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“First-year students, please proceed to the auditorium at the third storey for your opening day speech by the Headmaster.” the public address system announced.

In the next few minutes, the auditorium was packed with students sitting comfortably on red velvet armchairs. Some were exhilarated by the opportunity to enter such a prestigious academy, some were downcast to be finally made aware that the holidays are over, though most were just indifferent and believed it was just another year of school. When darkness enveloped the auditorium with the only source of light being the spotlight illuminating the podium, all eyes were on an individual adjusting the microphone. He was dressed in formal attire, which consists of a Victorian tailcoat, a cravat tie made up of three layers of cloth, each larger than the one above it and white trousers.

Clearing his throat with a cough, Selwyn declared in a tone of quiet authority, “Welcome to Maelstrom Academy, one of the top centres of learning for magically inclined individuals such as yourself. The very fact that you have been qualified to enroll in this educational institution makes you one of the rare few whose talent in the arcane arts has been acknowledged by the powers beyond. I am Selwyn, your headmaster, and you may call me Sir. Let me make this clear to all of you, especially those with a massively inflated ego, that while you may have been identified as one with great potential, most of you are still half baked. Until you surpass me, I expect to see all of you making the utmost effort to learn and develop your abilities. Here, it doesn’t matter which race you belong to, which language you speak, which socio-economic background you are from, in the end this academy belongs to me, all of you are my students and I want to see all of you succeed in life when you graduate. I don’t believe I have to elaborate on the impressive achievements your alumni have made.

Before I end this speech, I suppose some of your teachers will be introducing themselves and the subject they are in charge of. Do give them your undivided attention as they will be guiding you in the journey to discover your maximum potential. Then, you will be allocated to your classes and receive your curriculum schedule. In the meantime, feel free to socialise with your school mates. With that, I look forward to observing the physical manifestation of your growth and success.”

After receiving the customary standing ovation, he stepped away from the podium and left the auditorium.

Student List
Laura Cervantes - Sapphiron
Zemas Chaosblade - Commander_Zemas
Velvet Raskelton - Taintedpaws
Elliot Stokes - Barnes
Karlien van Rensburg - Laurentus
Mads Skovgaard - Gerrick
Zek Orthsburg - Rasdanation
Talia Everlyn - xXTheHydraXx
Deviant Amon Hietala - Lumenland

Staff List
Fizban (Mental Training) - Commander_Zemas
Neels van Staden (Combat Training) - Laurentus
Morris Blackwell (Healing and Magical Remedies) - Crushita Telcontar
Lune (Ethics of Magic) - VidiLune

Neels took his place on the podium with grace, and didn't wait for the students to stop fidgeting.

"Good day, new and old students alike, and welcome to another year at this prestigious academy. I am Neels van Staden, your Combat Training instructor. I will be teaching you the general principles for adequate defense and offence.

"To be admitted to this academy is a tremendous honour, and I will be looking forward to meeting each of you. Work diligently, and you will be rewarded. The foundations you build here will determine the rest of your lives, and while a great responsibility, you will come to find your time spent in this academy will be some of the best years of your life.

"I encourage each of you to engage in whatever activities you find most rewarding to the fullest, and to remember to enjoy your time here with as many friends as you can make. We have strict work ethics, and you will need your friends and your leisure time to cope with our expectations."

Neels promptly decided that he might be scaring the students a bit too much, so he decided to end the speech with: "Lest I'm making this sound a bit too much like a military training camp, remember that the work we do here is fun in its own right, and if we push you hard, it is only to make you live up to your fullest potential. We are here for you, the students, and I encourage each of you to seek out the help of a teacher with whatever problems you may be facing.

"I will now step down to give the other faculty members a chance to greet you, and see you in my class later today. Once more, welcome to Maelstrom Academy, and best of luck in the coming year."

With that, Neels stepped down and made his way back to his seat.

During all the announcements, Fizban was sleeping with his hat over his eyes.

"Strict work ethics? Fun in its own right? Fullest potential? Sounds perfect!" Elliot exclaimed giddily. He turned to his neighbour, whispering, "Have you been excited as much as I?"

"I'm positively bursting with excitement," Karlien said sarcastically.

She turned to the boy: "By the way, I'm Karlien. A pleasure to meet you." She extended her hand for the greeting.

Zemas was watching the proceedings with semi-interest. A thrill of excitement did go through him though. To be entered in the Most Esteemed Magic Academy! A huge honor in it's own right. Zemas wondered what kind of magical secrets he will discover while he learns.

Elliot accepted the handshake. "Oh really? Why's that?" he said with a disappointed but understanding demeanor. "But before you get to that, I'm Elliot. Nice to meet you!"

As Velvet sat in her chair and listened to everything, her mind drifted. It was still a bit hard to believe that she had entered such a prestigious school- but then again, her excitement was clouded by the recent news of her grandmother's death a few days ago. Her emotions were conflicted at the moment, but nevertheless she was still happy about being a student here. And she hoped what Neels-what's-his-face had said was true- maybe this school would be the best experience of her life. At least the chairs were nice.

But then she thought of her fellow students- what if they were total jerks? You never know. People were as foreign to Velvet as flying. She interacted with them everyday, but...they just never made sense to her. Though most of their minds functioned similarly, as she soon discovered. Her brown gaze moved from person to person, studying each and every one of them.

"I liked my life fine without being enrolled in some stuck up academy. But it's useless to complain. I'll make the most of it. There are always interesting people to meet no matter where one finds herself.

"And much as I complain, I do want to develop my abilities fully."

She turned to Elliot. "How did you end up here?"

"I asked my parents if I could come here. I took personal responsibility for developing my magical craft and after they saw what staying in a 'normal' school did for my sister, they figured it was the best option. Boy, they sure miss me already..."

Velvet

Laura leaned back in her seat and rested her arms on the manchettes, adjusting her posture until she reached a position of comfort. Granted the privilege of attendance at the prestigious Maelstrom Academy, she had the obligation to listen attentively while the Headmaster, the Combat Training Instructor and other faculty members yet to speak at the podium make their opening day speeches. While she might have conjectured that they were nothing more than scripted gibberish, her cynical thoughts were carefully veiled by the façade of a polite demeanor coupled with her signature fake smile.

Life is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Act 5, Scene 5. Macbeth. It is no wonder that this is my favourite Shakespeare quote. As teenagers, we are only puppets, our strings pulled by adults. Oh dear, I will be castigated by Grandfather should he be aware that I am still capable of having such thoughts after the traditional indoctrination process, even if I do sincerely believe in fulfilling my duty as the scion of the Cervantes family, and I am sure he is perfectly aware that I will never disobey authority figures.

The feeling of being watched broke her chain of thoughts, and she tilted her head to the side in an attempt to pinpoint the source of distraction, only to find that it was her dark-haired neighbour who was scrutinizing some of her schoolmates. Deciding to make her first acquaintance in the school, she patted her neighbour gently on the shoulder before introducing herself in a hushed tone, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Laura, and may I ask what is yours?”

Zek Orthsburg sat back in his seat wondering what adventures awaited him. He noticed a short brunette girl next to him looking down, he decided to introduce myself. "Hi, I'm Zek. Who are you?" he asked nervously.

Talia sat down, paying attention to the headmasters and the professors. She glanced around from time to time, and noticed a couple of people around her. They all looked friendly, and after living in the woods for so long, she tried to muster up some courage to introduce herself. Thankfully, she didn't have to, as a guy named Zek introduced himself first.

"I'm Talia, nice to meet you!"

"So, do you specialize in any specific type of magic?" inquired Zek.

Velvet glanced back at Laura upon hearing her speak and offered a friendly smile before saying,"Hey. Great to meet ya, Laura. The name's Velvet." Her mind went blank for a moment as she recovered from her somewhat subconscious state and tried to think of what words to reply with.