Chapter 25: Headmaster & Vice Headmistress

Caelum looked around the hall and noticed that most of the other children were subtly avoiding him.

Because of his tall build and mature appearance, he looked more like a senior than a new student, which made many children hesitant to approach him.

As a result, he simply stood beside Paul and watched their seniors continue their argument.

Eventually, Erica seemed to reach the end of her patience.

"Hmph! Listen, all of you. Always avoid troublesome people like this fellow, the Headmaster’s speech will begin soon, and I see everyone is already here, so let’s move."

The boy she had been arguing with paused for a moment, his expression darkening slightly, but he did not continue the argument.

Instead, he turned toward the children of his own batch and ordered them to hurry up.

Meanwhile, Caelum and the others followed Erica as she led them across the campus.

After walking for some time, they finally arrived at the Great Zenith Hall, an enormous auditorium decorated with large paintings of the academy’s previous headmasters.

A crowd had already gathered inside, as students from various states across the empire had arrived for the opening day of the Imperial Zenith School.

Several teachers were present as well, including Lumi, the instructor who had escorted the students from State Five earlier this day.

Erica and the other senior students began organizing the newly arrived children, guiding them to their seats and making sure each group was properly arranged.

Caelum, however, was busy searching for someone.

Unexpectedly, as if fate and a mysterious existence were helping him, he spotted the person he was looking for seated not far from his group.

Without hesitation, he grabbed Paul by the sleeve and dragged him along before taking a seat nearby.

"Long time no see, Anastasia," Caelum said casually.

The red-haired girl turned toward him and flinched slightly in surprise.

"Who is this, Princess?" a sharp-looking girl sitting beside Anastasia asked as she instinctively pulled her slightly back.

Caelum glanced at the girl for a moment and sensed the strong aura surrounding her.

"Oh? Not bad," he commented.

"What did you say?!" the girl snapped, clearly irritated.

Her name was Loreal, a strikingly beautiful girl whose sharp features gave her a rather intimidating presence, though even she could not quite match Anastasia’s natural grace.

Hearing Caelum’s comment, she immediately assumed that he was either mocking her or trying to flirt in an extremely strange way.

"Lady, I am speaking with Anastasia, please wait for your turn," Caelum said casually while waving his hand dismissively.

Loreal’s expression turned sour, while Paul, who had clearly heard the word Princess, felt a chill run down his spine.

Fortunately, his glasses flashed at the right moment, making him appear calm and unreadable. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Anastasia, however, could never mistake Caelum’s voice. Likely because on their first meet, she had been slapped by him, and actually felt her headache gone?

And during the past two years, the two of them had communicated frequently through their Private Badges.

She lightly tapped Loreal’s arm to signal her to calm down before turning toward Caelum.

Meanwhile, whispers began spreading among the surrounding students.

"Damn, I didn’t expect to attend school with a princess."

"But don’t they seem pretty close?"

"Who is that blue-haired boy?"

Before the murmurs could grow louder, a thunderous voice suddenly echoed across the entire hall.

"What noisy brats!"

An invisible pressure spread outward through the auditorium, instantly silencing the crowd.

An old man had appeared on the stage, his long white hair and beard flowing down his chest while one of his eyes remained covered, leaving only a single sharp eye visible to the audience.

That eye shone brightly as it slowly scanned the entire hall, lingering for a moment on several individuals before moving on.

"Is that the legendary Archmage of White Light?"

"Is that really Sir Aurelius Zenith?"

"I can’t believe I’m seeing a hero from the history books!"

"He looks super old!"

A sharp zap sound suddenly echoed across the auditorium as a child’s hair abruptly stood upright.

"Cough! Little ones, I am just an old man. There is no need to think so highly of me," Aurelius said with a light laugh.

"First of all, a very happy new year to all of you, and congratulations on being selected by the Imperial Zenith Academy," Aurelius continued, clearly enjoying the attention.

’When will this old man stop?’ Caelum thought helplessly.

Nearly thirty minutes had already passed, yet Aurelius showed no sign of slowing down. The children, however, listened attentively as he continued telling stories from his long life.

Even Anastasia seemed slightly bored, likely because the old man was one of her distant relatives and she had probably heard many of these stories before.

Caelum absentmindedly nodded along to the speech.

Aurelius Zenith, the legendary Archmage of White Light, was famous for his battle against a Demon King who had secretly invaded the Human Continent many years ago. Even to this day, the exact details of that battle remained unclear, but the destruction caused by their fight had nearly erased several cities from the face of the Earthly Plane.

Because of his signature magic that produced dazzling white light capable of annihilating darkness, he had earned the title Archmage of White Light.

Standing behind him on the stage, Vice Headmistress Lady Mirelle Valor subtly gestured for the old man to wrap things up. He had clearly begun rambling far beyond the intended time.

"Ahem! So enjoy your time here and learn everything you can from this school, because this is the best academy in the empire!"

A brilliant white magic circle suddenly appeared beneath his feet, and a flash of light swallowed him entirely as he teleported away.

The children erupted into loud cheers, while the Vice Headmistress stepped forward and continued the ceremony.

From that point onward, the speeches became a series of lectures praising the greatness of the academy and reminding the students of the honor of studying there.

’Aren’t they just trying to create an overwhelmingly good first impression?’ Caelum thought.

’I just hope the academy offers something more interesting than speeches.’

His Cultivator instincts had already sensed both fortune and misfortune lurking within this academy.

And as it turned out, he was absolutely right.

Because somewhere in the shadows, a hidden gaze watched the hall with cold malice.

More specifically, that gaze was fixed on Anastasia.

’The seed has arrived, now the Great One will descend. The plan we waited seven years for... will finally succeed.’