The whole speech thing was pretty new to him since the manga had started with Kōya already sleeping in the classroom, skipping this entire ceremony.
But he was sure that it would be a fire speech.
Tenma cleared his throat and continued, his voice carrying across the hushed hall easily.
"The Aurora Leadership Institution… commonly known as ALI, stands as the new world's foremost crucible for the cultivation of disciplined Awakened, strategic thinkers, and future pillars of governance."
His words were deliberate.
"Its foundation was not laid for spectacle, nor for the indulgence of lineage or privilege, but as a measured response to the escalating instability of our age."
Kōya found himself leaning forward slightly, genuinely interested in what the man had to say.
"I established this academy after witnessing too many young talents consumed by conflicts they did not comprehend, wielding strength untempered by wisdom or restraint."
Tenma's silver mark seemed to gleam brighter as he spoke, as if responding to the weight of his words.
"A society cannot endure when its protectors are untrained, its visionaries unguided, and its leadership unrefined. Thus, ALI was envisioned as a bastion of scholarly rigor and structured evolution… an institution where raw potential is methodically honed, where intellect and capability advance hand in hand, and where the leaders of tomorrow are forged with intention rather than left to chance."
He sounded every bit the scholar he was made out to be, his voice carrying the weight of someone who had seen the consequences of failure firsthand.
"Yet, let it be clearly understood what the Aurora Leadership Institution truly offers… and what it does not."
A pause, letting the words sink in.
"ALI provides structure, discipline, and the intellectual frameworks through which your abilities may be refined. It grants access to archives, laboratories, combat arenas, and mentors of the highest caliber. We will teach you how to think, how to adapt, and how to transform adversity into strength."
His eyes swept across the hall, seeming to meet each student's gaze individually.
"But ALI will not cushion you from consequences, nor will it shield you from the burdens of your own inadequacy. We do not promise safety, comfort, or rescue. Within these walls, failure is permitted so that weakness may be revealed, confronted, and eliminated. We provide opportunity, not guarantees; knowledge, not salvation."
The finality in his voice was absolute.
"What you become here will depend solely on the caliber of your resolve."
He paused for a bit, and Kōya could honestly feel what he was saying resonating through the hall.
ALI wasn't developed for people to lag, which was why it wasn't like most academies where everyone got participation trophies and second chances. Your social influence (which he had already ruined) mattered here, as well as your Individual Points.
Almost anything here could be bought after all.
Power, status, even your continued enrollment.
"And so, as you stand upon the threshold of your first day, remember this: ALI is not a sanctuary, but a crucible."
Tenma's voice grew harder and more intense.
"Beyond these walls, the world is not waiting to embrace you… it is waiting to test you, to break you, to question whether you deserve to rise at all. The beasts beyond the barriers, the nobles who command influence, the shifting tides of politics and war… none of them will lower themselves so that you may climb."
"Only by surpassing the limits you arrived with can you hope to carve a place for yourselves in this era of scarcity and strife. Thus I urge you: stumble, fall, bleed if you must… but do not stop."
The headmaster's final words rang out like a battle cry.
"For those who persist shall emerge not merely as students, but as leaders… individuals forged by their own will, tempered by adversity, and capable of reshaping the fate of our nation. Now, step forward into your future. Aurora Leadership Institution welcomes you… if you have the strength to endure it."
There were claps immediately, thunderous applause that filled the hall.
A lot of claps, as every student in the hall erupted into applause simultaneously. The sound was deafening, almost overwhelming.
The man dropped the microphone back onto its stand with a soft thud and began walking off the stage with the same confidence he'd arrived with.
Kōya stared at his back and clapped as well, genuinely impressed by the speech.
'That was an amazing speech…' he thought, still processing the words. 'I wonder why it was skipped in the manga.'
It was quite long, sure, but all in all, it was a really amazing speech that set the tone perfectly for what ALI represented.
"Don't get too excited…" The green-haired young man said behind him, his tone sounding bored. "The headmaster repeats the speech every new orientation. It's nothing special."
Kōya immediately stopped clapping, his hands freezing mid-motion… Suddenly he wasn't impressed anymore.
'Of course it's recycled,' he thought with mild disappointment.
"I know your name, but you don't know mine." The green-haired guy said as the headmaster left the stage completely, disappearing through a side door.
He pointed at himself with a grin.
"I'm Kusaba Renji and I'll be your classmate…"
Kōya blinked at the guy, then whispered urgently.
"Are you dumb…? You said that you were being hunted. Is it safe to mention your name out loud like this?"
Renji opened his mouth to respond, but before he could… Someone actually came through the main doors with unhurried steps.
It was a woman with black hair that flowed down like an umbrella, cascading past her shoulders in a silky curtain. She didn't even look at the stage or acknowledge anyone in the hall.
She immediately walked to the back seats and looked directly at Kōya.
"Move," she said flatly, her tone brooking no argument.
Renji shifted immediately, and Kōya shifted as well, making room.
She could have just sat down the other way, entering from the opposite side, but instead she had made them shift then she slumped into the seat, though she caught herself mid-fall.
It seemed like she had been sleeping recently and was still half-drowsy.
Once again, he didn't remember this character from the manga at all.
After that short display, a person came up to the stage with significantly more energy than the headmaster had shown.
It was a middle-aged woman with flowing purple hair that seemed to defy gravity, and she immediately struck a pose like she was in some kind of magical girl anime.
"Like our headmaster greeted~ Welcome all of you to the Aurora Leadership Institution where we will grill you into becoming the best mages or martial artists this world has ever seen!"
Her voice was chipper and aggressively cheerful.
"If you're serious, of course." She added with a wink.
"But first of all…" She looked around the hall critically. "You don't look like ALI students at all."
She waved a hand with theatrical flair.
Every student in the hall felt their clothes morph simultaneously, the sensation strange and uncomfortable like wearing a shirt that was rapidly shrinking and expanding at the same time.
The expensive clothes Kōya had worn specifically to avoid being looked down upon had turned into an ALI uniform.
He was now wearing an open cloak that draped over his shoulders, a crisp vest underneath, and a yellow tie that stood out prominently against the dark fabric.
It seemed a bit extra, but it was the standard for ALI apparently.
"Tee-hee~ I've turned all your clothes into ALI uniforms," she said while taking another pose, this time with a peace sign. "Sorry, kuns and chans… but you're not getting your clothes back~"
She didn't sound sorry at all.
"However, you are getting the high-end ALI uniform that will earn you respect anywhere you go, so it's a fair trade!"
Kōya wasn't even worried about the clothes particularly. He could always buy new ones with the crowns he had saved up.
However, it didn't seem everyone shared his sentiment.
Like Renji, for example.
"Faah… my clothes cost a good 2,000 crowns," he muttered under his breath with genuine pain in his voice.
Kōya shook his head at the complaint and turned over to the black-haired girl.
She was pretty nonchalant about the whole thing, though her eyes turned to meet his gaze.
"You're the guy that rumors have been spreading about, right…?"
"Oh, how did you know?" Kōya raised an eyebrow, genuinely curious.
She shrugged casually.
"Your looks make you really hard to miss… alas, you're a victim of offending a noble, so it's fair."
Renji was the one who turned to her with sudden interest.
"You offended a noble too?"
"Yes…" She said with another shrug, as if discussing the weather. "I offended a Kagutsuchi heir as well, though he's going to another academy."
She paused, then continued.
"He tried to touch me, so I kicked him in the nuts… how am I in the wrong? Now I'm being held accountable for trying to defend myself against assault. The whole noble agenda thing is bogus, bro."
Her casual use of "bro" made Kōya blink. Did she forget they were in a manga?
"I see…" Renji said, a grin spreading across his face as if he'd just discovered something amazing. "That means this is fate! We all offended nobles and have met each other."
He spread his hands out dramatically.
"We can call ourselves the Trouble Trio."
Both the girl and Kōya gave him a look of pure, unfiltered judgment… The silence was damning.
Renji stuttered under their combined stares.
"W-whatever, you guys really don't have taste," he simply said while looking to the right, avoiding their eyes.
The woman at the stage continued her explanation, undeterred by the conversations happening all around.
"Each tie color shows for a different class… For students of Class 5, they have the yellow ties which can be seen from a mile away."
She gestured broadly.
"Class 5 is the lowest class, so they have quite a way to go if they want to keep staying in the Academy. And for Class 1, they are red. Class 2 is blue, and so on…"
She clapped her hands together.
"You'll be taken to your class by your respective representatives. Can all the class representatives come to the stage…"
Just then, there was silence as the reality of what was about to happen sank in.
Students began rising from their seats throughout the hall, five in total.
Five floodlights appeared from nowhere, reflecting on each student as they walked to the stage with varying degrees of confidence and stood behind the purple-haired lady.
They were handsome and talented, the cream of the crop of each class.
The representative for Class 1 was Itsuki, and his gold crest was clearly visible even from this distance, marking him as Aozora clan royalty.
The representative for Class 2 was Shion, who had a katana on her waist alongside her uniform… The weapon looked natural on her, like it belonged there and she also had a gold crest.
For something meant to be rare, everyone sure was using it.
The representative of Class 3 was someone he didn't recognize from the manga, a tall guy with sharp features.
The same thing for Class 4, a girl with short hair and an athletic build.
They weren't talked about in the manga much, being background characters to the main plot.
However, when the Class 5 representative stood, Kōya's entire body went tense. She had brown hair that fell in soft waves past her shoulders and was curvy with two prominent mounds of flesh on her chest that the uniform did nothing to hide.
Kōya's eyes twitched involuntarily.
'Damn.'
This was Hakua Shirogane, the daughter of the White King himself.
And the most dangerous woman in all of the manga.