Beatitudes

First day.

The academy had an atmosphere that basically instilled a fighting spirit and eagerness to learn something into you, as students newly accepted into the academy, there weren't many places they were familiar with in the academy yet, so they could only move through the grounds with a map guiding them. "Why Is the Freshman hall so far away from our dormitory, arghh.. I'm going to pass out before i get there, we're basically going be late at this rate... ", while three boys walked across the buildings of the academy, one of them constantly kept on cursing and crying out injustice, his blown up body was trembling visibly as it looked like he could collapse at any point, "Actually although I won't say it's a short distance from the dorm, we were basically the ones who started out late, I guess we slept a little too long", answering the complaints of the fat guy was a young man in the middle, he had golden hair and greyish-white eyes, with astonishingly good looks like this, he was bound to draw a lot of attention, most especially from the girls who lay their eyes on him, too bad there weren't many people they met with on the road. "It's still too far away, we've been walking for more than two kilometers already... ", the fatty said aggrieved, he already had sweat glistening on his forehead, "... we've only walked for fifteen minutes.. ", the last guy of the three at the left side mumbled with an expressionless face, he was the exact opposite of the fatty, he was so thin his skin almost stuck on to his bones and yet he was taller than any of the two boys with an entire head. The three boys walking with a fast pace were actually the trio from the eighth floor who just met each other yesterday, Jaden in the middle heard the tall guy's comment and had the corner of his lips move up lightly, he couldn't be more excited because all what he had been dreaming of was finally happening, he couldn't feel a single ounce of tiredness and although he knew it was mostly from the excitement he felt, he also knew they hadn't walked for long, the fatty beside him was a unique existence even among other fattys. The memory of last night's royal rumble passed through his mind as he snuck a glance at Ayo beside him, yesterday's incident had completely exposed him so he was cornered into listening to everything Bloat said without interruption or ignoring it anymore, Bloat couldn't help but feel an odd kind of joy when he was able to have something over the poor guy, so he was probably going to be pushed around by Bloat for a good while.

Holding a map in his hands, he was surprisingly able to understand it since he expected it to be hard, but then again it was the map of an academy, if it was hard to read then it would be useless. He followed the path and then looked up from it, "we've arrived guys", it was on their right side and it was surprisingly bigger than a hall they had in mind but it was undoubtedly where they were headed. On hearing that and seeing their destination at their front, Bloat who was making panting noises and walking with a drooping back suddenly had his eyes light up as he immediately stood straight as all expressions of tiredness and righteous anger disappeared like it was never there, his face held a casual smile as he spoke in a relaxed voice "oh we're here, that's great, I didn't expect such a short walk, that's for the best anyways otherwise I would have needed you two to hold me up... anyways let's head in", after saying that he walked forward to the doors of the building leaving behind two dumbstruck boys, the change in Bloat's atmosphere was a tremendously quick one, they almost couldn't believe he was the one whining and crying out injustice just a while ago. Turning their necks to look at each other they both saw the expression on the other's face, they knew him only for a short while but they still couldn't help the shock on their faces. After staring at the fatty's back for a while, they suddenly came to their senses as they moved after him to enter the building to at least not be late.

.

.

.

When they passed through the doors, they came into a small space, ten meters ahead of them was another door leading further into the building, on the two sides of the door you could see two palm sized white screens. "Welcome freshmen..." Hearing a voice suddenly out of nowhere had the three boys were taken by surprise before they understood that it was an A.I speaking, and to confirm their answers the voice kept on speaking "(I'm the A.I here in the freshman hall to guide you new students through things you might find a problem, naturally I am not the one taking you through the courses, I'm only here for assistive purposes which you won't need again after the first few weeks here)". Jaden couldn't help but once again marvel at the various wonders development in science and technology brought, it was able to assist in the recently discovered cultivation and was even better in some aspects of usage, although it was tossed aside to become a secondary priority for improvement of the humans of Earth, it's presence couldn't be easily ignored. "(Right now, I'd be glad to tell you that you're late, but before you rush through the doors, you need to register yourselves by putting your palms on those white screens for a few seconds, after you do that, you'll be free to go, Everytime you head here for a class you'd be required to confirm your presence by placing your palms on the screens again)", " So much words, I almost didn't get them all", as the A. I kept speaking, Bloat was the one to break the silence between the three as they moved to do as the A. I had said and a green light flashed on each placement, since the A. I said there was nothing else for them to do but go through the doors, go through the doors they did as said Bloat called out before passing through, "thanks for the words of advice Ai". "(... my name is not Ai)", the A. I paused in actual confusion before it spoke again but the boys had already gone through the doors.

"(.... -_-)"

They quickly passed through a short corridor as they came into sight of what could only be called a massive theater hall, and it was almost already packed with numerous young figures of the two genders, it seemed like they were one of the few or perhaps even the last to come into the hall as the seats everywhere were occupied, as big as the hall was it seemed to just be able to accommodate the number of students here, as far as Jaden could see and count with his eyes,there were thousands of students here and they just happened to be the last to come in... Luckily not many noticed their arrival in the bustling atmosphere of energetic youthfulness and massive size of the space, only a few who looked back and those who were sitting at the back, latecomers who came before them, noticed them while their gazes lingered on their group for a while. The three boys were aware of the sharp contrast they made with each other, especially Ayo and Bloat, and Jaden in the middle only made their more noticeable with his extremely good looks, the girls who noticed them coming in didn't even realize the light that flashed through their eyes when they saw him, he was that good looking, something Harry had jealousy confirmed the other day.

The two contrasting figures on his sides were also aware of their inferior looks and just never mentioned it to avoid awkwardness, but it was actually only by his side they were deemed low grade, even with the extremities of their sizes Bloat actually had a look that girls would call cutely handsome and would want to cuddle if they were a little closer in their relationships and Ayo had sharp features and grey hair that gave him a mysterious kind of look, one that they would be drawn to look closer at if they stared long enough. Ignoring the few curious gazes directed at them, they made their way to a corner of the theater way back, a place where they would need to listen closely to hear what the teacher would say. The gazes were soon withdrawn after nothing else happened, but some still turned their heads back a few times to stare at them, at Jaden to be precise. Bloat smiled mischievously as he noticed and poked Jaden at his side with his elbow, "You seem to be getting a few eligible candidates down for choosing so soon already hm, never have I seen such a diligent man like you" he said, facing him Jaden had confusion in his eyes as he replied, "what are you saying?", letting out a slight chuckle Bloat didn't answer and his smile grew wider, " don't forget to leave some of them for us inferior brothers, we'd love to be your wingmen", as the confusion grew in Jaden's eyes, Ayo could only shake his head as he kept to himself refusing to say a word, it was at that moment that a figure walked out of thin air, shocking the students as they stared at the man with shocked and curious eyes, he walked all the way to the center of the platform placed at the front of the theater hall. He looked like a sixty year old man and yet he didn't seem to have the frailness that accompanied that age, with calm and indifferent eyes, he opened his mouth to speak, funnily enough unlike what Jaden and the rest at the back expected, when his voice sounded, it felt almost like the man was right beside them, if they weren't seeing the man in Front of them, they would have believed he was right at their sides, "Good day everyone.." with a low tone of voice he spoke up, "I should once again welcome you the academy, for you to be accepted here means that have gained the qualifications to be a mighty expert and a guardian power of this world, of our world. You all here are of the latest batch of students of the academy, numbering around the number of ten thousand, this has always been the standard number for the batch of students accepted each year. I'll introduce myself to you all as your batch supervisor, I don't see the need to tell you my name the same way as I'm not interested in knowing all of your names, so if you want to address me, you can address me as Mr. supervisor, Later on if I find any of you to be of interest, I could decide to tell you my name then, and I'll be pleased to know yours as well... ".

The man's gaze was as calm as the surface of a lake during the sunrise, he didn't seem to be looking at anyone in particular, he didn't even seem to be paying much attention to their actions like he was talking to mere air, but none of them dared talk, even Bloat with his usual mischievous grin has a sober face on at the moment, all this was because of the faint pressure they could actually feel from the man, they had a clear feeling in their heads that although he wasn't taking note of their actions, he was well aware of what they all were doing, naturally daring to converse while he talked was something they all knew wouldn't be anything good for them, hence the silence and attention.

"... Now, let's move on to the things you need to know, first of all I'm sure you all know that you will be separated into three departments, which are the first department, the second and the third. The least acceptable talent here in the academy is a talent of up to four circles, any lesser than that and you would have been rejected regardless of any other thing, so the basis for your segregation is your talent, four to five circle talents will go to the third department, six to seven talent will head to the second department and those talents with eight circles and above will be in the first department. Don't get discouraged by the distinct separation, I can assure you if we were going to discriminate between you all we wouldn't have even bothered taking you into the academy in the first place, the departments are there to be able to focus well on the various talents you all have, I can assure you that if you follow through with the training and guidance of your department and put it some extra work by yourselves, even if you're in the third department you should be able to wipe the floor clean with those from the first department that end up being complacent with their fortune, but, mind you, it will only be so if you put in enough effort, of course if you're lucky enough and come across a fortunate encounter or meet up with someone with a strong backing, you could be able to get your hands on rare treasures that would be sure to boost your talent to greater heights... ".

When he mentioned the three departments and the difference between them, many of the students eyes turned dull with some of them frowning with feelings of anger and dejection showing in their eyes, but then after further speaking they all came to realize the reasons, after all what the supervisor said about not needing to discriminate was correct, if they were going to be treated as nothing and disdained upon then the academy won't even bother trying to take them In the first place. Their eyes lit up when they heard the next words he said, talent was something decided from the beginning, and although some of them heard a few rumors they had never received confirmation of it until today, the possibility of upgrading your talent was something they would give their all for, but they were also made aware of how hard it could be.

So although you're divided into three three departments, the basic curriculum will not change for any of you, there are four main courses and a few other secondary courses, the main courses include, The theory of cultivation, The theory of elements, Combat tactics and General science, Based on the names I'm sure you understand what they're all about, if you don't when you're introduced to it you will then... For the first week, you all will be introduced to all the courses available for for first year students so as to give you an idea of what you can get yourself into and what you can't, after that you'll be granted two days off during the week to have time to think and properly understand what you want, during that period you can consult the various instructors that will be coming to take you on the courses as to how to go about it,this hall is usually divided into three spaces, it was for today that the division was brought down to address you as a whole. Another thing of note is that each department has a department head, an expert of the academy who would be in charge of each of the three departments, they would be the ones you'll come in contact with more often and they would be the ones monitoring you all and your performances, they would also brief you on some other things I haven't said but that's all for today, tommorow you'll meet with your department heads who will also give you a briefing before you go through the courses you have for the day... Alright so that would be all for now, you're all excused for the rest of the day, no questions asked, Goodbye."

The man left as astonishingly as he came, without a care for the questions in the mind of those he addressed, like he was eager to leave the place and go do whatever he was doing. At the back, some were still a bit dazed by the information and the sudden exit of the man, most people were, it was until when the long dispersed noise of the students from the morning came back did they snap out of it. "Wow, that is a lot of information and words, I almost didn't get them all" one boy at the back spoke up amidst the chatter in the hall, " yeah I know right, I almost.... Are they actually sleeping??!", just another voice spoke up to reply the first, it broke off and then sounded out again after a few seconds, the boy speaking was wide eyes and shock could be seen in his eyes as he uttered those four words in a higher pitch, and then following the gazes of the wide eyes boy, the other one talking to him and a few others who got attracted by the question saw three boys at the utmost back of the class all sleeping in different postures like they had dozed off in between the words the man said, one of them with a chubby size even had drool coming from his mouth as he laid his head on the desk at his front, those who could remember realized that it was the three boys who came in the latest with distinctive features about them. Yes it was Jaden and the other two, at one point in time they had all fallen asleep like planned work and they didn't know anything else happened. "I can't believe this", still staring at the trio the others at the back watched on as more and more people turned their heads to assess the commotion.

It was their first day and the three boys were already fairly famous among their batch, too bad they hadn't known yet as they nodded off to Dreamland amidst the stares.