As Zayn walked toward the castle, along the way, he saw others who were also heading in the same direction.
All of them wore small grey robes that reached only down to their waist.
It looked more like a hoodless jacket than a robe to him, but well, it didn't have any buttons, so a robe would be the more suitable word.
Halfway through, Zayn saw a group of elves walking from the side.
He had come to know that the big three species had different living arrangements.
While humans lived next to the big track on the edge, there was this large cafeteria in the center, and on the opposite side was the elves' living space.
The dwarves lived on the front side of the cafeteria, with the back side reserved for other species.
Now, it's not like you couldn't walk into other areas, but unless you knew someone, it could result in a clash.
He had heard multiple news stories about teens from different species getting beaten up by each other.
He stopped thinking about others as he saw the fog wall around the castle start to disappear.
It was this wall that had been stopping them from entering the castle for the past three days.
Finally, with the wall gone, everyone rushed ahead with their IDs in hand.
It wasn't long before Zayn saw the gigantic arched door that led them into a massive hall.
The sheer size of the castle made him feel like an ant.
Xane asked, [What the hell even is this monstrosity?]
Zayn sighed,
When Xane heard "cursed artifact," he remembered the first vision where Viyron had used that rusty sword.
Now he knew that thing was also a cursed artifact. It was just that there was no comparison between a rusty sword and a full, massive castle.
As they entered the hall, Zayn felt a tingling sensation in his hand.
Xane asked in confusion, [Wait, didn't you say Nythra only exists inside the Cursed Land? Then how come there's Nythra here?]
Zayn shook his head.
[And what type of cursed land is that?]
Xane just sighed, as the concept of cursed lands still went over his head.
He didn't ask more and focused on the surroundings instead.
Except for the grandness of the hall, it was completely empty.
There were no designs on the walls, nor any paintings like he'd seen in the Zenaris house.
It looked more like an abandoned castle.
Zayn tapped on the ID, and a map popped up, leading him to the back of the hall where he saw six stairs that were automatically moving upward.
Xane said in awe, [Fck, they have magic escalators!]
Zayn didn't say anything and moved to the middle stair on the left.
He looked around and saw others also getting on five of the six stairs, while the last one on the right remained empty.
Zayn wasted no time and hopped onto the stairs.
Once again, he noticed a distinction.
There were those like the Zenaris family heirs who calmly got on the stairs, while those not from big families wasted more time marveling at every little thing.
It wasn't long before the stairs led them to the first floor, and all he saw was a dark corridor with the Classroom 2 door right at the end.
With how black the corridor was, the lights inside weren't that effective.
It was a bit creepy, but still, it was nothing compared to their first day at the academy or their experiences in the cursed land.
One after another, everyone started moving down the corridor.
That's when Zayn noticed that Melina and three other elites from the House of Zenaris were leading the group, with a dozen other Zenaris teens following behind them.
He saw there was a small group of elves and dwarves behind the Zenaris members, but individually, they were far fewer.
Zayn stood in the middle group while many others were still coming up the stairs.
Xane asked in confusion, [Dude, what's going on? Why are there so many teens already here?]
Zayn just smiled.
[What the hell? Why even call this a classroom? They should just call it a hall.]
While Zayn and Xane bantered with each other, the group at the front reached the closed door.
The moment Melina placed her ID on the door, it snapped open.
What Zayn saw on the other side made him squint his eyes.
The entire classroom was painted white, which was such a stark contrast to the dark hall.
At the front of the class, they saw a podium with a bunch of wooden benches placed in a semicircular shape.
Each bench was big enough for two students to sit together.
Zayn saw Melina and the others from the Zenaris family sitting right in the front row in the center section.
After her, the others rushed to take their seats.
Though this time, Zayn moved to the side of the door and pretended to tie his shoes while letting the crowd enter first.
Xane asked in confusion, [Why, wait?]
Zayn glanced at the crowd and mentally said,
Xane asked, [So you know where the other important characters will sit?]
Xane mentally nodded. He wasn't that clueless anymore. In the last three days, he'd heard a lot of details from Zayn, and he agreed with Zayn's plan.
It was better to gather information first than to blindly rush into the battlefield.