Chapter 210: Let The Suffering Begin
Principal Tommen stepped onto his stage, adjusting his glasses in a way that reflected the bright lights in the hall off of the lenses. Even though he was dressed up to look prim and proper, it was certain enough that this man possessed a certain level of power, one that surpassed the disciples currently sitting in the hall.
He held a piece of paper in his hand, about to give a speech, but then he dropped it. As if to say ’I’ll speak from the heart.’
He cleared his throat briefly and opened his mouth: "Welcome first year disciples... to Mountain Elite Academy!" His voice echoed across the entire assembly grounds. "For formality sake... you will all address me as Principal... Principal Tommen."
"Some of you are here because you were born with extraordinary talent. Some of you are here because your families expect great things from you. And some of you probably have no idea how you managed to get here in the first place." A wave of laughter swept through the disciples, the man was quite funny, even though he executed it all with a rather listless expression.
"Regardless of which group you belong to, congratulations. You made it." The man adjusted his glasses again and smiled. The disciples clapped momentarily, watching as the principal raised his hand, gesturing to the academy behind them.
"You are now standing in a place where geniuses are everywhere, opportunities are everywhere, and trouble is also... unfortunately, everywhere." Principal Tommen’s eyes swept through the crowd as he listened to more laughter erupting from the crowd.
"But remember this. Mountain Elite Academy does not promise to make you powerful. We simply provide you with the resources, knowledge, and opportunities to become powerful yourselves." The man’s expression slowly faded from listless to confident as he adjusted his glasses for the umpteenth time.
"Here, you will train. You will compete. You will make friends. You will make enemies. You will lose. You will win. And, if you are particularly unlucky, you may occasionally wake up wondering why you thought becoming a cultivator was a good idea."
Soft chuckling erupted from many different areas of the grand hall.
"So enjoy your time here. Learn as much as you can. Fight when you must. Respect those who deserve your respect, and never allow anyone to convince you that your limits are something you cannot surpass." He paused briefly before raising his voice for what would seem like the final time: "Once again. Welcome to Mountain Elite Academy!"
The crowd erupted into a thunderous applause as so many of the disciples rose to their feet.
"And to all the new students..." Silence returned, as they realized the man was not done talking yet. He wore a mischievous smile on his face now, and adjusted his glasses again.
"Try not to break anything during your first week, the repair bills are becoming quite expensive."
Another round of laughter tore through the air as he turned around and walked off the stage, the rest of the school staff walking in a single, organized file right behind him.
"Now then..." Principal Tommen muttered, "Let the suffering begin..."
He adjusted his glasses as the applause slowly faded behind him.
Jacob was still sitting, he was suddenly dragged to his feet by Violet, who was grinning ear to ear and clapping very violently.
"You certainly are very excited to be here." He said to her amidst the cheers, smiling.
"You’re not?"
"Well I wouldn’t say excited, but I am happy." Jacob responded.
"Way to be a killjoy." She bumped him in the arm with her elbow and frowned. "If you’re not excited, then I’ll make you excited. By force."
She growled in a way that Jacob found very cute and he raised his hands in protest: "Hey Hey, I’m not trying to spoil your fun, I like your excitement."
"Good." She smiled.
***
The Mountain Elite Academy programme ran for three months at a time. Three months of activities, and then the best set of disciples graduate to the second year, and it goes on in that format for four cycles.
It was unconventional, but since these students were supposed to be the best of the best, they did not necessarily need four whole years to study something they could learn in less than two years.
The students who did not perform well, or flunked completely were made to repeat their classes, and activities. Which made their stay in the academy longer.
Naturally, not all disciples in this set of first years were coming to the academy for the first time, which meant that not all of them were particularly happy to be there. Because they had done this same drill once before, or more than once before.
The welcome speech was now over and disciples filtered out of the hall slowly, right after the principal and staff left, lectures would begin the next day, so they had the entire day to settle in and visit different places within tbe academy grounds.
"There’s a lot of history at this school Jacob." Violet said casually as they both walked out through the door way, having to shoulder bump random student who still shot them weird looks.
"Oh yeah, like what?" He asked without looking at her. Then guided her slowly with his hand on her shoulder through the massive crowd.
She looked up at him with confusion written all over her face. "Don’t tell me you don’t know."
"Know what?" He replied with a hint of feigned cluelessness. Of course he knew, he just knew that she enjoyed showing him things, plus, he wanted to play into her excitement. If she had something to show him, or teach him, then he would be all ears.
She seemed to ponder for a moment, and she raised a finger as though a lightbulb had flashed on top of her head. She smiled mischievously and grabbed him by his right hand, dragging him away from the crowd.
"Come on, let me show you something you won’t believe." She said as she pulled him towards the academy hostel building.