The stage turned back to normal as the simulation was lifted, for the time being, the crowd was amazed at the things they had just learned. Not long after the simulation had been removed from the stage a man in a suit could be seen carrying a box containing something that seemed erratic and unstable. He then handed the box to Kalem which he presented to the crowd.
"This box contains a very small amount of what we call a Rift Component or RC for short. Now tell me what do you all know of RC?"
Presenting the box to the crowd Kalem asked them what they knew of the element we call "RC"
"It gives us our abilities."
"It came from the war."
In less than 2 seconds two students answered his question in a quick manner which resulted in a nod of satisfaction from Kalem.
"You are both correct. RC or the Rift Component was an element created by light and dark clashing forces. It is a product from when the home worlds of both Paragons and Virtuosos collided on Earth, humans first discovered it after The Six brought peace and ended the war. Humans with the aid of the precursors rebuilt civilization with RC at its base advancing technology at an absurdly fast pace."
"Isn't it also used for combat purposes headmaster?"
Asking the question was a female student.
"Yes, we do use it for combat purposes as well. With the emergence of what we call "Rifts" we now imbue it into our weapons since we are born with a set amount within our bodies, in order to match the power of rift entities. These Rifts not only brought us more ways to advance our knowledge of RC but they also brought beasts from across the cosmos. For what reason are these species choosing to attack us? We are not sure yet but we will protect humanity, and that is why you are here at Aethra."
RC worked in an odd way defying any physics that humanity knew before. Scions were born with an innate high level of this energy whilst others had to be lucky. My case in particular is a bit strange, my body rejects large amounts of RC like a shield propels it away.
The headmaster lifted the box and placed it on a pedestal located in front of him, he then lifted his hands up and put them to the sides of the box pressing two buttons on each side that released a crisp sound.
Click-
When the box was initially opened a mist sprouted from it enveloping the box for a brief moment and soon after the mist settled blue energy could be seen moving within it. The movement was erratic and it almost looked like it had a mind of its own.
"Now what you all see here is concentrated RC, it is stable for now but it could burst at any moment given the wrong conditions."
After showing us a glimpse of such erratic energy Kalem swiftly closed the box and handed it over to another professor wearing a lab coat.
"I would show you more but I'd be taking away lessons from our science professor haha."
Kalem said with a slight chuckle.
"Aethra itself was founded after the discovery of RC and the Rift Beasts, humanity needed a way to fight back and our technology such as guns couldn't damage beings from another dimension. So we imbued more traditional weapons like swords and melee weapons because their affinity with RC was high."
The crowd was listening closely to the reason as to why Riftwalkers use melee weapons that aren't as advanced as guns.
"Our founders created the Riftwalker nurturing program in order to create the strongest warriors on this planet, to thrive as a species, and to exponentially advance further."
Kalem looked to the professors in his surroundings and nodded his head. He took a deep breath as he stepped forward toward the pedestal in front of him.
"Students! Welcome to Aethra Academy here you are raised to be the strongest, do not disappoint us."
With a booming voice Headmaster Withers had finished the convocation for this generation of Aethra trainees. It was interesting to say the least and Headmaster Withers seemed like a formidable man with a teddy bear-like personality.
"Students should head to their classes and meet with your fellow peers, I expect great things from you all."
Headmaster Withers stood at the pedestal, sending the students off with a final statement. Not long after finishing up he turned around and made his way back to the office and the professors made their way to their respective classrooms.
Bzz-
As the crowd of students started to disperse and make their way to class a slight buzz rang out simultaneously. In a synchronized motion the students tilted their heads down and looked at their watches, it looked like something you would see in a performance.
'Keir Licht : Class H23 : Class Rank #995'
"What?!"
After seeing the message on my watch I audibly voiced my thoughts and attracted the attention of other students as their necks turned towards my direction in curiosity.
'Rank 995 are you kidding me?!'
995 was the lowest of the low unless you counted the rank 1,000. There were only around 1,000 Aethra trainees that were enrolled at the moment with there being 500 combat trainees and 500 research trainees.
That meant I was weaker than 99.5% of students.
'Even the research students are stronger than me.'
This wasn't good at all but it was most likely true, the fact that I can't even harness RC already put me leagues below other students. After being coldly reminded of my status here, I sighed and made my way to the classroom that was assigned to me.
****
'H23...H23.. H2- ah here it is.'
I was walking down one of the school halls when I saw my class number. I could hear the sound of students inside making small talk with each other and so I lifted my hand and pressed on the touchpad located to the left of the door. The door slid open smoothly and I made my way into the classroom, I was about halfway through the door and suddenly ran into another student.
Thud-
"Ah..."
Our heads directly smacked each other.
"Ouch..."
Standing before me was a young girl around my age rubbing her head.
"Oh, I'm sorry about that I should've been more careful walking in."
I put my right hand up and awkwardly waved since my left side had a book in it.
The girl finished rubbing her head and I could clearly see her features now. She had long blonde hair and golden eyes and was about the same height as me too. Her earrings were in the shape of the sun as well making for a very graceful and serene look.
"It's fine."
The girl quickly shrugged me off and went off to her seat.
Not wanting to look awkward standing still next to the door I went ahead and looked for a vacant seat to fill. As I walked through the classroom and the rows of desks I went up to the higher seats located further back in the room and spotted a familiar face.
"Oh hey, Keir! Come over here!"
Entering my vision was a young man with curly brown hair and brown eyes.
"Hey Nathan, I see we've made it into the same class."
As I was greeting Nathan I found a vacant seat one row away and took a seat. Upon taking a closer look at the table I saw another touchpad of sorts and placed my thumb onto it as it registered this seat to my name.
Whirr-
As the door slid open another figure swiftly stepped into the classroom and made their way to the front of the class.
"Quiet down! Class is starting!"
The room went silent and the students turned their heads in curiosity to see who their professor was. She had long black hair that reached the bottom of her back and her aquamarine eyes seemed to hold an endless ocean behind them. She exuded confidence and power with her stature and facial expression, she was relatively young as well.
"My name is Naomi Shogo, I'll be teaching this class for the year. The Headmaster told me to go through all of this orientation crap but frankly, I don't think we all care that much about the antics of that old man so I'll just give it to you straight. Today is a free day so go socialize and do things teenagers do, our assignments start in two days."
Naomi Shogo was an extraordinary person, being the youngest riftwalker to reach the status of S rank at the age of 25 and gaining the title of "Sea Empress".
"Uhhh guess I'll call attendance though, alright I'll be calling you in order of rank from highest to lowest."
****
I was the last to be called.
After the general meeting in class, we were excused and allowed to freely explore the campus. I personally went to go check out the cafeteria and it was the best cafeteria I have ever seen with multiple floors and the highest quality food you can get. After exploring more places on campus I went back to my dormitory decently late at 9:20 PM since curfew started at 9:30 PM. I couldn't express my excitement to be attending this school, no matter how low my rank is I was happy to attend.
'I'm glad I'm here.'
I would come to regret thinking that, as I had no idea what was waiting for me here.