"Those who continue to fight will always grow stronger," Kaisa declared, her voice unwavering.
"Soulth are beings that, upon death, transfer their energy to the one who lands the final blow. The stronger the Soulth, the greater the energy received, allowing you to become even more powerful. That is the meta for strength. And if you want my advice—start searching now for what you need to grow stronger."
A heavy silence filled the Grand Hall. Everyone was absorbing her words, realizing just how real and brutal this journey would be. Then, almost all at once, applause erupted.
I could feel my heart pounding. This was unlike anything I had imagined. I had spent years training alone, thinking I understood strength—but there was so much more to this world than I had ever realized. For the first time, I felt truly glad to have enrolled in this academy.
"That concludes the speech!" Kaisa announced. "Your class schedules, dorm assignments, and other important details will be sent to your phones via mail. Be sure to check it. Farewell."
And just like that: she vanished. Teleported away as suddenly as she had appeared.
As I walked out of the Grand Hall, my phone buzzed. I checked the message and read it out loud to myself, “Dorm Assignment: Tier I - Room 217.” I let out a sigh. “Figures.”
I made my way to the Student Living & Social Areas, where the dorms were located. The buildings were massive, each one separated by tier. And yeah, the Tier I dorms were definitely the most basic. The higher-tier ones? Way fancier. Not that I was expecting luxury or anything.
Pushing open the door to my dorm building, I stepped inside. The hallway stretched out in front of me, lined with identical doors. “Alright… 217, 217…” I muttered, scanning the numbers. Then, finally— “Oh, there it is.”
As I walked into the dorm room, I couldn't help but be surprised by how it looked. The living room was right in the center of the place, and it was decently sized with comfy sofas and a small table in the middle. Around the living room were four bedrooms, each with a door, kind of like a square layout. The kitchen and some other basic stuff were just beside it, like the bathroom and storage areas.
I stepped inside and noticed a few figures hanging out in the living room. One of them was a guy with messy gold curly hair—he looked around my age, maybe a bit shorter than me, but definitely not weak. He was lounging on one of the couches with a book in his hand, looking relaxed. I walked closer, but before I could say anything, he glanced up and gave me a casual wave.
"Yo, you must be the new guy," he said with a grin. "I'm James, James Oberon. Nice to meet you."
Before I could even reply, another guy stood up from the corner, brushing his messy brown hair out of his eyes. He was taller than James—about 178 centimeters—and his stare was intense, almost like he was sizing me up. He didn't speak right away, just nodded at me like he was confirming something.
"I'm Sigmund Xavier," he said shortly. "Don't mind me."
There was a soft sound of footsteps, and I turned around to see a girl step into the living room. She had long, messy, curly hair that looked almost black in the light, and she had this small but pretty figure that stood out. She looked my way and gave a friendly smile.
"I'm Tessa Emmy, and you must be Ero?" she introduced herself, her voice a little quieter than the guys but still warm. "Looks like we're roommates."
I gave her a half-smile, still getting used to this whole "roommate" thing. "Yeah, looks like it," I replied, trying not to sound too awkward.
"Welcome to the chaos," she said with a soft chuckle. "You’ll get used to it."
James and Sigmund were talking about something in the storage room, but I wasn’t really paying attention. My mind was somewhere else until I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around, and there was Tessa, smirking at me. "Hey, curious?" she asked.
I blinked, still a little confused. "Yeah... What are they talking about?"
She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she just walked past me, heading toward the storage room. I followed, still wondering what was going on.
"Oh, you guys are here?" James looked up as we entered. Sigmund, meanwhile, was digging through a box on the floor.
"Uh, what’s all this?" I asked, glancing around.
Tessa answered, "These are the generic weapons. The school issues them to us based on our course."
I froze for a moment. I had no idea the school handed out weapons. I figured I’d have to make or buy my own.
"Wait, so I get one too?" I asked, my curiosity piqued.
"Of course you do, duh," Sigmund cut in, barely glancing up from his box. "The box labels show your name and identification number, so they know whose weapon is whose."
Tessa pointed at a long, wide box. "Take a look!"
I walked over, and sure enough, there it was, my name clearly labeled on the box. I lifted it, and the weight was shockingly light.
"Well, let’s get the boxes out of the storage room, guys!" James called out, clearly ready to move on.
The four of us were sitting on the floor in the living room, tearing into our boxes like kids on their birthday. James and the others looked just as hyped as I was to see what we got.
"Alright, let’s see what we got," James said, rubbing his hands together before ripping open his box.
Sigmund was already halfway through his, while Tessa carefully unfastened the latches on hers. I stared at mine for a second before shrugging and doing the same.
Moment of truth. James was the first to open his box. As he pulled out his weapon, a steel longsword with a black handle, I couldn’t help but think it looked pretty standard. Nothing fancy. But James stared at it like he had just been chosen as the main character of some epic tale.
“This is it… this is what I wanted!” he said, grinning.
“Oh… I didn’t know you were in the School of Warrior,” Tessa said, raising a brow.
“Yeah, I always wanted to be the cool guy,” James smirked, striking a dumb pose
Sigmund suddenly let out a small chuckle, pulling out his own weapon, a dagger. It was silver, just like James’ longsword, but much smaller. He flipped it once in his hand, testing the weight.
“This is perfect. Light and sharp,” he said, gripping the handle tightly.
“Nice one, Sigmund!” Tessa said with a nod.
I still hadn’t opened mine yet, but I glanced at Tessa, who was unboxing hers with a small smile, her eyes closed like she already knew what was inside. But whatever, I needed to focus, I was gonna open mine now.
Tearing the box open, I reached inside and pulled out my weapon. Come on… what did I get?
Just as I thought, it was a normal steel rapier. It looked almost identical to the one I used during the physical test. I stared at it for a second, feeling… well, not disappointed, but not exactly excited either. I mean, at least I had my own weapon now. No need to search for one or waste money buying something else.
Just a second later, James and Sigmund suddenly shouted, “Woah!” in surprise.
“Oh… wow. Tessa, what the hell is that?!” James practically yelled, staring at the weapon in her hands.
I turned to look, and—yeah, I could see why they were freaking out. Tessa was holding some kind of magical weapon—a sleek staff made of polished whitewood, wrapped in delicate gold filigree. At the tip, a translucent crystal hovered just above the surface, slowly spinning with a soft inner glow. Compared to ours, hers looked like it belonged to a completely different league.
“Oh wow… I didn’t even know mine would be this… special,” Tessa muttered, still processing it. She gave a small shrug, but there was definitely some excitement behind it.
“That’s really cool,” I said, genuinely impressed.
Clap Clap
“Alright, guys! We should probably start wrapping things up. We’ve got a lot to do tomorrow, don’t we?” Sigmund announced, trying to move things along.
“Yeah, shall we?” Tessa agreed, giving one last look at her staff before setting it down.
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