Asher and Cashel found themselves spat out by the white magic circle and into a dark room and they crashed into each other.
Moments later, other magic circles appeared on the walls and they could see other people being shot out and by sheer instinct they dodged every one of them after a few minutes, it stopped.
Cashel could hear pained groans and a few curses.
"I'm the eldest son of the Greyheart family! How can they treat me like this! I'm leaving this academy!"
"Oh no... I'm afraid that's not possible. Young man..."
The lights were turned on and everyone flinched at the lights as they were already used to the darkness. Cashel looked up to see to source of the voice and he found one pale man with sharp red eyes that seemed to able to cut even steel.
His mother had forced him to read books from time to time and he'd seen these features a few times.
"A vampire." He spoke. If one were to speak to a biased commoner, they would say that along with democs, vampires were in the 'evil' category of races on the planet. The same way elves viewed humans as evil and vice-versa.
Vampires had the same sharp ears as the elves and the same with democs but that was the only thing connecting them. Their ears were shorter although they could get longer depending on their transformations.
"Students! I am your dear principal, Winston Salem and I am here for say to you all... Welcome to hell."
An uproar started after.
"Let us out of here!"
"You didn't let me pack anything!"
"I'm the first sons of the–"
"Silence. Please." The man spoke. His voice sounded tired but everyone heard it and stopped talking immediately.
Winston's white hair that flared up like he got caught up in an explosion I'm which he did reflected the light and blinded everyone there.
It was only then that Cashel was able to register Winston's looks in his mind and he realized that he'd forgotten about Winston in just a minute.
"Forgot to turn off that spell." He heard Winston mutter.
'I see, it's a natural spell of the vampires like passive skills in games although it could be turned off. It was called {Illusion} which they used to catch prey to feed.
A very useful skill.
Winston had a white lab coat on and his hair color had changed to black although it was still standing. His red eyes hadn't changed at all and they were searching through the crowd and he started talking again.
"I'm sure the nobles here have been briefed about this before coming here but for the sake of the commoners here, I shall explain and add a few things.
Unlike other academies, we have one thing different here and that is... death. In other words, death in tournaments, death in challenges, fights and the likes."
Shocked gasps echoed throughout the hall and more than half of them were thinking about leaving the place immediately but Winston poured freezing water on their daydreams.
"If you're thinking about leaving, I'm afraid that's not possible. Your parents have signed a contract that you won't leave here until you're sixteen. The only way to leave is by waiting three years or dying.
If you think about escaping during a mission, the runes in your uniforms will automatically bring you back to the school."
Everyone's faces sank but there was a sliver lining. They weren't wearing school uniforms now right? So there was still a chance to...
Oh...
Cashel looked down and he saw a uniform on his body. White shirt, white trouser, a red belt, a red jacket and red shoes.
The already gloomy faces of the students morphed into despair and some started to sob.
"Fret not students! There are places on the campus that have been designted as 'safezones' which are free of fighting. Such areas are lecture rooms, at least when you're having a lecture big after lectures, you're free to have slug fest.
The administration building is a safezone too and all tents scattered around the campus. After that, your life is in danger at every corner.
To give more motivation to work harder, we established the ranking system four years ago and there are twenty thousand students in the first years and everyone has been placed randomly on the ranking. You'll see more from the watches on your wrists."
Cashel looked down and a vein popped on the side of his head.
'How are they doing it and how did I not sense it?'
"Any questions?" Winston's voice broke him from his thoughts. "Yes, you."
The boy who'd raised up his hand looked nervous as he spoke. The whole crowd was looking at him.
"Sir, when we registered, we never saw any mana core grade requirements, come to think of it, there weren't any requirements except age. Could there be a reason for this?"
"Yes student, you just need to be thirteen to be able to attend this school. If that's all, let's–"
The boy raised up his hands again.
"Sir, according to my mana sense, there's only about two hundreds of use here but you said there are 20,000 on the rankings?"
"I was going to keep this a surprise but... Winfred academy is now international. You'll see all the races here."
Everyone gasped again. All the races?! How could the king allow this in his own kingdom?
"Currently, I have 11 more clones briefings your colleagues in other halls–"
"Sir!" The student raised his hand again and Winston gave him a glare.
"You're all dismissed. You can get answers to your questions from the watches on your wrist."
A door opened at the back and Winston disappeared.
Cashel breathed out a sigh. This was all too sudden. Getting teleported against his will, getting his clothes changed and the watch, seeing a vampire, he would see more vampires and other races, illusion, fight, safezone, tent, dorms–!
~BOOM!~
Cashel blew a circuit.
'I shouldn't think too much. Suddenly, he heard a whisper from a voice he heard almost everyday.
It was Asher behind him who was thinking to himself.
"...and the plot finally begins."
·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·A/N.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.
ᕦ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ᕤ Send Powerstones to help Cashel survive the plot, Umu