The students round the tables were already digging into the meals in front of them. Everyone was partially exhausted after the long journey, no one needed to be told to eat to their fill.
Elton was at the head of the table and seated beside him were the two that he had gone off to retrieve. The whole hall was in silence, except for the clanking of spoons and forks on silver ware.
A few of the students were already done with their meal and leaned back on their chairs waiting for digestion to take its course while the majority of the students still had their face stuffed in their meals.
When Elton was done eating, he stood up from the table and went off to a smaller round table near the end of the hall, on the table were the staffs of all the other schools include ng Bayland.
Derek turned to catch a glimpse of the people at the round table. There were roughly thirty people seated round the table, Derek could see their mouths moving and he strained his ear to hear what they were saying, but he wasn't picking up anything. The sound of the silver ware was interfering with his hearing.
He soon gave up and turned back to face his food. Derek didn't really have space for much since he had just finished eating, so he was busy picking at his food unlike Chuck who still hadn't gotten tired of stuffing his face full.
Soon enough all the students in the hall were done with their meals but still they remained at their seats. They were waiting for their teachers who were acting as their chaperone to lead them away from the hall.
The teachers noticing that the students were already done with their meals immediately rounded up before the hall got rowdy. Having so many students in a single location wasn't always a good idea.
Elton was the first to leave the table and others followed behind, he got to his table and beckoned to his students, they all stood up and followed his lead.
Elton led them out of the building, there was not going to be any vehicles to take them along this time. They began to walk towards the school premises.
A few other classes from other schools followed behind, Elton was showing no intentions of slowing down, very soon some of the students began to lag behind. The effect of their filled stomach was taking effect.
Just when it felt like some of the students would soon start to complain and tire out, Elton made an abrupt turn and walked into the building standing on his right.
Everyone hoped that they had just arrived at their destination. Walking in it was a very large hall. Larger than the one at the hotel. Derek had to wonder just how many halls these people had.
Inside this hall, the chairs were arranged in rows and columns all facing the front where there was a slightly elevated stage.
The dim blue lights that lit up the hall slowly changed to a bright white light in a candescent manner, everyone could now see how large the hall was and it was larger than they initially thought.
Elton led his students to a section of the hall and let them sit, they all breathed a sigh of relief as they sank to their chairs.
Slowly all the chairs in the hall began to get occupied till the hall was completely filled, a few of the students put two and two together and figured out why they were here but the rest were as clueless as ever.
Slowly the stage began to light up and it revealed a middle-aged man standing on the podium.
"Hello students" he started. "I officially welcome you all to Bayland academy. I guess by now, you all already know the reason why we are gathered here"
Chuck opened his mouth to shout "No" but Derek quickly dug his knuckle into his laps making him swallow his words instantly.
Derek felt he had already drawn enough attention, he couldn't afford to attract more to himself just because a certain dimwit didn't know when to keep quiet.
Derek stared straight at the man at the podium as he rambled on. He couldn't wait for the orientation to end, not that he had something else to do but he just wanted to be alone. Remembering that the existence of Chuck defeated the whole purpose made him exasperated.
"Here's the map of the entire school" the man continued. A few people walked down the spaces between the rows of chairs, handing out a brochure to each student.
When Derek got his, he looked through it and saw that it contained the exact same things the man at the podium had been on about, made him wonder of what use the orientation really was.
Sounds of pages turning could be heard all around the hall, at the center of the page a clearly detailed map was drawn. Even a someone who had no knowledge of maps would have been able to easily understand the map. It was made that easy.
It was already getting late so the students were allowed to return to their rooms for the night. Everyone had already been briefed at the orientation and the details were in the brochure.
When the students all got outside, Elton told them that they would have to make their way back to their rooms on their own since he wouldn't always be there to help them individually.
With that he vanished, leaving them all standing in front of the hall. Without wasting a second, Derek turned and moved along. A few of the students couldn't even recall the way they had come from and just followed the multitude.
Chuck as soon as he saw Derek moving, he quickly glued himself to him chattering about how he was pleased with the layout of the school. Derek was disinterested, he just folded his brochure into his back pocket and tried to clear his head.