Chapter 1478: Opening Ceremony Of Aerialla Academy
It was the first official day of school.
I had Katsuki check that I was dressed impeccably before I left the room with my girls, joining the throng of first year students as we left our dorm to head towards the building that was known as the Grand Auditorium where we would be officially welcomed as students of the Academy.
We used one of the teleportation arrays and teleported outside a giant circular building and found ourselves amidst an even bigger crowd as the senior students were also heading towards the same building to start their semesters alongside us as well.
The auditorium itself was built in a similar fashion to the one at Crown Capital City except it was way larger in scale. And for some reason, the lights were dimmed and we could barely just see the area around us which I presumed was done on purpose to preserve a solemn atmosphere or something.
The sections were separated by years and we took our seat amongst the first years.
Unfortunately, it seems like Special Class students were seated separately from the other students so we had to split up.
At least I still had Delmare and Odeta to accompany me as we sat at the front of our section.
The auditorium slowly filled up and I noted that while the first year’s section was basically filled to the brim with people, the number of students got progressively smaller down the hall.
Not surprising I guess, since we already know that people drop out every year.
But seeing their numbers represented like this... There’s at least around fifteen to twenty thousand students in our section and there’s only about three quarters of that number in the second year which is then halved for the third years and then halved again for the fourth years.
At the fifth years section, there’s at most two to three thousand students and the sixth years were down to only around a thousand to two thousand students.
Judging by the numbers, I can only expect half or less than half of those sixth year students to actually graduate from the school.
And if I wasn’t wrong... That means we’re looking at a five percent graduation rate here. Pretty brutal if you ask me.
And the Academy could afford it since they were more focused on delivering results and excellence instead of caring about whether people’s feelings are protected or not.
If you were not good enough, you don’t get to graduate, it was as simple as that.
Well... The good thing was that attending the Academy already places you amongst the top percentile in the World so even if you don’t graduate, having it show that you’re a former student here was already pretty impressive.
So it wasn’t the end of the world even if you were dropped out anyway.
I waited alongside the other students for the ceremony to start, which I expect would be similar to the branch academy at Crown Capital City where the Head Chancellor would most likely show up and give a speech and most likely initiate the first year students as official students before either acknowledging the Special Class students or ignoring us.
After all... There’s no Special Class students as a group here. The only ’special’ group are the top students which will only become a thing in the latter half of the year.
So for now, everyone’s kind of equal in the eyes of the system.
No, I’m not going to address the fact that I’m the Grand Chancellor’s apprentice nor the fact that I’m actually not treated as a normal student as compared to everyone else.
Anyway... The raised platform that all the students were facing lit up and magic circles appeared all around it before an entire group of people were teleported onto the stage.
It took me a moment to realise it was all the teachers gathered together and they were arranged in rows with the Grand Chancellor standing in front of them.
She stepped out in front of them and waved her hand, prompting even more magic circles to appear around them before the entire auditorium was lit up with magic lights, revealing the actual splendor of the auditorium.
The interior was richly decorated with gold trims and Mana Crystals with what appeared to be different magic circles carved onto the walls that were now shining impressively.
It was also now that I noticed that each of the sections had some giant banner hanging behind them and at first I thought those banners were just meant to indicate the years they were representing until I found the second years and fourth years having the same exact banner.
Also, the area behind us was also empty but there was definitely a spot meant for a banner there.
"Welcome, students," Chancellor Vastraea spoke, her voice somehow echoing all around the hall despite the fact that she was clearly not shouting. "To the older students, congratulations for another year at the Academy. For the new students, congratulations on joining us. But do know that your path is not yet finished and it is only just beginning. Stagnation here would be your downfall."
There were a few murmurs around us, more from the first years than the senior students since I believe the seniors most likely have heard this said to them before.
Chancellor Vastraea pauses for a moment to scan the crowd and her eyes paused for a short moment on me before continuing, her face betraying no emotion.
"This is a place of excellence and a place where limits are challenged and broken. If you have the talent and skills, stand your ground and show it to us for we will provide you with all the materials and resources needed to make you shine. But if you have no ambition and are merely here to coast through your life without achieving anything, then it was a mistake for us to accept you as a student."
More murmurs spread through the crowd and I could see some people from the second years turning to look at us with what I could only assume were gazes of pity.
I guess these people still have fresh memories of being a first year student and coming here all bright eyed and bushy tailed only to be confronted with the harshness of reality as they had to fight for their position in this Academy.
Looking at the others in my section, I can see that that specific reality hasn’t settled for quite a lot of the first years yet and I suspect they would get the reality check sooner or later.
The Grand Chancellor then continued her speech and she started calling out something known as a ’Circle’ or something.
It took me a while to realise that those were basically student formed groups within the school which was something like a co-ed fraternity where the students would conform together and challenge other groups.
The banners that were hanging behind each section were showcasing the Circles that were the best performing of that year and the reason why there were duplicate banners was because these Circles were not restricted by year.
You could be a first year student and join a Circle run by sixth year students if they accept you as a member.
While the Chancellor was going on about each of the Circles and encouraging them for the year, I figured out that this was basically set up so that students could be incentivised to learn from each other through competition as well.
So it wasn’t like the Academy was constantly trying to put the students down and they really did want people to succeed but they just won’t tolerate failures.
The top Circle of each of the years are decided by the entire Circle’s contribution and achievements split up amongst all its members. So even if you had a lot of members but they were contributing a net negative, you would actually be sabotaging yourself.
But if all the members were a net positive, then you would do well with more people instead of fewer since more people will obviously contribute more than just a small number of people.
From what I understand, this was also like those student clubs looking for members but instead of scouting for members to fulfil a shared hobby or interest, this one was tied more directly to academic matters because these Circles are directly recognised by the Academy and you can get benefits for your entire Circle if the Circle you belong to is at the top for your year.
I’m not sure what those benefits were yet but I guess I’ll find out eventually though I’m not sure if I would be joining someone else’s Circle or starting my own yet.
I’m pretty sure the girls would want me to start my own but... I guess I’ll have to see if the benefits are worth the trouble before I decide if I’m going to do it.
Anyway... The rest of the event was really just boring speeches and welcoming us as new students so I basically did the standard thing where I tuned out the rest of the speech.
Now... We’re officially students of the Academy~