Nick had never seen something like what had transpired except in movies and video games. Nick new that the middle aged man had to be responsible for causing it and while pondering on how the middle age man had turned two young men into mist, he heard the middle aged man speak:
"Good day, my name is Ray Menzes and I am an administrator in the enforcement office of this school. Please be aware that once you have completed your registration at one of these kiosks you will be considered a full fledged member of this school and if you were not aware before, one of the major rules of this academy is that students and faculty are not allowed to openly harm each other. For now you can take 'harm' to mean: to cause injury. Just like the laws involved in the magic spell that I cast on those two young men earlier, this school has its own laws that must be obeyed and if they are not, dire consequences will follow. This world that you are entering is not a school yard, be smarter than those two young men."
Ray Menzes only seemed to be moving his lips but his voice was heard by everyone who witnessed the spectacle. As soon as he stopped speaking, Ray hovered towards the entrance and after placing himself on the ground he walked into the auditorium. The scene was completely silent for a while with over 100 new students not moving a muscle and just staring at the entrance of the auditorium. After about two minutes, Nick snapped out of his daze and proceeded to walk into the auditorium, thinking:
(So that was magic that could be used to harm others. That scene from earlier was pretty scary, no one noticed Ray until it was too late. It seems that this place is as dangerous as I thought it would be. I should probably keep my head down and avoid doing things that will attract unwanted attention.)
After seeing Nick walk into the entrance, the other people who had finished their registration, sobered, walked into the auditorium as well.
Upon entering the main hall, Nick saw dozens of rows of chairs positioned before a podium. Most of the seats having already been filled, Nick took a seat on a chair at the far right of a middle row.
(The faculty should be here to address the new students soon. After this, I should probably get settled in the dorm room that I was assigned at registration....)
While Nick was lost in his thoughts about what he would be doing later, the rest of the students walked into the auditorium. Most of the students were wearing casual clothes such as jeans and polo shirts; most of them were also white with very few persons of other races. Nick himself was more brown that white as his father was white and his mother was black.
After waiting ten more minutes, the faculty finally entered the room and moved to stand on the stage where the podium was; there were 12 people in all. Now that Nick thought about it, he did not see Ray Menzes anywhere in the auditorium even though he saw him enter. The twelve persons wore a variety of different clothes. Some had on three piece suits, some had on jeans and t-shirts and some wore fancy looking robes.
One man who stood out was wearing a golden colored robe that reached down to his ankles and had black stripes, he had a shaved head and both his ears seemed to droop down by a few centimeters. This man stepped forward to the podium and began his address, speaking without a microphone, his voice was still amplified somehow:
"Welcome to Richter Order Academy. For most of you, this is your first time on our campus and I'm sure that its been an exciting experience. My name is Xavier Gecko and I am the dean of this academy. We, the faculty are also excited to have a new batch of students to teach. For some of you, you will spend the next few years here learning about magic and the various laws that we may use to control them and most of you will remain here for a longer period of time. Let me tell you, the path to becoming a Magician is filled with danger and you will be required to make personal sacrifices that most people will never have to make, but on the up side, you will have a chance to learn how to do things that most people can only dream of and see places that most people can't even imagine. To become a Magician, you must be brave in your own ways, strong hearted and indifferent to failures, setbacks, mockery and pain. To create laws that can control magic, one must have the resolve to persevere through any and all resistance that may arise and see opportunities where there are losses. The faculty members behind me are your teachers and will take you to your dorms and advise you of further details regarding your class placements and what is expected of you going forward. I want to remind you, each student has been given a handbook that has currently been placed inside your rooms. This handbook lists all the rules of the academy and you would be wise to memorize them because our faculty will not hesitate to punish anyone who is caught breaking them, no matter who you are. Work hard, walk your own path and be careful. The teachers will now escort you to your dorms."
Dean Gecko then left the podium and one by one, the teachers came to the podium, telling students that are assigned to a certain dorm to follow them. There are apparently eleven dorms, each one accommodating about five dozen students. A female teacher came to the podium after the first four teachers had already taken away some students. She said:
"Hello, my name is Rebecca Jones. Everyone that is assigned to the River-Run Dorm, please follow me as I leave."
Nick was assigned to that dorm so he picked up his travel bag and backpack and followed Rebecca. The crowd of students walked together for about 25 minutes before they got to a building that seemed to be in decent condition and about eight storeys high. It had a large sign near the front of the entrance that read: "River-Run Dormitory".
(This is my new home, huh? I hope the food's good.)
Nick smiled slightly but went back to his indifferent expression soon thereafter and followed Rebecca into the dorm's lobby.