By eight o'clock, all the new students of the Imperial Institute were in their uniforms and seated in the Imperial Hall.
It was a magnificent dark burgundy edifice which was huge enough to accommodate all the newly arrived students and even more.
On its walls, black and crimson banners bearing the school crest were hung, giving off a majestic aura.
Damien was seated with Austin, Zane, Mindy and Brianna near the front row and like every other student there, they patiently awaited the arrival of the school authorities!
As if on cue, there was the sound of the huge doors of the grand Imperial Hall closing shut and all craned their necks to look.
In an orderly procession, a company of people with powerful auras moved forward and went up the stage to take their seats.
A kind looking old man with dark hair streaked grey moved to the podium and tapped the microphone twice.
Satisfied, he smiled at the students and began to speak.
"Good morning young ones who have finally entered the ranks of the awakened. Welcome to the Imperial Institute.
Today, we will take you through what is needed for you to do in this school and what the school expects of you as students.
Before that, I will introduce myself.
I am Dennis Ash, Dean of Student Affairs for this institute. Behind me are your teachers and the various heads of departments.
Also, the two deans of Administration and Academics are here and will also introduce themselves shortly.
Unfortunately, the Chancellor of the school will not be around today but we will be graced with the presence of the Vice Chancellor."
At the moment, the sound of doors opening was heard and the students looked back once again.
A woman in silver and black plate armor and an imposing countenance strode leisurely into the Imperial Hall.
A burgundy cloak hung behind her, making her look like royalty.
Just looking at her made the students feel suffocated and delirious as fear gripped their hearts.
Behind her, a double-bladed great sword with a silver handle closely followed behind her, hovering a few meters above the ground.
The blades were a pitch-black and it gave off an ominous aura.
Ignoring the gazes of the fearful students, the woman walked onto the stage and took the sole central unoccupied seat.
*BANG!!
Once she sat down, the double-edge sword behind her slammed into the ground with ferocity, giving off the illusion that the hall was shaking!
The hearts of many students entered their mouths and the weak ones nearly peed their pants.
Who was this scary woman?!
"Now that our Vice-Chancellor is in, we can now begin," said the kind looking old man.
"Like I said earlier, welcome to the Imperial Institute.
If you are here, be proud because you are in the best school for awakened on Earth.
All of you here are humanity's geniuses and hope and this school will be your home, training ground and environment for three years.
We will ensure that you are properly nurtured and trained to be powerful and strong.
Thus, there will be no room for coddling and pampering. This school will make sure that by the time you leave, you will be able to stand anywhere boldly and display your power.
Your work is cut out for you," Dean Ash advised.
All the students solemnly listened to his words, feeling immense pride and a desire to do their best. Though Dean Ash hadn't spoken at length, it had managed to captivate the hearts of the students.
Everyone clapped politely and Dean Ash took his seat.
A tall man with brown hair and a full brown beard stood up next and walked to the podium.
"I am Dean Olafsson, and I am in charge of your academics and daily training regimen.
Classes begin tomorrow at eight o'clock. For this first month, classes will be unavoidable and crucial and when this month ends, you are free to choose which classes you attend or even decide to focus solely on your training.
Here, there are three compulsory lessons for you to attend.
Theoretical knowledge class, Application class and Mana Utilization class.
Those are the ones that are absolutely compulsory for you to attend this month.
Theoretical Knowledge will be a continuation of what you learnt in school before awakening and it will even go further in-depth.
Application class is where you'll apply, use your powers and spar with your mates so you can get used to dueling and battling.
Mana Utilization class will teach you how to use minimal mana for maximum impact.
I repeat, these classes cannot be missed.
After a month, it will be up to you on whether to attend or not but I'll recommend that for this first year, you do your possible best to be present for most of those classes.
Now, let me touch briefly on the Ranking lists.
Already, I'm sure you may have heard of it or even seen the lists.
The list for the first year is the bronze colored list, that for second years is the silver colored list and the golden colored list is for the third year students.
You would be wondering what purpose they serve.
They display the top 100 most powerful students in each year.
By making the list, there are numerous benefits which can be obtained.
The first year ranking list will be opened at the end of the month and you will have to fight to have your name placed on the list.
We have various arenas and a colossal colosseum where the fights will take place.
Those in the top 100 list will receive a monthly reward of CP, mana stones, and many other benefits which only increase the further up you are on the ranking," Dean Olafsson paused, taking a look around the Imperial Hall.
Flames of competition shined in the eyes of the students.
Whatever it took, they had to make that list!
Free CP and mana stones plus other benefits!
They simply couldn't allow such opportunities to pass by.
It wasn't going to be easy though.
Judging from the number of people seated in the hall who were about 9,000 students, the competition was bound to be very fierce and intense. After all, there were only 100 slots for 9,000 people!
"I would thus recommend that you all take your training serious and hone your combat skills. That is why it would be appropriate if you also partook in the other classes apart from the core classes. That way, you will naturally have a lot of skills and tricks up your sleeve.
For those of you whom have not been able to find out what CP is, let me explain it to you.
Contribution Points is the currency of this school and all other awakened schools.
Training facilities, mana stones, housing and many other things require CP.
Teachers can award it, you can earn it from the Ranking List, you can earn it from various missions and so many more.
Hell, you can even steal or rob people of their CP as long as you have sufficient strength and exercise caution," Dean Olafsson winked.
With such a vast population of students, it was undeniable that there would definitely be those who would attempt theft, bullying and robbery to acquire CP.
Already, the school had subtly expressed its stance on the matter.
As long as you didn't get caught and were cautious enough, they would turn a blind eye to it or avoid interfering.
Smart people like Damien had long picked up this from Dean Olafsson's words.
In crude language, what he was saying was, if you have enough strength and want to earn quick CP, you can rob people. Just be careful not to be caught.
The school was building an environment no different from a society which relied heavily on personal strength.
If you were too weak, you would be robbed of what little CP you had.
If you were strong, you could defend yourself or even take the initiative to attack someone.
It all depended on your personal strength!
Satisfied that his message had been received loud and clear, Dean Olafsson continued.
"In terms of exchange rates, 1CP is equivalent to 1,000 credits. Just because it can be changed into credits does not necessarily mean that you can bring a million credits in exchange for CP.
You can change CP into credits but not the other way round.
Besides, at this moment, you have no need for credits but CP."
There was murmuring in the Imperial Hall as quickly, most of the new students now realized the value of what they had been ripped out off.
Cursing and mutters of dissatisfaction filled the Imperial Hall.
"F*ck! I just got scammed out of 10,000 credits? Bullshit!" one student cursed.
"These seniors are too cunning," another complained.
"How dare they swindle this daddy!" another guy cursed with an irritated look on his face.
He was sitting in front of Damien and to be honest, Damien found his appearance ridiculous.
Not only had he dyed his hair a sickly lime green, he had the guts to shape his hair in such a way that a pointy edge was sticking out.
One would even think that his hairstyle was a green cone placed on his head instead.
This guy's curses were the loudest and most obnoxious.
"I'll f*cking find them seniors and beat the crap out of them! How dare they! F*ck! Fricking 10,000 credits gone just like that!
Those sons of b*tches!" he cursed furiously.
Damien "…"
Austin "…"
Zane "…"
Bro! It's just 10,000 credits alright? Stop acting as if they've killed your mother!
They shook their heads at him in pity as they watched him continue ranting till even Dean Olafsson noticed him.
Noticing that the Dean was giving him the evil eye, green haired boy immediately shut up.
After the grumbling died down, Dean Olafsson continued speaking.
"I know you are all disappointed and upset for being swindled but let me make this clear to you. That is how life is and how things work.
If you don't want to be swindled, be vigilant."