"Can you control them, Alena?" Tom showed an excited expression as he showed a smile while looking at those inert statues.
"Affirmative, Sovereign Immovable. But I would require points to do that," Alena answered.
"How much?" Tom asked in dread assuming the worst.
"500,000 points, Sovereign Immovable," Alena answered robotically.
"Eternal oblivion! I knew it!" Tom cursed as he was right in his supposition as always. He only has 55,951 points on him.
"Do you also want to become like them?" a voice sounded behind Tom.
"Like what?" Tom said as he turned to face this newcomer. It was a fat boy. He was a jolly looking kid as he smiled towards Tom nodding in understanding.
"It seems like you don't know yet. These statues are the experts our Swynton Academy produced. Their cultivation is at least Ninja Saints. Who knows, maybe, they have long reached the peak by now," the fat boy informed Tom.
"I'm Cody Blaze," the fat boy introduced himself.
"Tom Foible," Tom replied to his new colleague.
The two talked or more like Cody was the one chattering and Tom was just content on listening. He spoke about his family and their expectations on him in this academy. He also aspired to travel the 7 continents and explore their mysteries completely.
He enumerated what he would like to be in the future. Cody was such an active boy with a healthy imagination for the possibilities of tomorrow and rightfully so because he was young. He was full of promise. After 10 minutes of his constant blabbering Cody finally paused.
"Are you hungry?" Cody asked Tom when he finally got tired of speaking.
"Yes, let's find the canteen." Tom lied as he was not starving but was willing to take this opportunity to roam the place and familiarize with his surroundings.
"Good! I know the place. My family provided me with a map of the campus," Cody bragged about his knowledge. They easily found the eatery and took a seat after getting food. These were free as their tuition fee is 1,000 blood rubies per month.
Even Tom's father took a sizable portion from their clan's treasury just to provide for his education for a year. These magical ruby was rare even in this world. They were formed by the blood of an expert, most commonly of those who died and long embraced the earth as their resting place.
As their blood seeped into the ground, time would slowly form blood rubies within a thousand years. The amount of blood ruby would depend on the strength of its dead owner.
They are so precious because a single blood ruby could enhance the cultivation of ninjas at an astonishing speed. Thus, the twelve thousand blood rubies allotted for Tom was indeed a huge wealth.
There were other academies nearer their clan's territory and were much cheaper than Tom's current school but Swynton Academy was the best among the closest schools so although they had to travel here for almost a month, the sacrifice would be nothing compared to the quality of education Tom could get in Swynton Academy.
"Did you know that the registration will end five days from now?" an innocent looking girl with reading glasses told a girl in front of her.
"So we're going to wait another five days. It's boring here. I wish I could go back home. I miss my mom," a girl tearfully said to her innocent looking friend with the reading glasses.
"You'll love it here, Jessica. Aren't you excited with all the skills and knowledge we could learn from here?" the innocent looking girl encouraged her friend.
"My mom said we could become strong here and learn how to fight. I don't like fighting, Angel. It's painful." Jessica confided with her friend as her father trained her at an early age to have a firm foundation.
"You must adapt, Jessica. My father said the ninja world is not peaceful. Only those who have power can protect what they care about. Do it for your family." Angel said in length to her friend.
"Thank you, Angel. Help me okay?" Jessica was grateful to Angel. They just met here in the academy but have already became fast friends as they talked for hours in the two days they spent together.
"Of course. Here, take this." Angel handed her a booklet about the rules and regulations of the academy and the two friends continued chatting.
"Five days. I wait in anticipation," Tom thought as he evaluated what he heard. He also underwent rigorous training by the start of his 5th year in this world like all ninja aspirants from the clans. Their bodies and senses were definitely not comparable to those untrained and ordinary ones.
Tom finished his food and said goodbye to his newly acquired friend, Cody. He did not find it hard to reach his room as the key magically directed him towards the area for new students. He has his own personal room that indicates the care of the academy towards its pupils.
1 day
2 days
3
4
5
Five days quickly passed to mark the beginning of the first day in school. All the new learners were gathered inside the academy hall for the opening ceremony for the newly arrived recruits. A tall thin old man could be seen addressing them warmly at first.
"Welcome to Swynton Academy! I am Elijah Smoke, the Master of this academy. Every one of you present today might come for different reasons. Maybe you were forced by your family or perhaps the allure to become something more calls you here.
For whatever your reasons are, I care not. What I do deem important is the result of your stay with us. Your parents and guardians paid a heavy sum for your education and I totally expect each of you to do your best to learn what your mentors are going to teach you or else," the Master of the Academy said those words and after paused to unveil a bit of his killing intent towards the children.