Silence pervaded the hall for a moment.
Everyone let the name sink in for a moment as they processed this information.
Although there were bound to be a few ignorant ones among the crowd, any sensible person would be able to tell who this young man was from his name alone.
—Zurbluris!
This was the name passed down from his predecessors.
The Zurbluris Household... it was one of the oldest Historian Families whose foundations dated back to the Pre-Apocalypse Era of the Seventh Aeon.
In its prime, this family had a Mythic Historian!
The name ’Zurbluris’ was passed down to the one who was recognized as the Heir.
Such was the practice of this world.
There was no such concept as a ’surname.’ Instead, everyone had a single name, which was meant to represent their identity. This name could be passed down from parent to child, or a brand new name could be created.
An individual could even choose their own name when they came of age.
That said, the name Zurbluris held a lot of meaning to everyone present—especially the slightly dazed Lazarus who stared at the prideful boy with his crimson eyes.
’Zurbluris... That name...’
The image of a certain old man, with his flowing white beard and ancient manner of speech, flashed in his mind at once.
’Teacher...’
Lazarus clenched his fists slightly as his body throbbed with deep emotions.
He quickly closed his eyes and looked away, unable to withstand the trepidation that he was feeling at the moment. This young body of his made it difficult to control his emotions, causing them to nearly overflow.
To anyone who observed him, however, they would see a different picture.
’Hmph! Now you understand...’ Zurbluris watched as Lazarus appeared crestfallen after taking his gaze away from him and broadened his smile.
Plebeians like this Lazarus fellow were the ones he despised most of all.
’Everyone ought to know their place. To be clear of your identity is what it means to be an intelligent, functional member of society. Yet this guy was audacious enough to break the status quo. His lack of self-awareness even made him stare casually at me after I asked that question specifically for his sake.’ Zurbluris scoffed in his heart as he took his gaze away from Lazarus and returned it to Ariana.
’Fortunately, he isn’t too stupid. He recognizes my name, after all...’
"Zurbluris, huh? So you’re the son of my colleague... Very well," Ariana smiled and nodded before answering his question.
"Those who can’t reach 10 Percent Integration after three years will be given two choices. They can either leave the Academy as dropouts or repeat the year in a Special Class."
’W-what?!’
The one who displayed shocked wasn’t Zurbluris but Lazarus.
After all, the former already knew this aspect of the Academy due to his rich family background. He only asked the question so that Lazarus would be clear of his reality and the future that awaited him.
Most people who started off with a 1 Percent Integration would never reach 10 Percent before graduation.
In essence, Lazarus was destined to fail.
What Zurbluris didn’t know was that Lazarus was already halfway to that mark.
He would definitely reach 10 Percent in three years.
As for Lazarus, his shock stemmed from the solution the Academy provided for the students whose results were undesirable.
’A special class for them? This... Isn’t this going to cost additional resources?’
In his time, those who couldn’t reach 10 Percent Integration were already discarded at the end of the First Term in their Third Year. Only the best could compete in the Final Examinations, and it was such a big event that it featured the Academies from all four Continents.
’So why is this different?’ Lazarus pondered deeply before looking around him. ’Is it because of the small number of Historians who successfully Integrated?’
Within the hall were only a little over a hundred people.
This was definitely a small number.
In Lazarus’ time, there were at least hundreds of students who attended Orientation.
However, this wasn’t always the case for later sets.
He had personally witnessed an Orientation that featured less numbers than this, yet the standards of Dark Moon Academy remained unchanged.
’First, they don’t eliminate the lower classes, and even after graduation, those who don’t make the cut are given access to a special class so they don’t have to drop out. It seems the Academy really wants more Historians to appear in the world.’
This thought caused a dark feeling to swirl within Lazarus’ mind.
The Historian profession was filled with all kinds of dangers, which was why there existed strict requirements for its members. If the Academy was compromising its values, it meant such direction was agreed on by the Historian Association.
Such a display of desperation from the higher-ups could only mean one thing.
’The kingdom is in dire need of Historians...’
At this point, Lazarus shuddered and felt a deep dread regarding the current state of this world and its affairs.
Before he could think any further about it, however, someone else raised their hands.
It was the girl right next to him.
"Hello. My name is Madeline. I’m curious about the activities we’ll have to undertake during our stay in the Academy—more specifically, the Nameless."
"Oh?" Ariana’s eyes lit up in surprise. It was a rather rare thing for a student not to display any fear when referring to these accursed creatures. "Go on."
"Will we be directly facing them during battle sessions or will be just learn of them?"
The moment she asked this question, the young men and women in the hall shuddered.
"Fighting Nameless Entities as students?"
"Isn’t that until we graduate?"
"W-we’ll have Historical Projections to help us, right?"
"But what if they get corrupted? What if we get corrupted too?"
Terror rapidly spread, causing the whispers to quickly transform into loud noise that filled the hall.
Fear is infectious.
Before long, everyone began to shiver and stutter as they spoke.
However—
"Be quiet," Ariana quickly quelled the noise with a single clap. "There’s no need for hysteria. You will indeed have to face Nameless Entities at some point during your stay in the Academy, but what do you take your instructors for? Will be stand still and let anything terrible happen to you? Of course not!"
’Maybe you won’t, but I bet that Neron guy would...’ Lazarus nearly rolled his eyes as he glanced at the sleeping man once again.
"Besides, you don’t have to worry about corruption. Many of you don’t know this, but just like Historians, Nameless Entities and Historical Projections are also separated into ranks—from Rank 1 to Rank 10. The higher the rank, the higher the power, and only Nameless from Rank 3 and above can infect you directly. As students, you won’t have to face anything that dangerous, so you shouldn’t worry too much."
It was only after she said this, that everyone finally relaxed.
"Does that answer your question?"
"Yeah..." Madeline smiled apologetically for the scene she ended up causing before thanking Ariana and returning to her seat.
"Any further questions?"
A few more students, emboldened by Zurbluris and Madeline, asked a few more questions, causing Ariana to explain a few more things about the Academy system to those who were unfamiliar with it.
Classes began by 9:00 AM and ended by 2:00 AM.
There were no classes on Saturdays and Sundays, leaving a lot of free time for the students.
However, this wasn’t so the students could slack off.
"Your free time exists so you can study and practice on your own. If you can’t learn on your own, forming groups and learning together is also advised..." Ariana added.
After an entire hour of Orientation, the questions finally ceased and the next phase appeared.
"It’s time to take your Oaths and officially become Squires. Only the will you be accepted as students of this Academy and future Historians who will protect humanity."
This wasn’t for everyone.
Those who didn’t desire this burden could leave.
Naturally, they wouldn’t be accepted into the Academy and would likely have to live as Sub-Integrated for the rest of their lives.
However, no one stood up.
There were hundreds who were successful in the Integration Ceremony, yet only these one hundred and fifteen showed up.
The fact that they attended the Orientation showed their decision had been made.
They were willing to become Historians!