"Did you discover anything?"
"..."
Telmear nearly facepalmed. He knew all too well about Terria's social awkwardness and how oblivious she could be, but her complete lack of tact seemed to have only worsened with prolonged isolation.
What the hell, lady... didn't you see everything that just happened? Even Arthur wouldn't dare say something this insensitive right now
Telmear stared at her with wide, shocked eyes, while Terria had a genuine look of unbothered curiosity on her face as she stared at the Principal.
Ahem. Telmear coughed lightly to diffuse the suffocating tension, quickly pulling the oblivious woman to his side before smoothly jumping in with an apology.
"My sincere apologies, Principal, Terria-"
"What?" Terria interrupted with a sharp frown, still missing the point entirely. All she had done was ask a straightforward question.
Hearing her double down, Telmear spun around to face her, speaking through gritted teeth.
"You... shut up!"
Faced with Telmear's dead-serious expression, Terria finally clamped her mouth shut, though her glare remained defiant. "Why are you mad at me? Aren't we all curious about what he found?"
Ignoring her, Telmear turned back to the Principal with a fawning, diplomatic smile. "Let's not mind her; she sometimes speaks before she thinks."
"Hm..." The Principal's tone remained ice-cold. Whatever minor discoveries he had made paled entirely in comparison to the secrets locked inside Arthur's awakening experience. Unfortunately, with Telmear physically present on academy grounds, he couldn't just throw his weight around.
Realizing he lacked enough leverage to pry further today, the Principal decided to cut a compromise in exchange for a future opening. His voice softened, though only slightly.
"I actually don't mind sharing what I found out; you can tell this to Lily when you return."
He paused, his gaze shifting past them. "But first, Arthur has to be officially enrolled in the academy before leaving."
Telmear nodded in agreement; Arthur was going to join Nerfall Academy anyway. The original plan was for his enrolment after a year, but given that the boy had miraculously awakened early, his admission had to be fast-tracked.
"Alright, kid, you can go with the Principal. You have until the day ends; after that, we head back to the Estate." Telmear instructed Arthur, who had been listening diligently to the conversation between the adults without speaking. Follow the newest chapters on novelping(.)com.
He gave a quick nod. As he moved to follow, Telmear leaned in, whispering a brief instruction into his ear.
Arthur was still in a slight daze when the Principal lowered the mist barrier around them, and the rest of the newly awakened Transcendents came into view once more.
The scene greatly differed from the terror and confusion that gripped them all earlier.
Now, they sat quietly in isolated groups, eyes closed, focused inward on either meditation or investigating the changes from awakening.
A source note worth keeping: the author posts this chapter on NovelPhoenix.com, yet it was copied here without consent.
Suddenly, the Challengers who had been lost during awakening were old news. Excitement burned brightly in every eye as they plunged headfirst into the mysteries of Transcendence.
It didn't take long for the crowd to notice the High-Ranked Transcendents had finally exited the barrier.
The Principal slowly drifted before the Crowd of newly awakened as his senses swept through them slowly. After a short moment of silence, his voice drifted from the m
"First..... You have my congratulations on becoming a Transcendent. The fact that you are among those who survived means you either had to make the hard decision of not challenging higher or risk it all for one more Summit."
The attention of the newly awakened was fully captured by the Principal at this moment.
"Either choice, whether it was made unconsciously or not, contributed to you success in awakening..... That and a little bit of Luck."
His gaze settled on Arthur for a moment as he spoke. "Some a bit more than others... but... you're all Transcendents now."
"Most of you already received your Academy identification Token; as soon as you get back to your temporary lodges, remember to activate it using your aura."
"You can slowly learn how the Academy works after that yourselves; I could hope that you all get to graduate, but... that'll be wishful thinking..... So, I hope to see how many of you can graduate the Academy." Just from the voice of the Principal, it was impossible to tell how serious he was as he spoke, and the fact that there was no face to the voice didn't make it any easier.
"To those of you who don't know who I am, I'm your Principal.... Yes, that's the extent of my identity. Principal and nothing more." Murmurs suddenly followed from the Transcendents who had no clue who or what the Mist was.
But the noise was short-lived, especially given the tension of standing in the presence of such a figure and the two white-haired Cross's who stood to the side. Although silent, their presence wasn't negligible by any means.
"Any questions?"
Before departing together, leaving Arthur behind without a single word.
"It looks like I'll have to figure out the enrollment myself." Arthur looked around at the various faces and their reactions towards him; most of them weren't ignorant of his identity as a Cross.
And the ones who were ignorant weren't stupid; a newly awakened Transcendent that had a connection with three different high-ranked Transcendents was no ordinary person.
And for this reason, each face his gaze fell upon quickly avoided him, walking in a different direction to avoid him like a plague. The sight of his attacker, almost frozen to death, was enough of a deterrent.
"The lonely kid at school.... great... Thank you, Terria..." Ow! Arthur winced in pain from his aching eye when he caught sight of a few people walking over.
"Oh, these guys..." He recognized some of them from the third summit, and one of them from stopping his face from getting ruined further.
"Hey," Arthur waved slightly before realizing. "Ugh, I'm waving... too enthusiastic." He watched them walk over, all four of them.
"Hi, Cross," Vihr approached ahead of the others with an extended hand for a handshake.
Arthur took his hand with the most serious expression his bruised face could manage. "Hey, Arthur."
"Vihr," Vihr spoke with a slight frown, not understanding what Arthur meant.
"So... Cross Vihr?" Arthur spoke with a similar expression. Genuinely forgetting his new surname, the memories he had just received still felt quite foreign.
"No. No... I'm Vihr Rozan." Vihr explained, still quite confused, but went on to introduce his sister, who stood silently to the side with an inquisitive look.
"And this is Nessa Rozan, my sister."
Arthur turned to Nessa to see her staring unflinchingly into his eyes, but he respectfully gave a simple nod, turning to the other three, who followed with their introductions.
"I'm Herman Myu." Following his glance at the staring Nessa, who barely put out a smile, was a dark-haired, round-faced girl, at the same age as the rest of the newly awakened. Unfortunately, her cute smile was followed by a squared-jawed, broad-shouldered kid who easily towered above the ground with his bulky form.
"I'm Flameheart Henry."
"And I'm Sentari Lucas." Lucas was the least impressionable, not because of how he was dressed or his looks, but because of his height. He was almost totally drowned within the sea of tall Transcendents, but standing before Arthur,
Arthur finally found someone whom he wouldn't have to look up to, just to see their face. The rest was good for his neck. Since he arrived in this new world, his bully was taller; his savior was too. The Principal, Terria, and Telmear were worse. Then, onto the five before him.
Arthur felt a slight feeling of relaxation in his neck. He didn't attribute it to the height of Lucas or his. Not yet.