The Veilwalker

That time of the year was here once again. All teens who had awakened their gifts and wished to become hunters and met the threshold have been accepted. Throughout the empire, all hunters' academies were ready to start the new academic year. The air was charged with excited teens aiming to become powerful hunters and make a name for themselves.

...

Mars

Hunters Academy

Alex, Ross, and Julia sat together in the front role seats of the massive auditorium, with a huge display before them. Year one alone had many auditoria to cater for the millions of students coming from both Earth and Mars, and every auditorium had a maximum capacity of 300,000 students. And each sitting roll was reserved for a specific class group.

All Class 1A sit on the first roll, Class 1B on the second roll and so on. Each auditorium had a Class 1A that was differentiated by another number coming after the 'A', with Alex and his friends being in Class 1A1.

They were dressed in the official uniform of the Academy; a black zip jacket that had a single red strip running from the left upper shoulder to the hem of the jacket, and underneath was a white shirt. Both males and females wore this uniform with black trousers for ease of movement and modesty for females when engaged in combat exercises.

The material the uniforms were made from came from the body of void creatures. They were durable, resistant to wear and tear, protected the students from cuts, and comfortable under all weather conditions.

As the students waited for the welcome message from the principal, Alex and his friends engaged in small talk. They had arrived at the academy the day before. Fortunately for Alex and Ross, they ended up in the same dormitory and on the same floor. Additionally, their dormitory was for the students with the highest stats recorded during their awakening.

Julia was the equivalent of the females as the top student among the female categories.

Suddenly, the holographic display came alive. The students quickly comported themselves and paid attention to what was about to happen.

On the display was a female dark-sclera human. Her appearance was that of a woman in her thirties with brown hair. While she may look thirty, as a Class A hunter herself, she was hundreds of years old and had been the principal for many years.

[Welcome, new students, to the Hunters Academy. I am your principal, Seraph Yiny and I am thrilled to stand before you today. I do apologize for not being able to stand face-to-face with all of you, but as you can tell, your numbers make that difficult.]

Reaching this point, the students listening to her all nodded in understanding. The size of the student body was no joke. The first years alone were in the millions, not to mention the other years.

[I want to express how delighted we are to have you join our community. As you step through our doors, you become part of a tradition of excellence, a legacy of hunters who have shaped the empire into what it is today.]

[Our academy is built on the values of self-improvement, resilience, and courage. To our new students, I offer these words of wisdom:

[Be bold in your pursuit of strength]

[Embrace challenges as opportunities for growth]

[Build meaningful relationships with your peers] …

As the students listened to the words of their principal, they resolved themselves to commit to her words and work hard to become the hunters they dreamed of; hunters that stand as the shield for humanity against the vicious void creatures.

A few minutes later, the principal brought her welcome message to an end.

[Beside each class is a robot designated to guide you through your orientation of the many facilities made available for you.]

[All questions you have would be addressed by them and at the end of your orientation, you'd be guided to your classrooms where your homeroom instructors await. Do enjoy your stay.]

Once she completed her message, the students then turned to their guides. Alex, Ross, Julia and their soon-to-be classmates gathered before the robotic guide. Being run by the primary AI system of the empire, the fluidity these robots had in communicating with people was flawless.

[Hello, students of Class 1A1. From here on out, we'd be touring the various facilities made available to you. We would begin our tour with the teleportation hubs spread across the academy.]

Giving its brief introduction, it guided them to the various facilities. Just as it said, the teleportation hub was the first place on their list. These hubs were spread all over the academy, connecting to the administration block, the classrooms, the cafeteria, the gyms, and all the necessary facilities.

Due to the size of the academy, which could be likened to a large city, the teleportation hubs eliminated the distance issue.

Different classes would visit other areas, and they would rotate once one class was done. With this rotation cycle, the tour of the first-year facilities came to an end. Their final destination was their classroom, Alex's class met with their homeroom instructor.

The classroom allotted to them was equally large as it was impressive. It came equipped with all the materials they needed. In front of the classroom was a large empty space that would generate the display the teacher would use for teaching.

The desks were arranged in an auditorium-style setting to give every student room to see their instructor and what he taught; this went both ways with the instructor being able to see each student.

On the left side of the classroom from the students' point was a massive view of the academy grounds. Being one of the classes on the top floor of their class building afforded them such a luxurious view.

The classroom had a capacity of 120 students with 3 columns and 10 rolls, each desk taking a total of 4 students. Though a large class size, everyone present knew what they were here for and would not give any of their instructors trouble.

Additionally, the academy system made it so that if a student performed poorly to their class, they ran the risk of being demoted to a lower class as the higher the class, the higher the resource allocation and benefits.