Everybody had been admitted, a decision never before made in the history of Eritoakademi, according to Mr. Otsuka. Of the crowd that remained, I estimated there to be some 500 of us in attendance, meaning that perhaps, up to 200 students had been killed during the final evaluation.

Now, normally these circumstances would call for an immediate shut down of the institution, followed by a lengthy investigation. However, that was not the case. Every single student who attempted to enroll in this academy signed a waiver form, just as I had, that prevented the school from taking direct responsibility for the injury or death of their students.

I looked toward the group of bodies, every single one of them was covered with a white sheet for anonymity purposes. I wondered if anybody I knew was among that crowd. The sight of so many corpses made me sick. I swore that I would kill every unusual that existed in this world, and avenge those who lost their lives.

This wasn't just about my mother anymore, this was something far greater than that. This was about humanity as a whole now. There are some 129 million humans in Minerva, and some 45 million demons. This was a war that required every single one of us to work together to end. Mr. Otsuka continued his speech~

"Let us all have a moment of silence for those who lost their lives during this horrific incident. Please, if you all would," he said, before stepping away from the microphone. The silence was eerie, nobody made a sound. All we could hear was the wind gently blowing beside us, brushing against the grass.

We heard the flags above us waving, they were decorated with the academy emblem, as well as the Minervan flag. The tents shifted silently with the breeze as well, but the most unsettling of them all, were the sheets covering the corpses, gently flapping in the wind... one of them was on the verge of flying off.

Everybody around me had their eyes closed and their heads down. They were praying. I decided to do the same, shutting my eyes and taking in the silence around me. I began to see images of my mother in my head. I only knew of her appearance from photographs...she was beautiful. After a few more seconds had passed, Mr. Otsuka stepped back up to the microphone.

"Thank you. Now, every year following the entrance exam, it's customary for the academy to hold a greeting period where all accepted applicants will have two hours to engage with the others around them, and get to know their class. Despite these devastating circumstances, we will still engage in this activity."

"What I would like for each and every one of you to do right now, is go back to your dorms, change into civilian clothes if you are not already wearing some, and take care of yourselves. Everybody here has had a traumatic day, but we must press on with important matters within this institution."

"Please do not approach the restricted areas marked with the caution tape, if you are caught doing so, you will be removed from the premises forcefully. I apologize once again for the events of today..." he said stepping away from the microphone.

Immediately after the conclusion of his speech, faculty members began ushering us out of the area. They didn't want anybody on the premises while they were sorting and cleaning the corpses. There were so many of them. Surely everybody here was traumatized.

The group of people that I had found myself in was escorted out by a man in a suit, who led us back to the entrance to Eritoakademi. We walked past the bodies along the way, everybody was staring at them. A great gust of wind blew past us and blew the white sheet off of one of them. Everybody's head turned instantly in that direction, as a body had suddenly become exposed...

"...oh no..." I said, mortified.

I stopped dead in my tracks and could do nothing but gaze at what was before me. Their soulless expression and deceased eyes, the giant hole gaping in their chest, their legs scratched up with large claw marks. They had been absolutely mutilated...

"Sir, this way please, away from the tape!" said a man before dragging me away from Haruka's body...

She was gone. Less than 48 hours ago Kage and I were traveling with her to the top of the tower, and now she had been killed. Although I barely knew her, I felt for her family. How awful they must be feeling to hear of their daughter's sudden death. That went for the family of every victim here, their lives were forever changed.

I continued walking with my group, looking at the bodies that lay on the ground. I couldn't bear the sight of it anymore, so I looked forward and continued walking. I heard quick footsteps approaching me, it was Akisada.

"Yo, Hachiro, I'm going home for a little bit," he said, putting his hand on my shoulder. I gave him a hug, and the two of us parted ways. He appeared to be a bit more traumatized than I was. He needed rest. I decided to return to my dorm and stay for a little while.

I walked out of the area and returned to my dormitory building. Nobody around me spoke a word or interacted with each other. There was silence across the entire campus.

When I got back to my room, I closed the door behind me, and put my sword down on my bed. I changed out of the outfit I was wearing, which was a spare white T-Shirt, stained with blood, and some pants, into a cleaner and more comfortable outfit.

I took my dirty clothes and threw them into the laundry. If I wanted to get the stains out of my clothes, I would need to wash them immediately. I found my dorm's laundry room and threw the blood-stained clothes into the washer before starting it. There were others down here as well, doing the same.

When I returned to my room, I was surprised to see Celeste had exited my sword and assumed a physical form. She was sitting in a chair, looking out the window, the breeze blowing gently through her hair. Her eyes were closed as if she was drifting off into sleep.

"Celeste? What are you doing out?" I asked. She kept her eyes shut but answered my question.

"I'm just enjoying the air. After being in between realms for so long, it starts to get a bit stuffy. Plus, I feel freer in this form."

I could tell that wasn't the only thing troubling her. She was too deep in thought to simply be enjoying the air. I inquired her further.

"Is anything wrong?"

"Do you want me to be honest?" she asked. This sent me into a slight panic, as my suspicions had been confirmed. An all-knowing spirit such as herself clearly knew things that I did not. Regardless, I affirmed her.

"Well of course, what's the matter?" I asked.

*Bzzt-pop!*

Suddenly, the light bulb illuminating my room went out. It was the evening, so the light from outside was still coming through my window, but my room was considerably darker now. How did that even happen? In this world, we used vacuum tubed incandescent bulbs. They weren't incredibly bright, but they had a nice orange glow to them.

"The light went out, that's unfortunate, you'll have to get that replaced," said Celeste.

"Did you do that?" I asked. Perhaps maybe Celeste used her spiritual powers to cause my light to burn out. She looked at me and shook her head in denial.

"I did not. But let that light bulb serve as a metaphor for what I am about to say next," she said, standing up from the chair. I didn't notice it much the night I met her, but she was considerably tall, taller than me even.

Celeste approached me, stopping in the center of my room. She looked upwards at the light bulb on the ceiling. The wires inside of it were vibrating tremendously as the surge of power subsided, signifying the end of its life. The sun beams were illuminating her body, giving her an almost divine aura.

"Much like that light bulb burning out, today's events were nothing short of unexpected. But at the same time, I have a sneaking suspicion that something happened from the outside to cause such an event to take place. You see, spirits are quite brilliant, rarely do things slip by our radar."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Earlier today, when the director was giving his speech, I could sense an overwhelming aura of skepticism coming from every single other spirit on that field. Everyone was in agreeance that something wasn't right. Didn't you notice how everybody except the director was crying?"

"I understand a level of professionalism needs to be kept, but I've witnessed world leaders cry at much smaller losses before."

"None of us are blaming the director for any of the events that transpired today, but I would keep on your highest guard at all times Hachiro, for your safety, and for the safety of everybody else."

Celeste turned back around and sat back in the chair. I sat down in the chair next to her, and the two of us gazed out the window at the fountain flowing in the distance. Nobody was outside, everybody was staying in, probably mortified.

“What do you think we should do? I still have full faith in the director and the academy faculty…I find it hard to believe that they would orchestrate something of this magnitude.” I said.

“Again, I’m not confirming anything, but I along with the other spirits are just a little suspicious. He said “a few” students unfortunately lost their lives, yet the body count extended beyond 150, that’s more than just “a few”.”

She was right, the body count was in the triple digits. I looked to my left at Celeste. She was staring off into the distance, expressionless, her chin resting on her palm. She glanced at me, and then back outside before speaking once more.

"Tonight, when you go to the meet and greet, take me with you. You aren't allowed to bring spirits or weapons to the event, but I can try my best to sneak into a small object if you have one available for me."

"Wait, you want me to sneak you in??" I asked nervously.

"Yeah, here, do you have anything small and preferably sharp that I could try and take refuge in?"

"Why does it need to be sharp?"

"I'm a sword spirit, my body type is most compatible with sharp weapons such as them. If you have a knife or something, I could try and squeeze myself into it."

"Didn't you say we weren't allowed to bring weapons?"

"I did, but they won't search you too thoroughly. If you keep a knife tucked away, perhaps in a second pair of shorts underneath some pants, you could get away with sneaking me in."

Celeste sounded absolutely insane. If I was caught with a knife and a spirit, I would be double screwed! However, despite my clearly anxious demeanor, Celeste remained confident.

"Well, if you insist, I do have a knife that you-" Celeste interrupted me.

"Let me see it."

"Oh...okay," I said, opening a drawer and removing a dagger from it. My father had packed it as an emergency weapon in case my sword were to break.

"That'll work perfectly..." said Celeste, readying herself to attempt to inhabit it. If things worked out as she had planned, then Celeste would travel with me to the meet and greet. She still hadn't provided me with a reason as to why, but I could only assume it was for important business...

"Alright Hachiro, here goes nothing!"