The bells chime echoed early in the morning, waking Sei up.
Sei brushed off the blanket and swung his legs out of the bed, and walked to the window, rubbing his eyes.
As he opened the window, he was graced with a cold and sweet wind. The sun had barely risen up.
As he turned back, he noticed that Navi had already left.
'She woke up even before the bell.'
Then he looked at Fari, who was sleeping soundly, curled up like a ball beside his pillow.
He let out a sigh and walked to the door. He stretched his hand to grab the door handle, but suddenly the door flung open.
Navi stood there, her red hair damp, clinging to her cheeks. Her uniform—milk white top and matching skirt—clung to her, damp in places. Her **piercing red eyes** locked onto Sei's.
Her face flushed a sudden pink.
"Oh. Morning." Sei spoke casually, a lazy smile on his lips.
"E-eh, morning, Sei." Navi stumbled over her words.
"You wake up early, unlike me."
"Oh, nothing special. Just... a habit." Navi replied, brushing a strand behind her ear, her smile faint.
"It's about time we get to the stadium, remember?" Sei grabbed his uniform and walked toward the bath.
Later, the stadium was flooded with all the students who had enrolled the day before. Sei and Navi stood at the back, taking in the sea of white uniforms it looked like a field of white lilies swaying gently in the breeze.
The principal, clad in her formal blue silhouette, stepped onto the stage,
"Good morning and a happy first day to you all gathered here. You all are hereby official students of Luminar Academy." She spoke, her voice felt like a roar, clear all the way to the last student.
"I wish luck to all of you." With these final words, she left the stage, giving way to another instructor.
The instructor announced the commencement of classes and told the students to go to their respective classes assigned to them.
The academy had 5,000 students enrolled, separated into 100 classes of 50 students each.
Sei and Navi found themselves in the same class and settled into seats at the back.
The classroom buzzed with chatter, students already forming acquaintance from their dorms.
Sei slumped into his chair, arms crossed behind his head.
'Damn, again in a classroom,' Sei frowned in his mind.
The door clicked open and a man entered, long black hair mended elegantly. His eyes long and sharp. He wore a black uniform, marking that he was the instructor.
He walked to the desk in the front of the classroom and put the slate he was holding on it.
"Hello, students. I am Shin, your instructor. I will call out your names one by one."
A moment's silence.
"Come here, when your name is called. This right here is a special monolith. This monolith contains all kinds of Nature Energy traces. You have to put your hand on it and channel the nature energy. This slate will glow the color of the energy you attract and show the nature of your core," he announced. And then, without wasting any time, he started calling out names.
Panic swept over Sei's calm expression. He had to hide the identity of him being a void vessel. Although 80% of his core was sealed, it still attracted all types of energies.
He remembered the Grandmaster's warning: _"No matter what, you must not reveal your empty core."_
'*To hell with that... trouble before the day even started*'
One by one, students approached the monolith. The stone glowed faintly for most, indicating immature cores.
Then came a big, muscled boy—his frame far too developed for a ten-year-old. When he placed his hand on the slate, the room fell into stunned silence.
A bright blue glow erupted, brighter than the lights overhead. A hydro core—and a strong one at that.
Then a tall, elegant girl stepped forward, her long blue hair trailing behind her. Unlike the other girls, she wore pants.
She placed her hand on the slab. The stone pulsed deep green, and vines burst forth around her arm, coiling gently.
Even Instructor Shin raised an eyebrow, impressed.
"Navi Ren," the instructor called.
Sei's head snapped at the side. Navi sat quietly next to him, looking pale. Her hands trembled as she stood up. The weight of the eyes looking seemed to press down on her.
"You've got this," Sei whispered, a smile tugging his lips.
Navi slowly walked forward, then placed her hand on the slab and exhaled. The slab grew a faint hue of red and then blue, a mix of colors, indicating the possession of more than one core.
The instructor narrowed his eyes. He knew what that meant.
Navi struggled as the flicker of dying light blinked.
"Is that it?" a boy sitting on the front benches jeered, a grin lacing his lips, "That's less spark than a soggy matchstick."
The room burst into laughter.
Navi's hands twitched. Her breath hitched. She yanked her hand away, the glow snuffing out like a dying ember.
Rushing back to her seat, she buried her face in her sleeves, her shoulders trembling.
Sei clenched his fist, teeth grinding.
"Silence!" The instructor's voice cut like a blade.
The room went back to silence, everyone straight again.
"Sei Haswarth," the instructor called. The words made his stomach twist. His heartbeat increased as he stood and walked forward, his footsteps echoing in his ears.
'Damn, what do I do, I haven't thought of what to do. I will be found out like that. Shit.'
When he finally placed his hand down, the stone pulsed beneath it... but no light came. Not a flicker.
The instructor's gaze sharpened, a flash of suspicion darkening his eyes.
Whispers rippled through the class. The boy and girl who had shown strong cores stared at Sei, their eyes narrowing like predators.
For a moment, time seemed to freeze.
Sei's heart raced in his chest, a drumbeat of dread.
For a second there, everything felt off. Sei felt like he had been found out. But the thought of getting found out on his first day made his blood run cold.
As the realization drew closer, his breath became hitched. There is no way he can get out of this mess.
And then...
A voice rang out in his head.