Elias expression quickly reverted to it's mysterious indecipherable expression. "Indeed, the weather is quite pleasant." His voice seemed nearly as hypnotic as his attire. "I must admit, your resistance to my illusion caught me off guard."

Duncan desperately tried to think of a possible excuse, but he was equally in the dark as to how he had resisted the illusion. He knew he had to tread carefully to avoid arousing more suspicion. "It was a strange experience. I guess I just didn't fall for it like the others did."

Elias's eyes bore into Duncan's, his hypnotic stare concealing a calculating sheen. "You're not like the other students here, are you Duncan? You knew this was a test."

Duncan's heart raced, as he realized he had been caught red handed. It was as if Elias could peer into his very soul. He couldn't abandon his persona of an ordinary student now though, he needed to maintain his composure. "What do you mean? I just got here for orientation, like everyone else."

Elias lips curled into a subtle smile. "Right Mr. Linrad. An ordinary student." He let out a soft chuckle as he turned around to face the audience of students still entranced by his illusion.

Elias's acknowledgement did little to alleviate Duncan's anxiety. It was only the first day, and an [S] rank had already noticed a peculiarity with him. Though he wasn't being questioned, he still couldn't help but worry how much Elias truly knew.

The mysterious [Illusion Mancer] continued to speak, his tone entrancing Duncan. "I appreciate your poise, Mr. Linrad. It's not every day that a student manages to resist the allure of an [S] ranked illusion spell, even here at Bastion." Elias gesture toward the grand colosseum. "You see, Duncan, sometimes strength is not the only thing that's important, rather perception is. What one chooses to see and believe greatly influences their destiny."

Duncan considered Elias's words carefully. He felt as though there was some secret to them, that he was barely failing to grasp. "Influences their destiny...?"

Elias nodded, his gaze unwavering. "Indeed, perception and intuition is power in this world. It's not always just about blind acquisition of knowledge, but mastery of the mind. Your intuition is stronger than most, Duncan. Always keep that in mind."

That's when Duncan realized what Elias was trying to say. When deciding which house he wanted to pick, Duncan ultimately settled on two options, House Astralis, and House Seraphine.

House Seraphine's main characteristics were creativity, compassion, charisma, and wit. People in this house were known for making great leaders, Duncan had ultimately decided against it due to his introverted nature though. 

House Valora was similarly thrown away. Duncan knew himself well, and he doubted he would be able to fearlessly charge into a vampire like what Ryan did. This left him with ultimately choosing House Astralis out of the four houses.

Ultimately, he would've been fine with getting any of these three houses though, as long as he didn't get the dreaded fourth house. It wasn't the houses fault he detested the thought of entering it, throughout the story the house gets into a multitude of conflicts with the protagonist. It's essentially a den of side villains, all of which would be associated with Duncan by proxy if he entered the house.

Elias turned around, as the corners of his mouth pulled upwards slightly. "Welcome to House Ombra, Duncan."

Duncan stared at the ground with a hollow look as he made his way towards House Ombra's dormitory. The other students had already woken up from the illusion, and received the results of their placement.

Looking up, he observed House Ombra's dormitory; a grand observatory. Despite the sun beaming down on the area, the observatory magically remained in relatively dim lighting. Nightshades dotted the outer perimeter of the observatory, as students donning Ombra's purple and black uniforms shuffled in and out of the entrances.

House Ombra's main characteristics were mysticism, intuition, fate, and judgement, with the dormitory reflecting these values. The massive telescope that jutted out from the roof served as a constant reminder to peer beyond the bounds of reality, as the dim lighting gave it a somber atmosphere.

Besides the glass dome on the roof, the building was mainly constructed out of some sort of high-tech wood material. Duncan recalled it briefly being mentioned that this material was called plymite, a sci-fi construction material that combines concrete, wood, and steel. The fascinating material looked and felt like wood, yet had more than double the strength of iron.

Across the entire structure glowing vines enshrouded the building, emitting a soft yellow glow. The whole structure seemed to posses a very homey feeling. Duncan admittingly couldn't help but feel a little calm staring at the building.

The structure appeared as if it had been grown rather than constructed, seamlessly integrated with the ancient, enchanted forest surrounding it.

Passing through a set large wooden doors, Duncan entered House Ombra's dormitory, and was greeted by the house common place. He quickly detected an earthen smell in the air, as glowing moss dotted the walls, emitting a similar yellow glow to the vines outside.

Looking up through the observatory window, Duncan saw a full view of the night sky with stars dotting the landscape. He wasn't surprised by seeing the night vista in the middle of the day, in the novel it was mentioned how the observatory had the ability to see the night sky at all times.

The atmosphere was tranquil and contemplative, evoking a sense of connection with the cosmos. The serene mood was broken rather fast though, as the new students of House Ombra began walking in.

"Damn. This place is insane!" a white haired boy commented as he walked around the room.

Duncan would be a fool to not recognize who he was. He was the protagonists main rival throughout the story, the [Assassin] Ezekiel Ardain. Perhaps Ezekiel wouldn't have been so powerful if it wasn't for his unique skill synergizing so well with his dagger proficiency.

The [Shapeshifter] skill was a unique skill owned by the Ardain family. Ezekiel's family was famous for their families [Shapeshifting] skill. The Ardain family themselves were immensely wealthy, being ranked as the number 4 human guild. Shapeshifting of course isn't a flawless power, he can't simply shapeshift into a dragon to gain the powers of [Dragon Tongue]. Ezekiel himself only has a [E] Rank version of the skill anyway, with him being an [F+] Rank he can't handle a more powerful one.

Walking over to Ezekiel, Duncan attempted to introduce himself. "A fellow new comer to House Ombra I see. My names Duncan, nice to meet you." He stretched his hand out, offering a handshake to Ezekiel.

Ezekiel's gaze shifted to Duncan, as his eyes immediately went cold. "Fuck off. I don't plan on associating with low potential trash like you." He slapped Duncan's hand out of the air in disgust, before turning around to leave.

The atmosphere in the common place immediately turned awkward as Duncan tried to resist the urge to curb stomp Ezekiel's face into the floor.