"By the way, Jason and Alex. I think you should start getting ready. It's the Orientation of batch 24. If you're late, you might be in a mess," Kevin reminded Lucifer and Jason as he laid on the bed. "I'll take a nap since I have no classes today. Best of luck to you two."
…
Lucifer and Jason got appropriately dressed for the Orientation.
As the academy's uniform wasn't given at the moment, they had to wear their regular clothes.
Lucifer wore the old clothes that he had brought from home whereas Jason seemed to be wearing completely new clothes that he had taken out for the first time.
It was seven in the morning as the two managed to get ready after taking showers.
"Let's leave. The Orientation will start in an hour. We should get to the Auditorium in advance," Jason told Lucifer as he brought his file out of his bag. "Don't forget your file either. That is like your pass. It'll be used everywhere until our ID card is made."
Lucifer also walked to the shelf and picked up his file. Kevin was deep asleep by now as Jason and Lucifer finally left their rooms, closing the door.
They went through the stairs and left the hotel.
"You see that block? That's where the auditorium is," Jason pointed towards a building that was slightly shorter than the other in its proximity.
Glancing in the direction, Lucifer could see a large number of youngsters standing at the entrance of the building in a line.
"That's a really big line. How many students are in batch twenty-four?" Lucifer asked Jason, stunned to see the crowd.
"I think there should be at least five hundred. That's how it's been since the last few years at least," Jason replied.
" In last year's batch, there were also five hundred students. Over four hundred of them were in Class C, ninety in Class B, and ten in Class A. The higher the class, the tougher it is to get admission in that. That's why we were so shocked that you got in," he explained to Lucifer.
They soon reached their destination and stood in a long line. Fortunately, there were only fifty people before them at the moment. The rest have either entered or hadn't arrived yet.
The line slowly moved further as the students kept entering the auditorium after their files were checked.
Soon it was Lucifer's turn. He also gave the file to the Variant that was checking.
As soon as the Variant saw Lucifer's file, he grew surprised. He glanced at Lucifer as he nodded with a smile. He brought a sticker out of his pocket and placed it on Lucifer's shirt's pocket.
Lucifer seemed confused about the sticker, but he didn't ask anything as the Variant had returned Lucifer his file while telling him to go in.
Lucifer entered the auditorium and waited for Jason, who was getting his file checked. Soon, Jason also stepped inside.
"What are you doing? Go ahead!" Jason told Lucifer as he noticed him waiting.
"Go where. You're coming with me. Won't you sit with me?" Lucifer asked Jason.
Hearing Lucifer's words, Jason couldn't help but smile wryly. "What are you saying? Don't you see the sticker in your shirt?"
"Yeah, what is it? I still don't understand," Lucifer replied in confusion.
"That's like a special permit. It's only given to Class A students during Orientation. It means you are allowed to sit in the first row. Only Class A students can sit in the first row. As for the rest, they sit behind with Class C being in the back," Jason explained.
"Go ahead and take a seat. Don't delay, or we'll be scolded for blocking the path," he further said as he stepped ahead.
Jason sat on the chair in the second row. As for Lucifer, he listened to Jason. He had promised his grandfather that he was going to follow the rules.
Lucifer took a chair which was right ahead of Jason. Unfortunately, that chair also happened to be right in the middle of the first row.
The first row was entirely empty at the moment as Class A students hadn't arrived yet. Lucifer seemed to be the earliest amongst them.
More and more people kept entering the auditorium and taking seats. Ten minutes had passed before Lucifer actually saw another person from Class A.
The only reason he recognized the boy was because he also had a sticker on his chest, which was the same as Lucifer.
The boy seemed to be dressed in luxurious clothes that appeared to be much more expensive. His blue shirt and his dark jeans gave him a fancy look.
He also seemed to be wearing black sunglasses through which his eyes weren't visible. But his short dark hair suited his looks.
"Hello, I'm Alex Alaric," Lucifer said as he stood up at the arrival of the boy to get to know him.
The boy turned his head towards Lucifer but didn't say anything. He continued walking and only sat on the corner most seat of the first row.
Lucifer didn't understand this rude behavior. He could only shake his head as he sat down.
Within five seconds, another boy came to the first row. The boy, this time, seemed entirely different. It was a boy who was even chubbier than Jason, but there was something about his face that made him look slightly rude.
Without thinking much about it, Lucifer once again tried to greet this person. Since he was here, he wanted to make good relationships with the people of his class.
"Hello, I'm Alex Alaric. We're going to be in the same class," Lucifer said as he reached out his hand.
"Alex Alaric? Your clothes... They are too ugly. You're not one of us, are you?" the chubby boy asked Lucifer as he observed Lucifer's worn-out clothes that looked too bleak compared to his branded clothes.
This much was enough for the boy to understand that Lucifer wasn't from any top family.
"How did you even get in Class A?" He asked Lucifer. If he hadn't seen the sticker on Lucifer's chest, he might have even thought that Lucifer was sitting in the wrong row.
Most of the Class A variants had gone to expensive schools and trained in the best of facilities. They were known throughout their cities. But Lucifer wasn't someone he remembered hearing about either.
"It doesn't matter. Since you're in our class, treat it as your good luck," the chubby boy told Lucifer before he also walked away and took a seat in the other corner.
"He's rude too. Is this a pattern with all class A guys?" Lucifer muttered as he sat again.