The moment Verso stepped into the headmaster's office, a chill crawled across his skin.
The room was icy cold.
It wasn't the normal cold from air conditioning. This cold felt heavier and more solid as if the air itself carried weight.
The moment he breathed in, the air felt crisp in his lungs making him shiver, and when he exhaled a faint mist escaped from his mouth.
Verso wasn't surprised by this as this was not his first time here.
Still. Every single time he has entered this room, the cold has managed to catch him off guard almost as if it is intentionally trying to slow his movement down.
The office itself was large.
Far larger than any office in Meridian High School. Tall windows lined the far wall, letting the pale sunlight enter the room.
The white marble floor beneath his feet reflected the white glow of the lights, making the entire space feel even colder and bright white.
The walls were mostly empty except for a few shelves filled with files, books and random stuff, and the lack of decoration only made the space feel more open and large.
Verso stepped forward slowly.
His footsteps echoed faintly across the marble floor as the sound seemed louder than usual in this hollow space.
Or perhaps it was the silence in this room that made it feel that way.
'Her talent is really insane…' Verso thought to himself as he walked forward.
Upon awakening, every summoner received a talent.
Some talents increased a person's compatibility with certain type of summons. These summoners were able to increase the strength of their summon because of the synergy that their talent provided them.
Other talents enhanced combat ability directly by sometimes improving the person's strength. While some talents could allow the person to borrow some of their summons strength.
Although almost all of these talents were considered valuable.
There were some talents that defied expectations completely. Talents that affected the environment and shaped the battlefield itself.
The headmaster's talent was one of those.
Verso walked forward slowly, his gaze settling toward the center of the room.
A large desk sat near the far end and behind it sat a woman.
She sat quietly, focused on paperwork spread neatly across the table. The pen moved smoothly in her hand as she wrote something inside a thick leather book.
Verso's gaze lingered on her for a moment.
She looked very young to be the headmaster, no older than twenty year old.
Her white hair fell neatly across her shoulders, smooth and flawless. Her pale skin paired with her icy blue eyes gave her an ethereal appearance.
She looked calm and almost unreal.
It was as if she had been crafted from ice itself.
But Verso knew better.
Headmaster Alicia was more than forty years old and her youthful appearance was simply a result of her strength.
Verso stopped a few steps away.
He didn't interrupt her, instead just waiting quietly in front of the table.
Just then he heard something.
GRRR…
A deep growl echoed through the room hearing which Verso suddenly became stiffer than a rock.
The sound was not exactly loud but it sounded very dangerous, instinctively making Verso freeze at the spot.
As his body was tensed, he slowly shifted his gaze.
Something massive sat behind Headmaster Alicia.
It looked like a large white wolf but it head two heads instead of one.
The creature was enormous. Its fur was pure white, almost blending into the cold atmosphere of the room making it hard to notice. One of it's head was rested lazily on the floor, while the other stared directly at Verso.
Its eyes were sharp and looking at him as if he was a prey.
The wolf bared its teeth slightly as cold air escaped its mouth.
A faint icy breath formed as it growled again.
Seeing this Verso's muscles stiffened and realizing that he couldn't just sit there doing nothing he slightly turned towards the Headmaster.
"…Hmm, Headmaster Alicia?"
Verso spoke carefully.
Alicia's fingers paused as the pen she was hold was pulled back slightly from the book.
"Huh?"
She looked up and looking at Verso's stiff posture, she quickly understood what had happened and she turned toward the wolf.
"Fenrir, I told you if you do this one more time I won't hesitate to put you up for sale."
She had a small smile as she said those words calmly, it was almost as if she was talking to a cat.
Hearing her, the wolf's aggressive head immediately stopped growling as its expression shifted.
The hostility completely disappeared and now the head looked rather pensive.
Verso was looking straight at the wolf and for a moment the wolf gave him a look that felt like a warning before it turned away and the head lowered.
Moments later, both heads rested on the floor as the wolf quietly pretended to sleep.
Verso blinked confused.
'What does that even mean?'
Alicia turned back toward him.
"Finally! You took your sweet time getting here."
Verso straightened slightly.
'No way she didn't notice me standing in front of her.'
"Just stand there and give me a minute to finish this work up."
She lowered her gaze again as scratching sound of her pen filled the room.
Verso quietly nodded and stood in front of her doing nothing.
Although Alicia looked pretty easygoing, Verso did not lower his guard.
He knew better.
'Snow Queen…' Verso thought silently.
Her talent was publicly known as people knew her by her talent. The talent of hers granted her superior synergy with ice based summons.
But more importantly, it allowed her to manipulate temperature and make things around her cold. Which explained the icy atmosphere of the room.
Of course, she wasn't just any awakened but was one of the Rankers in Meridian City.
Even in the world out of school her name carried a lot of weight as in her youth she was very popular.
She was widely known as ruthless and cold. Just like her talent.
Verso's gaze shifted briefly toward Fenrir.
A two-headed ice wolf.
Even while resting it radiated a lot of strength.
Verso silently straightened his posture as the room felt completely quiet. The only sounds present were the faint scratching of Alicia's pen and the breathing of the sleeping wolf.
After a few seconds passed Alicia placed her pen down and closed the book.
"Okay," she said casually. "Let's get your awakening done with."
Verso's attention quickly sharpened as he nodded slightly.
Right as Alicia said that Verso noticed something moving from the shelf behind her.
An orb slowly floated into the air as Verso's eyes followed it.
The orb drifted slowly as if guided by invisible hands before settling gently on the desk.
Verso looked at it carefully.
'So this is the crystal orb.'
Alicia leaned back slightly.
"I think it is my duty to let you know… I was very against your awakening."
Verso wasn't surprised as he knew how calculative Alicia was and how there were more cons than pros in forcefully awakening a non noble.
'As expected…'
Alicia continued calmly.
"But Kolden would not stop bothering me about it."
Verso felt something warm in his chest.
After losing his parents, there weren't many people who truly looked out for him.
Kolden was one of the very few people that could come into his head.
"He did say that even if you don't have any potential, you would still be a commendable summoner nonetheless."
Alicia glanced at him briefly.
"And looking at your school ranking, it isn't a far fetched assumption."
Verso smiled slightly.
'That explains why she accepted my request.'
He bowed his head.
"I will make sure not to disappoint, Headmaster Alicia."
She waved her hand dismissively before gesturing towards the orb.
"Okay, okay. No need to waste more time, come forward and place your hand above the crystal."