Selora's staff struck once against the marble, its chime echoing through the Grand Hall. Her voice carried no need for amplification; it rang clear, sharp, and unyielding.
"You have met your instructors. Each will guide you in disciplines both ordinary and extraordinary. But I—" her eyes swept the forty-two, pinning them like arrows, "—am charged with your first and most vital step. I am the Head Instructor of the Astrian Class."
Murmurs stirred among the first-years. Selora raised her hand, silencing them.
"The Astrian Class is the threshold. Through it, you will take your first steps into Astrolia. Some of you will walk alone, tested as individuals. Others will walk in groups, your bonds measured, strained, reforged. The path is never the same twice. It bends itself to you. To your strengths. To your flaws. To the truth you try to hide."
Her staff flared with pale light as constellations shimmered faintly above her head.
"And so you must understand something before you take that step."
She paused, letting the weight of her gaze travel across the room.
"Death."
The word dropped like a stone into water, rippling through the first-years with a collective shiver.
Selora's expression did not soften.
"You will face it. And some of you will fall to it. But do not let fear chain you. Death within these walls is not the end. When you perish, you will be reborn within the infirmary. Your body restored, your crest intact. Yet the pain of what killed you will remain in memory. Consider it not punishment… but instruction. A lesson written in agony, reminding you never to falter in the same way again."
Gasps and uneasy murmurs rippled through the crowd.
One student whispered hoarsely, "We… we'll remember how it felt to die?"
Selora's eyes were cold as iron.
"Yes. And you will rise stronger because of it. Fear is not your enemy — ignorance is."
Kaitlyn's brow furrowed in thought, her hand resting against her chest where the Aries crest glowed faintly. Cynthia remained unmoved, though a sharp gleam lit her eyes. De'Oliver's face paled, his bravado slipping. Jordan swallowed hard, fists tightening as if bracing himself already. Jayden smirked, unshaken, almost amused.
Selora raised her staff high, the light swelling once more.
"You are children no longer. You are candidates standing on the edge of worlds. Remember this truth: in Astrolia, death is not an end. It is a teacher. One that shows no mercy."
The final word cracked like thunder.
Silence followed, heavy and absolute.