"Phew... that was close," Fuyu muttered under his breath as he trailed behind the teacher.
"Good thing it's the first day of the semester. She's probably still in 'slightly forgiving' mode."
He let out a sigh and started walking followed the teachers toward the rows of students already assembled in the schoolyard.
Just moments after he passed through the school's gate, he realized that there was a garden, Right after the entrance gate.
"Huh," Fuyu thought, eyeing the scenery.
"Kinda weird spot for a garden, isn't it? Shouldn't it be like... off to the side or something?"
Before he entered the yard, as he closely follow the disciplinary teacher (the lady that told him to run ten laps, although she'd later forgive him since it's the first day).
The garden itself looked like it had been ripped straight out of a noble estate. The stone path beneath his feet split down the middle, forming a wide trail through neatly clipped hedges and manicured grass that somehow sparkled, like it had been dusted with powdered glass.
The hedges along the sides were sculpted into strange animal shapes—some real, like foxes or eagles... others mythical, like a six-winged lion or a snake curled into the shape of a rose.
Fuyu was kinda curious whether it was some nasty students or it's the school's officials who sculpted these hedges into fancy animals.
The garden didn't smell like average patch of flowers either. The air was heavy with something floral, but... sharp. Like perfume mixed with iron. Not unpleasant, but definitely not natural.
The walkways branched in multiple directions, though tall hedges blocked most of the side paths from view. He could faintly hear water trickling, wind rustling leaves, and bells ringing faintly in the distance—probably from the main hall's tower.
The path behind him was lined with more hedgework, so thick it might as well have been a wall. Someone clearly didn't want students doubling back or sneaking in late.
Initially Fuyu thought that the garden was a minor decoration area but later changed his mind after trailing after the disciplinary teacher for a while.
'Why is this garden so huge! We've walked for like 10 minutes now and yet I still can't see the assembled place' He quietly complained to himself, not wanting to say it out loud as to not agitate the seemingly already frustrating teacher, he followed.
"Seriously, how does a countryside school afford all this?" he wondered. "This garden alone probably costs more than our entire village."
Still rubbing the back of his neck, he followed the teacher through the final archway of hanging vines.
Just as he was complaining to himself, the viewed slightly changed. Before it was only a stone path with excessive amount of hedges and roses.
Now in front of him was an enormous fountain—white marble, polished so smoothly it almost glowed. At first glance, Fuyu assumed it was just another statue of some fancy guy in a robe. But as he got closer, he noticed the details.
There were one life-sized statues of boy, half-kneeling at the center of the fountain bowl. Their heads were bowed, hands clasped tightly to their chests in prayer. Tears streamed from their stone-carved eyes—actual water, flowing and filling the basin below.
'Okay... that's kinda depressing for a garden masterpiece,' Fuyu thought, staring at the crying statues.
'Who thought 'sad praying boys' was a good fountain idea and beside where did the water stemmed from? Don't tell me it's makra again.' He stalled when thinking about it.
"Yoshitsuna-san, if you're so fond of that statue, would you like to do twenty laps around it while admiring its craftsmanship?" the teacher called from up ahead, her voice sharp.
"Eep! Coming right now Ma'a-!" Fuyu jolted back to reality, He almost blurted out his thought.
"Did you just call me Madam, Yoshitsuna-san?" As soon as she heard the word madam, she adruptly turned her sharp gaze to Fuyu.
"O-of course not! ma-, t-teacher!"
"Hm. Just so you know, I'm only 28. And my name is Honya. Since I'm your homeroom teacher, you'd better remember it. Mislabel me again, and we'll have a... correctional measures."
'W-wait did she just say, she's my homeroom teacher? And why is she walking so fast now!' Realizing he was gonna be abandoned in this garden maze, he quickly followed her.
Just after they walked past the fountain, the garden finally gave way to a new kind of space.
The narrow path opened up—suddenly and completely—into an enormous paved courtyard.
It was wide. Open. Bleached in sunlight. It stretched so far ahead that from where Fuyu was standing, the far edge of it looked more like a soft blur than a hard boundary. The heat rising from the stone made the air shimmer just enough that he could barely see the shapes at the other end.
A podium stood out near the far edge. Empty, for now. Raised only slightly, but positioned dead center—like a judge's seat presiding over the endless lines of students below it.
Fuyu blinked.
'Woah… there's so many people.'
From where he stood, he couldn't even count how many rows of students were already assembled. Dozens? Hundreds? It looked like a solid wave of uniforms flowing across the courtyard, all lined up in perfect blocks— postures straight.
No one was chatting. No one was fidgeting.
"This is Saint Mori's main courtyard," Honya said, keeping her eyes forward as she led him along the edge of the rows. "Used for any activity that requires full-scale coordination—opening ceremonies, festivals, evacuation drills, and more. I assume it's much larger than your middle school's courtyard?"
'Middle school didn't even have a courtyard,' Fuyu thought. 'It only had a cracked basketball court and one vending machine that always ate your coins.'
The entire courtyard was tiled in large slate-gray stones—clearly old, but polished to a mirror-like finish. At the far end, behind the podium, stood a massive structure unlike anything Fuyu had ever seen in real life.
It was the school's main building—the largest by far.
White stone walls rose five stories tall, lined with thick ivory pillars carved with flowing script and ancient Makra glyphs. Above the double-arched entrance was a wide ceremonial crest, set in etched crystal, refracting sunlight into thin rainbows that fanned across the stone.
The building itself stretched nearly the full width of the courtyard, and its height dwarfed every other structure nearby. Dozens of evenly spaced windows glittered across its front, and a tower capped with a black bell loomed over its center of the roof.
It looked less like a school building and more like a cathedral-temple hybrid—a place where you either learned things or got sentenced for divine punishment.
"And that building at the end," Honya continued, gesturing with a nod, "is Saint Mori's general hall. We use it for first-year classes, campus-wide meetings, and intergrade ceremonies. You'll be spending a fair amount of time in there, so I suggest you have to get used wondering it."
As they walked further down the side, Fuyu glanced around. To his left and right, he could now spot six more buildings framing the courtyard—three on each side, each slightly different in shape and color. One looked like a training hall, another like a laboratory, another had odd tower spires that reminded him of something from a Makra combat academy.
But none of them pulled his eyes like the main building.
Still staring up at it, Fuyu let out a small whistle.
"…This place is insane."
"You'll find it manageable. Assuming you stop gawking and get into position before the ceremonial actually begin." Honya said without even turning.
Fuyu shut up, straightened his back, and quickly followed her.
Since Honya's class was in the front row, that meant Fuyu had to walk—no, run—all the way there. The problem? The front row was so far from where he was standing, it might as well have been taken the same time, running from his house to another village.
Honya, of course, disappeared halfway through, saying she had "other matters to attend to" and that he'd "figure it out just fine."
All she left him with was a vague direction and one line:
"Just look for the yellow banner. That's your class row. Try not to get lost, okay?"
Easier said than done.
As Fuyu jogged along the sidewalk bordering the courtyard, he glanced to his side—and stopped mid-step.
Nearly every student he passed had a weapon.
Not like a pencil-case sword or decorative gear. These were the real deal. He saw a girl holding a polished glaive with a faint blue glow. Another student had a metal staff strapped to their back. One guy looked like he walked straight out of a battlefield—with a flail slung over his shoulder and scars that didn't seem cosmetic.
Even the ones without weapons gave off a weird feeling—like their presence alone bent the air slightly around them. Their Makra was so strong, it leaked out like steam from a pot.
Fuyu slowed down, uneasy.
"Wait... did I miss something in the acceptance letter?" he muttered, staring at one particularly intimidating bald student spinning a chain around his wrist like he was warming up for execution practice.
"Why does everyone look like they're about to go to war?"
He turned away just in time to avoid eye contact with a tall guy holding two curved daggers, then started moving again—faster this time.
Maybe there's a combat class today... though isn't that a little much for the first day?
Thud!
His thoughts were interrupted as he crashed right into someone. His face smacked against something firm, and he fell backward with a loud grunt, landing on his tailbone.
"Oww! That hurt like hell" Said Fuyu as he cover his nose, apparently he was having a nosebleed from the bump.
The person standing over him had golden-blond hair and wore a long white robe. His eyes were mostly hidden behind an elegant black mask, but something underneath it still glowed faintly—like embers behind thin cloth.
He looked maybe in his late twenties, but his posture was too upright, too... trained. A sword was strapped beneath his robe, barely visible, but definitely there.
On his chest was a strange symbol: a glowing white circle with a sword pointing down the center. Fuyu had seen it before—maybe at a local Church shrine? He wasn't sure.
The man offer him a hand, his hand was elegant yet contrasting by many wrinkles in his hand, a sign showing that his hand passed hell of training with the sword beneath his robe.
He grabbed the man's hand, as he pulled himself upward.
"Sorry, I was lost in thought and didn't notice you were in the way," the man said with a slight bow and an apologetic smile.
"Aw! No, no, it was actually my fault! I was running blindly and ended up bumping into you. It's not your fault at all!" Fuyu replied, covering his bleeding nose with one hand.
"Still… I managed to injure you before the ceremony even began. Besides, you seem like a good, honest, and harmless boy. Please, take this as my apology," the man said, noticing the blood still trickling from Fuyu's nose. He handed Fuyu a small doll—no larger than half the boy's hand.
It was a tiny ghost made of soft white cloth, shaped like a floating wisp. Its round head was cinched beneath gentle folds, with two black button eyes stitched into its face and a faintly crooked smile sewn beneath. It was cute—yet strangely unsettling. Despite its harmless size, the doll gave off an eerie presence.
"Umm… thanks? You really don't need to. And, well… I don't really like dolls—wha—?!" Fuyu gently tried to decline, not just because he didn't want compensation from someone who wasn't truly at fault, but because something about the doll's eyes gave him an uneasy feeling the moment he looked into them.
But it seemed his rejection didn't reach the man's ears. The man gently took Fuyu's left arm and placed the doll into his palm.
"If you run into any trouble during the ceremony, just use this doll," the man said with a smile, then stepped back and calmly walked past Fuyu.
"H-Hey, wait! I don't want this! And what do you mean by 'use it'?!" Fuyu called out, turning around and about to follow him—
"Yoshitsuna-san! What are you doing standing there like a statue? Get to your line, and meet me at the main entrance at the end of the day!" Honya's sharp voice rang out once again. She stood near the front row beside the podium, still a fair distance away from Fuyu's position.
As the other students turned toward the source of the voice, Fuyu lowered his head, flinching under the weight of their attention. He'd never had good experiences with crowds—and being stared at brought back flashes of his past bullying. He was shy by nature, and being put on the spot like this only made it worse.
"Y-Yes, teacher!" he muttered under his breath, scurrying to the end of his class's row, still clutching the ghost doll in his left hand.
Once he found his place, he quickly stuffed the doll into his pocket and let out a quiet sigh. His thoughts drifted back to the strange man. Who was he?And how did he disappear so suddenly? He didn't look like a school official, yet no one else seemed to have noticed him at all.
Suddenly, a voice echoed across the courtyard—calm, a little raspy, and definitely old.
"A-hem. Looks like everyone's here now. Greetings, greetings, everyone," said a raspy voice.
As Fuyu turned toward the podium, he saw a short, elderly man with a hunched back. His right eye was shut, marked by a long scar—as if it had once been slashed clean through.
He wore a flowing purple cloak with the word Principal engraved across the back and on the right side of his chest. Strangely, his inner shirt didn't match the elegance of his robe at all—it was a plain athletic vest, the kind worn during physical training.
Unlike the other students—or Honya, whose intimidating aura practically radiated—this man emitted no visible Makra aura at all. And yet, his very presence seemed to settle the atmosphere, as if his existence diluted every other aura around him, bringing a quiet stillness to the entire assembly.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting," he said with a chuckle. "This old body takes longer to wake up these days."
He clapped his hands.
"First, I'd like to congratulate you all for making it through the first round! Please, give yourselves a big hand!"
The teachers started clapping. Then most students followed—thunderous applause echoing through the courtyard.
Fuyu didn't clap.
'First round? What's he talking about...?'
A student in the same row raised their hand.
"Excuse me, Principal, but… I thought we were already accepted?"
"Oh-hoho! I see! Good to know that there're new bloods entering our school." The principal didn't answer directly. Instead, he nodded toward the two teachers standing at his sides.
"Since you've asked, why don't we begin the ceremony now? That way, your question will be answered—hoho… if you survive it." He gave a small nod to the teachers beside him.
"Well then... let's begin the ceremony. You'll find your answer soon enough."
He raised his hand.
Suddenly, the ground shook. A rumble started beneath their feet—deep and loud. Fuyu barely managed to keep his balance.
All around them, a dome started rising. It came up slowly but steadily, like a wall of curved stone and metal forming from underground. Some students gasped. A few screamed. The sky above was swallowed, replaced by the curved ceiling of a massive structure.
Within seconds, the entire courtyard was sealed inside a giant dome.
The principal's voice echoed again, but this time it wasn't coming from the podium. It rang from hidden speakers high above.
"In order to complete this ceremony, you must all fight each other… only then will you be considered worthy for Phase One of your true admission."
The voice faded.
A few seconds passed.
Then the screaming started.
Some students dropped their bags and ran. Others already pulled out their weapons, Some just froze.
Fuyu didn't move.
He couldn't.
His legs weren't listening. His mouth was dry. His thoughts were spinning too fast to grab onto.
'What the hell is happening?'
--------To be continued--------