Imperial East Academy (13)

The dorm procedures were surprisingly straightforward for Xing. A few identity checks here and a bit of hallway navigation there, were all she needed before her belongings were safely placed into her dorm room.

The difficulty lied in finding breakfast,

Each and every building she went to had some form of culinary establishment stationed somewhere inside, yet the students eating there were definitely not first-year freshmen like her.

The gazes from second year and third year students were utterly unbearable to someone like her. She anxiously shuffled to the exit every time these unfamiliar gazes fell upon her.

It wasn't just her, many of Xing's fellow freshmen awkwardly repeated this process. The feeling of not belonging to already established cliques ironically led to the rapid formation of first year cliques. The only outliers being the students who didn't care whether or not the place they dined at was full of seniors.

Before long, this group of Imperial East Academy freshmen were grouped up together roaming the school's grounds.

Watching her fellow first years introduce and interact with each other, Xing began to wonder if the purpose of first year food establishments being placed relatively far from the dorm area was for such situations to occur or purely coincidental.

Of course, her social aptitude or lack thereof would definitely not allow herself to actually go up to another person and talk to them. Instead, she chose to simply watch from behind the group, her questions going unanswered.

But eventually, the group came to an abrupt halt as their de-facto leader, Yu Yao, called for everyone's attention.

Raising his voice slightly, he began to speak

" As many of you have realized by now, us first year students seem very out of place for a lot of the areas we've been to this morning. To my knowledge, this is due to tacit territory agreements between the different years levels."

He adjusted his glasses before continuing

" But worry not! for we have received important information, courtesy of Ms. Ying Lor" he pointed to a fashionably dressed student holding an equally bedazzled information terminal " that there is a cafe full of fellow first year freshmen situated very close to the entrance."

Amidst the group's cheers, Xing silently made mental notes of who she believed would rise to the top of the eventual hierarchy of first year students.

Yu Yao would definitely be one of them,

The well-connected Ying Lor would also be part of it,

Along with certain other students, especially the large muscular individuals in the center, were also within her considerations.

And as a self-proclaimed bottom feeder within the hierarchy, Xing's survival strategy was simple;

" Don't annoy them, don't annoy them, don't get on their bad side. I don't exist, I don't exist at all, I am simply air….."