<h4>Chapter 218: How to Make Friends</h4>


    Eleanor looked at the girl in a new light. Maíra had no idea who she was dealing with. She didn’t know Eleanor. Even after hearing her name, she showed no reaction. Perhaps it was an act, but Eleanor doubted that a young girl her age could perform so wlessly before her. It confirmed that her family had not allowed her ess to intelligence reports. She wasn’t prepared to shoulder the responsibilities of a young n head. The king’s sudden decree must have forced the Amazon n to send her to the academy.


    She was no pompous young miss either. She was an Alpha, yet she disyed no arrogance before betas like Ophelia and Kiara. Eleanor liked her character.


    The way she spoke of fighting a jaguar revealed her fighting prowess. Her family must have confidence at least in her skills... that was why they had agreed to send her to the academy. Still, Eleanor reasoned, there must be another member of her n here as well.


    Eleanor asked, "There should be another member from your n in the academy, correct?"


    Maíra replied, "Yes. My mother sent my aunt Jaciara Moara with me. Believe me, her belly is full of negativity. Maíra don’t do this, Maíra you can’t do that... she mostly stops me from doing everything. Luckily, her room is far from mine, in the front wing. If I could join your circle, I could do whatever you do with you. She wouldn’t be able to restrict me. If you ept me as your friend, I can help you in a fight. I am the best fighter of my n."


    Eleanor almostughed aloud, but she restrained herself and replied seriously, "Very well. We ept you into our circle. But you will only fight when we ask you to. Understand?"


    Behind Maíra, both Kiara and Ophelia were smirking. Maíra, however, answered with the same seriousness, "I understand. Then let us go to the dining hall together. If I amte, Aunt Jaciara will nag me to death."


    "Alright," Eleanor said as she opened her wardrobe and pulled out her robe. She walked to the table, closed theptop lid, straightened the bedcover, then opened the door and stepped out. Kiara, Ophelia, and Maíra followed close behind.


    "Miss, you are here! I was knocking at your door and thought you were asleep. There is no phone in this ce, otherwise I would have called you. Hurry... we must go to the dining hall." A bronze-skinned woman, looking to be in herte thirties, eximed from beside Maíra’s room. Her bosom strained against her robe, and she exuded a mature charm, though her face bore a trace of anxiety as she looked directly at Maíra.


    Maíra flinched at the sight of her. "Aunt Jaciara, I am notte. I was only going to the dining hall with my friends. Let me introduce you. This is Eleanor, this is Kiara, and she is Ophelia. We met earlier and became good friends. They are werewolves, like me."


    She gave her aunt a triumphant smile, proud of having made friends so quickly in the academy... only to see Jaciara ce a hand over her chest and bow.


    "Miss Raynor, it is an honour to meet you. Please forgive us if my young miss has in any way offended you."


    Her tone was so fearful that it puzzled Maíra. She nced between her submissive aunt and Eleanor, whom she had just met. Atst her eyes settled on Eleanor, and she asked hesitantly, "Are you some sort of big shot?"


    Eleanor’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. With the same deadpan calm, she replied, "Nah! I am just a simple werewolf. I may be an Alpha, but you are far stronger than me."


    She then looked at the bowing woman. "Miss Jaciara Moara, do not trouble yourself. Please rise. We were only bing acquainted. Although Maíra is young, she is strong, and I like her. We are now friends. You need not worry. We are on our way to the dining hall... you may join us if you wish."


    She turned her gaze to the still-confused girl. "Maíra, let’s go. We have little time left."


    Eleanor began walking, with Kiara and Ophelia following behind, smirking. Maíra trailed after them and shouted back, "Aunt Jaciara, don’t just stand there. Let’s go."


    They all descended the stairs at a measured pace. Following the group, Jaciara’s mind boiled with thoughts.


    "Eleanor Raynor... and Miss... ended up in adjacent rooms. Knowing our Miss, she has never nced at intelligence reports about other ns. She dislikes reading anything that isn’t about fighting. She has no idea whom she is befriending. If she had ever read those reports... she would not dare to befriend her. Eleanor Raynor was used of killing countless people, both human and werewolf alike. My Miss may be a good fighter and assassin, but she has no experience killing either humans or werewolves. She has only in vicious beasts. Perhaps Miss Raynor saw how na?ve she is, and took her under her wing. That seems the most likely. I must tread carefully. If, by this fateful encounter, the two of them truly be friends, it will serve them both well when they one day take charge of their respective families. Better that I keep my mouth shut and follow the course Miss Raynor sets. I will only intervene if my Miss finds herself at a disadvantage."


    Having resolved her inner unease, she smiled inwardly, fixed her gaze upon the two most significant young figures of the werewolfmunity, and followed them steadily.


    ***


    When Eleanor stepped through the giant doors of the dining hall, her eyes widened at the majesty that unfolded within. The space was vast... a cathedral of brick and stone transformed into a hall of order and light. The ceiling arched high above, its beams ribbed like the vaults of an ancient temple, and from them hung great chandeliers that glowed with a steady brilliance, casting a golden sheen across the room.


    Thirty long tables stretched across the marble floor, each carved from wless bs of white stone that gleamed like frozen rivers. They were arranged with perfect symmetry in three rows, ten tables to each, their surfaces lined with polished wooden chairs. Each chair was finely wrought, its back carved in flowing patterns that mirrored vines and mes, embracing the tables in an orderly fashion... four to a side, with one at each head. The symmetry was so precise it gave the entire hall the feeling of a grand orchestration, as though even stillness were a kind of music.


    At the far end of the hall, a wide stage rose slightly above the floor. Upon it, a single long table presided like a throne. Behind it stood twelve high-backed chairs, arranged in solemn rank, waiting for those who would watch over the cadets. Even from where she stood, Eleanor could see the gleam of porcin set neatly upon the high table, as though prepared for a feast that would judge as much as it celebrated.


    She walked forward, the sound of her steps softened by the marble beneath, and remembered what she read in the guidebook... every cadet had an assigned ce, their cadet numbers stamped upon the backs of their chairs. The front tables were for the cadets, while the rest of the hall would remain empty except during banquets and great gatherings, when staff and professors joined the feast.


    Already, many cadets had found their seats. Eleanor paused at table ten, where her cadet number was written on a chair’s back. She saw Maíra’s seat was just beside hers. Maíra beamed at the arrangement and slid happily into the chair beside her. Eleanor looked around to confirm that her otherpanions had also settled in their assigned ces.


    From the beginning, she felt something was different in this dining hall. Her gaze wandered across the room, and she quickly identified the source of her unease. This was not merely a gathering of students, but a congress of races... a tapestry of the world stitched together under one roof. Although everyone appeared in human form, she could sense the true nature of each cadet. Werewolves, vampires, dragons, fairies, werecats, merfolk, naga, kitsune, and banshees... all sat on their designated chairs peacefully, indifferent to who sat beside them. And among them, scattered like sparks among embers, were a few humans... fragile in body byparison, yet each burning with a different kind of determination.


    Suddenly, a thought struck her. In this term of cadets, werewolves were the most numerous. Almost one fourth of the present cadets were from the werewolf race. "There must have been some arrangement between the king of werewolves and the academy authorities. That’s why we are all forced to join this term. Especially the young n heads of the ten great ns," she thought.


    Sitting in her chair, her mind wandered. "There are five young n heads who should be joining this term. I’ve already found one. Let’s see how the others from the Kuroda, Ahmose, and Graventhal ns are faring in the academy..."


    At that moment, the heavy footsteps of military boots echoed from the direction of the entrance. Every eye instinctively turned toward the door. A man d in a ck uniform, like the protectors of the academy, strode toward the stage at the front. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and exuded amanding presence that silenced the chatter of the cadets instantly. Behind him followed five others... two in protectors’ uniforms and three in white robes.