"Congratulations to all who are here. I understand it was a rough and harrowing path"
The young man spoke calmly and with a small smile but Jace wasn't easily tricked.
There was a famous quote 'The eyes are the windows to a person's soul' and in his eyes Jace could see the exact same thing he had seen in the eyes of his cousin.
Their eyes weren't full of kindness or pity, they were filled with nothing, completely devoid of all emotions.
They were the eyes of a master manipulator.
Aside from that, hearing the young man say congratulations, felt like a relief. That in that second, he has done the impossible. And looking around almost every other person had that same smile on their face. A smile of accomplishment.
'Scary'
Jace finally understood why some people were driven to do the craziest of things. At the same time he made sure to warn himself to be wary.
The manipulative man meanwhile, was slowly and surely studying the faces of all the people there. Searching.
As he did he slowly rubbed the golden ring on his finger.
He seemed disappointed because a second later, he was offering a fake smile, his mind wandering elsewhere.
With a loud clap he smiled once more as he declared "My name is Nathan and I'm the second year who'll be showing you around"
With that he turned and began walking, his voice calling out "With that, follow me".
His pace was fast, his foot gliding above the grass as he reached the tiled path. The crowd hurried to follow.
As the crowd rushed to follow, he casually spoke "In life, you're graded on how strong you are, how knowledgeable you are, how lucky you are. In the military academy, it's more of the same".
As the path continued, there was a sharp turn to the right, around the path open field. And hundreds of meters in front of the path, was a humongous gate.
The gate held the all familiar symbol with words Jace was too far away to read. Nathan paused his speech as he glanced at the gate still far from him before continuing, both on his speech and his walk.
"As I said, the military academy is more of the same. Classes are determined for you depending on the role they see you as. If they see you as a Frontline fighter, expect lots of combat training. If they see you as a support worker, expect lots of equipment training, and if they see you as a military commander".
He paused for a second, examined the group before bursting out in laughter "You know what, I don't need to say it. None if you will probably reach that high. No one does, except the legacies"
The legacies referred to children of the leaders of powerful factions. While Jace was the son of the leader of the Black Stars, their factional power came nowhere close to the level of others.
It was why getting the alliance with the faction of the woman at the banquet was so important.
Nathan continued his speech unaware of Jace's working mind "Most of you will only spend a year here. You'll be hired by some powerful faction no doubt, mostly due to the simple fact that you came here. The rest who will stay here are either specifically chosen by the military or simply couldn't find a faction to take them. You're either a chosen or absolute trash".
As Jace heard that, his mind went to Eric. He had been chosen specially by the military, mostly due to his unique ability but had quickly fallen out of favour.
As Jace pondered he heard chuckling to his left. Looking forward, he wasn't the only one who had heard it as Nathan had too.
He smiled, his face slowly cracking as he asked "So, would you mind sharing what you found that was so funny?"
The group of laughing students suddenly seemed a little subdued, except one. Puffing his chest a little, maybe hoping to look confident and score some points with others, the boy said with a smirk "Isn't it ironic you're telling us this. Seeing as you're still here and you definitely don't seem like you're chosen."
A few people laughed, most wary about the second year's anger, yet Nathan did nothing except crack a little smile.
And then he moved.
In one second he was in front of the crowd, his body relaxed, his arms in his pocket and a slight smile on his face.
The next he was in the middle of the crowd, standing over the crumpled body of the once confident student now groaning out in pain.
Nathan's posture was exactly the same it had been, his entire body posture relaxed but now it held a certain edge to it. A sharpness that warned Jace not to mess with him.
Still smiling, he spoke. His voice which once sounded like the whispers of an angel now pierced hard like the muttering of a devil.
"It seems a lot of people still do not understand. In the Grand scheme of things, you all are utterly worthless. It doesn't matter where you came from or if you were a genius prodigy in an obscure center of the universe. Right here, right now, in this very place, all of you have absolutely zero worth. The faster you understand that, the better life in this hell-hole will be".
The second-year took a deep breath as he struggled to compose himself. Finally, after flashing a bright smile, Nathan headed to the front, leading the crowd towards the gate.
The atmosphere had changed from its calm and joyful one into a more subdued one.
Nathan meanwhile, walked forward as he remarked loosely "Anyway, as I was saying. Most second years are too busy with missions from the military to pay attention to you. Of course, that doesn't mean they'll just ignore you".
As he spoke he turned around, his face a grin "They'll only speak to you after the culling".
"The culling?"
Someone near Jace repeated as the second year plastered his now iconic fake smile "You don't need to worry about it now. All I'll say is that whosoever can't cross that challenge, will not be a part of Humanity's future"
Jace frowned as he heard that. Hearing the military Academy had a culling wasn't surprising. They needed a way to separate the chaff and the wheat.
What was so surprising was the second year's word choice. He hadn't used the word expelled or kicked out but had only said that person wouldn't be a part of Humanity's future.
Jace didn't have that much time to think as Nathan led the crowd through the gates and into a clearing.
At the left, was a large hall which could put the Great Hall in the Black Stars to shame.
At its side was an equally tall building, on it scribbled the words 'Library'. The two buildings looked Grey and lifeless, which made Jace think the Military probably didn't care about how attractive it looked.
At the center of the clearing was the giant statue of the first ability user, Caelan Munro.
Meanwhile, on Jace's left were what Jace guessed were the dorms. In truth they were just a bunch of buildings attached to each other.
Jace chose to ignore that and focus more on the hall. With its bland design and general lack of creativity from whoever designed it, it had the feel of a simple uncomplicated structure.
The only thing that looked a bit different were the several large pillars which supported the entrance.
And around those two pillars were two students, second-years if Jace guessed.
As Nathan noticed them, he sped up, the crowd trailing in his footsteps. As he did, Jace was able to note the two seniors.
The first was a girl with red hair which gradually turned black the farther out it went. She was pacing about with a frown on her face and as she noticed Nathan she called out sharply.
Too far away to hear, Jace couldn't hear much. What he did see was Nathan simply raising his hand. It was an ordinary gesture and Jace wouldn't have thought much of it, if the girl hadn't flinched.
Jace walked alongside the crowd as he heard Nathan say "... found her?"
He seemed to have forgotten that he was leading a crowd and no one would dare call his attention for fear of earning his wrath.
The once confident boy was still in the crowd, clutching his stomach and doing his best to stay out of sight. He remained a warning.
The girl shook her head as she replied "Why are we even searching for her? Can't you just find someone else?".
Nathan shot her a glare as she slowly slithered into the shadows. Turning to the other person, Nathan asked "So what about you, Ely? In the group you had, did you find her?"
The second person was leaning on a pillar, the cap on his hoodie on. As he heard Nathan, he pulled back the white hood, before plucking out his ear buds.
As he did Jace was able to take a proper look at him. His blonde hair reminded Jace of his cousin and as he looked up, Jace was able to notice his gold-speckled hazel eyes.
For some reason, they looked familiar. As if it reminded him of something and for a second their eyes met.
The boy known as Ely blinked for a second as he saw Jace before he grinned. It felt like the kind of grin a predator gave to his prey which served to heighten Jace's caution.
Finally, he appeared to have realized Nathan had asked him something as he muttered unwillingly "Don't know. Check for yourself"
And with that, he plucked his ear bud back in his ear and paid no attention to Nathan or anyone else.
For a second, nothing happened, everyone probably shocked at Ely's casual display. Jace was sure that something was going to happen but with a slight wave Nathan declared "Seems like she isn't here".
Jace noticed as the girl's fists clenched. She looked like she was about to explode but managed to sputter out "You're allowing him to-"
Nathan stopped her in her tracks as he began walking away "You're pissed? Do whatever you want but if you even say another brain-dead statement, let's just say I'm not in the best of moods"
He paused for a second as he turned to face the crowd. Drawing out his best fake smile he bowed a little "I didn't want you to see that but in any case. You can enter the hall. One last thing"
He paused as he finished "Welcome to the Academy.
Behind him, Ely pushed himself from the pillar, his head raised eye as he scanned the crowd. His eyes met Jace once more and he smiled, a smile that confirmed that Jace was by no means mistaken and that Ely was looking at him.
With his eyes still glued to Jace, Ely repeated and Jace could feel that Ely was talking to him directly.
"As my good friend said, Welcome to the Academy"