Lyra took gingerly took her seat at the edge of the group, avoiding any eye contact or conversation.
Since joining this squad, Arthur had certainly picked up on an odd vibe. Before he could stand up himself, the girl seated right next to Lyra stretched out her hand, "Hi, my name's Beatrice. Nice to meet you."
Lyra stared at the hand for a bit and shook it.
"Lyra," she replied.
A boy on the opposite side moved his chair so he was directly opposite, "Edgar, but you can call me Ed, or whatever works for you. The rest of these rascals are friendly too… Just a tad bit shier than I am," Ben winked.
"Ignore him, dear. We consider him a bit of a clown," Beatrice intervened.
"Hey!"
"Just kidding, Ed. We know how strong and reliable you are. If you'd only stop ogling the girls in your free time," Beatrice sighed.
Edgar was appalled but speechless.
Lyra's shoulders relaxed and her expression softened a bit, "Pleasure meeting you too, Edgar."
'She looks like a caged mouse,' Arthur thought to himself before getting distracted by a loud clinking sound.
The entire Great Hall went silent and turned to the front. Draul stood there with his hand holding a Rune-adorned wine glass.
"Attention students. Finally! The Sorting has come to an end and the school has gained more students this year. Squad Captains and Lieutenants are in charge of the first year's orientation.
Now then, I don't expect any mishaps. Keep the newbies in line and teach them the rules I most definitely don't want to see broken.
Anyone who breaks the rules will answer directly to me… and I will not be lenient in my punishment. Should the crime be worthy of an expulsion, I shall not hesitate to expel that student."
"Gringer, do you have to scare them every year?" the Headmaster interrupted.
"It's like a whole part of his charm, you know. Dark and Brooding Draul," a pale woman with a fiery burning birdnest of a sunhat chuckled.
"Someone has to tell them the truth and I don't see you doing that," Draul turned back to the students, "The Headmaster will have a few words before releasing you to carry on with your activities."
Draul stepped away from the dais and returned to his seat beside the headmaster's large seat. A chorus of mechanical handclaps followed in his wake.
The Hall fell silent as the Headmaster himself stood on the dais to speak. It was only now that Arthur noticed this man's resemblance to the professor that interviewed him before sending him into the simulation.
'I was interviewed by the Headmaster!' he mentally screamed. But then, another suspicion struck him. All through the Sorting Ceremony, he'd come to recognize a variety of students that weren't human.
A few of them were Red dragons. There were some elves, various shifters and halflings. However, none of them possessed the cold aura of the headmaster and yet Arthur was certain this man wasn't human.
When the prince surveyed the room with the specific intention of finding these oddities, he witnessed some interesting variations of students.
A girl with a plume of feathers atop her head where there should have been hair. Surprisingly, the brilliant plume took nothing of her beauty away.
A boy with thick horns curling backwards from the top of his head. The variants were always there, albeit subtle and not in the way Arthur had expected them to be.
'Aren't shifters supposed to be more… menacing?' he wondered to himself before the Headmaster's voice caught his attention.
"Welcome, girls and boys from within the Wall, to Barthlorn School of the Supernatural.
Once again, a new school year and plenty of new students. We have some promising talent this year… and I'm pleased by their enthusiasm to learn and grow.
Here at Barthlorn, we strive to bring out the best version of every student and guide them on their path in order to build a better life within the Wall and curb the dark forces outside the Wall at bay.
Now then, I normally wouldn't praise any group of first years for no reason but you must admit bringing down a Lesser Behemoth was nothing short of spectacular.
I expect great things from you all!
Dismissed."
With that said the Mess Hall burst into a raucous commotion. Squad members from all over the Great Hall were crowding their First Year hunters, suffocating them for more information on what had happened during the Simulation.
Arthur remained silent in his seat watching the commotion in the Hall unfold.
'Were we expected to all die in that thing? That's seriously messed up.'
"Oh my! They really brought it down. We have a bunch of monsters on our hands this year, don't we?" Beatrice mused.
"Yes, we do," the boy in glasses replied, turning to the First Years in Squad Six. I never did introduce myself. My name's Baxter Collins, Lieutenant of Squad Six. I'll be handling the orientation. Follow me, First Years."
"Take care of them, Lieutenant," Beatrice yelled after him.
"You know they are fine on my watch," Baxter chuckled.
The lieutenant stood up from his seat and started walking towards the large double doors that led out of the Mess Hall.
"Hurry! Before the commotion dies down," with some distance between them, Baxter had to yell to get his words across.
Arthur stood up with his friends and fellow first years, a group that numbered slightly over twenty and followed Baxter. This number was indeed small compared to the rest of the Squads but no one seemed to be complaining.
Lyra had remained rooted to her spot on the table, covering her ears and trying to drown out the chaos from the loud students.
The noise was gradually getting louder. Beatrice noticed and gently placed a hand on the princess's shoulder. When she had Lyra's attention, she pointed towards the retreating group of Squad Six First Years.
"Stay with that group. You'll be alright," Lyra spared them a glance and sighed, "Hey, you really are going to be okay."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Because I've been a part of Squad Six for a year now. Trust me," Beatrice gave her shoulder a squeeze.
The girl sighed and stood up, "Thanks. I sure hope you're right."
Beatrice's sounded genuinely concerned, which worked wonders for the crestfallen princess. Lyra left the Great Hall and quickly joined the group of First Years.
They were the first group out of the Great Hall and only continued walking through the Halls until the chaos of the Great Hall was far behind them.
"How come you guys didn't swarm us like the rest?" Darius asked Baxter when they finally stopped for a rest.
"Squad Six is an odd bunch. We don't usually determine our success from the results of the Simulation. Our members tend to be quite random.
With the right instruction, which we obviously have, you can all grow stronger and even faster than the rest of the squads. So there is no need for us to ask how it went down," Baxter replied indifferently, turning to face them.
"Any more questions?"
Leo raised his hand and the boy nodded his head, "If you're the squad lieutenant, then who is the Squad captain?"
"Ah, they want to see the strongest already. Fair enough. Well, would you like to see her?" Baxter asked.
"Girls can be…" Leo was shocked.
"Leo, let me hope you're not about to say what I think," Tara cut him off.
"I was going to say it's impressive when I find a girl powerful enough to be acknowledged as a captain of a squad. You don't see something like that too often now, do you?" the boy raised his hands in defence.
"I'm sure Squad Two has had a bunch of 'em," Darius intervened.
"That's different, Darius. Jeez, whose side are you on?" Leo argued.
Arthur chuckled and turned his attention to Baxter, "Yes, we would like to see her."
"Great! We'll have a chance to see her during the tour," Baxter replied, "Now if no one has any other questions, we better get moving."
The boy pulled a wand from beneath his robes and a string of amber runes began to sliver out of the tip, arranging themselves on the ground in an intricate circle surrounding all the first years of Squad Six.
"Teleportation magic in his second year! And he has this much mana!" Darius mused.
Baxter hid his surprise at the comment and simply huffed, "Of course, I'm strong. What do you take me for? I'm your lieutenant. Don't you forget tha—," The Runes shattered, "—t"
Baxter swallowed… 'Okay, that happened.'
The Warlock tried his spell again and this time, the runes shattered in a brilliant splash of sparks, "That's… never happened before."
"That's probably because you're trying to transport this doofus over here," Darius pointed to the white-haired boy standing at the front of the crowd.
"Ah! The mana vortex. I'd almost forgotten. Very well then. We'll have to settle for a walk across the whole campus. No matter how inconvenient that sounds," Baxter sighed, wiping a few beads of sweat off his brow.
'He drained far more mana than that spell required,' the Warlock thought to himself, 'I'll have to be more careful around him.'
.........