Chapter 60 - Induction Ceremony
The man opened his mouth to speak when the city tower's clock produced a half-deafening bell sound, indicating that it was 10 AM.
"Hello, dear first-year students of the Lionhearts Adventurers' academy. My name is Rufus Rodriguez. I am one of the vice-principals of LA and head of everything that relates to first-year students.
First of all, let me extend a sincere welcome to each one of you. You've made it till here. Either due to your hard work or connections. It doesn't matter anymore.
There's nobody superior or inferior amongst you. You are all equal to each other.
This might sound perfunctory to you now. But you'll come to realize how true these words are when you start living on the academy grounds.
I'll come clean by saying this right off the bat. I'm rooting for those who've gotten inside the academy with their merits over who got inside with their reserved seats. There are two reasons why I feel like this.
First, I too had to get inside the academy through my skills and perseverance. So I can empathize with them. And second, those who had to pass the test to enter the academy have a certain mindset that gives them an edge over most reserved seat students.
But let me clear this before you draw any conclusions. The students who progress further and quicker in the academy at the end are still mostly those who entered the institution through reserved seats. Therefore, I can't find it in me to dislike this way of selecting the students.
You might think my statements are contradictory. So let me clear them for you. The edge ordinary students have over the reserved quota student stays intact while they all are in the first year. Your current academic year.
But this edge soon becomes blunt as the students progress through the academic year. Why is that? It's because although the first-year students mostly have the same starting point, the amount of resources they can avail themselves of overtime to progress further makes the difference. If the efforts put in by all of the students are on the same level that is.
The first year sees the reserved seat members taking less effort than their other peers. And that difference in efforts becomes the force with which the ordinary students dominate the first year.
But this domination results in the reserved seat members feeling jealousy, dissatisfaction, rage, and a cocktail of similar emotions.
The first-year ordinary students become the reason for the reserved quota students to have that edge they lacked at the start of the first year.
When the field of effort becomes even for everybody is when the real battle begins. At that time, the abundance or shortage of resources plays an important role.
It is what it is!
The reserved category students are mostly financially stable whereas those who had to enter the academy through the test are not. Plus, the reserved category students would probably have higher-ranked entities as their guardians. These guardians will guide the students in their ranking journey and other similar aspects.
Whereas, ordinary students will have low ranked or even rankless guardians as their pillar of support. This can become a handicap for students who allow it.
Therefore, the first year becomes special for everyone, irrespective of your background.
Have a test of defeat, shame, and guilt if you are from the reserved category. Feel the exhilaration that comes with dominating the class that has lorded over you if you are an ordinary student. The academy will only stand as a bystander.
Never forget those feelings that you are going to have in your first year. They are the most primal feelings one could experience in their life.
Draw power from these feelings to advance further at all costs, at any cost. The opposing forces will sharpen each other. And that's how the academy manages to give this kingdom the experts that they need in all fields.
I'll be honest with you. We will pit you against each other.
Not just reserved seats vs the ordinary.
It will be first years vs seniors.
It will be you vs the magic beasts.
And it will be you vs the instructors.
In short, it will be you vs everyone.
We will make you struggle with every resource that is available in the academy. Even the special lectures and practise sessions organized by professors will have to be paid for with your hard work.
Nothing worth your time ever comes free in this world. You'll have to earn the resources through everything you can draw from within you.
Therefore, the reserved seat students should focus on putting in as much effort as the ordinary students if they want to stay on top from the first year itself. And ordinary students should start putting in twice the effort as they are used to.
Just remember, the day you take rest will be the day you might get left behind by your peers. But also ensure that you don't burn out yourself. Otherwise, it'll be even more detrimental for you.
Now let me tell you how LA was founded. Most of you already know this, but we must revisit the roots we came from and remember the history that birthed us.
The Lionheart Academy is as old as the Edinburgh kingdom itself. It was established around 700 years ago. Almost fifty years after the Edinburgh kingdom was founded.
The first king and founder of the Edinburgh kingdom, Emil Edinburgh von Renar had four loyal followers. They had achieved tons of feats for King Emil and therefore were as respected as the king himself.
King Emil had given absolute authority to these four retainers. The kingdom of Edinburgh only ever had four grand dukes. King Emil had granted these grand dukedoms located at four corners of the kingdom to his loyal retainers with their titles.
The berserker Ivar Ironside was given the title of Lionheart. He was given the grand dukedom located in the southernmost region.
The assassin Yuffie Loxley was saluted with the title of Lufthansa. He found his grand dukedom in the westernmost region of the kingdom.
The title of Artemis was given to the exceptional archer of her time Nira Nightshade. The northernmost region of the kingdom was assigned as her turf.
And finally, Lin Lehan was given the easternmost region to rule. He was the one hailed as Sansara Sage.
After the kingdom was stabilized post its foundation, king Emil ordered his retainers to establish institutes in their respective turfs to cultivate the upcoming generations of the kingdom and cultivate within them an unwavering love for this soil.
This was how the top four academies were established!
Ivor Ironhide was the founding dean of our Lionheart academy. He was a ferocious berserker of his age.
Later on, he became an equally exceptional close combat expert. Therefore, the academy too focused its curriculum on being a berserker and close combat expert.
The path of a berserker is heavily dependent on the berserk potions. Therefore, our academy also specializes in potion-making.
But that doesn't mean we don't teach and promote other paths. We admit that we don't have many resources available in those fields compared to the paths of berserk, close combat expert, and potioneer.
But rest assured, the academy has plenty to offer throughout the academic years in all paths a ranker can tread on.
LA won't ever become a bottleneck in any path that you choose during the five years. It will be up to you to progress on the paths you've decided to tread.
After entering the academy, the students will be tested for their aptitudes and will be offered a consultation with qualified experts. The students can select the path they wish to tread on after listening to the said advice.
Let's get to your enrollment now that the formalities are over. We will divide the students into two groups after confirming their identities.
The first group will contain the students who have started their ranking journey while the second group will contain the ones who haven't.
Those who have entered the F-Rank, they'll just need to submit their ID stones. Their mana signature will be recorded.
A mana array will be drawn upon their ID stones that will serve as the access key to enter the academy grounds. Those who have entered the F-Rank but haven't gotten their ID stones will be provided one.
We will also help the students bind their respective ID stones to them using blood ritual and spatial magic. That way, their ID stones will get absorbed into the palm of their hands and won't be stolen or get used for illegal purposes.
The ID stone will let you see a spectral screen stating your base stats once it is blood-bound to you. It will help you keep track of your progress and do a few things within the academy that you will come to know later on.
The ones who haven't started their ranking journey will be given an ID token drawn with the same array. The ID tokens will have some restrictions. You'll come to know them when you enter the academy.
There are around five hundred first-year students. They will be divided into five divisions after their ID inscriptions have been drawn.
You'll be taken to the academy grounds right after we complete these procedures. Say goodbyes to your guardians now. You'll only be able to see them during long annual holidays."
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The students started forming various cues after Rufus' speech was over. Lin's panel was also seen regulating the crowd.
Eren submitted his ID stone to a counter. The academy staff at the counter placed that stone at the eye of the array drawn over a 1 square foot white page, which was laid open on a work desk.
The array lit up and started contracting before it vanished from the page, turning it blank. But that too didn't last long as the white paper crumbled to dust.
The same array appeared over the surface of the ID stone in its miniaturised form. Then it got even smaller before seemingly vanishing from the surface.
The academy staff then laid another array over the desk and kept the ID stone right at the eye of the array. He grabbed Eren's hand and punctured one of his fingers using a needle-like artefact to draw the drop of blood.
The blood was dropped over the ID stone. The array lit up right after it before facing the same destiny as the previous array. Eren's consciousness experienced a connection with that ID stone at the time. He placed his right palm over it and it was absorbed into it, only leaving a black inked tattoo of the stone.
The enrollment procedure was complete for Eren. Other students also went through the same experiences. They started bidding adieu to their guardians after that.
Soon, a giant platform could be seen hovering over the skies of the city square. One could see a huge array that had been lit up at its base.
Almost every student and even a few students marvelled at that sight. Some were mesmerized. Others were shocked. Especially all the low ranked entities and ordinary students who hadn't seen or imagined anything like this.
Jake had his mouth left open at that site. But then he saw Eren looking at this flying wonder casually.
Eren had already heard the same speech in his previous life. That time he didn't understand in depth what Rufus was talking about. But this time he did.
There was only one rule in the academy. Survival of the fittest. He was too busy crafting his plans to care about a giant artefact that he already knew to exist.
Eren had seen this flying artefact previously. That time he acted like Jake. This time he didn't see the need to.
People looked at the flying artefact with fascination in their eyes as it was settling down on the ground. They had such fascination because they thought they'd never be able to use that artefact personally. They were content in seeing that thing work.
But Eren wasn't like them. He knew he'll have something much better than this oversized flying turtle in the future when he reaches a high rank.
That's right. That giant flying platform was an A-Rank artefact.
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Author's Note: Hello. IK Rufus' speech was stretched. But it couldn't be helped. The lore has to start from somewhere. The foundation needs to be firm before the story starts unfolding any further.
I've tried to keep things optimized by breaking down these info-dumps into many chapters for good readability. But still, let me know what you think!
VEH officially has a rating now. Thanks to all the readers who have posted their reviews. That includes the visible reviews as well as the ones that are not, due to the NSFW filter. Kindly place your review again if you find that it is missing. Also, don't forget to donate your stones. ;)
Eren officially re-enters LA with this chapter. The RPG elements will start to kick in soon afterwards.. The ranking system will also get revealed in upcoming releases along with loads of other things. Stay tuned!