When the horned man wearing the grand magus robes walked up to the podium, the hall suddenly turned silent, as everybody stopped their talks and shifted their eyes towards the man. Hundreds of acolytes on the bottom floor, as well as the figures on the top floor, gave the man their attention. Looking at the situation, Emery realized this horned man should be someone extraordinary.
The man looked fairly old, with white hair and beard, plus many wrinkles visible on his face. His figure was a bit skinny, while his back was slightly hunched. If the man was not wearing the magus robe and exuding such an extraordinary aura, Emery was sure many would mistake him for a neighbor's frail and normal old geezer.
Seeing that everyone's attention was on him, the man slowly opened his mouth.
"Greetings, all. I am Esbern, a grand magus and the overseer of the institute. On behalf of King Alduin, I welcome all of you new acolytes to the Bloodline Institute."
Everyone immediately applauded when they heard Grand Magus Esbern's welcome. A few seconds later, Grand Magus Esbern raised his hands and the applause slowly died down.
"Now that the formalities are over, as the overseer it's my duty to tell you a bit about the institute history. From its origin to the purpose it was founded for," said Magus Esbern, while sweeping his gaze across the hall.
The grand magus then began to tell about the 12 mythical beasts that existed thousands of years ago. These beasts were the origins of the bloodlines, thus the ancestor of all half-bloods. He then explained the thousands of years battle between the elves and humans that were still ongoing until today.
During that time, half-bloods were treated as or even lower than slaves. Both humans and elves utilized half-blood as cannon fodder in their war. Only five millennia ago, the half-bloods were officially considered as part of human society.
The Zodiac Kingdown was built for this very reason, to protect and preserve the interest of half-blood people. The kingdom was currently led and protected by King Alduin, the one who became the keeper of the creed. Each year, the Bloodline Institute would choose talented half-blood acolytes to join their cause; the society where human and half-blood would live together harmony, without the prejudice passed down to them by their ancestors.
After explaining all of that, Grand Magus Esbern looked calmly at the acolytes. "Now, if you agree to accept the dream of our predecessor then you may join the institute."
The speech was closed with a thunderous applause from the acolytes and the people on the top floor. Not long after, what appeared to be an acceptance ceremony began.
The floor right in front of the podium, which had a unique symbol carved on, began to open up. A small fountain slowly emerged and showed its appearance. The overseer then got off the podium and walked to the front of the fountain, before he started calling out names.
His crisp and clear voice reverberated in the air as the grand magus opened his mouth.
"Rofos Trigeson."
A young man with red hair and muscular, hairy body stepped forward when the grand magus said that name. When he reached right in front of the fountain, the overseer looked at the young man briefly before proceeding to give him a knife. The acolyte named Rofos calmly made a cut on his palm using the given knife.
There was no change of expression when the young man cut himself. He then placed his hand above the fountain. The acolyte's blood immediately dropped into the fountain. In an instant, the fountain turned blood red.
A few seconds later, the majestic tiger symbol from one of the insignia banners placed on the walls began shining brightly. The sudden appearance of dazzling light caught everyone's attention.
"The Tiger Bloodline!" the overseer exclaimed out loud.
Clamorous noises immediately occurred when everyone heard that. Seeing that, Grand Magus Esbern immediately gestured for silence. After the noise subsided, the grand magus quickly started calling out names again. One by one, the acolytes were summoned and carried out the same ceremonial procedure.
Silva, who had been standing next to Emery from the start, nudged him and asked, "So, what do you think? Are you going to join the institute?"
Rubbing his chin Emery replied, "Hmm… Well, I guess I will. Based on what I have seen so far, I really like what they are trying to achieve here. To be honest, there are also similar problems in my world too. Being part of creating a world in which everyone lives harmoniously, yes I am in."
Silva chuckled when she heard Emery's answer. Emery immediately turned his head towards Silva with a confused expression when he heard the chuckle. "Anything funny with my words?"
"I knew you would say that, you naive fool," Silva said.
Still with confused expression, Emery asked, "What do you mean?"
"Come on now, Emery. Wake up from your naive dream. There is no such thing as our kind is accepted equally."
Turning her eye towards the ceremony again, Silva continued, "This was just a nice speech, Emery. I also like what the city stands for… but the truth is this city is only a facade for peace between the two races, to let the humans not be scared of our superior being."
Hearing that, Emery was stunned. "This… can't it be that bad, right?"
Silva couldn't but shake her head in amusement. "You are a truly hopeless case, Emery." Crossing her hands, she added, "Believe me. The situation where humans and half-breeds are equal will never happen."
Glancing at Emery, who appeared to be contemplating his choices, Silva continued, "But of course, you will be stupid to not join the institute because of this reason. Out of the 10,000 acolytes in our year, there should be a few hundreds of them who have a bloodline heritage. But look, not even a hundred were invited here."
"Let me tell you one more fact, Emery. Almost all of the acolytes in this hall are from the elite class. You are lucky to get invited."
At the same time Silva finished her words, another renowned name was called out by the overseer.
"Vida Themari."
The young girl who last year entered the top 5 in both battle power and spirit force. After she dropped her blood into the fountain, the bird symbol on the banners glowed brightly exuding silver light.
"The Legendary Bird Bloodline."
Upon hearing that, Silva nodded her head in understanding. "So, she has a legendary bloodline. No wonder she's so strong." Silva said before she returned her attention back to Emery.
Silva then told Emery there were indeed 12 mythical animals in their bloodlines. However, their strengths were not equal and differentiated into tiers.
Pointing her finger towards the insignia banners, Silva said, "You see there? The insignia are separated into 3 tiers, according to their known potential and strength. The top tier are the tiger, the bird, the turtle, and the dragon bloodline. As for the bloodline we have, the serpent and the wolf bloodline, they are placed together with the bat and the goat bloodline in the middle tier. As for the lower tier… there's no need for you to know them, as those who have it generally don't get invited here."
Moving her finger to the top floor, Silva continued, "You see all those people upstairs? They came here to seek talents and recruit them in their group. They are waiting for any top tier bloodliner or any mythical-class bloodline."
At the same time, another acolyte was called out by the overseer. This time, the acolyte was a short man with a slightly chubby body, his appearance didn't look like a fighter at all. When he dropped his blood, an insignia shone brightly with a golden color.
"Mythical Boar Bloodline!"
"Oh? One of those lower tier bloodlines made it, but it's a mythical bloodline. The man might receive invites from those people. After all, a mythical-class bloodline is very rare."
Emery asked Silva why the insignias gave off such different lights. She explained that the brighter the light was, the higher the quality of the bloodline. When the insignia gave off silvery light, it meant that the bloodline was legendary-class. Meanwhile, the golden light indicated the bloodline was mythical-class.
Silva then turned her attention to the mythical guy, to see if there was anyone interested in him. Alas, since the acolyte's bloodline was in the lower tier, not many people took him seriously.
When it was the turn of the prodigy, Zack, to step forward, everyone held their breath as they waited for the result eagerly. Blood flowed into the fountain and then, the dragon symbol on the banners glowed golden bright.
"Mythical Dragon Bloodline!"
A commotion immediately broke out when everyone saw that golden light. Emery could clearly hear the words of praise from the acolytes around him.
"Zack is definitely the strongest in our year." Silva said. "Like I said before, the stronger you are, the better your position will be. The more people like Zack, who are blessed with extraordinary talent, the more those purist humans will never leave us alone. Hence, no chance for equality."
The grand magus then called out another name.
"Emery Ambrose."