It was after a savoury breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs, and black pudding, the students reconvened at the same venue to proceed with their tour.
The air was crisp and raw as ever and the sun peeped through crevices in the thick clouds, casting rays of golden light atop the matter below.
The seating arrangement was just farther from the fountain where one could steal a nice view of its pulsation with ever flowing water from the point of seating.
Kiefer walked back to the rows of seats and took his former seat, next to the silver haired, bluish eyed-dark-skin girl.
The girl looked on, her gaze steady upon the pulpit, observing the workers who put the place in order prior to the arrival of Master Pierre.
'I'm Yaritza, nice to meet you,' she said, smiling with her dark glossed lips at Kiefer.
He didn't realize when she spoke.
Suddenly, Kiefer could feel his chest ease. His breathing more steady and the imaginary fist in his chest unclench.
Her eyes felt alive, pulsing with great power, rendering any subject gullible.
Kiefer knew her eyes held a certain power, and he could feel it only to certain degree.
There was no feasible explanation from him to himself about it.
'My pleasure, I'm Kiefer,' he returned.
Yaretzi returned her gaze forward, touching her necklace as she did so.
The meeting was about to start and students were seated.
Master Pierre mounted the stage and tapped the bulb of the microphone, sending auditory shockwaves pulsing through the seated crowd.
'Hello once again, students.
Your tour will be led by my able assistant here, Miss Molly.
She will take you to the famous hidden locations of Qichi Lake Academy and tell you their history and how they were founded.'
Master Pierre paused, glancing around and beckoned on Molly deliver a well articulated brief speech.
Molly began, her British accent thick as ever but regal all the same.
'Good day everyone, I'm Molly, do call me Miss Molly please.
Today I'll be taking you around the academy's campus, and introducing you to its prestigious structures, as well as their histories.
Please pack your belongings and follow me.'
With that, Molly stepped off the pulpit and began walking through the aisle that existed between the two seating rows of students.
The students stood up and as they did so, the bases of the chairs scraped the marbled floors, sending fine screeches across the air.
Picking their stuff and walking out of their columns, they walked behind following their appointed tour guider, Molly.
********
The students currently stood atop a massive cliff that was separated from the towering, colossal structure in the distance.
The massive cliff was separated and joined at the same time by a triple re-inforced bridge that spanned the space between the colossal building and the massive cliff.
The bridge was held underneath by massive pillars that seemed to emerge out the surface of the body of water below.
One could see the moving waters splash against the pillars, their rhythm an untold elegance.
The pillars that stretched from the surface of the body of the bridge upwards did so as though in absolute worship to the beautiful skies.
The wind wasn't as daring as one would imagine but strong all the same.
It caressed Kiefer's skin carelessly as though its very form was dependent on lashing against the faces of the beings that stood before it.
Molly began, her breath ragged and her voice seemingly waning,
'This, students, is the Grand Museum of Qichi Lake Academy.
Took about a few decades for this to be of the standard it is now.
Let's proceed to see what it contains.'
Now the students had been to most places of interest in the academy and this was by far the crowning of the tour.
The Grand Museum.
In the distant past and the years that led to the current year, the students in various Leading Levels together backed up with multiple Masters that had attained the peak of the Leading Level had been sent periodically back to the metropolis to stand against and defeat raging Creatures of Thames that had somehow invaded through tunnels bordering the human and monster worlds.
Amongst these creatures, a few of them of known historical importance that had been taken down were collected by the academy for study and others for exhibition in the academy's Grand Museum.
Kiefer and his fellow students were none-the-wiser to what they were about to see inside the walls of this piece of Qichi Lake Academy.
Very far away from the outer parts of Qichi Lake Academy, they were now nearing the entrance of the Grand Museum, the entrance more startling up closer than farther away.
The entourage that was standing formerly on the insanely broad edge of an overhanging cliff, separated from the Grand Museum were walking up the steps of the colossal building.
The towering structure of the museum arose like a giant sentinel from the heart of the ocean it stood on, its exquisitely vulgar design a testament to human ingenuity.
The building's façade was a latticework of glass and steel, with towering pillars that supported the massive weight of the museum's collections.
The exterior walls were covered all over by a latticework of intricate carvings.
As Kiefer neared the doors of this towering building, he could feel his anxiety increase a few folds.
He spotted Grayson closer to him in the moving crowd and struggled to move closer to him.
'Hey, Grayson,' Kiefer said, smiling as he patted a hand over the boy's back, 'long time no see. This place is a wonder, isn't it?'
Grayson beamed a smile, excited at Kiefer's presence next to him.
'I agree, I haven't seen a beautiful place such as this academy in my life, these must have really cost a lot of money and time to establish.'
Kiefer nodded as they walked closer, the massive double mahogany doors opening.
'The academy is an artwork, literally and figuratively.'
Grayson and Kiefer stifled a laugh.
As the moving crowd walked into the museum, they were greeted by the museum's grand atrium.
The atrium was a breathtaking sight, with a soaring ceiling that stretched over 100 feet high.
The walls were clad in gleaming white marble, adorned with intricate patterns of gold leaf and precious gems.
The floor was made of polished black granite, reflecting the light from the chandeliers above like a still, glassy pond.
Molly began, leading the crowd in the front,
'Everyone, this is the atrium of the Grand Museum of Qichi Lake Academy, look around and you'd find fine artworks and moldings by the skilled hands of the well-known artist, Giorgio Marco.
He has worked with the institution for a long time.
Please look around.'
The students walked to the farther edges of the receptive atrium of the museum, bathing in the beauty of the structure, it's architecture like honey on the body of one's tongue.'
The museum's exhibitions were colossal in scale, with sprawling galleries that showcased some of the world's most precious artifacts.
Kiefer walked away from Grayson as the crowd now entered into the main part of the Grand Museum.
He walked towards the centerpiece of the museum, stunned to the his marrows.
The centrepiece of the main part of the museum was the Great Hall of Wonders, a cavernous space filled with towering dinosaur fossils, ancient Egyptian mummies, and priceless works of art from around the globe.
Kiefer wandered through recreated ancient cities, marvelling at the intricate craftsmanship of medieval armor, exploring the ancient structures that stood before him.
Turning his face away from a piece of artifact he was gazing at, he noticed something.
Something so out of place that he would need to sit and analyse to his fullest content.
At the far end, near where he now was, Yaritza and Leopold stood before a glass cage that was covered in red tapestries.
He could tell it was Yaritza standing next to Leopold because of her flowing greyish silver hair.
Walking closer to observe the piece, it was then that Kiefer noticed a necklace that sat atop a red silk pillow, it's tip embellished by a serpent like pendant with a gleaming blue reflection at a spot in the top of what appeared to be the serpent's eyes.