Chapter 205: Principal Tommen

The moment Jacob strolled into the building, the grandeur of Mountain Elite Academy became more apparent, he had seen better structures in his life, but none from where he came from. The only interiors that could compete with what he laid his eyes on in this moment were that if the Ironfell castle.

A colossal hall stretched before him, its polished marble floor reflecting the soft radiance of countless crystal lamps suspended from the ceiling. The walls were constructed from pale stone veined with faint strands of gold, while intricate inscriptions had been carved into their surfaces. Some were merely decorative, while others formed parts of ancient formations that quietly maintained the stability of the entire structure.

Enormous pillars rose toward the ceiling, each one engraved with elaborate depictions of ancient cultivators and runic patterns. Their presence gave the hall an almost solemn atmosphere, as though the building itself had witnessed generations of disciples pass through its doors.

Several corridors branched away from the central hall, leading toward different sections of the academy.

One passage led toward the lecture chambers, another led to the staff quarters. None of these passageways were any of Jacob’s concern at the moment, he did not need to ask for directions as his feet moved as though they weren’t touching the ground.

He swiveled, turning his body to the right as he headed towards a pair of large, brown twin doors. The words inscribed on a plaque above head were as follows: PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE.

Jacob reached the threshold and took a deep breath in, raising his hand to caress his nape as he knocked, casually so.

Before he had completed his knocking, a gruff voice bellowed from within the room. "Come on in."

The voice said, it was already obvious as to who it was.

Jacob pushed a single door open and crossed the threshold into the room, all done with relative ease. He looked at the man sitting behind a large desk. A plaque say on the table that said PRINCIPAL TOMMEN, amongst other things. Nothing seemed out of place, different color pens and papers were scattered around the table, textbooks lined up very high in a particularly disorderly manner.

This gave Jacob the impression that the principal was not the most orderly man. The man sat there behind the desk, large round glasses fastened around his eyes possessing very dark frames, graying sideburns on either side of his face and a tired smile playing on his lips.

Underneath his completely dark suit, Jacob could tell that this man was well built.

Principal Tommen squinted, even though he had glasses on his face. "Ahhh, you’re early. Have a seat." The man said almost delightfully.

Jacob sat down. "Sir, I’m Jacob Ironfell—"

"I know who you are Jacob." Principal Tommen adjusted his glasses on his face and looked at Jacob with a smile. He grabbed a large, hard cover notebook and flipped through the pages, placing his index finger on his tongue at intervals. "You see Jacob, the academy has been following your movements ever since you were a child."

He looked at Jacob, who sat there with a straight face, not a word proceeded out of his mouth.

"Well... we weren’t stalking you, just observing, you’re someone that the academy considers a child of very high potential, but that’s what the academy is for, to help you realize that potential."

The principal had no idea what Jacob was actually capable of. Perfect, he thought. He was going to really enjoy his stay here.

"I do have one concern though, it states in your file that you don’t have any formal training, and that you’ve been trained only by your personal retainer. Is that correct?" Principal Tommen asked, furrowing his brows and adjusting his glasses again.

"Yes. I have only trained with Xenia. Would that be a problem?"

"Well my concern is simple. Our training regimen here is very... how should I put it... demanding. And the students who have no formal core on training might find it difficult." Principal Tommen adjusted his glasses as he sat forward.

"I assure you that would not be an issue with me." Jacob responded with a glint in his eyes.

The principal studied him for a moment, a little more than just a few seconds, then he sighed and sat back in his reclining seat. "Very well. There are no other concerns, you do not have to bother about the steps for your enrollment as you’ve already been enrolled."

He grabbed a bell on his table and rung it once, in less than five seconds, the door was opened. A middle aged woman stepped in, her hair was completely gray and she wore very casual clothing, white shirt and a long black skirt, black heels to match.

She smiled at Jacob before stopping in front of Principal Tommen, who adjusted the glasses on his face again. "Miya, kindly show Jacob here to his room..." the man gestured towards Jacob and Miya simply nodded her head once, turning towards the door.

Jacob got up and allowed her to lead the way, she had not said a single word, which Jacob had already acknowledged was part of her job. Not to question her superiors. There was a hierarchy at this school, just like there was at any other place.

"Jacob." The man called out again as they reached the large brown doors. "Welcome to Mountain Elite Academy."

"It is an honor sir." Jacob smiled before he and Miya crossed the threshold again.

As the name suggested, this school was for the elite, the highborn children of royalty and powerful bloodlines. Most of the students had gotten here by connections, rather than merit. But it was to be expected, as most Lords, or Emperors, Patriarchs, or even Kings only want their children to go through the best, and nothing less.

Jacob, however, had never even planned on coming to this school, the school had recognized him because they thought he had enough potential to be one of their elite.

He had gotten here based on merit, but he attributed it to the grand awakening ceremony he had when he was only 10 years of age.

His memory was impeccable, <Total Recall> allowed him to vividly recall the details of any memory he had had, and bring it to the forefront of his brain at any given time, with nothing but a single thought. But memories weren’t perfect, they never were, especially when the host was trying to recall an event, and not a particular thing. There were always going to be missed spots, shadows, things not easily perceived by the brain. But Jacob vividly remembered seeing Principal Tommen at his awakening, granted the man hadn’t started graying then, it was clearly the same person.

On that day, a lot of people had witnessed the overwhelming power that the Ironfell heir possessed, and a lot of sects had tried to get him to join them, Some did not even mind if he joined as an outer disciple, all to have him in their possession.

Principal Tommen disappeared, only to be seen again during the battle with Zaheer, it was accurate enough that the man had been watching Jacob for a very long time, but he was still unaware of the feats that Jacob had achieved outside of the Ironfell castle, and Jacob wanted it to remain that way.

Once people of higher authority knew what he was capable of, they’d want to weaponize him, any threat posed, they would call him to handle it. He didn’t need that. The greatest threat to his livelihood had been partly taken care of two and a half years ago, now he only wanted to live a soft life, and not do much more than he absolutely had to.

Students were scarce in the halls, confirming what both the guards and the principal had said, Jacob was early. Maybe too early.

Only a few had resumed and were lurking about the place, but he gathered that they weren’t in the same year as him, so he refrained from sparking any sort of conversations with them just yet, well, at least until he was settled in.

He was currently being led by Miya to the hostels, the accommodation facility provided by the school to the disciples. He had expectations, this was a school for the elite, the best, and the richest. Therefore, the accommodation facilities should reflect that, otherwise he was going to have to actually create his own living space. Just like he had told his grandfather.

Miya led him through the hallway and out of the back of the main building, where another scenery awaited him, the hostel building was much larger in comparison—as expected.

It was an imposing structure, standing several stories tall with a symmetrical design that gave it an almost regal appearance. Its exterior was remarkably pristine, with smooth white walls interrupted only by the dark frames of its countless windows. Every floor possessed a long balcony that extended along the face of the building, protected by finely crafted railings of polished silver.

Jacob’s lips curved into a knowing smile as he saw it, he only hoped the interior was as mouth watering as the exterior.