“Students, welcome.” The sound was clear and crisp, like it was coming from right next to me, but I could see the speaker at the center of the podium. He was a tall, uniformed man with rich brown skin and a marvelous jagged scar across his forehead. It made him look ferocious. I was mildly envious.
“I’m Lieutenant Commander Jack Bennet, the vice chancellor of this institution. First, I’d like to congratulate you on getting to this point. You’ve shown a degree of worth in the eyes of the goddess to make it this far, but your training is just beginning. I’ll be keeping a close eye on you throughout the years to come, helping to hone you into the fine generation of soldiers that you have the potential to become. The final arbiter of your success, however, is the chancellor.” He turned to his right, gesturing at a short, portly woman in a business coat and trousers.
Not military. Interesting.
“Chancellor Wallace will explain the rest.”
A brief introduction. Good. I can’t stand long speeches. The other students in the crowd had gone silent, turning their eyes to the stand.
The vice chancellor stepped away from the podium, allowing Chancellor Wallace to approach.
It occurred to me that no one was applauding. Were we supposed to cheer or clap? I wasn’t really sure.
“Good morning, students, and thank you for the introduction, Commander Bennet.” She nodded to the vice chancellor, and then looked back to the crowd. “My, there are a lot of you this year. A record number, in fact. That’s a good sign, a sign of the goddess watching over us. She seems to expect great things of you, and so will I. Before we continue, let us say a few words in her praise. Please join me in the Hymn of Accord.”
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes, mouthing the words as others droned one of the many hymns that had been scratched into our brains since childhood.
Goddess great,
Goddess high,
Watching from the distant sky,
Give us peace,
Give us strength,
Watch us live,
Watch us fly.
I’d always thought “die” would have more symmetry in the last line, but when I’d brought it up to my parents, they’d accused me of being needlessly fatalistic.
There was a moment of silence as we finished the awkward recitation, then the chancellor continued her speech.
“Very good. Now, onto a bit more about the school. First and foremost, the role of this university is to prepare you for the dangers you will be facing in the future. A key component of this is learning proper discipline.”
Chancellor Wallace made a broad gesture to encompass the entirety of the gathered student base. “This year, I am not only welcoming the next generation of promising candidates from our own nation, but a number of transfer students from our friends and allies in other nations. I would like to be among the first to welcome you all to Valia. And I would also like to assure you that this academy holds all students to equal standards; there will be no favoritism toward local students.”
The chancellor’s eyes narrowed as she glanced around. “I would also like to remind our local students that these transfer students are our honored guests, and they must be treated with the utmost civility. Actions taken against other students based on their home nation will not be tolerated. Outright hostility toward our guests will result in punishment, up to and including expulsion. I would like to make absolutely certain this is clear. If you understand me, reply, ‘Yes, ma’am.’”
There was an awkward and out of sync reply of “Yes, ma’am,” from the audience.
“I couldn’t hear you all. Repeat after me. ‘Yes, ma’am. ’”
We did a little better job at replying in sync that time.
I could see the reasoning behind introducing this policy so early. My father had told me a story about an incident last year where an Edrian student had been beaten half to death after a class where he’d made a remark about how Edria had “won the war” against Valia years ago.
When my father had explained it, he’d said the kid had “gotten what he’d deserved” for speaking against our noble nation.
I felt sick just remembering the talk. Who could justify beating a student just for stating an opposing viewpoint?
Never mind the fact that Edria more or less had won the war, even if they hadn’t conquered us.
I shook my head, pushing the memory out of my mind. I’d do my best to try to be friendly to any Edrian students I encountered. I was pretty confident that the chancellor’s speech wasn’t going to sway many others. The hatred for Edria was too deeply rooted into our culture, even many years after the war.
“Good. There are a number of other rules at this university, each intended to help improve your discipline for your future career. You will find a full list of academy policies among your entry paperwork.”
The chancellor took a breath and then continued.
“As this is your first year at Lorian Heights, each of you will be assigned to one of six divisions based on your attunement. Your division will determine the types of training and instruction you’ll be given, as well as your primary instructor and uniform.”
Divisions? Interesting, I hadn’t heard about this. Sera and I will probably be split up... That could be good or bad.
“Each division will have objectives throughout the year. Completing these objectives will earn points, both for individuals and for their divisions. Each student has a minimum requirement to earn five hundred points to continue to the second year at the academy.”
“Candidates will enter their second year retaining their scores from the first year, and graduates with high scores will enter their military service at a higher rank. A large part of your score is derived from the performance of your division, and thus, it behooves you to work together with your classmates.”