Miss. Mary waved goodbye and disappeared into the sea of students and staff, leaving Nate alone in the vast grandeur of the School of Pearls.
For a moment, Nate's hand drifted toward the hoverboard strapped to his back.
Maybe just one ride... a small one... nobody would notice.
He imagined himself soaring through the enormous hall, performing all the tricks and stunts he had spent years practicing at home.
Then he remembered Miss. Mary's warning.
"Riding your hoverboard inside the school is strictly prohibited."
Nate sighed dramatically.
"Yeah... and if she catches me, she'll probably throw me into the deepest prison cell this place has."
Reluctantly, he let go of the hoverboard.
"Maybe I'll just roam around this great hall for a while and then find the room..."
A dreamy expression appeared on his face.
"That precious room..."
His mouth immediately began to water.
"No room can possibly match you..."
The thought of a comfortable bed after a long day was enough to make him forget almost everything else.
As he wandered through the main hall, he passed countless classrooms. Some had transparent walls where students could be seen studying strange cosmic maps. Others echoed with the sounds of lectures and demonstrations.
The main hall itself was enormous—more like a city than a school building. It served as the central dormitory for both students and staff. Along the towering walls were countless residential sections, each containing rooms furnished with four or five beds for students to share during their stay.
At the very center of the hall stood something that immediately caught Nate's attention.
Twelve colossal statues.
They towered high above the crowd, each carved with extraordinary detail.
These were the statues of Elder's first selected students.
They stood in a grand row, each striking a different pose. One held a book toward the sky, another carried a sword upon their shoulder, while another stood with their arms folded, gazing into the distance as though watching over the future itself.
Golden plaques beneath each statue told stories of their achievements.
Students walking by often stopped to look at them with admiration.
Nate tilted his head upward.
"Whoa..."
For the first time since entering the school, he was genuinely impressed.
"They made statues this big for students?"
His scarlet eyes moved from one figure to the next.
"They must've done something crazy..."
Suddenly, a sharp voice pierced Nate's ears.
BANG!
A book smacked the back of his head.
"Ow!"
Clutching the sore spot, Nate spun around. For a moment, he froze. A massive shadow loomed over him, making him instinctively step backward.
What in the world is that?
He quickly put some distance between himself and the figure, only to realize that the "creature" was not a creature at all.
It was an old woman.
Well—not exactly old, but certainly older than most people he had seen around the school.
She was neither tall nor short, standing at a comfortable middle height. A pair of round glasses rested atop her head, and the stack of books tucked beneath one arm immediately gave away her profession. Everything about her screamed bookworm.
She pointed a finger toward the statues and spoke in a grumpy voice.
"They are not students of this school, boy. They are the students of Elder—the ones who helped form everything we know today. Elder's wisdom shaped those Twelve, and those Twelve shaped the very world you are standing in."
Miss Shook paused only long enough to cough before continuing her lecture without mercy.
"Perhaps kids these days know them better as the Mighty Twelve of the Cosmos from that cartoon show. Do you remember them now, boy?"
"Nope."
Miss Shook blinked.
"Nada."
Her eye twitched.
"Never watched any cartoons."
"WHAAAT?!"
Several nearby students turned their heads toward the sudden outburst.
Miss Shook looked as though Nate had just confessed to never breathing air before.
"You've never watched cartoons?" she exclaimed. "At your age? How old are you, boy? Are you even a student of this school?"
Whenever someone asked his age, Nate always responded the same way.
He puffed out his chest proudly.
"I am twelve years old, Miss...?"
The woman adjusted the glasses on her head.
"I am Miss Shook," she declared with dignity.
"The librarian."
Nate stared.
Then he looked at the mountain of books under her arm.
Then at the glasses.
Then back at her.
"Yeah... that makes sense."
Miss Shook narrowed her eyes.
"Was that sarcasm?"
"No."
"Good."
"It was an observation."
Miss Shook's eye twitched again.
For some reason, Miss Shook had a feeling that this boy was going to give the entire School of Pearls a headache before the week was over.
Perhaps it was because she had never liked children who showed little interest in the Twelve Minds or Elder himself. To her, they were not merely historical figures—they were the foundation upon which civilization stood.
Nate folded his arms.
"For your information, I do watch cartoons. I just don't watch that one."
"Whatever," Miss Shook said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "What are you doing wandering around the Main Hall? Shouldn't you be preparing for tomorrow's orientation?"
"Yeah, I totally forgot," Nate replied.
Then he turned around and started walking away.
"I have to attend that stupid orientation."
The moment the words left his mouth, Nate froze.
His eyes widened.
Wait...
I said that out loud?
A dangerous heat suddenly rose behind him.
The air itself seemed to shimmer.
Slowly—very, very slowly—Nate turned around.
There stood Miss Shook.
Her expression was terrifyingly calm.
One of her hands glowed with brilliant white light, illuminating the nearby floor. The energy wrapped around her arm like a miniature sun, making it resemble a red-hot iron rod ready to strike.
Nearby students immediately changed direction and pretended to be interested in anything else.
Nate swallowed.
His survival instincts screamed.
A vision of his future appeared before his eyes.
It was short.
Very short.
It involved a glowing hand.
And a tremendous amount of pain.
"..."
"..."
"Miss Shook," Nate said carefully, taking one step backward. "I would like to formally apologize to the orientation."
The librarian smiled.
That smile somehow made things worse.
"Come here, boy."
"No."
"Come here."
"No."
"Come."
"No."
The glow around her hand intensified.
Nate immediately turned around and ran.
"GOODBYE!"
The students in the Main Hall watched a twelve-year-old boy sprint through the corridor as if his life depended on it.
Behind him marched Miss Shook, carrying enough books to fill a library and glowing like a star.
"GET BACK HERE, BOY!"
"I LOVE ORIENTATIONS!"
"LIAR!"
"I HAVEN'T EVEN BEEN TO ONE YET!"
Several seniors burst into laughter.
One of them wiped a tear from his eye.
"Orientation week hasn't even started, and the new kid is already being chased by the librarian."
Another nodded.
"Yeah."
A third student pointed at Nate racing down the hall.
"I think this year's going to be interesting."