Chapter 3: “Pacific Fourth Spirit Academy”
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     Four days had passed and I said my farewells to my parents. They all wept because we won't be able to see each other for three years, if I luckily graduated there. I headed to the place where the assembly will occur. I arrived at the port after two hours by taxi. A port worker, who is also an employee of Pacific Academy, escorted to me to a cruise ship since it is where the gathering will take place.

     The cruise ship is not too big and not too small. It is just a perfect size given that the passengers here are all students and of course, the cruise employees. I ascended and a butler greeted me on the entrance. The entrance gives me the luxurious ambiance. I feel like I'm a very important person like a nation leader. He handed me a phone saying that it will guide me in the academy for the next three years. I was also told that this is now mine. They're too generous!

     I proceeded to the hallway while looking on my new phone. I clicked an icon called "Guides" and it showed the entire layout of this ship. The cruise ship has a lenght of 400 meters, height of 30 meters, and wide of 200 meters. I can also swipe the layout to see the more detailed interior of the ship. I looked where the grand hall is and after taking some turns, I finally arrived.

     The hall is quite crowded because there are also students, all were incoming first-years like me, that were waiting. Some were talking on each other so I thought that they probably know each other. I stood at one corner of this crowd trying not to be included on it. I waited for two minutes and a man spoke in the stage in front of us.

     "Greetings, incoming first-years of Pacific Fourth," he said and we all looked into his direction. Based on his looks and the dignified aura he emits, I think he's the cruise captain.

     "Welcome to Atlantis Fourth. We hope you're all doing well," he said and sighed. "I'll get straight to the point. Our expected time arrival on Pacific Fourth is four in the morning, which is eight hours after. We will depart from here a hour after. All essentials here especially your foods will be free."

     The students were amazed by the sudden offer. The ship is on a first-class calibre so it is expected that the foods here will be incredibly delicious. There are also claps that can be heard among them.

     "Please look into your phones or ask a cruise employee for guidance. I wish you to enjoy your trip and we, the Atlantis Fourth, relay our deepest congratulations to all of you," the captain said and bowed his upper body, forming a right angle.

     All of us clapped and we were directed to proceed to our designated rooms which is located on the third floor of this ship. After searching for it, I arrived at my room. If I can describe this room, this is a world-class accommodation. The furnitures and appliances here looks expensive.

     It was eight in the evening. I want to wander around the entire ship but I guess I need to sleep for now. I laid down my body on this soft bed and sleep

*****

     We arrived at the academy exactly four in the morning. We're all in the Dormitory Island Port, where we will be having a seminar again. After it, my phone rang but it looks like I'm not just the one who received a message because all of us grabbed our own phones. I looked on it and saw that the sender is the academy administration.

     "Welcome to Pacific Fourth Spirit Academy. Listed below are your basic informations.

Name: Hiji Karasuma
Age: 18
Sex: Male
Year: First Year
Room Number: Building H Room 47
Class Number: Building A Year 1 Class D
Seat Number: 25
Allowance: 50,000 yen
Merit: 17,000

     Further details will be discussed during your first class two hours from now. Congratulations and we hope the best for you during your stay here.

     Wait. Is this true? I already have 50,000 yen but I'm still not doing anything. I tried to peek on the others and majority of them also have the same reaction like me. We all boarded on a giant elevator and it ascended going to the top of a 400 meters tall island.

     The Pacific Fourth Spirit Academy was divided into four islands: Academy, Arena, Dormitory, and Shopping District. Each island has two and a half kilometers in circumference and 400 meters in height. The islands, except the Arena Island, which is the center island, forms a triangle with at least one kilometer distance on each other. They were all connected by a train line.

     The Dormitory Island has 10 buildings that was evenly divided into right and left side. Each building has 60 rooms and 10 rooms each floor, which makes it eight floors each building, in which the first floor is for recreational purposes, and the eighth floor is the rooftop.

     We finally gained a vision of the upper ground. The view was breathtaking. Between the buildings are fountains and trees. There are also benches beneath the trees. Street lamps were lit that let us see the entire surroundings eventhough it was still not sunrise. At least they're still not isolating us from the ambiance of the outside world. I walked towards the Building H, where my room is, that was located on the middle of the left side buildings.

     I arrived at the building and immediately headed on my room. There is an elevator but I decided to take the stairs so I can have a better view of the building. Due to my amazement, I didn't noticed that I'm already in front of Room 47. I grabbed the doorknob and twisted it to open the door but it won't open. I thought that this will be open or at least they gave us a key. I'm quite panicking right now but I saw the student on the next room that placed the screen of his phone on the scanner beside his door. He noticed that I'm looking to him.

     "Just go to your profiles and place you phone's screen in front of the scanner."

     He immediately entered his room. I didn't get the chance to thank him so I guess I'll just do it next time. I do what he instructed and he's right. The door opened and I entered my room. The living room is quite spacious and there are essential furnitures like sofa, coffee table, and appliances like television, and air conditioner. On the right side is the kitchen and bathroom. The basic utensils and equipments for cooking are all here. I opened the door on the bathroom and there is a bathtub inside.

     My mind became curious on the room on the left side from the entrance. It was my new bedroom because there is a bed, study desk, closet, and bookshelves. I can say that they all provided us the basic necessities we needed. But in terms of essentials like foods, clothes, or leisures like books, it will be on our allowance but how can we obtain it? Maybe it will be explained later. I tried to scan more on my new room for the next three years while killing time before my first class begins.

*****

     It was 6:40am, 20 minutes before the first class begins. I left my room and headed to the train station. Building H is just 100 meters away from it so it is the nearest building. Look how lucky I am. I'm now wearing my school uniform because five sets of it were already prepared in the closet. The upper body is a short sleeve polo in black color, and has three red vertical lining on its front right side. If I'm right, this is the basis to know the year of a student wherein blue lining is for second-years and white for third-years. The measurement of my uniform perfectly fits on me so I'm wondering how did they know my proportions. They didn't even asked me about it.

     There are also students, who are on their way to school. We all boarded the train that is coming every 10 minutes after taking a whole round trip on the three island and has a speed of 30km per hour. I think that speed makes sense since the train is hanging in the railways. I guess that is quite dangerous but the entire train system was covered in illusionary components so it will be safe eventhough an explosion will occur here.

     After few minutes, I arrived at the Academy Island. The island has two parts: the buildings and the grounds. The buildings has three sections which are Building A, B, and C. Building A is the students' building wherein the classes takes place. Building B is for the instructors and administration. Building C is the gymnasium. It is where trainings or activities, with an instructor's supervision, happens. It has a rectangular field on the center that has an area of 300 sqm and it can accomodate at least 400 people for audiences.

     The grounds is where the trainings that were needed to be executed outdoors occurs. It was located on the right side of the buildings, forming a square format but lacks one side, if you're coming from the train line that started in Dormitory Island. This academy is too spacious.

     I headed to Building A and searched for my new classroom. It was located on the second floor of Building A because the entire floor was intended for first-years. The design of hallways and rooms are like the traditionals but the only difference are the scanners beside the doors and I'm not sure if I saw it right but a huge monitor rather than a blackboard and glass table instead of a wooden one.

     I'm now in front of the Year 1 Class D Room. I took a deep breath and scanned my phone before opening the door. I took my first step inside and all students present, my new classmates, looked on me. It is reasonable because they need to see their classmates for the next three years. We will surely rely on each other to survive. But I'm still wondering on about what Hira-neechan said to me.

     The seat designated for me was one of the seats in the column nearest to the hallway windows. I sat there and placed my bag on the right side of my desk and quietly scanned the entire room. While I'm in the middle of my enjoyment, another student came. We all looked to her direction and most of us, excluding me, were astounded by her appearance. Her long black hair rhythmically sways for each step she takes. That alone captures the entire attention of the majority of our classmates. Her crimson eyes fits perfectly on her image of a strong girl. Her well-proportioned body can make anyone feel exhilarated and probably fall in love to her. She's coming closer to me. Maybe she's the occupant on the vacant seat on my left. When our eyes met, she stopped and her face made a surprise reaction.

     "Y-Y-You're the enrollee that time, right?", she asked.

     "Huh?"

     All of us, this time I'm included, were wondering what is this girl talking about. I tried to look to her closer. She seems familiar to me. I think I saw her but I forgot where and when. A thought suddenly came into me. She looks like that sadistic maid two weeks ago that is harrasing her-

     "Wait. You're that-"

     "You know what will happen if someone knew that, right?", she asked in a very intimidating tone. This caused me to shiver in fear.

     She didn't waited for my response and proceeded to seat on the desk beside me. She flickered her hair that caused everyone who witnessed it to say "oooh". I guess I already know who is the most confessed girl in our room.

     The bell rang indicating that the class will start anytime soon. All students that were standing returned to their seats and we all waited in silence. Two minutes had passed when a woman, her age was probably around early 20s, entered the room. She wears a white long sleeve that fits well on her body proportions. The size of her medium-sized breasts were emphasized that it makes it look big. Wait, why am I saying that? She's wearing black jeans and heels on her lower body. It is a very simple attire. She stood behind the glass table and stared on us as her long black ponytail careens.

     "So you will become the Year 1 Class D, huh? Well, I can see why," she said in a very strict tone that resounded throughout the entire quiet room. All of us were cowarded in fear by the spine-chilling ambiance she's emitting. Please, don't become like this the whole year.

     She grabbed her phone from her pocket and faced its screen on the glass table. Suddenly, the big monitor behind her turned on and the academy's crest was displayed. This makes us think that we're in a military facility.

     "Instructor Mafuyu Tachibana's data scanned. Proceeding to apply connection stability," a robotic voice from somewhere said that. We were all dumbfounded by what we heard. I noticed that the instructor grinned.

     "Ah. Don't worry about that. It is just an AI built on this glass table. By the way, I'm Instructor Tachibana Mafuyu, the first-year's world history post-spirit instructor and your adviser for the next three years," the instructor said to us.

     "Hai! Hai! I'm Xin'Ya! An eternal fox from the world Enterria and Mafuyu-chan's spirit!", another voice, a high pitch one, said.

     Suddenly, another girl appeared beside Tachibana-sensei. She wears an outfit that resembles a kimono but the design is just a floral design placed on the right side of her white outfit. She also has fox ears and a tail that wiggles rapidly as if she's an excited dog. She's so fluffy to be honest.

     "You really don't know when to appear, you filthy fox."

     "Aw! You're such a meanie, Mafuyu-chan," the fox girl said while laughing.

     Again, we're all dumbfounded by what we're witnessing right now. The most major factor in that is this spirit appeared without any chant invoked.

     "All of the instructors here are part of the 'Enforcers', including me. It is normal for our spirits to appear and dismiss theirselves anytime they want."

     We were all amazed when we heard the words 'Enforcers". They are the world's strongest spiritual pairs that were assigned to secure world peace by eliminating the 'Destroyers'.

     "Return for now, Xin'Ya," the instructor said while sighing and the fox girl followed.

     "First of all, I want to introduce yourselves and also your spirits. We'll start with the student assigned in seat 1."

     The introductions started. The students also introduced their spirits. I don't listened on what they're saying because I don't want to. They're just an additional weight on my memory storage. I was about to dozed off due to boringness but a certain student caught my attention.

     "I'm Harumi Mirai. I don't plan to go along with you all."

     Woah. The way she speaks is totally different from her "Kyun! Kyun!" thing last two weeks ago. She also bluntantly said that she won't go along with us as if she said, "Don't disturb me, you little piece of shit," or maybe a way of telling the boys to never bug her with their feelings.

     "You're quite intimidating," Tachibana-sensei said and smirked. "Introduce your spirit."

     "I will... Zariel."

     Harumi-san summoned her spirit and a man appeared on her right side. He wears a plain brown shirt and black shorts. He also wears sandals and he holds a bamboo pole that he placed on his right shoulder. Is this guy a real spirit?

     "Yo. I'm Zariel from the world Enterria. Not on boasting, but I'm the-", this plain looking spirit was interrupted by the same voice we heard earlier.

     "G-G-G-G-God Zariel?!", the fox girl, Tachibana-sensei's spirit, said super excitedly with a tinge of shockness on her voice.

     "Ho? And you are?"

     We were all shocked that this fox girl, named Xin'Ya, kneeled down facing this Zariel guy. She also bowed her upper body and her way of doing it has the trace of courteousness on it. A weapon, almost the same appearance as a naginata, materialized on her left hand.

     "I'm Xin'Ya. I am the descendant of Elder Xen'ra and the last surviving Eternal Fox that worships God Zariel, the God of Creation of Enterria," she said in a very courteous way. Her attitude totally changed.

     "Eternal Fox? Hmmmm... Ah! The race that was saved by Serius 10,000 years ago? And that Elder Xen'Ra is the supreme leader, right?"

     "What you stated is the truth, God Zariel."

     My mind wants to burst right now because of the confusion of the events. So this plain looking guy is a god from another world, huh? And to think that he is the God of Creation of that Enterria world, it means that he is the superior being of that world.

     "Ahahahaha. I see. I see. It's a honor to meet a descendant of Elder Xen'Ra," this god named Zariel said while grinning.

     "The honor is mine, God Zariel."

     "By the way, you said last surviving eternal fox. What happened?"

     "God Xeniel sent her angel to purge all creatures that lives in Enterria. Luckily, I'm the last one who survived from the entire race but it was God Xeniel who killed me," Xin'Ya said with great grief on her tone.

     As we listen to this, we're slowly getting knowledge on this world Enterria. None of us are showing any uninterested faces because it was the opposite.

     "Damn that Xeniel. That angel with eight blades killed me also. She's the anti-god angel that other gods are proud of."

     "I'm sorry to interrupt you guys but we still have something to do," Tachibana-sensei said.

     Xin'Ya immediately stood up and faced her master and she pouted, "But I'm still talking to my Supreme Creator."

     "Don't force me to -"

     "I-I-I apologize for my rude attitude while your presence is still here, God Zariel," Xin'Ya said and backed again to her position earlier.

     "I don't need that kind of respect. We're not in Enterria anymore," Zariel said while laughing.

     "Stop it, Xin'Ya. We still need to do something." Tachibana-sensei finally shows her irritation.

     "You're a cute person when irritated, Mafuyu-chan, aren't yah?"

     "Order: Absolute Restric-"

     "I-I-I'm very soooooorry!", the fox girl said and disappeared.

     "Take your seat, Harumi-san. We'll proceed to Seat 25," Tachibana-sensei instructed.

     Harumi-san returned to her chair. It is time to introduce myself and my spirit. But what should I say about Stacia? All I know is that she's a girl with an extraordinary skills in swordsmanship.

     I stood in front of the room. All eyes are on me. I stared coldly on them that caused one of the students to show a feared expression on her face. She's a girl with a short blue hair and she's wearing square-framed glasses. If I'm right, her name is Hanaruchi Eina? I don't know. Am I that scary? I'm just showing to them my usual self. Well, this is the first time we see each other. I took a deep breath and started to speak. " I'm Karasuma Hiji. I don't plan to socialize. That's all."

     "I heard that name before. Hmmm... Karasuma? Do you know Karasuma Hira?"

     "Yes, she's my older sister," I replied.

     All were amazed upom hearing my response. Well, there's no one in this world who doesn't know of her name. Her performance during the last Pacific Prix was undoubtedly stunning so her reputation rose.

     Tachibana-sensei slightly giggled after hearing my words. "I see. Your spirit."

     "Stacia."

     A girl covered in black coat appeared beside me. Some of my classmates were intrigued on her because of her appearance. Of all the spirits that were introduced so far, Stacia gives out the most sinister aura.

     "My spirit doesn't want to say anything about her so I just ended up on calling her Stacia. She also doesn't want to speak."

     "Is that so? Well, I don't care about that. Take your seat."

     I go back to my seat and after few minutes, the remaining students finished. Tachibana-sensei coughed and started to speak.

     "I'll get straight to the point. The current first-years have five sections. The Elite Class, and Class A to D. This class is the lowest section," Tachibana-sensei stopped. We all waited on her next words. "In other words, this class is the weakest class of the first-years," she said without any hesitation.

     We were all surprised and confused at the same time. She blutantly said it in front of our faces. We know that she's not joking thanks to her serious face.

     "Uhmm...Tachibana-sensei?", a male student raised his hand slowly.

     "What is it?"

     "What is the meaning of that?"

     "It is what I said. This class is composed of trashes and weaklings. That's all," Tachibana-sensei crossed her arms as she said it. Is that a proper way of addressing something to your students?

     "Why do you say so?", this time, it was Harumi-san asked without raising her hand.

     "Then let me show you the academy's rules and regulations. Once I started on explaining, I won't entertain any questions until I allowed it. Is that understood?"

     We didn't respond to her. The tension inside the room is getting more intense. I can notice that some wants to backout immediately but please, stay chill. Tachibana-sensei is still not saying the rules.

     "Okay, then let's start," Tachibana-sensei declared.

     "The grades on this academy were based on the merits or your performance here," Tachibana-said as she walked on the right side from our perspective. "The starting merit was decided based on what you did to pass that trial where you fought against that spirit with gauntlets. The factors we considered are your actions, time completion, and evaluation of that spirit. Please look to your phone to see it for yourselves."

     We grabbed our phones and did what Tachibana-sensei said. I saw my starting merit after a few seconds of tapping on the screen.

Merit: 17,000
Class Ranking(Year 1 Class D): Rank 1 of 30 (Open for Class Promotion)
Year Ranking: Rank 121 of 150
Academy Ranking: Rank 401 of 430

Year 1 Merits:
•Elite Class- 810,000
•Class A- 520,000
•Class B- 350,000
•Class C- 100,000
•Class D- 60,000

     "Your rankings are also stated there and I advise you to never tell anyone about it even to your best of bestfriends if there is," Tachibana-sensei stopped for a second to take a deep breath.

     "Telling your ranking is like saying to them that 'Please kill me right here, right now'. You'll become prone on expulsions and demotions plotted by the other classes or even your own. Having higher ranks can give you privileges like the 'Elite Privileges' which is exclusive on Elite Class. I won't explain it further since it is a highly confidential subject. Another one is that you can easily gain reputation which can be used in the future. For example, the students who are in the Academy Rank 30 or higher were given the chance to become a part of student council but the president role will be given to the Rank 1 and vice president role for the Rank 2. And lastly, of course, you can rise to the top. The way of promotion here is on an individual basis not as a class. It means that even your classmates are your enemies."

     I gulped because of the last sentence she said. Maybe this is the reason why some students in Pacific First are having problems on survival, based on Hira-neechan.

     "For you to become promoted, you need to surpass a student's merit from the next class and stay on that spot for two weeks. The demoted student will undergo the same process if he wants to return to his class. The lowest ranking student will always be the one who will face demotion. So if you want to become promoted, leave everything. But if you become demoted and wants to go back to your class, then sacrifice the lowest rank of your former class."

     That is an absolutely terrifying idea. The strength of an individual here will be greatly emphasized. It will be a grave disadvantage for Class D students that wants to rise to the top.

     "But there is a way for the whole class to become promoted. 80% of the entire class, specifically 24, needs to become promoted within the same month. If that happened, the remaining 20% will be carried," Tachibana-sensei said but stopped because she can sense the gloomy feeling that shrouds the entire room. I guess almost all of us were depressed right now.

Ways to Gain Merit:
•Performances (amount will depends on the instructor)
•Quests (held every 15th of month)

Conditions on Merit Reduction:

•Tardiness- 10,000
•Late- 15,000
•Absent without any valid reason- 20,000
•Summoning of spirits in crowded areas- 30,000
•Damaging any academy and other student's properties- 50,000 + x3 price of the destroyed property
•Disobedience and disrespect towards academy superiors(except student council)- 100,000
•Violence- 100,000
•Transferring of allowance- 100,000
•Duels- depends on involved parties' conditions

Conditions for expulsion:
•Absent for 5% (15 days) of the academy days without any valid reasons
•Commiting any life-threatening situation on a student
•Committing sexual assault on a student
•Communicating to the outside world without the permission of the academy principal
•Declared duel during class hours
•Duels (if the stake is expulsion)
•Experienced demotion twice
•Experienced ten merit reduction within a month
•Violence (3rd offense)

▪Student that experienced three merit reduction within a week cannot gain merit and allowance for the next two weeks and 5,000 yen will be reduced each day during the period.
▪If the same student experience another merit reduction within the 14 days, the period will be extended by three days.

     "I believe that what stated in this monitor is clear and easy to understand," Tachibana-sensei continued.

     "I want add some informations about the rules. First is the Quests which will be held every 15th of the month. The Quests will differ each month and the complete details on it will be explained on the actual day. Second, you can communicate to the outside world for 10 minutes if you can pay one million yen."

     Woah. That's a large sum of money. Did Hira-neechan paid that much just to make a call on me? I suddenly felt guilty on treating her like that. I'll apologize to her when we see each other.

     "Third, all of your actions here will be known to me like your time of entry on a room and even your purchases history. I also know your current location so doing a violation here will require an intensive brainstorming before doing it. But don't worry, I don't know about your private lives so you can do sexual intercourse with someone everytime but just make sure no one can see you. Fourth, you can summon your spirit in crowded areas only if you'll accept a duel invitation. Both parties will be teleported to an illusion world that looks like the Academy Island and it will broadcasted live through hologram monitors. And lastly, you can use all of the facilities here as long as you follow the rules. So, let's proceed to your schedule."

     My imagination is going wild rihht now to the point that I can see several souls flying in the air. Some of my classmates' consciousness are slowly fading because of the pressure the academy is giving us. This is still the first day of class but the stress already makes me want to commit suicide.

Year 1 Class D Schedule:
6:00-7:00 Science
7:00-8:00 Mathematics
8:00-9:00 English
9:00-9:30 Break Time
9:30-10:30 Conceptual Origins
10:30-11:30 World History (Pre-spirit Era)
11:30-12:30 World History (Post-spirit Era)
12:30-14:00 Lunch Break
14:00-15:30 Physical Commencement

14:00-16:00 (every 15th day of month) Quests

▪All Years
Academy Schedule (5:00-17:00)
Shopping District Schedule (14:00-23:00)
Dormitory Schedule (14:00-6:00)

     "So hectic," I murmured. The first subject is minutes or a hour after sunrise. I'm sure we're still sleepy that time but the lunch break is 90 minutes long so I guess it is not a big deal.

     "Are there any questions?", Tachibana-sensei asked but no one dared to ask. Maybe because they really don't have one in their minds or it is just they don't want to ask it.

     "If none, then we're good. I don't plan to entertain your stipid questions by the way," she continued and turned off the monitor behind her by tapping the corner of the glass table. "Betrayal and discrimination are a common thing here in academy. You have three choices here: to become victorious, to become defeated, or to surrender. Take that in your minds."

     Tachibana-sensei didn't said her farewell and headed to the door. She held the doorknob but she turned her head on us.

     "Your first official class will begin tomorrow. You may leave now," she said and left.

     The class fell again into silence after Tachibana-sensei took her leave. Some of my classmates were trembling noticeably. They're already distressed and looks like they didn't knew what to do. All of us still don't plan to leave the classroom but the girl beside me, Harumi-san, stood up and took the initiative to leave first. After it, my other classmates also took their leave. I also stood up and decided to rest for now because the real definition of hell will start tomorrow.

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