A crisp bronze bell rang out from Ashilia's main square, echoing throughout the entire academy.
As the bell chimed, the hands of the clocks on the walls ticked at last to ten o'clock.
At the sound signaling the start of class, everyone seated in the circular classroom instantly cleared their eyes and looked toward Angel at its center.
Angel had thought he would be nervous, but when the moment truly arrived, he felt exceptionally calm.
He cleared his throat and gave a brief opening statement.
"I believe that everyone here chose to attend my class because you already know something about me, so I won't spend much time introducing myself." Angel paused. "However, before we get to the main subject, let me first explain some of my rules for teaching."
Setting rules for the class was advice both Midora and Falina had given him.
There were clueless people and conceited people everywhere. At any time or place, they could raise all manner of ill-timed idiotic questions and smug opinions. To avoid that, the best approach was to establish classroom rules.
If anyone did something out of line when questions or discussion had not been permitted, they could be expelled from the classroom—or even driven directly out of Ashilia.
After laying out the rules, Angel clearly saw that the arrogance of some people present had gradually subsided.
Angel glanced at those people before moving on to the main topic.
"For every person, the pursuit of alchemy is different. Even though the Research Institute once attempted to define alchemy, I believe that even if everyone here agrees on the surface, each of you has your own thoughts beneath that. Otherwise, the struggle between factions would not have grown fiercer and fiercer to this day."
"Whether alchemy is creation to you, equivalent exchange,