After almost another half an hour all the thirty students that were in the entrance ceremony were already in the classroom. Soon, everyone settled when Solace entered the room. Unlike from the entrance ceremony, he was now wearing glasses.
"Good morning Class 0," He said with the same unreadable smile on his face.
Most of the students only looked at him in silence, others in fear while others with hostility. And one of those seething with hostility was Myrene and the twins who were her seatmates.
"How was your day yesterday? I hope you have plenty of rest. Now that we are all here, I will not make things go around." Solace flicked his fingers and the metal collars that were on their necks cracked and turned into specks of dust. "Now that you are all officially students of the House of Spades, having those awful collars on your neck is just an unsightly thing to see."
Myrene could feel a cold sensation running through her veins. 'It must be the mana that has been suppressed for a long time.' She felt like a part of her was able to properly breathe after that magic nulling collar had been destroyed.
"From what the headmistress has told you at the entrance ceremony. I am the Key of Magic. Meaning that I will be the one who will handle enhancing and training your magics. I have all your records from the authorities of your naming ceremony."
Most of the students flinched at the mention of the Naming Ceremony, including Myrene who tried to calm herself or she would lose again in those horrid memories. She couldn't show any more weakness, especially in front of all these students and Solace.
"All right, that's enough of the basic stuff. You will meet your other instructors at exactly 1:00 pm in the afternoon. Since it is still early, just use it in your free time for now. Just be sure to be back here before 1:00 pm." Solace said.
But before Mr. Solace could leave the classroom, one of the students stopped him. It was the lamb boy. "Mr. Solace, will you not teach us anything about magic now? From what was stated in the schedule, we should have met the Key of Knowledge after your class. And there were still two hours left in your class as well."
"So there are still kids who read the handbook. Before your naming ceremony, I believed that all of you have been taught about the basic details when it comes to magic, is that right? Or is anyone still oblivious about the basics? That would be really disappointing. And I hated disappointments. So does anyone here still don't know the basics of magic?"
Everyone fell silent.
'If you phrase it like that, no one will voice their opinions anymore.' Myrene couldn't help but scoff inside her head.
"I presume in your silence that you already know about the basics of magic. So now, we will focus on its application but since this is the first day, I'll give you more time to adjust to your class first. If you want to familiarize yourself more, simply go to the House Library in this North Building. The Key of Knowledge would be delighted to see the new students visiting the library."
***
A few hours later...
"Damn!" A small dent was formed when 60 kicked the wall. "Who the hell does he think he is to say anything as he pleases."
"Technically, he is our teacher. So he can indeed say anything as he pleases." 81 said as she crouched down.
She put her palm in front of the dent. "Restore." She chanted and the wall returned to normal. "Ah, it feels good to use magic again. My magic is pretty cool right 100?"
Myrene who was sitting casually on the bench gave them a sideways glance and then nodded at them. After Solace said whatever he wanted, he just left the class like that. Now they were in some garden at the back of the North Building.
"Sixty's magic is about destruction while mine is restoration." 81 said. "Though we are twins, I'm surprised that we have opposite magics. But it is quite fun. Given the temper of my brother, he can go destroy things as he pleases, and I will just restore them. Not only will he be able to feel free to use his magic, but with my restoration magic, he would not be subjected to any problems and I would also be able to train mine as well."
'There magic are pretty unique. So both of them are Generis huh.'
"Don't say it like I only destroy things." 60 looked at Myrene with a narrowed gaze. "We pretty much tell you about our magic. What is yours?"
"Dark Magic," Myrene simply said. "Let's go have something to eat. It is better to have more strength for later."
She stood up and walked ahead, heading to the cafeteria. 'I don't know what will happen in the afternoon. But if Solace, one of those so-called Seven Keys, seems already troublesome, what more are the rest of them.'
"You're an elemental magic user! That's so cool, it means you can have plenty of use for it! Unlike us, ours is very limited!" 81 was able to match Myrene's pace. "But what do you think will happen later? Are we not just going to meet the rest of our instructors just like Solace said?"
"I simply want to be prepared to face everything," Myrene remarked. She could now see the cafeteria's door. There were other students present, but they were largely their previous classmates. And, unlike early in the morning, there was nothing else there aside from them. There were tables nearby, as well as a woman at the counter dressed in a long cloak and wearing a full black mask. She appeared to be the one who served the meals to the students. Her shaggy white hair stood out, giving her the appearance of an old hag.
'Even the cafeteria looks like the typical cafeteria to any school I've been to back on Earth. I thought it would look more unnatural aside from the staff.'
"What do you kids want to eat? We all have the sweet delicacies here." She gestured to the food they were serving. And it was all indeed different kinds of pastries and sweets and there was nothing else. Somehow, this old hag reminded Myrene of the witch in the Hanzel and Gretel.
{Appraisal Skill: No poison has been found.}
'The food here is all safe it seems. But the price for just one slice... For the cheapest, it is already 500 small silver liams. Isn't that pretty too expensive already? Though we have 5000 gold liams for a whole month to spend. But this is still so expensive. I guess I can just buy the lowest ones to save more. But they all look completely delicious...'
"Oh, I recommend this one to you. This was not displayed here because it is the most delicious one here, a strawberry shortcake made from the fresh..."
"I'll buy the whole cake," Myrene said without a moment of hesitation before the old hag could finish her words. Even 60 and 81 seemed surprised at Myrene's sudden words.
"That would be a total of 100 big silvers." The old hag seemed pleased based on her voice.
***
"That was surprising, so you love strawberry cakes." 81 said as she bit the chocolate brownies she bought for herself. They were now sitting in a table near the entrance of the cafeteria.
"Why are all the foods here only these kinds of sweets?" 60 grumpily said as he ate another chocolate pie for himself.
"I need to have more strength later," Myrene said as she continued to eat the cake.
"My siblings are really funny," 81 chuckled as she continued eating.
"Hah, I'm not being funny here." 60 said and glared at 81.
"You're not? You keep blabbering that there are only sweets here, but you already finished a lot yourself."
"As I said, there is nothing else to eat here." And the twins continued to argue further while they finished one plate after another of the sweets.
Myrene's lips curled up into a little smile. But she quickly realized this and returned her normal poker face. She tightened her grip on her fork. Somehow this kind of atmosphere was too peaceful for Myrene. Too peaceful that it concerned her, for in this lifetime, if there was peace, a storm would undoubtedly come next. And she was accurate in that sense.