burned with a light smoke that released a floral scent of jasmine even though there was no evidence of a flame having ever been in contact with them judging by the unblemished stature of the candlewick.
These were special engraved incense used to relax keimasters and their keibeasts, and like Lyon was coming to realize about most items in this selective academy, these incenses were extremely precious to normal people due to their nature that allowed them to regrow back once they were used up via the natural kei energy in the environment.
Finding himself much more relaxed now in no small part due to the fragrance of jasmine wafting throughout the room, he decided to take the time before orientation would start to absorb more Kei energy. Coming back to my senses he looked down to the kei card sitting on his lap and noticed it was glowing. Having sensed his awakening, the card floated up from his lap and hovered in front of him with the white light shining more brilliantly than he had thought possible and a small beam shot out and hit the center of his head imparting the information on the orientation directly to his mind.
Finishing its task, the keicard flashed one more time, revealing a here to unnoticed transmission formation. Steeling himself, he stepped into the circle after bringing Azera back into his Kei space from the couch she had been dozing on, getting nothing more than a small mental snort for leaving her alone while he meditated. Comforting the spoiled princess he barely realized that the portal had lit up with power and the next thing Lyon knew he was no longer in the dorm room.
Emerging from the portal, Lyon found he was surrounded by hundreds of people of all races seeming to all be new first year students. Looking at his surroundings it became clear to him that they were in a white space surrounded by a semi transparent dome. There was a group of older students wearing a black jacket over their normal school clothes with the word "LAW" emblazoned onto the back of them that stood around the space loosely forming a circle.
Turning his head more Lyon saw rows and rows of seats going up from the wall that had separated about ten feet above the current standing area. That was when he realized that they were in some sort of coliseum or arena which made him slightly confused but also wary. Even after all the crazy things he saw on this day it hadn't made Lyon forget the words of his uncle nor the severity with which he spoke.
At that moment as if by prior agreement, there was a flash in all four corners of the arena as four people two men and two women indescribable except for the teacher robes on their bodies suddenly appeared floating in the sky releasing truly massive amounts of pressure that radiated outwards in a visible sphere of energy tinged with different colors.
A vivid red so bright it gave others the illusion of a raging inferno that would turn you to ashes if you dared to get closer shone from the top left man who stood in the air looking down with a gaze filled with disdain.
A tranquil blue that seemed to carry the endless depths of the ocean and the freezing pressure of an iceberg flowed out in waves from the bottom left woman that floated in the air calmly as if the hundreds of students were not even present.
A vibrant green overflowing with vitality that would make the heart of even the elderly race with the fervor of youth emanated from the man at the top right of the arena while he seemed to be sitting cross legged in the sky with his eyes closed unperturbed by everything.
A blinding flash of purple rumbled across the bottom right of the arena as the purple light rushed out giving everyone near it the illusion of a world destroyed by lightning, left barren and dead as the purple lights continued to strike the land until after a moment the scene faded away and everyone affected woke up to see the woman who caused such a scene seemed to be in deep thought with her hand against her chin as she pondered.
All four pressures continued to spread after appearing, forcing most of the new students down to their knees as their minds couldn't handle the pressure anymore. Witnessing these students fall, the law enforcement students shot into action, seeming to appear and disappear like ghosts with the speeds they moved at as they extracted all the students that continued to fall.
After spreading as far as possible the four different colored pressures met in the middle of the arena and to the surprise of everyone still awake began to merge together creating a four colored halo of pressure that caused even more students to fall out unconscious. After ten seconds, the pressure began to fade while those who managed to maintain consciousness were finally able to open their eyes and look around themselves.
Out of the hundreds of people originally standing in the arena there were only 50 students still standing with some looking better off than others but none appearing at ease after the experience. The lady who released the purple light spoke up at that moment, "What a surprise, it seems there are more and more talented kids every year, I will leave the rest to you Virden." she said and glanced at the man who was still covered in a green light and he opened his eyes to look back at her having sensed her gaze.
"There is still much to see before any of these children can be called talents but I shall move them to the primary classroom for the next steps." the man said as he moved his hand and by the time he had finished speaking a giant array of kei lines had appeared in the sky above all the students still in the arena. "That's an array, how is that even possible?!?" was the last thought of a majority of the students before they flashed away, transported by the methods of the man in the green light.
The man covered in red light turned to the woman in the purple light, "I say Levina you should have used a bit more pressure, we all know that most of those students won't even make it past the first year." The man spoke with a natural arrogance that was irritating but seemed strangely in harmony with the world with his every action creating a strange feeling for all who heard him.
"Honestly, a brute will always be a brute. Kor you need to settle down and remember that those students just withstood all our combined pressure even if it was only a small amount," spoke the blue covered woman while looking towards the now named Kor with a hint of annoyance. "Katra you would do well to mind your own business, I don't mind teaching you that even that pretty face won't save you all the time."
The blue covered teacher now identified as Katra suddenly released a huge amount of pressure and started towards teacher Kor who laughed and began to step towards her as well, obviously all too happy to engage in a good fight. Watching the childish display of her old teammates, Levina heaved a sigh with a small smile on her face before vanishing and reappearing in front of the two confronting teachers.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves now, we still have a group of seedlings waiting for us to show them the way and it won't be right to be late because their teachers were bickering like an old couple right?" Levina smiled but it brought chills to the other two's backs, flashbacks of going against that smile and the results that followed caused them both to stop, scoff at each other and immediately leave towards the gathering place of the surviving students.
Chuckling, Virden no longer covered in the green light of his kei energy floated over. "They were so scared they forgot that I could just teleport us there. I guess your last lesson hasn't left their minds just yet." Hearing his words, Levina's smile became a bit wider, "Oh well they won't be too far behind, on that note we might as well go now or with their speed they really will get there before us."
Upon hearing that, Virden thought of their smug faces if they ever made it anywhere before him and immediately raised his hand, conjuring a portal directly in the air. He gestured to Levina who walked through right away and he followed behind her leaving the arena once again empty with the first student screening accomplished and another harsher test awaiting for those who remained that promised to either make them stronger or break them completely.