Back in the Academy, the morning bells rang and stopped as sunlight filled the sky and activities began.
Students returned to their classrooms expecting the voice over the speakers to announce that the next challenge for the Inter-Class Competitions has begun. Instead, every wall screen across the Academy lit at once.
They all froze, halting what they were doing and turning their faces to the screens where the crest of the Administration appeared, followed by the narrow face of Helagreem Pastor.
The little old administrator sat behind a broad desk that made him look even smaller, his dark Academy coat looking like a blanket over his narrow shoulders. He waited until the transmission had spread through every faculty building before speaking.
"Students of Awakener Supreme, you are all aware that Headmistress Danistasia, Dean Ordenance and a selected group of professors and students have temporarily left the Academy under direct order from His Majesty, King Romsgard Goldstone."
