The Dragons of Arma

Chapter Two

Location: Arma, Sentinel Islands, Xaos Reigns

Date: Stoic 1, 1538

Looking at my wrist, I see that it is almost time for the orientation assembly. Moving quickly through the crowd, I use a good pace and make it in time to the building. I notice there is a display with the map of the entire island that Xaos Reign is on. I tap my Percom to the map and study it while waiting for the download to transfer.

The map shows the seven rings of the island. The inner-most one being the university itself and it is commonly referred to as Sigma ring. The next ring is Alpha ring which houses the top three Clans; it also houses the top three fraternities and sororities, are in Alpha ring. The second ring is Beta ring and houses the seven other clans that ranked in the top ten with the same going for the frats and sororities. The next four rings, which are named in order: Delta, Eta, Phi, and Zeta; house the rest of the clans with frequent battles over territory and rankings. The last ring is called the omega ring and is considered the new student and unattached student ring. Many students who stay in the Omega ring for longer than 2 years usually are the ones that drop out of school. There are a few exceptions to this. The very smart students who have social disorders tend to stay away from clans. They find the Omega ring a perfect home. To move out of Omega ring, you must form or join a clan. There are two ways as a clan to move out of Omega. First is you create a guild, get successful, get it registered and fight the lowest ranking clan in zeta ring to gain their territory. Second, there is a waiting list for new clans. This is for the clans of seniors who are graduating or clans that are taken out, therefore, creating an open territory for a new clan to move into. Most low-ranking clans try to go this route and the created waiting list is very long.

There is a vibration from my wrist letting me know my download is done. I stand and merge into the crowd as most of them are heading to the Assembly Hall. Stepping into 1A, I look around and seeing that most of the seats are taken. Noticing the balcony above, I look around and seeing a dark corner no one is by, I move over to it. Closing my eyes, I pull myself into the darkness and step out on the balcony. Moving out to the middle getting a good seat, I sit and close my eyes. Reaching inside I speak 'Anything we need to worry about?' a deep chuckle rumbles from the depths 'The old one is strong we should be careful around him, other than that none of these young punks give off enough power to trouble you yet.' I smile then frown 'And what happened earlier?' a sigh comes in response 'you are going to need mates yes the last one was ... crazy but you need to find mates that you can trust and rely on this planet needs you. The balance is off with all the MAE users.'

I sigh and open my eyes then begin reaching out with my senses, I examine everyone below me. Close to a thousand students ranged below me, I start looking them over. Most are lower level AE users, a very few E users, a few more A users, there are roughly two hundred high-level AE users. I am more surprised by the twenty-five MAE users. I look over each of them, even coming to two familiar users; the silver-haired goddess is off to the side of the stage and the Goth goddess is below me with her sorority. She obviously still feels a little scared as her sorority is around her protectively. Standing up, I bend over the railing to look at her to make sure no one is bothering her. She is fine. No one is around her except for her friends. As I am about to pull back, I see her look up at me. I smile at her and give her a wink and nod before returning to my seat. I feel her start to move but, luckily for me, a group of people walks out onto the stage.

The older gentleman I met earlier is the one leading them onto the stage. His dark gray eyes sweep the auditorium. He taps his Percom and starts to talk as his voice is amplified over the auditorium. "Hello and Congratulations students, we are happy to welcome you to your first year here at Xaos Reign. I am Headmaster Phineas Teldona. For those of you who were not paying attention," he says looking at a group of guys off to his left. "That is Headmaster Tel-Doh-Na. I am the Alpha for the university and if you think for even one second, you are stronger than me and can lead this school better than me I welcome your challenge. Until then you are under my leadership while on university grounds or what they refer to as Sigma ring. A major, and I do mean Major, rule that must be followed is that the humans here are to be treated with the utmost respect and care. We had an incident earlier where a student disrespected one of the delightful ladies at the school store, luckily one of your fellow students stepped up and put the student in hospital with a dislocated shoulder and some broken fingers. So, I recommend you be very careful. The Discipline Committee is very harsh towards these kinds of infractions. Also, on a side note to the student who stood up for Abby in the Student Store. Please report to the discipline committee tomorrow. The information is being sent to your Percom." I notice several people looking around to see who it is. I chuckle to myself knowing they won't see me. The Headmaster starts to talk again. "A few points of reference, since it is your first year here at the University. The clan ranking matches are being broadcasted this year at the request of the Council of Clans. They think it might become a sport that everyone might enjoy watching. This year will be the first Intercollegiate ranking, which will also be broadcasted. What that means everyone is we get to show the other colleges; just how strong, how smart, and how much more superior our students are over all the other contenders. There will be a set of challenges; Mind, Strength, and growth that will all be broadcast, throughout our populace from here on Arma to the other planetary colonies. The top ten clans from each university will be eligible to participate. We are also allowing one wildcard clan on the recommendation of the headmaster. I will not be choosing the eleventh ranked guild unless they show they are worthy. That is the completion of my announcements. I would like to introduce you to the people I have behind me and then your class rep will talk to you for a minute and you will be released to get ready and get settled into your new housing arrangements. From inside out, you have Raish Maliut, he is the head of the judges and referees, and they handle most sporting and inter-collegiate endeavors. Next is Jalenin Del Marik, she is head of Housing. Lesert Herop is next in line. He is the head of the human contingent here a Xaos Reign. And the last in line is your class rep. Her name is Ar'Isa Teldona. Yes, she is my granddaughter if anyone was wondering She is also Alpha of the clan Yggdrasil. Now the last thing before I turn over the mic to your class rep. Please keep in mind the closer you are living to the university the better the restaurants and entertainment centers. The only way to move up is to join or start your own clan and aim for the top. Remember no fighting on Sigma ring only the others are a free-for-all. So, Good Luck." With that, he steps out waving his grand-daughter to center stage.