Henry was resting peacefully before hearing numerous footsteps passing his room.
'Mmm… what's going on?' Henry rubbed his eyes, laying back down.
An unknown amount of time went by before Henry stood up, now wondering why so many people ran by his room. Standing up, Henry checked his clock, which read "6:30 PM."
"6:30, oh, it's dinner time." Henry took some steps towards his wardrobe before being hit by a sudden realization.
"It's dinner time!" Rushing to get ready, Henry threw on his uniform and began running as fast as he could to the lunchroom. How could he be late to his first-ever school event? Everyone would surely make fun of him for this.
Rushing down the hall, Henry passed two people talking: a tall blonde boy who seemed older and more mature than Henry, and the other person he was talking to was a shorter silver-haired boy with very childish features. Henry didn't ponder on it; they could be late, but he sure as hell would not be.
***
Henry skidded through the halls, finally making it to the lunchroom. As he slammed through the door, he ran headfirst into a person blocking his way.
"Ow, fuck." Henry had hit his back, landing on the floor, which was not pleasant.
"Watch where you're going, freak." The childishly mean voice belonged to a large boy.
Henry was already peeved at being late, alongside hurting himself, so he didn't feel like being picked on, especially on the first day.
Henry stood up. "Rude, at least I don't block the door where everyone has to enter, then throw a fit when they run into me." It wasn't his best argument, but it fit. The boy had an angry face that Henry did not want to think of, so Henry began making his way to the furthest corner of the room.
"Don't you walk away from me! Who do you think you are?" As the boy yelled out, someone came from behind him, putting their hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, Carver, leave it be. It's fine." Coming to Henry's rescue was a red-haired, handsome man who had a small crowd behind him.
"…Okay, Aaron." Aaron had calmed down the giant. In doing so, the crowd of awakened following him grew larger. Henry could tell that this was the king of the academy.
'I'm starting to regret coming here.' Though Henry didn't mean it, the sentiment still counted. All the encounters he had at the academy were very negative. It's almost like he just magnetized bad energy.
As Henry sat down, a tall and gruff man made his way out, holding a microphone.
"Hello, students! For those of you who are new, I am Headmaster Cassius. Now, for those who have just arrived, I have come to welcome you! Thank you all for choosing to come to our institution, and I hope we can serve you well."
The headmaster scanned over the room, locking eyes with Henry, which made him very uncomfortable.
"As most of you know, the first trial is just one of three. The rest of the trials take place in a realm separate from our own called Rylah. Rylah is a treacherous realm where many trained and powerful awakened have died. I have seen many talented students pass away in Rylah."
Cassius's face lowered. The students all seemed scared and shocked hearing what he said.
"You might be wondering why I just told you all that. It's because my job here is to make sure you all survive. You will all be able to pick and choose which classes you go to. I and none of the faculty will force you to attend any class, but I urge you to learn as much as you can. If you do not prepare and train… you will die. I and the other teachers have given you the tools for survival, but it is up to you to use them."
The lunchroom erupted into clapping. Screams of empowerment came from the room.
"Settle down, settle down. Tomorrow all new students will be met with, and we will show our new ranking of all students."
The headmaster walked off, leaving the room as the hall was filled with cheer.
'Well, he seems good in crowds.'
Henry was quite skeptical of the empowerment from the headmaster's speech. Actually, it had made Henry more paranoid for the second trial.
That paranoia was short-lived when Henry's nose was hit with the heavenly smell of butter chicken, which he had only ever gotten to smell while working in kitchens.
Rushing to the lunch line, Henry felt the hairs on his neck stand up. Turning around, he saw a familiar face. Adriana was far behind him in line, pointing at him while laughing with a group of people that included the popular boy Aaron.
'Well, that's reassuring. I got here in one day and have already become the victim of bullying. This feels like the start of a webtoon more than it feels like real life.'
Henry did his best to ignore the snickering behind him until he heard one thing.
"Yeah, and his name's not Henry, it's actually—" Dashing to cover Adriana's mouth, Henry flipped.
"Adriana." Henry looked the girl in the face as he covered her mouth, now having a large crowd around him.
'Alright, I did not think ahead. Now I look like a worse guy than her.'
Backing his hand up, he looked at Adriana sternly. Internally, however, a joyous thought came to his head.
"Just because I don't want to go out with you doesn't mean you can just lie about me behind my back. I literally just met you today, scratch that, I just got here today. Of course, I don't want to date you; I don't know anything about you."
Henry had drawn the attention of more people, who were now speaking among themselves. Some were skeptical, but the drama-hungry ones ate it up.
"What are you talki—"
"No, what are you talking about, Adriana? I am not just some guy you can try to get with for no reason. I am here, just like everyone else, to stay alive and learn. I am not interested in any sort of relationship besides being friends with you, so please stop asking, or else I will have to bring this up to the faculty."
"But that's not tr—"
"I'm not talking about this further, Adriana. Leave me out of your silly games." Henry turned around, holding his breath so as not to let out a laugh. Normally, he wouldn't have the confidence to do that, but after the trial, the awakening gave him upgraded looks, which boosted his confidence quite a bit. Henry didn't want to make enemies, but some things, like his name, were worth it.
***
After grabbing his food, Henry made his way to the furthest table he could find, attempting to dodge the stares from Aaron, who seemed extra angered by his stunt earlier.
Sitting down, Henry began eating his food, savoring each bite. If anything made going to the academy worth it, it would be the food.
While munching down his food, Henry noticed that someone else was sitting near him. A blonde girl sat across from him, not paying any mind to him, though. It was odd that anyone would sit near him, especially after the scene he had just made.
The company was nice, though, so Henry let it be, eating his food in the company of the silent girl.
After finishing his food, Henry began to make his way back to his room, where he found the headmaster standing outside.
"Uhhh, hi?" The worry that Adriana or someone else had reported him began to rise in Henry, but he did his best to stay calm.
"Hey, Henry, I am, as you know, Headmaster Cassius. I hope I'm not intruding on your time, but I had some things to discuss with you," the headmaster spoke in a kind tone.
'What could this guy possibly want from me?'
"Sure, what can I help you with?"
The headmaster faced Henry, pulling out a small notecard, seemingly so he could remember topics.
"I would like to talk to you about your lineage."
"Lineage…?" Henry had an inkling of where this was going, and he did not like it.
"More specifically, I would like to talk to you about your sister. Would we be able to do that, Henry?"