If the exterior of that it was already weird, the interior of the tower was even weirder. Ethan felt as if he had been transported to a world a few decades ahead of Earth, technologically speaking. The lobby was immense, but in every single part of it, he could see screens showing different things.
Some were showing famous TV channels, while others were streaming movies. Weird enough, the kids were the ones controlling everything, and they just had to touch it and then choose whatever the hell they wanted to see.
After looking for a few seconds, Ethan found a screen that was showing the building plant. Every floor had a name and something written below the name. However, before Ethan could approach to see things in more detail, he heard a voice coming from behind him.
"Hello, you must be Ethan Harrison," A woman's voice coming from behind echoed.
At the same time, Ethan heard the voice, and he felt a shiver. He jumped forward, and at the same time, he turned his body. When he landed, he was facing a woman who was wearing clothes that maker looks like a PE teacher. She also had a wristwatch with her. She looked to be fairly young. Perhaps she, indeed, was a teacher in her late twenties. Her hair, just like her eyes, was brown and reached her shoulders.
"… My name is Lyla," she said while frowning. "I'm your main instructor. It is nice to meet you."
"Hello," Ethan said and then sighed. "I'm Ethan Harrison..."
Surprisingly, Lyla recovered quite fast from the surprise, as if she had experience in dealing with people like Ethan. Traumatized people, those who spent too much time in warzones and weirdoes.
"You must be a dedicated young man, just like your sister," Lyla smiled. "I heard that you returned yesterday and already came to the school. I'm sure someday you will become as incredible as her."
As if it wasn't annoying enough to be tracked all the time, it looks like the instructors would know exactly when and where he would appear at school. Although Ethan wanted to say that he wasn't that interested in school and only wanted to confirm if that place would be useful to him in some way, he decided to stay quiet. Besides, there was no point in talking about his family with the people he didn't know.
"Usually, I was supposed to show you all the areas you have access to, but right now, I need to attend a meeting with the other instructors," Lyla forced a smile. "So, if you don't mind, I will ask one of your classmates to guide you through the instruction tower."
"I don't mind," Ethan said.
Truth to be told, Ethan wanted to be left alone since he could guide himself using the plant of the building. Still, he couldn't exactly be so blunt to an authority of the tower. It was better to check everyone without being an ass at first. Besides, Ethan could feel some mana coming from Lyla, so it was a good idea to stay alert.
Lyla smiled in satisfaction when a girl around Ethan's age crossed the entrance of the building. Soon after, she waved her hands to grab her attention. Even from far away, Ethan saw the girl sigh. She clearly knew that something bothersome was about to happen, and she clearly didn't want to part in it. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to ignore Lyla.
"Really, now. Adults are so quick to notice minor details when it is convenient for them… why this woman can't see that this girl doesn't want to help?"
The girl was fairly cute, the type who Hannah would say: go catch her. She was red-haired, and her hair was pretty long and straight. Those suited her very well alongside her emerald green eyes. She could be considered one of the most beautiful girls around Ethan's age that he had seen if she weren't showing a fed-up expression, her skin wasn't so pale, and she didn't look so tired. She kind of resembled Ethan a little bit before he got summoned. It looked like she was the type to stay awake until late and lived most of her life indoors. Quite a weird lifestyle for a summoned hero.
"Ethan, this is Emily, your class representant. Emily, this is Ethan, your new classmate," Lyla said while smiling. "Emily, could I ask you to guide Ethan for a while? I need to attend a meeting with the other teachers. Since he isn't assigned to any class, I'm sure that he doesn't need to know every single part of the tower yet."
"… Yes, ma'am," Emily said while looking away.
Ethan wanted to ask why the hell they would need representatives in each class. Still, before he could decide of doing or not, Lyla hurried to the elevator in the center of the lobby. After that, Emily let out the long sigh she had been holding since she saw Lyla and Ethan.
"You can go now," Ethan said. "I'm sure I can find my own around these parts."
Ethan didn't survive in another world for one year, only to need a guide once he returned to his new school. Besides, even if he gets lost, what is the worst thing that could happen?
"As much as I want to do that, I can't," Emily's face softened a bit. "If I leave you alone now and you end up getting in trouble, I will be punished. I don't want to waste more time than I already have to."
"You talk as if that is bound to happen," Ethan frowned.
"Guys like you can become pretty arrogant, so it is only natural," Emily shrugged her shoulders. "Although all floors can be accessed by all students, to avoid problems, we don't access all of them. Do you see that? That is the map of this tower. This place has twenty-eight floors divided into seven areas. The first four floors can be accessed by everyone since we have the lobby here, and the instructors' floor is on the second floor. On the third, you can find the students' council, and on the fourth floor, you will find the VR simulator. After that we…"
"Wait, wait," Ethan said a bit with his eyes wide open. "Did you say VR?"
"Boys…" Emily sighed. "Yeah, I said VR. Anyway, moving on…"
"Instead of moving on, talk a bit more about this VR simulator."
"I don't have time for this," Emily said. "Anyway, the building is divided into six parts after the fourth floor, from F to A. As you can imagine, the F zone represents us, the students who have the weakest powers among all the students here. So, the more you climb, the more you will find powerful students, but you should avoid them since most of them are pretty prideful. In any case, every zone has for floors. One for classes, one for the cafeteria, one for recreation, and another one for practical classes. That being said, none of us have any reason to…"
Emily closed her eyes and decided to speed up her explanation in order to free herself from that burden. Still, when she opened them again, Ethan was nowhere to be seen.