The multitude of students followed instructor Ethan until they reached the training grounds, which were located in the far Eastern part of the academy. It was an open field the size of a football field with two massive arenas.
Around the arenas were dummies, a racetrack, and some workout equipment littered across the environment.
After they explored the training grounds, the students were taken to the classrooms in the southeastern part of the academy. It was a huge rectangular building with an open space on the roof, its edges barred with a steel fence and enough space for at least fifty people.
Walking inside the building, Sol walked through the corridors and observed the open classrooms. They were spacious classes with towering ceilings and well-arranged desks. At one end of the classes was a raised platform and on it was a podium where the instructors would stand and lecture students.
There were twelve classes with twelve homeroom instructors, and in each class was enough room for a hundred students.
Next, they were led to the grand arena located at the heart of the academy, similar to an ancient Roman Colosseum. Sol was hoping they could go inside and have a look around, but Instructor Ethan stopped them, explaining that the arena was off-limits until general events arranged by the academy were held.
While other students simply accepted this with hints of disappointment in their eyes, Sol felt different. He knew something was off about this and from the little he got to know from reading the diary of the former sixth Kahi'k, Bashomon was located at the center of Aetheria.
The academy was located at the center of the Aetheria and the arena was located at the center of the academy. He was certain Bashomon was within the arena, and he suspected it may be somewhere underground, but this led him to ask some important questions.
'Why would the gate be located under an arena where people would gather for events?'
'Did people know it was here, or was this information limited to the leaders of Aetheria?'
Reluctantly, he departed the arena with the other students, heading south-west of the academy. Their tour then took them to the dormitory which was practically two castles linked by one massive corridor which made the building have an 'H' structure. One wing was reserved for females, while the other wing was for males.
As they took a tour around the dormitory, Sol was surprised to find, common areas where students could gather, read, chat, and just socialize. On the ground floor was the cafeteria filled with assorted dishes which left even Sol stunned. It felt like the quality of food here was much better than what he was getting at the sixth tribe.
What he found much more satisfying was that they didn't have to share rooms with anyone. Each student had a room of their own, this would give him the privacy he needed dearly, especially when dealing with things concerning things regarding the system.
They didn't have much time so they couldn't explore their rooms, but they got to find out that there were libraries on each part of the castles. This way students couldn't study without necessarily needing to leave the dormitory to get a good book and since it was close by, borrowing books was much easier.
Just like Sol, other students were satisfied with the dormitory, wearing smiles on their faces as they left. On their way out, the Instructor, Ethan explained that they couldn't explore the entire academy due to time. He explained where other important places like the administrative building, recreational fields, the gym, and others were located.
According to him, there was a wide variety of sporting activities in the academy, but they will learn more about it in their classes.
Finally, they arrived at the grand hall, the crown jewel of the academy. It was like a massive dome-shaped building with majestic doors made of heavy metal. There was one vampire and werewolf stationed at the entrance and as the students approached they promptly pushed the door open.
Seeing two well-endowed vampires and werewolves putting so much effort into pushing open the door, Sol couldn't help but question behind building something so unnecessary.
What was the use of this, and was it really necessary?
He kept his thoughts to himself and made his way into the grand hall, which was like a football stadium. Its seats were arranged in a similar pattern and below was a woman barely four feet tall with deep wrinkles littered all over her face. She had pale and saggy skin and needed a cane for support.
Judging based on appearance alone, Sol concluded this lady was already past her expiration date and was just selfishly clinging on to life.
As Sol walked up the stairs, looking for a place to sit, the statue-like lady suddenly moved. Her eyes were filled with surprise as she looked up, her gaze pinned on Sol.
"How… How are you still alive?" She asked in a tone hinting at her annoyance.
'Is this old bitch speaking to me?' Sol glanced around, but the eyes of the other students were pinned on him.
It was clear he was the one being spoken to!
Her question threw him off at first, but in a second or so he began to get a full picture of what was going on. He looked closely and noticed the cane in the old lady's hands wasn't just a cane but something more. It had pulsating runes on them, and she lacked the eternal grace of a vampire.
"A witch!" Sol said with a look of disgust.
The witches were the ones who placed the seal on him, they knew as a child he shouldn't be able to deal with its backlash. He was not meant to survive, that was practically what she was trying to say.
"Apparently, the mighty seal of the witches turned out to be a joke" Sol snarled. "Why would a fancy name be given to something so mediocre?"