Orientation [2]

"Greetings Students, I am your headmaster Kalem Withers."

I was in the midst of a speech from our headmaster, he was a little tardy to the general meeting but he arrived nonetheless.

"As all of you know Aethra is the highest ranked institute of education in the human domain, Aethra itself was founded in a program along with other institutions like it in order to combat the rifts; and to raise the strongest humans known to mankind."

His tone of voice along with his built stature made for an intimidating perception of him among the students. Kalem Withers was an extremely talented Riftwalker in his younger days, his ability to control sand and the earth itself combined with his exceptional combat skills made for a deadly opponent to face on the battlefield.

"I am extremely glad to welcome all of you new students here with us this year and so for the first time in the history of this school, we will be telling you the basic story of Aethra."

Basic story? He must be referring to the history of this entire world at that point.

"Wow…"

The crowd of students had audibly voiced their interest in what Kalem had just stated. The academy was an extraordinary place with a rich background to it. All of a sudden the surrounding areas of the stage had gone dark similar to when you watch a film at the theater.

The students seemed a bit curious as to how the professors had managed this but quickly gave up the thought as they had remembered who would be teaching them. Soon enough the darkness was broken by holographic projections put up by a male professor with glasses at the command of the headmaster.

The images portrayed were of Earth in the year 2000, depicting an ancient past with a less advanced civilization. They may have been far less technologically advanced compared to us as of now but they seemed far more grounded altogether.

"Let's get started shall we?"

Kalem's voice boomed across the crowd and soon after he waved his hand over the projection to show us something. With a smooth motion the hologram had completely changed its content as now it projected something a lot more vivid and a lot more violent.

It projected war.

Although this wasn't just any war like the countless others humanity had. This one could be considered Earth shattering as the war was not human on human violence but instead a war that cried out to the cosmos.

A celestial war.

"In the year 2000 of the Gregorian calendar humanity got caught in the midst of a war."

Speaking up and grabbing the attention of students Kalem observed the projection intently with furrowed eyebrows.

"This war was not between human problems and disagreements but completely different species entirely, two factions known as Paragons and Virtuosos. Their strength was immense and when they clashed the sonic booms emitted from their weapons could be heard for miles."

My family used to tell the tale of Paragons and Virtuosos throughout the ages. A story of both factions making peace with each other and even going as far as to having children with each other, with these children having the power of gods.

Though I bet it's all superstition, sorry grandma.

"Now as an effect of this destructive war between beings of higher power our planet barely survived being caught in the middle of it. Nearly 80% of humanity had perished within the first 5 months of the war, and to this day we still see the remnants of the past with gravitational anomalies and rifts occurring all over the planet."

I understand what he's talking about more when he refers to "gravitational anomalies" some famous tourist destinations are the Chorvus Mountains located near the floating city of Soradeus. Both places are highly effected by strange gravitational behavior causing them to float suspended in the air, though these two places are only a couple of examples of this phenomena.

"The war lasted a century before the formation of The Six, the council that gave peace to humanity and the strength to rebuild our lost civilization. The Six was a council formed by three of the strongest members of each respective faction, the Paragons and the Virtuosos."

After his brief explanation on the Celestial War Kalem waved his hand once more. This time the holographic projection showed a council of 6 hooded figures surrounding a table with Earth at its center.

"Now I'm assuming all of you students know about the Scion Families as well no? If you do congratulations, if you don't listen up."

The crowd of students stared intently at the projections while listening to the narration given by the headmaster.

"There are six renowned families in the human domain and we call these families Scions. The definition of Scion comes from meaning "the descendants of a renowned family" and in this case a renowned entity. The Scions are the descendant bloodlines of the original Six we call precursors."

The world knew all about the Scions, they were like celebrities with their immense wealth and power.

"Let's start here then."

Once again waving his hand over the projection Kalem changed it to the image of a Paragon. A beautiful entity with wings that could fly through the cosmos. This particular paragon held a sword made of pure concentrated light.

'It's bright as well as beautiful…'

I was in awe of the precise way the angel formed a weapon of light. Taking an energy and giving it shape seemed like a very advanced process.

"This specific paragon is the precursor to the family we now know as the LeClair Scions. The LeClair family specializes with pure light, giving form to this concentrated energy makes them proficient in combat but do not doubt their intelligence, as that may be your biggest mistake ever."

Waving his hand once again Kalem projected the image of a paragon healing others. A certain warmth could be felt radiating from the hologram. The paragon also held a spear in case it were to be attacked.

"This paragon led to the birth of the Galen Scions. You may know of the Galen family company that consistently creates new medicines and medical facilities around all of the six domains of humanity. They are responsible for most of our medical advancements today."

Kiran told me about the Galen family as well. My parents have also done some business with them when they visited Soradeus. I heard the place was beautiful, having the sky at your fingertips.

Soon enough the image of healing was replaced by another. This one radiated heat and raw power, it was fire. A holographic image of an armored paragon wielding a staff of flame. The flame had a distinct red color signaling that it was no regular fire.

"This feisty entity birthed the Azar Scions that I'm sure all of you have heard of. Their current family head is the leader of the Riftwalker Corps or R.W. Corps for short. They specialize in angelic flames and leadership skills along with multiple weapon techniques. "

'There they are.'

That's the family Kiran belongs to. His father Cyrus Azar is the current leader of R.W. Corps, the strongest organization on the planet aside from the criminal underworld. I remember a skill Kiran showed me a few years ago, it was a staff skill of sorts that used his angelic flames. I wonder how strong he's gotten.

Once again controlling the hologram Kalem projected a virtuoso this time.

"Woahhhhh…"

The crowd was amazed at the image. It was an entity that could've made even the strongest people shiver at the sight and yet be frozen in its beauty. It was a demon of frost and it's dark horns protruded it's head as it wielded a katana of ice.

"This cold beauty was the precursor for the Yukimura clan. They are the rulers of Yama city, a city built within the mountains that blended traditional architecture of the old world with our modern society. They also specialize in the art of frost and ice along with their precise weapon skills."

With every passing moment the headmaster got more excited to explain the scions. I didn't know he was such a history nerd.

Soon after finishing explaining the Frost Demon to the crowd Kalem waved his hand once again. The cold image was replaced with one that brought destruction. A virtuoso with emerald eyes that released a wave of toxic decay. It was devastating but seemed to be in excruciating pain as well.

"This is the precursor to the Busujima family. You may know them as the people with control over Aegir City, as well as the people that produce anti venoms in collaboration with the Galen Scions. Not only do they help us create cures for many different toxins they also arm our troops with different weapons to help exterminate the rift beasts."

The next image was a shadowy figure, a horned entity within a dark cloud of sorts. The most notable feature was its glowing amethyst eyes piercing through the veil of shadows it was hidden in.

It was menacing.

You could barely see the figure of the being but that's what made it so chilling. You would never know what you were struck down by as the virtuoso would travel within the shadows of darkness.

"What you all are seeing here is the one that birthed the most terrifying scions, this is the precursor of the Umbra Family. The Umbra family resides in Zira the City of Moonlight, they are known well for their assassinations and private shadow army. They are one of the more powerful families as their combat skill is absurdly high."

The crowd stood there in awe as they were still processing the newfound knowledge they had gained, all of the bad and all of the beauty.