The Earth Alliance Defense Academy covered more grounds and territory than Alex imagined, it also went down a couple thousand feet Underground where there were secret facilities, teaching halls, specialized libraries, and multiple battle arenas, and finally entrance to another Dimension that"s not been fully conquered and is used as a training ground for the students of the academy. Some of the Academy"s graduates actually live in that Dimension, gaining grounds everyday against the local races in a bid to take it over. It was all very fascinating and quite a new experience for Alex. The academy itself was like a well planned out town, Alex had seen pictures of places like London the capital of the Albion Empire, places like New York and Seoul and the academy reminded him so much of those cities.
There was a hall underground, this was located right at the center of the academy and was known as the convocation hall. It was basically where every official ceremony was held, which also includes the induction ceremony for the new students and where they would receive orders to join the numerous organizations scattered all-over the academy.
It didn"t take long for Alex, Louis and Miranda to find the hall and get themselves a seat right on the edge of the ma.s.sive arena. It wasn"t as but as the arena in the Wudang sect, no that place probably held the record as one of the most Expansive arenas in the world. If Alex had to go out on a limb, he would say the arena in the Wudang sect could sit at least 80 thousand people if not more.
For all intents and purposes, Alex and Louis were supposed to be down there with the other new students, but they were a special case. The students were being introduced to the academy and being told about it"s rules and regulations, a map quite similar to the one Alex had received from Zhang Wuxi.
After that the students themselves were asked to introduce themselves, their level of cultivation and specialties as cultivators. Once that was done it was now up to the leaders of the organizations to ask the students they feel were worthy enough to join them.
Alex turned to Louis and gave him a simple nod, for some reason Alex didn"t feel the need to show himself yet, his main aim this time was to get Hideki and his friends from the beggar"s sect into their organization, Alex was hoping to use the fact that they owe him and his sister their lives to drag them into the organization, it was a guilt trip of sorts, but Alex didn"t mind using whatever tools at his disposal to get what he wanted.
Apart from that, it was up to Louis to try and invite other students into the organization based on his discretion. The young man had an eye for detail that Alex couldn"t really match up to, so if there was anyone capable of noticing talents in other areas it was invariably Louis himself. Of course in the process of choosing those students, there"s a possibility there would be a conflict of interest with other organizations, hence it would be hard not to make enemies.
But more than that since the students here were special cases of early admissions, it"s obvious that a majority of them already had roots set up for them in the academy. So while Louis tried recruiting, many of the students already have been drafted into other organizations and were just here for the ceremony. It really didn"t mean much to them, so in the end, Louis was only able to convince Ken Hideki, and his fellow disciples Ibrahim Abdulsalam, Sarah Lorne and Minerva Crucifixio Affectionately known as Cross.
The beggar"s sect had dorms and organizations of their own, in fact they were more of them in the academy than any other sect, hence there would definitely be and umbrella to cover all four of them. But there were no rules stating that it was absolutely necessary for you to join a dorm, or organization created by members of your own sect, so as Louis led them back to Alex"s and Miranda"s position, Alex heaved out a ma.s.sive sigh of relief.
In fact he wasn"t really looking for too many students to become members of his organization, every other member from Miranda"s starlight organization have been sent away as Alex didn"t trust any one of them, what he hoped to cultivate was a small organization of really capable fighters from multiple discipline, he was aiming for just 20 students, that way there should be more than enough resources to go around and then some extra lying around. With the inclusion of the students from the beggars sect, the amount of people in that tower now amounted to 12, which meant there were 8 slots left, and this were slots that he would fill six months from now when students are admitted from the entrance examination. Four of those slots belonged to Yun Fao and the triplets, so basically he was waiting to recruit four other students.
"Hideki, it is a pleasure to see you well, I trust the rest of you have also been in good health?" Alex asked as he got up to his feet and shook hands with Hideki and the others.
"We"ve been doing really well thank you, to be honest I doubt anyone of us will be here if it was not for you and Lady Xiao Mei"s help in surviving the Airship and the Orcon forest, we"re grateful." Hideki replied as he gave a small bow.
"lets consider ourselves even, after all you"ve just been roped into an organization that doesn"t really have much to offer at the moment, which means you all will be working that much harder than others to get ahead. I"m not going to lie to you, this won"t be easy, but if you"re all willing, I believe there"s nothing we can"t achieve." Alex said to them as he led the way outside of the arena, only to have their way blocked by a familiar face, or rather an older more refined version of a familiar face.
"I guess all you members of the Zhang clan are the same, dreamers who think they can change the world with their hands tied behind their backs! To me you"re just a fool who doesn"t know how night the heavens above you really are and is reaching for something you shouldn"t. But then again you have not just reputation but an incredible bloodline to watch out for you, so you can afford to be stupid Zhang Xiao Feng. Honestly little brother, you could have done better."
This was awkward, with how much Louis had spoken of his elder brother, Alex knew both brothers cared about each other a lot. But it seems the big brother had a problem with Alex putting the younger brother in a rather difficult situation as Louis who was about to hug his brother froze in his tracks from the pure animosity dripping for his words, he really didn"t Understand what was going on here.
"Brother I....." but the elder Lumiere raised his hand in the air to stop his brother from talking.
"We Lumiere"s are known for our foresight and ability to spot talent, not to mention we"re incredibly stubborn and always follow our heart rather than logic. You owe me no explanation little brother, the blood in my veins is the same one that runs in yours, so I understand. My problems with the man or rather boy you"ve pledged yourself too, is one that not even he himself could fathom, but it would not be fair to use that as a catalyst to spoil the relationship you have. Last I heard you two were as close as real brothers, but let"s get this over with." The Elder Lumiere was here for a purpose, and it had to do with Alex, but he didn"t like Alex so obviously he hated the fact that he was the one a.s.signed to do this, but in the end he couldn"t refuse a direct order from his master.
"My master feels that it would be too difficult for you to support your organization on the meagre resources your tower has. She asked me to invite you to hers as she"s willing to outfit seven whole floors to you for your use and provide enough resources for you and your friends to advance to true element realm, and can wholly focus on your studies here. So in retrospect, this is an official invitation from the Ninth princess of the Empire of Heaven Lu Victoria Albion into the organization Scions Of The Round Table. What is your answer?"
"No!"
Alex didn"t have to say much, it was just a simple answer anyways. And he would have happily left Louis"s brother with just that single word, but he decided to take the high road and be courteous to the dude. From what he heard the elder Lumiere was a good person with a string sense of Justice, it didn"t take much for Alex to realize that this guy was Jealous, and it made Alex wary. It was Jealousy that made the Zhang clan the oppressed giant it was today, that emotion can literally bring out the worst in people.
"Tell Tori I"m grateful for her concern, but I"m going to try and stand on my own for a while, if I need any help, I"ll reach out to her. But for now she should let me get a feel of the academy, it would be never too late to accept her offer later as I trust it"s open to me indefinitely right?" say what you will about Alex, but he had a pretty streak almost as dangerous as Anya"s, and calling Victoria with the let name only her closest friends and family used, almost made big brother Lumiere blow a gasket.
"Yes...…the offer is open indefinitely." He replied through gritted teeth, Alex felt Louis tugging at his clothes as if begging him not to escalate whatever drama was bubbling right now.
"Well thank you so much for delivering the message, I"m grateful that you did. Please I leave you and your brother to catch up, I know you"ve not seen each other in a very long time." Alex said to him.
"Thank you for your generosity!" the sarcasm in those words were not light, but Alex didn"t say anything else and was about to leave when he spoke up again.
"The princess has also invited you and.....and...and her sister wife to dinner this evening at Emiliano"s combat restaurant in the golden plaza. The time is 7pm so please don"t be late." Alex looked up at him with a smile and then said.
"Don"t worry, I won"t be late."