The little girl suddenly shouted, accusingly toward Rudra. "But what? Say it. Complete your sentence."
Rudra, seeing her shout, tried to soothe things. "But you were sad at that time. You were trying to control your emotions—locking them away. And it's not good. My family told me emotions shouldn't be caged; it makes you unhealthy. That's why I tried to comfort you. My family pats me whenever I'm sad, and it makes the sadness go away. I thought it would work for you too."
Hearing this reasoning, others in the room grew more confused. They questioned in their minds: "Is this boy under some illusion? The girl is totally fine standing there. There is no need to comfort her. He's just making excuses. He probably wants to bully her."
Some stood up from their seats and began moving toward Rudra, intending to teach him a lesson. The girl had already been bullied by that fatty boy—now even here, this person wanted to bully her? They would not let that happen.
Silas also found Rudra's answer confusing. But he did not move from his place. He did not care what others did. He had already planned to stay away from that group. He was not going to get involved.
Even if he knew the girl, he likely would not go there. He did not want to risk his family at all.
On the other hand, the little girl thought in her mind: "This person really didn't have any bad intention. He just wants to comfort me. But how can he tell that I'm sad? No one else noticed it. So how can he?"
Rudra's words did not answer her questions. She wanted to know how he could tell she was sad. She decided to ask him. But someone spoke before she could.
Rudra's group had also heard his words. Except Sanya, everyone was confused. Jina asked him directly, "Rudra, why are you saying the girl is sad? The girl is totally fine."
Just as Rudra was about to reply, he noticed some people moving toward him. He became confused. He questioned them, "Why do you want to fight me?"
He could sense these people clearly intended to fight him, but he was confused. Why? He did not even know them. So why did they want to fight him?
Sanya also sensed their intentions. She moved forward, wanting to mediate the misunderstanding. But before she could step in, a voice rang inside the auditorium.
"Hey, what are you all doing?"
The voice drew everyone's attention. They looked toward the person it belonged to.
A middle-aged man stood there, wearing clothes completely different from the students'. Behind him were several others, also in distinct attire.
Following the voice, a few students—including Jina and Ruyi from Rudra's group—greeted in unison: "Greetings, Head Gino, Teachers."
These words confirmed their identity.
With that, the people moving toward Rudra stopped in their tracks. They also greeted the headmaster of the academy.
The little girl greeted too. In her mind she thought: "Let's leave the matter aside. How he could tell I was sad… nothing matters now. I am not going to try it again. Not going to fake my emotions again. It will go wrong, just like now."
(In reality, her acting had not been bad at all. She had fooled almost everyone—even her own mother—with the wide-eyed wonder and quiet excitement she wore like armor.
Only Sanya and Rudra had seen through it, and that was because both of them were quite observant. Even then, neither of them knew why she was sad. They were not powerful enough to read memories or peer into minds. They had simply sensed the weight she carried behind her fake mask.)
Silas greeted.
Galaxy also greeted.
Sanya and Rudra greeted too.
But when Sanya and Rudra greeted, Head Gino's expression flickered—just a tiny change, gone in an instant. No one noticed it.
After the greetings ended, Head Gino asked again, "What are you all doing here, crowding the gate? Quickly go, sit on your seats. We are starting."
"Yes, Head Gino."
Students hurried back to their seats at the headmaster's command.
For a moment, silence filled the auditorium.
But Sanya, Rudra, Galaxy, and many others in the hall quietly questioned in their minds: "How do Ruyi, Jina, and some others know the headmaster's name? There was no information about it. So how could they know?"
Just as they were thinking, Head Gino began.
"Hello, students. Let me introduce our academy to you all. First of all, I am the head of the academy. Beside me stand your teachers. They are all experts in their own fields. If any student wants to explore other fields, tell us—we will bring in an expert from that area. Every student can pursue their passions here.
And you have your own seniors inside the academy. You can ask them for help if you don't understand anything."
Hearing these few sentences, people felt surprised. They could explore any field? The academy was truly impressive, they thought.
Sanya was surprised too. But more than surprise, she felt scared—scared of being taught those dangerous things. But when she heard the last sentences, she immediately looked at Ruyi and Jina. Using her mind-whispering technique, she asked them, "Hey, you two. Don't panic. I'm Roxa—just using my powers to talk to you. Tell me first: are you both students of the academy even before?"
Ruyi and Jina were startled by the sudden voice in their minds, but they calmed down when they realized it was their sect leader.
They were also impressed by the method of communication, though not overly surprised—cultivators could do such things. Of course, for them it was still something amazing because they couldn't use the same method.
Using the mind-whispering technique required a good enough cultivation base. They had only recently started cultivating themselves, so they were not yet powerful enough to use it.
After calming down, they replied with smiles, "Yes, we are students of the academy even before it came to Eternal Ascendancy."
Sanya then asked, "Then why didn't you know about cultivation things?"
"Well, our academy only recently introduced cultivation after you told us about the system. That's why we don't know much about it."
"Oh. I see. That's why those people were greeting you—because you're all academy mates."
"Yeah."
After that, Sanya cut the connection. Now she understood why Ruyi and Jina knew the academy information and even the headmaster's name.
She turned her attention back to Head Gino, who continued speaking about more things.