The man talked for a while, "...Now, I humbly invite our esteemed headmaster to say a few words."
The man bowed before an old man dressed in dignified azure robes, who got up and nodded with a smile.
There was pin-drop silence across the hall as everyone stopped whispering, not to be rude when the Xeton Ethereal Foundation's respected headmaster was going to speak.
Leon Xeton came forward and swept his gaze over the disciples assembled in the hall. He said in a gentle voice, "Welcome, my disciples. Looking at your excited faces reminds me of my younger days when I was nothing more than an aspiring ethereal practitioner like you all, looking to make a mark in the empire. I won't take much of your time and will simply tell you how your studies will progress in this establishment.
"We have instructors assigned to each batch. Bronze instructors for Bronze batches, Gold instructors for Gold batches, and so on. As you might all know, we have various departments like the Department of Alchemy, Department of Formations, Department of Forging, and multiple others. Don't worry. You only need to pick the ones you are interested in. But ethereal and soul cultivation lessons would be mandatory for you all. In all, you all would have to learn three specializations at least.
"We would, of course, schedule exams and assessments which would be informed later to you all. Each batch would have separated divisions of disciples as a single teacher would find it hard to manage a whole batch single-handedly. So your friends might be in separate divisions but don't worry as you all know how good it is to interact with fresh faces and make new friends. For this year, the Elite batches would have two divisions. The Gold batch would have four divisions, and the Bronze batch would have eight divisions."
Hearing how the batches have been divided, Damien felt that the Elite batch would receive more attention and close guidance from instructors as a single instructor needed to manage only twenty-five students at a time.
Whereas the Gold instructors would have to manage at least sixty students at a time, and the Bronze instructors would have to manage a hundred students at a time.
He felt that it was quite natural as the institute would focus more on nurturing the Elite disciples. After all, they have the highest chance to become a powerhouse.
After Leon Xeton talked for a while, another instructor explained the details of their curriculum and other things.
Damien learned that one could also upgrade to a higher batch if they take a bi-annual assessment, not that he needed it.
Azure ethereal cards were distributed among the Elite disciples which one could top up with Spirit Stones every month as per the quota allotted to them.
Gold and Bronze disciples also received Gold and Bronze ethereal cards. One could use these cards as a form of payment anywhere in the whole empire and also as a sort of identity card as each card had a unique imprint for each disciple.
Damien learned that as an Elite disciple, he would receive 100,000 Yellow Spirit Stones a month and few top-notch pills. Also, every year, he would get one free chance to choose a weapon, ethereal art, and cultivation manuals from the institute's reserves. But the top quality ones would be exclusive, and one would have to pay for them.
Damien doubted if one would buy a cultivation manual as it's not easy to change one's way of cultivation in the middle. The same was with the ethereal arts, as one would have to train and get familiar with the usage of their ethereal arts to increase their expertise in them.
But if one had the chance to get a superior ethereal art and cultivation manual, they would obviously discard their old ones and buy the new ones.
However, Damien wasn't worried about these things as he would never have to change his ethereal arts or anything. After all, what he had was the most supreme of all given to him by gods!
On his armrest, there was a small, ethereal formation through which he got the information of all departments and basically the syllabus of what they were offering.
All the disciples were to select the department of their liking through the ethereal formation itself. All they had to do was mentally select the department, and through their soul, their choice would be transferred to the ethereal formation.
One could also change their choice of department within a week if they feel like their interest lies elsewhere. But it would depend on the number of slots available for each department. If one of the departments, such as Alchemy, gets filled, no one else can join.
But for Elite disciples, there was no such issue as the number of students was only fifty, and they could choose any department leisurely without worrying about the first-come, first-serve basis.
However, the two divisions of the Elite batch would have different instructors for every department.
Damien didn't think much and chose the Department of Alchemy without any hesitation. He didn't choose anything else as he was only interested in alchemy for now.
Valentina also chose the Department of Alchemy, knowing that Damien would choose it for sure.
After asking which department Valentina had chosen, Yara Haley giggled, "I will join you as well, Sister Valentina. You know what, I will call you Valena, and you can call me Yara simply."
"Fine...Yara." Valentina didn't mind talking with Yara Haley as she realized that she could use her help to get even closer to Damien.
Meanwhile, Damien asked Luna, "Hey Luna, can I manifest a normal etheric fire? Because using my Fallen Flames would be quite obvious."
As he had joined the Department of Alchemy, he would be concocting pills and even probably take practical assessments. But he didn't want to let people know that Alchemist Azrael is his alter ego identity as people know that only Alchemist Azrael can manifest strange jet-black etheric flames.
"Hmm, nope, unless you want to show the whole world how trashy you are in alchemy. You can manifest normal etheric fire by isolating most of the properties that make up your Fallen Flames. But as these flames originate from your soul, you would be taking away most of their power if you want to manifest a generic etheric fire. You would be lucky if you can concoct a Rank 1 Pill." Luna said casually.
"Damn...it's that bad, huh?" Damien expected that he would lose most of his prowess in alchemy if he removed the pseudo-origin laws contained inside his etheric fire. But he didn't think it would be this bad.
Luna said in an irreverent tone, "What do you expect? It's like you expect that you can run after cutting off your legs. If you restrict your talent, how do you hope to even concoct properly?"
Damien sighed but then thought that at least he would do well in the theory part. He, however, had no idea whether he would pass if he failed all the practical exams. Of course, inwardly, he didn't care whether he passed or failed as his true purpose was something else.
Soon enough, all the disciples were assigned their divisions. Damien got assigned to division one. He wondered whether Valentina got assigned the same division as his or division two.
The opening ceremony ended, and everyone got up and dispersed in different directions. Valentina scurried towards Damien with a smile as he also walked towards her.
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