"We need to hurry! Any slower and we'll miss the opening!"
Greg strode briskly down the corridor, urging his two roommates along behind him.
There were pronounced dark circles under his eyes, and exhaustion radiated from him.
Ever since returning to the dorm yesterday, he had been forced to spend the entire night concocting his romantic history with Rom and Colwin.
They had gone from when each of them first realized they liked the other all the way to ridiculous topics like how many children they planned to have.
By the time someone finally realized they ought to sleep, daylight was already streaming through the windows.
All three had collapsed into bed after dawn, getting no more than two hours of sleep at most. Greg's face had become a mask of misery, and he had begun to miss life in the Dungeon.
If Hachimi hadn't spent the whole night playing with that mechanical bird in his shadow and happened to wake him when she was ready to rest, all three would probably still have been sleeping like logs that morning, missing the opening ceremony entirely.
"Thank goodness, we made it!"
The three rushed into the hall, panting. The moment they crossed the threshold, the great doors behind them began to close slowly with a heavy rumble.
Greg looked around.
Every seat in the hall was already occupied.
Teachers and students from over a hundred magic academies across the continent sat neatly in their assigned sections, their eyes fixed on the raised platform at the front of the hall.
The entire hall was solemn and dignified, the air filled with anticipation.
At the appointed time, five figures emerged from the passage behind the platform and took their seats in the five highest positions.
Greg recognized all five of them. They were