Clap! Clap!
"Wake up!" Owen shouted while clapping with his hands.
Alden and Neo slowly opened their eyes.
"What's going on?" Neo rose from the bed, rubbing his eyes. His hair was untied and messy, falling over his face.
He pushed his hair back. "Is someone attacking us?" He asked sleepily.
Alden, on the other hand, came to himself, and the first thing he did was check his wristwatch.
The wristwatch showed it was 6AM.
"Owen, why did you wake us up so early?" Alden asked.
"Check your wristwatch," Owen said quietly, pointing at the watch on Alden's wrist.
When Alden looked at the watch again, he noticed he had a text message. He clicked the text message.
[Alden Garsia, classes begin at 7:30 AM. You are in class 1-A. Your first class will be homeroom class in classroom 1-A.]
As Alden was reading the message, Neo had also come to himself, and he had read the text message.
"Owen, why did you wake us up so early?" Neo asked. "There is still an hour and a half till classes begin?"
"W-We should go to the cafeteria and eat," Owen said. He was a quiet guy, so Alden could not help but worry. The quietest ones were the ones bullied the most. "A-Also, we need to find our way to our classroom."
"Never mind why he woke us up early," Alden spoke. "Guys, in which class are you?"
"1-A," Neo replied.
"Me too," Owen said.
"Great!" Alden exclaimed. "We three are in the same class."
"Hahaha!" Neo gave a thumbs up. "With you two being by my side, I don't have to worry about you. I can protect you."
Both Owen and Alden looked at Neo, their facial expressions screaming 'Really?'.
"Alright, alright." Alden smiled. "Let's get ready and go eat."
They got up from bed and first went to the bathroom to wash.
After they washed their faces, they put on their blue uniforms and then took care of their hair. Neo combed his long hair and tied it in a ponytail while Owen and Alden combed their hair into the hairstyle they wanted.
After they got ready, they left their room and locked the door behind them. Each of them had a key to the room, so it was not a problem to lock the room even If they were not all together.
Walking toward the cafeteria, Alden, Owen, and Neo walked past a lot of children. They all wore blue uniforms, and Alden assumed they were all first years as they were on the first floor.
In a couple of minutes, they arrived at the cafeteria.
The cafeteria was an enormous room with hundreds of metal tables. It was capable of accommodating hundreds of students.
Almost half of the cafeteria was full with the first-year students sitting at the tables, eating and chatting.
The first thing that caught the attention of Alden and the others when entering the cafeteria was the counter in the cafeteria. It stretched from one end of the cafeteria to the other.
The counter was for self-serving food, and there was a long line of students before it.
Alden and the others walked to the beginning of the counter, and each took a plastic tray and stood in line.
After about ten minutes of waiting in line, their turn came. Alden put some chicken on his tray, tomatoes, bread, and grapes.
When he looked at Neo's tray, he saw that his tray was full of meat, without a single vegetable or fruit, not even bread. As for Owen, he was the opposite, his tray was full of fruits. Watermelon, grapes, apples, peaches, and pineapple.
They walked to the area in which most of the tables were empty.
"Let's sit with him." Neo pointed at a student sitting alone on a table. "He looks interesting."
They walked over to the student.
"Can we sit with you?" Neo asked.
The student did not say anything as his mouth was full of food. He just nodded.
Neo and the others sat at his table.
The table was full of trays stacked on top of each other, like a mountain.
The student was at least 2 meters (6.5 feet) high and weighed at least 300 pounds (136 kilograms).
"Delicious!" The student said with a smile as he chung a large piece of meat in his mouth.
"What's your name?" Neo asked, trying to strike a conversation.
"George," George replied shortly.
"Which class are you in?" Alden asked.
"1-2A," Again, George replied shortly.
Seeing that George was not up for a conversation, Alden and the others gave up and started eating their meals.
It did not take them long to finish their meals.
When looking at their wristwatch, they noticed it was already 7 AM, so they stood up and headed toward the academy building.
They walked through the hallway connecting the East Academy building with the dormitory, and with each step, their heartbeat increased.
They were excited and scared at the same time. They all had that uncomfortable feeling in their stomach on the first day of school in a new place. However, seeing that other students were walking in front of them made it a little easier and calmed them down a bit.
When they reached the end of the hallway, they found themselves before a large greenery. They were in the inner area of the tower, the yard behind the walls surrounding the tower.
About 300 meters (328 yards) in front of them was the tower. The academy building. It was high, at least fifty stories.
The yard was full of students all wearing blue uniforms.
Alden and the others were in a daze at the green scenery before them.
Alden was the first one to break out of the daze. He did not waste time and checked the map on his wristwatch in search of their classroom.
"Come on, lets' go." Alden said, breaking Owen and Neo out of their daze.
They nodded and followed Alden's lead.
The walked toward the tower. In no time, they were at the entrance.
The ground before the entrance of the tower was paved with stone. Above the entrance of the tower, on the tower itself was engraved the letter "E", with the black dragon coiling around it. It was the same crest as the students had on their uniforms, just the letter E on the tower was in golden color.
Alden and the others walked inside.
Despite the fact that they imagined the insides of the tower to be enormous, their minds were still blown away.
It was enormous. But it was probably because the first floor of the tower was not divided into any rooms, so it was only natural for it to look enormous.
Alden and the others quickly came to themselves.
In the corner of the ground floor, there were elevators leading up. But unfortunately, in front of the elevators, there was quite the crowd of students. However, Alden noticed that mixed in the students wearing the blue uniform, there were also some wearing black uniforms.
They looked way older than sixteen, so Alden immediately assumed they were not students.
Alden and the others walked to the elevators and stood at the back of the crowd, waiting for their turn.
At that moment, Neo felt a slight pat on his shoulder. Alden and Owen stood in front of him, so there was no way it was them. Which means, it was someone else.
"Who are you?" He jumped aside, taking a fighting stance.
Alden and Owen turned behind.
"Sorry, sorry. I startled you." A man wearing black uniform said with a gentle smile. He had brown short hair and a short brown beard.
Seeing that the man had no intention to hurt them, Neo calmed down.
"I am tasked with helping the new students use the elevators." The man continued speaking. "I will be short. It is not hard at all.
The tower has fifty floors, you are first years students so you only have access up to the fifteenth floor.
When you are in the elevator, you will see there is a digital screen by the door. You just need to touch the digital screen with the screen of your wristwatch."
"Thank you." Alden thanked.
"No problem, it is my duty." The man waved with a smile. He had said everything he needed, so he left.
After a few more minutes of waiting in line, Alden and the others finally entered an elevator.
The door of the elevator closed, separating Alden and the others from the crowd of first years students waiting in line before the elevators.
"So this is the digital screen that man spoke about?" Neo spoke, looking at the digital screen next to the door of the elevator.
Alden touched the screen of his wrist watch to the digital screen just as the man before instructed
Seconds after Alden did that, numbers appeared on the digital screen. It was numbers from 0 to 15, with the number 0 shining green.
"This must be the floors we have access to." Alden mumbled. He clicked on the number ten. The number ten got colored red, and after a few seconds, the elevator moved.
They were climbing up the tower at a rapid rate.
In no time, they arrived at the tenth floor, and the elevator stopped. The number ten on the digital screen shone green, and the door of the elevator opened.
Alden and the others quickly stepped out of the elevator.
They were in a large hallway with lots of students.
On the left and the right of the hallway, there were doors. The doors were made out of high quality wood and on each door was engraved the classroom number. It went from 1-A, to 1-10A, with five classrooms to the left and five to the right.
Alden's classroom, the classroom 1-A was the first door on the right. They slid the wooden door open, and entered the classroom.
It was not the largest classroom, just average size. It had only about enough wooden desks to accommodate a little over 30 students.
Most of the desks were filled and there was only a few seats left.
When Alden and the others entered the classroom, the students chatting stopped, and all the students turned toward the door, expecting it to be the homeroom teacher.
But when they saw that students entered and not the teacher, they quickly lost interest and started chatting again.
Alden and the others went and sat at an empty desk. There was only two chairs for one desk, and only two students could sit for one desk. Neo and Alden did not want to leave Owen out. And luckily for them, there was another empty desk close to them. So Neo and Alden lifted that desk and stuck it to their desk.
Finally, the three of them sat together.
When Alden looked at his wristwatch, it showed 7:25 AM.
For the remaining time, Alden, Neo, and Owen did not talk with each other. They sat in silence and waited for the homeroom teacher to arrive. They were too excited to talk.
"Swoosh!"
When the clock hit exactly 7:30, the wooden door slid, and a woman entered the classroom. She wore glasses and was at least in her late forties. She wore a black uniform and high heels.
The students chatting immediately shut up, and the classroom fell into silence. The only sound was the clicking of the high heels as she walked on the wooden floor to the teacher's desk.
She carried a thick, red book in her hands and gave off the vibe of a strict teacher.
Slam!
She slammed the book in her hand on the teacher's desk and pushed her glasses back.
"I am Linda Johnson, your homeroom teacher." Linda introduced herself. "This is the Beast Tamer Academy. Forget everything you have learned at school. All you need to know, we will teach you here.
I am also teaching the Practical Lessons class. So we will see each other again today."
As she said this, the faces of some of the students twitched, and a slight smile curled on it.
"I see some of you have doubts?" This did not go unnoticed by Linda's sharp eyes. "Feel free to voice your mind."
A student raised his hand. He had black hair with some hairs dyed red. "Teacher, I don't want to sound rude, but shouldn't the teacher of the practical lessons be a man?" He asked with a smirk.
The practical lessons class is the class where students spar against each other. But of course, there was no way for a student to know this, except If the student had pre knowledge about the academy.
"Your family has broken the rule of not spreading information about the academy?" Linda sharply looked at the student.
"Hmph!" The student smirked. "Teacher, don't worry. My family has paid the fine."
"I see we have some arrogant students who sees themselves above others and underestimate women," Linda said. "What is your name?" She asked.
"Carol. Carol Martin." The student said with an arrogant smirk on his face. He made sure to additionally emphasize his family name.
Linda smiled as she pushed her glasses back once again.
Boom!
She stomped her foot. The wooden floor beneath her broke into pieces, and wood flew around. Even the concrete beneath the wood broke, raising a cloud of dust. When the dust settled, it revealed her standing in a hole with the floor cracked all around her.
"This is the first and last time I tolerate you," She spoke to Carol, her voice threatening. "Even if you come from a beast-tamer family, it is not you who holds the power in the family. Who do you think you are to dare disrespect and doubt my ability?
Even If your father and grandfather were here, they would show me respect."
The air in the classroom became heavy as if something was applying pressure to it. The students were scared, and some girls had tears in their eyes. As for the arrogant Carol, he was on his knees trembling with tears running down his face.
He felt much more immense pressure on himself, as If Linda was the one controlling it and was pushing it on him. He had difficulties breathing under the pressure and started fearing for his life.
"I-I am sorry!" He shouted.
Hearing the apology, Linda calmed down. She was smart and did not intend to abuse her power on a weak student. She just made an example out of him.
She stretched her hand to the broken floor. To everyone's surprise, the rocks started floating in the air. Soon, the broken concrete under her started repairing, and in just a second, it disappeared without leaving a trace of ever being there.
"Elemental Control," Neo muttered quietly, but still, Alden and Owen heard him.
"Neo, what is elemental control?" Alden asked.
"We can't talk now. I will tell you later," Neo replied instantly.
But that was not the end of the surprises. The wood, which previously flew around, flew back to the floor. Tough it filled the hole in the wooden floor, there were still cracks all around the wood. But as if the ends of the broken wood were melting and sticking back with the not broken wood, the cracks started disappearing, and in just a few seconds, the cracks completely disappeared and the wooden floor was repaired. Like it was never broken.
"Double elemental control?" Neo's jaw dropped in shock.
This time, Alden did not ask Neo any questions. He suppressed his desire to ask him. However, he did make a mental note to ask him immediately after the classes end.
Linda gave the students a few minutes to return to their seats and come to themselves.
"Now, let's proceed with the introductions." She spoke like nothing happened before. "Start from you. What's your name?" She pointed at a girl sitting for the desk before her.
The girl stood up calmly. "Chloe Hart." She replied.
When Alden looked at her, his heart skipped a beat, and he blushed. Not just him but every boy in the classroom, including Neo and the quiet Owen.
She wore the blue uniform, had long silver hair, a well-developed body, and a baby face. She was the definition of a heavenly beauty, a goddess.
She turned her head and gave everyone in the classroom staring at her a cold glance. The cold glance given off by her, coupled with her silver eyes was enough to send shivers down the spines of the boys.
'Hohoho!' Linda could not help but happily laugh internally. 'She is talented. Even before, when all the children were crying in fear of me, she did not even move from her seat. ' She thought. The next second, her eyes widened. 'I can not detect her cultivation. Does she have a special artifact? Her background must not be ordinary.' A slight smile spread on her face. 'She is special. This time, my class will not be at the bottom.
"Alright, sit down," Linda said
Chloe sat down on her seat, but not before giving everyone another cold glance.
The introductions continued until it was the turn of Alden and his group.
Alden and Neo introduced themselves, and to Alden's surprise, when Neo introduced himself, there was no reaction from anyone, including the teacher.
'Did I guess it wrong?' Alden thought, looking at Neo. 'Is he not from a powerful family? But If not, there is no way he would have information about the secret class, right?'
After they introduced themselves, it was finally Owen's turn.
"M-My name is O-Owen." He said quieter than usual.
But Alden and Neo also noticed something else in his voice.
'Is it fear?' They thought.
'But why would he be afraid?' Alden thought.
"Can you speak louder?" Linda said. "I did not hear you."
"M-My name is Owen," Owen said louder.
"And? What is your surname?" Linda asked, annoyed at Owen taking up a lot of time.
"C-Can I not say it?"
"Owen, child, just hurry up and say your family name so we can get over this," Linda said in annoyance.
'What's wrong with Owen?' Alden thought. 'He had no problem telling us his surname, so why does he not want to say it now?'
"O-Owen. O-Owen Lakspur." Owen finally said it.
"Owen Lakspur?" Linda muttered, her eyes widened in shock.
'Great!' She felt so happy at the moment she wanted to jump. 'With this genius, my class will definitely not be at the bottom this time. But I only heard the rumors of his genius. He does not look like much. I should test him.' She thought. 'Hmm? His cultivation is nothing special?'
Before anyone could see her shocked look, she closed her eyes and pushed back her glasses, regaining her composure.
With Owen, the introductions were over.
"Alright." Linda clapped her hands. "Now, on to the next theme. I will briefly explain the subjects you will be learning this year."