Awakening: I Became a Legendary Spirit Summoner-Chapter 38 - : The Entrance Ceremony, The Champion

[The Entrance Ceremony will begin shortly. Please prepare accordingly.]

[Head directly to the "Audience Hall." Do not take any detours.]

The announcement rang out through the air.

A mechanical voice echoed across the vast campus of [Starlight Academy].

Karl glanced around, watching as the other students reacted similarly.

They took in their surroundings.

The academy itself was massive.

A self-sufficient place that provided everything a student could need, dormitories, training grounds, libraries, and even entire districts dedicated to various magical professions.

Just being here meant you were among the strongest, the most talented, or the luckiest.

Karl didn't linger, though.

He joined the flow of students heading toward the [Audience Hall].

They walked through wide, pristine streets lined with towering buildings.

Some pulsed with magical energy.

The air buzzed with quiet excitement and tension.

After all, for many, this was the start of something life-changing.

After about ten minutes of walking, Karl finally reached his destination.

The [Audience Hall] was enormous.

A grand structure connected to several others through wide bridges and arched walkways.

Its entrance alone was large enough to fit a hundred people at once.

Students filed in through the doors.

Their voices mixed into a dull hum.

Stepping inside, Karl took in the sheer scale of the place.

A massive hall stretched out before him.

It was illuminated by floating lights that hovered above thousands of seats arranged in tiers.

A raised podium stood at the front, where speeches would undoubtedly be given.

Despite the overwhelming number of people entering, the seating was more than enough to accommodate everyone.

Karl found a seat somewhere in the middle.

He dropped into the chair between two unfamiliar students.

He adjusted himself, trying to settle in, when—

"Pssst~"

A whisper came from beside him.

"Hm?"

Karl turned, slightly annoyed.

The voice belonged to a boy with gray hair and glasses.

His eyes glinted with curiosity.

"Did you hear? The Champion is giving the speech today!"

Karl resisted the urge to say " don't give a fuck."

Instead, he responded with a neutral, "The Champion?"

The boy adjusted his glasses, clearly eager to talk.

"You don't know? The Champion, he's the strongest person in [Starlight Academy]!"

Karl raised a brow, "His profession?"

"Well, it's complicated, but—"

Before the boy could finish, the lights suddenly cut out.

The room plunged into darkness.

A loud clang echoed as the massive doors of the [Audience Hall] sealed shut.

Karl instinctively scanned his surroundings.

Every single seat was now taken.

"...Maybe later," the boy muttered, scratching his head.

Karl gave a slight nod.

A single spotlight flickered to life.

It cast a bright circle on the podium.

A figure stepped forward.

They tapped the mic, testing it.

Ahum.

The voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable weight.

"Congratulations to all of you who made it here."

The person standing under the light was the [Champion].

The strongest student in the academy.

A third-year.

Karl's gaze sharpened.

The Champion had pale skin, white hair, and eyes that seemed... hollow.

Devoid of warmth. Devoid of life.

A sudden chill crawled up Karl's spine.

Something about those eyes—no, not possible.

He forced the thought away.

The Champion glanced down at the papers he was holding, likely prepared by the academy for the official speech.

But midway through reading, he let out an annoyed sigh and tossed them aside.

The pages scattered onto the podium floor.

"Who even cares about that?" he said lazily, "All you fools need to know is that there are about 5,000 of you here."

"You've been accepted from multiple empires, or were specially invited."

"Be proud of your strength."

A wave of murmurs spread through the audience.

Out of millions who had applied, only 5,000 were chosen.

Everyone here understood what that meant.

"You'll all receive instructions about your tasks in the academy," the Champion continued, "And don't slack off."

"Keeping up gets incredibly difficult."

He leaned against the podium.

"Any questions?"

The room fell into an awkward silence.

The speech was supposed to be five pages long.

Filled with words about power, honor, and responsibility.

Instead, the Champion had just... cut it down.

Skipping the nonsense everyone would forget anyway.

But then...

"Champion!"

A voice rang out right next to Karl: it was the gray-haired boy.

Karl turned his head in disbelief.

"What's your profession?" the boy asked.

His voice carried across the hall.

It was a simple question, one that had surely been on people's minds, but no one had dared to ask.

The Champion's lips twitched into a small smile.

"Hm. You'll find out eventually, so I might as well say it."

The room went still and Karl clenched his fists.

He didn't know why, but something inside him screamed that he wasn't going to like the answer.

The Champion tilted his head, grinning.

"My profession is... Necromancer."

A moment of silence followed.

Then—

"A Necromancer?!"

Excited voices filled the hall.

Students whispered among themselves, impressed, intrigued.

This was definitely a unique profession.

The Champion snapped his fingers, and suddenly, a skeletal figure materialized beside him.

It was clad in armor, gripping a long sword, and a green aura pulsed around it.

One of its eye sockets was empty, while the other glowed with eerie light.

Gasps of awe erupted throughout the hall.

"That's insane..."

"An actual undead summon?"

Karl, however, wasn't awestruck, he was frozen.

Because unlike everyone else, he could feel it.

The suffocating aura of death rolling off the summon.

Was he the only one who noticed?

Was it because his own profession, [Spirit Summoner], was so eerily similar?

Karl knew immediately.

That single summon, just one, was strong enough to annihilate every spirit in his arsenal, including his [Sovereign Wolf].

The realization sat heavy in his chest.

"Any more questions?" the Champion asked.

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He kept his undead standing for show.

"No? Then I have a question for all of you."

Tension spiked and Karl instinctively looked down.

He flexed his fingers, masking his expression.

And then, the Champion asked—

"Has any of you... heard of the Underworld?"

Karl's heart stopped as whispers spread through the hall.

"Huh? The Underworld?"

"The place where the dead go?"

Karl barely heard them, his mind raced.

The Underworld, he knew that name, he'd heard it before from the [Reaper].

[Spirits/Souls that are killed in the World of Spirits are sent to the Underworld.]

[You do not wish to know what is there.]

And now, standing in front of them all, the [Champion] had spoken of it.

Karl swallowed, slowly, cautiously, he lifted his gaze back toward the Champion's undead summon.

And then, he froze.

Because both the summoned undead and the Champion were staring directly at him.

Karl's breath caught in his throat.

At first, he thought it was just a coincidence, a trick of perspective.

But then, he shifted slightly and their gazes followed.

A cold, knowing smile crept across the Champion's lips.

Like he had just found something, or someone.

Karl clenched his fists.

"Well, that's all," the Champion finally said, straightening.

"Your next step is to head to the [Residential Area]."

With a snap of his fingers, both he and his undead summon vanished.

The hall's doors swung open.

Students began filing out.

The teachers, who had stood near the podium the entire time, left without saying a word, and no further instructions were given.

"That was insane!" the gray-haired boy beside Karl laughed, "See you later! Hopefully we meet again!"

Then, he disappeared into the crowd.

Eventually, Karl was the only one left in the [Audience Hall].

His hands rested on his lap, fingers slightly trembling.

The fact that the Champion was a [Necromancer], and that he knew about the [Underworld], meant something terrifying.

Karl wasn't the only one who had this knowledge.

And worse... Just as Karl could sense the aura of death in the Champion.

The Champion could sense him too.

Taking a deep breath, Karl stood up, he needed to move now.

And with that, he left the [Audience Hall] stepping out into the campus once more.