Everyone stood there in confusion while the two continued to puke their guts out.
A few rushed to help them, while others just looked at each other and then at the faraway building.
From the looks of it, this stone track led toward that building.
After glancing at the two one last time, about half of the group started walking toward the building.
As they moved, Xane looked beside the stone track. Unlike before, this time he saw the mowed grass.
Though a few feet away from the track, he could see a dense layer of trees.
With how uneven the trees were, it looked more like a forest than a garden.
From time to time, he heard weird noises that were kind of creepy.
Zayn said to him, [Don't worry, that's just a normal forest with a few small animals in there.]
Xane asked,
[Yup. It's mentioned in the novel. We are now within the safe territory of the academy.]
Xane nodded and motioned toward the building that continued to get bigger with each step.
[Oh, that's just an accommodation building. We'll likely get assigned a room there.]
Xane stopped asking questions as he finally saw the door leading to the small stone building.
Now that he was this close, he realized it was barely a two-story building.
There was nothing creepy about the building, which helped everyone feel more at ease.
All of them walked down the track and into the building.
Just as they walked past the main gate, they entered a small hall with a reception desk, with two females in brown dresses standing behind it.
They looked to be in their late teens.
Upon seeing them, the two bowed. "Welcome to the Academy, new Hex masters."
The group of teens looked at each other and then nodded to the women.
Already expecting such a response, the girls smiled and introduced themselves. "Hex masters, I am Mia. This here is my twin sister."
The second girl said with a smile, "I am Maya. We both work at the academy as staff. No need to be tense around us."
One guy stepped forward and said, "The instructor pointed here before leaving us."
Mia waved at them. "No worries, Hex masters. You've come to the right place. Let me brief you on the academy."
Everyone nodded.
She pointed to her dress. "Everyone in this dress is a staff member, while anyone you see in a robe is a senior Hex master. Different colors represent different authorities. So if you need anything in the academy, look for staff in uniform."
Maya added, "Keep in mind not to disturb the senior Hex masters. Some of them are short-tempered, and that might land you in trouble."
The teens gulped and nodded their heads.
Mia bent down and took out some metal tokens, and to everyone's surprise, she threw them up into the air.
The metal plates started rotating in the air and then rushed above the teens' heads.
Xane looked at the metal plate above his head with intrigue. Soon, the metal plate floated down to Xane's eye level.
Maya said, "Hex master, just show your hand, and your identity token will be linked to you."
As she said, everyone placed their palms forward as, one after another, the tokens dropped onto their hands.
Xane saw his information appear on the silver metal plate, as if someone had scratched it onto the card.
Mia explained, "Hex masters, these are your academy tokens. You can see all your information on the front of the token."
Sure enough, Xane saw the structure:
[Name: Viyron Zenaris.
Hex master level: 0
Hex master type: -
Hex core potential: Silver.
Reward points: 10.
]
Maya said, "Hex masters, please turn your identity tokens."
Like she said, he turned his token and saw these weird symbols etched into the metal.
She added, "If you touch any of the symbols, an illusion will pop up inside your mind. Please place your index finger on the first symbol."
He followed her instructions and pressed his finger on the small castle symbol.
The next moment, a blue screen appeared before his eyes.
It looked like a mimicry of a status window.
He asked Zayn,
Zayn mentally nodded. [Yup. It's a guide and rule for the academy.]
Maya said, "Hex masters, you all must be able to see the rules and guide. You can control it by touching your metal ID. Swipe your thumb up and down to read more content, and if you move sideways, you'll see other types of rules."
Zayn said to him, [Dude, it's more like a touchscreen. Use it like you would those, and we should be good to go.]
It didn't take long for Xane to master the controls of the metal ID.
Interestingly, others from the Zenaris family also didn't struggle much.
This made it clear that there must be some similar kind of tech present in this world.
Mia said, "Hex masters, you can explore all the functions on your own, but can you please turn it to the front side again?"
Once again, everyone did, she said, "You see the reward points? You'll get a certain number of reward points every week based on your potential and performance. Everything in the academy will require you to spend these points."
Maya added, "Don't worry. Once the academy starts, you'll get lots of opportunities to earn these points."
At this, Xane glanced at the ID of the person beside him.
His eyes focused on the last two lines as he saw the copper potential and 5 reward points.
He asked Zayn,
[It is Rust → Iron → Bronze → Copper → Silver → Gold → Dark Gold → Adamant → Mythril. As a Silver, we're the second-lowest who could still attend the academy.]
Xane nodded.
[Nope, it's more like each subsequent potential gets double the reward points. If I remember right, the protagonist gets around 80 free reward points each week.]
Mia spoke this time. "Now, Hexmasters, you have to decide how many points you want to spend on your accommodation."