Otaku Card System

Her long hair was tied up as usual, and her face framed by red gla.s.ses. She wore dark cargo pants, and a cropped jacket over her dark tank top. Baal, in the form of a dagger, was strapped at waist level behind her back.

"Hana, me and Song Qi are leaving. Let"s meet up after!" Renae yelled from downstairs.

"Got it!"

It was finally the time to start school. Hana sighed. Beside her, everyone in the dorm was combat department. Since the entrance ceremony separated the two departments by seating, she had to enter from a different area.

"Ok Gardevoir, use Teleport on me."

As multicolored light surrounded her, Hana felt the world spin before she found herself before the gates of the school. Around her, students flocked in groups, chatting loudly.

"Please head toward the auditorium in an orderly fashion!" Senior students with red armbands yelled, attempting to keep order.

Hana blended into the crowd, keeping with the wave of people. Within the ma.s.sive auditorium building, the chatter of people became distinctively louder.

Because the academic department took up the second floor seats, Hana had a good view of the stage and people below. Judging from the number of people, it seemed like the combat department was larger, almost two times more seats were filled.

The lights dimmed. Soon, a pair of messy haired twins walked onstage. Their clothes were rumpled and eyes hidden, but there was no hiding the powerful aura emitting from them.

At their appearance, the loud voices tone downed to whispers.

"s.h.i.t! Why is the Tempest Duo is still in school?"

"I heard that they should be guarding the front lines with their father. So much for that rumor. I wouldn"t have applied if I knew the demon twins were still here."

Hana sweat-dropped as the people around her broke into fervent whispers. It seems like these two people were rather notorious.

"Shut up fresh meat" Two singsong voices were echoed into the microphone, turning the hall dead silent.

"Ah, much better." The twin on the left grinned as he propped an arm on the stand. "Well, I"m sure most of you know who we are. If ya don"t, well, I"m sure you will by the time you finish the first year. You"ll be seeing us lots of course." He laughed.

"We are in charge of discipline this year," the second twin interjected. "So basically, we have to keep you brats in line. So don"t misbehave, or we"ll take care of you." He let out an innocent smile. "There"s not much time left for us, so let"s welcome the princ.i.p.al."

Hana watched the twins links hands. Suddenly, a ma.s.sive gust of wind blew forth. Like a tornado, it swept through the bottom floor in a flash. The students below broke into shrieks.

The twins vanished among the chaos, and the wind disappeared like it never happened.

"Well, that"s dramatic," Hana mumbled.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!" The princ.i.p.al had arrived. Behind him, an entourage of elders also appeared. Hana could see a few familiar faces from her admittance exam.

"As many of you know, I am the princ.i.p.al of A.S. Academy, Lim Yi Feng. It is my great pleasure to welcome your all to the beginning of the 20XX school year. Every student has all worked hard to come this far, and you should be proud of your achievements.

This summer, there were over a thousand students accepted as freshman. Especially within the combat department, there was a record high of students accepted. In fact, the number of students accepted this semester is more than double of those in previous years. In recent years, the number of talented awakened youngsters has skyrocketed. You are part of a jewel generation, a generation of tigers and dragons.

This also means the compet.i.tion will become much greater. As many know, compet.i.tion is imbedded in the culture of our academy. Students drive each other to improve and push beyond their limits. Our society, despite the current status quo, is not as peaceful as it appears on the surface. It is here, that you will gain the knowledge and skills to improve, aid, and survive in the real world.

A.S Academy is one of the oldest inst.i.tutions . . . "

Hana drifted along the middle of the speech. "Ah, this is extremely boring," she sighed.

She began to observe more of her fellow students instead. Below, it was easy to see the divisions among students.

A large group dressed in dark clothes. The leader was the black haired girl in the center. Hana could see the girl"s emotionless red eyes as she turned to speak to the boy behind her. And she should see Aria Xie looking anxiously, no, enviously at the group. Interesting.

A smaller boy was being bullied by the taller people around him. She could see Song Qi and Renae muttering in the east. A girl with silver hair sat paying full attention to the speech like an honor student.

" . . . and finally, I would like to give special regards to this years two Alpha students, Xie Bai

Zhuang and Zhao Hana!"

Hana blinked in surprise. Too high profile, her name was announced. And someone else"s was too.

The princ.i.p.al smiled. "It is rare for an Alpha student to be accepted in the first place. But this year, we have one in each department. I look forward to seeing how everyone will improve in the following year.

Congratulations to you all, and welcome to A.S. Academy!"

After the ceremony, students spilled out onto campus. Cla.s.ses began the next day. The first day was meant for students to mingle and familiarize themselves with campus.

"Hana!" In the quad, Song Qi and Renae waved her over.

"I"m so glad it"s over. I nearly fell asleep during the speech." Renae complained. "Let"s get some food!"

Hana was about to agree, but her instincts roared. Her dagger flashed behind her, diverting the blade heading toward her head past her ear.

"Not bad." A sneering drawl.

Hana stared coldly at the boy holding the sword. "What is the meaning of this?"

"What else could it be? It"s a challenge of course." The boy smirked.

"The Phoenix Coalition is challenging Bluewing to a dorm duel."