Chapter 8 - Academe of Gnosis

After feeling dizzy for like a few minutes, it suddenly stopped. I was closing my eyes the whole time hoping it will end soon and that it will at least lessen the nauseating feeling. When I noticed that the spinning stopped, I found myself in the middle of what seems like a huge open area with intricate drawings on the ground. It seems to be at a time when the sun has just risen with the soft sunlight coming through the huge and transparent glass dome at the ceiling of this place.

Something in my head chimed, "magic circle" and I remembered that Altair said that the setup was we were summoned from another world. "So I was already summoned to that school he was talking about", was my first thought.

When I looked at my hands though, I was surprised since I look like a ghost and I was floating in the air. I was transparent! First I was a light orb now I am a ghost? How many more forms should I take before I can live my second life? Where is my 17-year old gorgeous body?

The next thoughts that came to my mind were, "Did I die again? Did I not survive that time warp spinning thing? He said I won't die easily. What will I do now? How can I fix this?" I kinda panicked at this point and started looking around.

I then looked further down to the floor where the magic circle is and I saw an unconscious girl laying in the middle of the magic circle. I looked closely and I felt a resonance in my ghost, ahem, well, soul state? This should be my body in this world? She is thin but with the right amount of meat in the right places. She looks human enough. Too bad I couldn't see my face since my long black hair is covering it.

So much for being low profile, I was unconscious while the other 26 people are on their feet looking around. Some of them look surprised, some scared, some simply curious and some even started to scream and cry noticing that they are in an unfamiliar place. They look like they came from different parts of earth. They have different features, skin tones and hair colors.

A loud voice suddenly came while everybody is in some state of distress or panic which made everybody stop speaking or crying. At the same time, an old man in his late 50s stood in a podium north where my unconscious body was, a little outside the magic circle. He simply said, "Welcome to the Academe of Gnosis, the saviors of this world! I am Grandmaster Fredrick and I am the principal of this prestigious academe. You are currently in the Athanoviya Empire inside the world called Astrid. We hope that you will all be beacons of hope to the people of this world. You will be assigned personal attendants from the school to guide you and assist you on your everyday life here in the academe. We wish you will learn a lot and enjoy your stay here for the next 2 years." The old man suddenly disappeared and the shock suddenly sank in to the other 26 females in the middle of the magic circle. A lot of them cried again, some are looking around like they are scared of something, some started screaming that kidnapping is a crime and they need to be sent back if these people don't want to be jailed. The short speech that the principal made didn't help or explain our circumstances at all.

A flurry of footsteps from one of the corridors behind a huge wooden door was heard and a long line of beautiful men seemingly aged around 16 to about their mid-20s came in and piled up in front of the panicking women. There are no less than 70 of them here. I thought, "Wow. The quality of men here is awesome. At least Alistair did not lie about this part".

In the group, there are a flurry of hair colors, different but equally handsome faces in uniform. They all look stoic and simply stood like soldiers in a batallion. One of them came forward and spoke, "Greetings to all the saviors! My name is Arthur, one of the senior attendants of the Academe of Gnosis. Here with me are our trained attendants that will assist you in your everyday life here. You are free to choose one to your liking. They will be bound to you and will be obedient as long as you do not endanger their lives in any way. Everyone, feel free to take your pick. I am also part of your options as well." He then walked back to the line and waited.

The women stopped crying like some kind of spell was placed on them. Well, handsome men offering themselves to be at your beck and call will surely be something that will make the women from my world shut up. This is definitely a blessing you see?

The women looked at the men up and down like choosing some commodity while shopping in a mall. They also started walking towards the group of men like they are tranced and started choosing attendants that most likely fit their type of ideal man.

Soon, all the 26 women have taken their pick. The women who have chosen their attendants have already left while being guided by their picks. What is left in the open area are the men who were not chosen.

The stoic faces of the men a while ago started to show their true emotions. Some of them started to unbutton and remove their shirts and even threw it on the floor. I saw a mix of helplessness, disgust, anger and sadness. Some just looked lifeless like they have expected that they won't be chosen this time too.

This sudden change in the atmosphere is kinda intense. What is happening all of a sudden? And, why haven't they noticed my body lying in the middle of this place?!