Chapter 158: Lord Victor

I ignored the staring eyes and whispering voices, walking toward the central inquiry counter with Val maintaining her guard position behind me.

Before I could speak to the clerk at the desk, a door near the rear administrative wing clicked open.

A tall, remarkably refined man stepped out into the lobby. He wore an impeccably tailored black three-piece suit with a crimson silk tie. His skin was alabaster pale, his dark hair was combed back neatly, and his striking crimson eyes carried an ancient, sharp intelligence. The subtle, slightly elongated incisors visible when he smiled made his vampire heritage obvious.

He walked past the waiting lines, stopping directly in front of me with a polite, welcoming posture.

"Seth Fernando?" the man asked, his voice smooth, clear, and rich with quiet authority.

I offered him a calm, polite smile and nodded. "Yes, that’s me."

The moment I confirmed my identity, the surrounding students and clerks in the lobby froze, staring at me with even wilder curiosity. I casually brushed their gazes aside, keeping my attention on the man in front of me.

The vampire gentleman gave a courteous, refined bow. "Welcome to Avalon Academy. My name is Lord Victor. I serve as the Head of the Administration Department. I shall be personally handling your official admission and security registration today."

I tilted my head slightly, looking at him in mild confusion. "The Head of Administration? Doesn’t the basic intake process usually get handled by the desk clerks? You don’t need to trouble yourself for a simple registration, Lord Victor."

Lord Victor let out a quiet, amused chuckle, gesturing toward the private administrative wing behind him. "For ordinary students, yes. However, for a transfer student holding the primordial authority of Origin, backed by the Fernando and Rothschild families, your intake protocols fall strictly under executive oversight. Please, follow me to my office."

I shrugged, turning to follow him down the quiet stone corridor. Val matched my stride, her hand resting naturally near her side belt.

Lord Victor led us into a spacious, high-ceilinged private office. The room was furnished with heavy mahogany bookshelves, polished leather armchairs, and a large central desk equipped with complex floating spatial arrays.

"Please, take a seat," Lord Victor said, stepping behind his desk and gesturing toward the armchairs.

I sat down comfortably while Val took her position directly behind my chair, refusing to sit while on official duty.

Lord Victor sat down, tapping his fingers against the mahogany desk. A series of holographic interface screens materialized in the air between us.

"Now then..." Lord Victor began, his crimson eyes focusing on me, "...let us begin Phase One of your intake. Phase One is dedicated entirely to absolute identity verification and security clearance. Avalon takes privacy, security, and identity verification with extreme seriousness. We must ensure that no external entity, shape-shifter, or divine proxy can ever impersonate a student on this campus."

I nodded. "Fair enough. What do you need?"

"First, standard physical parameters," Lord Victor instructed.

A small, floating silver sphere hovered over from his desk, flashing a soft blue light as it scanned my face, height, and physical structure from three different angles, storing the data directly into the academy’s secure database.

Next, Lord Victor pulled a small, sterile silver device from his drawer. "A minor blood and DNA sample is required. This is sealed within a soul-bound, encrypted vial that only the Chancellor and I can access in the event of a severe security breach."

I extended my arm, letting the small needle prick my finger. A single drop of blood was drawn into the glowing vial before the tiny wound instantly healed over. Lord Victor then looked over at Val.

"Your retainer must undergo the exact same physical and DNA verification process to receive her campus security clearance," Lord Victor stated.

Val didn’t hesitate for a second. She stepped forward, allowing the floating sphere to record her scan and providing her blood sample without a single word of complaint.

Lord Victor slotted both vials into a heavy, runic steel safe beneath his desk, locking it with a complex mana sequence.

"And now... the final and most important step of Phase One," Lord Victor said, his tone turning serious.

He reached into his central desk drawer, pulling out a heavy metallic device shaped like an intricate silver orb, embedded with glowing translucent crystals. He set the orb onto the mahogany table between us.

"Physical appearances, bloodlines, and DNA can occasionally be faked or manipulated by high-tier magic..." Lord Victor explained, his crimson eyes gleaming, "...but a soul’s conceptual signature is absolute. Every Astral Soul possesses a completely unique, unalterable spiritual frequency. Replicating a soul signature is conceptually impossible."

He gestured toward the crystal orb. "Place your palm upon the orb, Seth. Channel a tiny trace of your core mana into the device. It will record your unique soul signature into our master array, permanently linking your identity to your student token."

I leaned forward, placing my right palm flat against the cool, smooth surface of the silver orb.

’Paige,’ I called out in my mind. ’Keep our core system parameters hidden. Just release a basic trace of our standard Origin aura.’

[Got it, Host!] Paige responded smoothly. [Releasing standard soul resonance]

I focused my intent, allowing a tiny thread of my internal mana to flow out through my palm and enter the silver orb.

HUMMMMM.

The instant my mana touched the internal crystal core, the entire device vibrated violently.

A deep, vast, and ancient resonance echoed through my chest. For a brief split second, the infinite, boundless weight of the Astral World loomed over my consciousness, surging through the connection.

FLASH-!!

The silver orb didn’t just glow, it erupted into a brilliant, magnificent golden-white light that illuminated the entire private office. The glowing silver runes etched along the walls flared in response, while the floating holographic displays on Lord Victor’s desk glitched and flickered under the sheer conceptual pressure of Origin.

Lord Victor froze.

His crimson eyes widened in sheer, speechless shock as he stared at the blinding golden-white light radiating from the orb. Even as a high-tier vampire who had lived for centuries, he visibly swallowed hard, feeling the primordial pressure humming in the room.