CHAPTER 7

A little footwork here and a couple of arm flicks there and finally the door to the Greenhouse caved in. It was just a standard ritual for unlocking seals, but the way Lieutenant Marsh executed it was so intricate that he made it look like an absolute work of art.

"Ah! So, that's how you turn an invisible doorknob open, huh? What a performance!" Uobe was clapping slowly by himself because the rest of the expectators around the Mirror Lake were just too busy trying to pick up their jaws from the snow covered gravel. "I will never look at our manor door the same way again, Lord Valentine. Never."

It was supposed to be a joke, but Gunn totally missed the humor in Uobe's 'wise' words because he was too busy being indifferent. He was not seeing what the rest were seeing, so he couldnt possibly relate.

At the southern edge of the frozen Mirror Lake where the water has been parted by magic, a two meter wide by twenty meter long rectangular opening revealed itself. Lieutenant Marsh apparently had unlock a hidden stairway that was connected to an underground path leading to the Greenhouse.

With the Ladder Guides leading the trek, the two thousand plus participants followed suit. They all entered the tunnel cautiously and slowly.

While traversing the stretch of the long moldy tunnel, Gunn observed two things: first, the entire structure of the tunnel despite its size managed to support itself for a very long time without collapsing to the weight of the lake water above. And second, the place was well illuminated despite being hidden underground. It was more like mid day where they were compared to the light on the surface. The ceiling must have been enchanted to immitate day time light and thats all the excuse that Gunn could think of.

It didnt took them long because half an hour later, they were finally out of the tunnel. The frigid wind was no longer pestering them. Snow was out. And somehow, it felt like summer has finally arrived over this side of the Ladder. The smell of aged pine wood and cherry berry laced the crisp 'summer' air. And Gunn was more than happy to tuck his winter jacket away for now. Uobe was even quicker to receive them when Gunn handed them over.

Strange. When the Guides mentioned that they were taking them to the Greenhouse, Gunn expected to see an actual greenhouse where rare plants and special trees were actually grown. But instead, they were ushered into the middle of a sprawling Academy surrounded by tall ivory buildings, left, right and center.

"Are we really inside of a giant tree?Because this right here looks even grander than the Royal Academy of Granada!" Uobe commented. He could not believe what he was seeing, and Gunn was the same.

"Welcome WIT's" started the man on the podium holding the sound amplifier. "Before you embark on your first day here at the Academy, we need to take your bio measurements first. It is something very crucial. So, please take this seriously. Now, I would like all of you to turn around and check the giant Jade Obelisk behind you. Please focus all of your attention to the tip of the obelisk. This will only take a few seconds, so dont even try blinking." explained the man while fixing the placement of his glasses to his nose."Now, on my account. Ready? 1... 2... 3!"

It happened in an instant. The moment the green light flashed and hit their eyes, white lights started appearing all around the participants. However, it also disappeared just as fast.

Somehow, with the white lights gone, most of the participants disappeared too.

'What happened?' almost everyone had their what-the-fuck face on and not just Gunn.

"Alright. From 2,328 we are now down to 866. Still good numbers. Okay. Now settle down WIT's because school is about to start. I understand that you have a lot of questions for me and I will answer them for you in a bit. We are going to sort you out based on your Discipline later. So, first things first... remove your emergency bracelets. You wont be needing them here."