Life teaches you the most, but it also breaks the most.

That was what the Dean said to explain why the simulation was needed. Everyone here was a treasure, waiting to shine to their full potential.

If they were left on their own, so many stars who could shine would fade away or remain in the dark.

"You're young, immature in many ways, not at all ready to shoulder the responsibility life has to offer," Amon said. "The responsibility of being an important part of that body."

Aegon could see some faces going dark, as if offended by his words. He could only shake his head at these arrogant fools. Even Aegon, who had been trained and brought up by someone like Arnold, wouldn't claim otherwise.

"Now, about how that simulation would work. I would like to explain, but I'm too lazy for that," Amon yawned. "Just find out the details in the Academy guide, but I'll talk about the important points."

He pointed at everyone's jacket, which had strips of different colours, embedded with various crests. Not everyone had them though, as some, like Aegon, had plain black strips.

"The Houses here represent the Noble Houses and various associations that handle the inner workings of the Empire. Or even the Commanders of the army. A House can be any social body depending on its founder, captain and others who rule over it."

He smiled at everyone.

"You can already guess, but yes, this is basically a rough replica of the outside world. The Academy is ruled by these same Houses. And you can be a part of them, or remain independent, securing your own protection and resources. You can choose your life here."

Aegon was pleased hearing that. 'Noice! This is even better.'

Now, he could take his cooking classes without any problems.

"The risks and consequences also follow here. Last year, more than ten percent of First Year students died while many others failed to keep up. Some are just littering around in the lowest parts of society like Academy. But there is a catch here."

'Knew it!' Aegon thought.

"I've talked just now, but our enemy are demons, so how can I not include them in this simulation? Aside from the occasional mission of clearing demons and stuff you'll get, there is another way demons can harm us."

He pointed at himself and said,

"Enemies can directly attack us, but when they can't penetrate the tough exterior, they resort to other methods. Breaking us from inside. The demons do the same by mixing in with humanity and breaking us from inside."

'I was wondering why he didn't address this point,' Aegon thought. 'Direct clash with demons with missions and all, then what about infiltration? How will you simulate that?'

"To simulate it, we will give each student an identity of either human or demon. Yes, some of you will be demons and some will be humans. You will fight yourselves, wondering if the friends you are sitting with are demons."

A shiver ran along his spine, as Aegon thought. 'Yes, that's how real life is, so why not do it outright? Even if it is cruel, at least this won't kill them and the ones they're responsible for. What an Academy I have entered.'

"Both sides will have their own missions, such as humans trying to find out the demons, while the demons try to bring down humanity while hiding. That is your goal. As you do your missions, you will receive merits. There are more details which you will learn here, but remember one thing."

His smile vanished for the first time, sending creeps through everyone.

"This is not a game, neither will you treat it as such. This is your life. Make mistakes and you will die. You already signed up for that when you chose admission here."

'Oii! I didn't! There was no mention of so much death and all!' Aegon wanted to shout, as he thought the Academy was a simple one.

[Host, you did not read the Academy guide.]

He was speechless. Why did the system only speak at such occasions?

"Now then, you have received your identity stone, right? Send your essence or mana into it. Your true identity will appear in your mind."

Students pulled out their identity stones and began to do as said. Aegon did the same, as he was also curious what he would get considering he wasn't a proper human even in real life.

As he poured his mana into the stone, something came floating into his mind, as if that word had already existed there for a long time.

Of course, as a Soul Cultivator, Aegon could easily sense its source. A single word hovered inside his mind, telling him of the identity he needed to live with in this Academy.

[Demon!]

His gaze suddenly met Amon's and somehow, he knew this was intentionally done by the old man.

'What does he want by this? Want me to throw away all the Houses or what?' Aegon wondered, though he didn't think much of it.

He didn't care about his identity, since he never had plans of competing with others. He wanted to go at his own pace.

He could see others trying to mask their emotions, but it wasn't easy to do so. Surprise, shock, disgust, so many varieties of emotion he saw.

'How many of them are demons? Wait! What will happen if a demon is found out? In real life, they would get tortured for information or straight up executed.'

As if someone had read his mind, a student not far from him asked the question. Many gave him weird looks, wondering how someone could be so stupid to reveal they might be demons.

But Aegon thought otherwise.

'He is probably a human, so just having fun or maybe a demon trying to get out of suspicion by letting others believe he gave it away. Who knows? It depends on his intelligence.' Aegon wondered.

"A wonderful question," Amon's smile reached his ears. "And it has a wonderful answer too. The demons get executed, so the consequences shall follow here. But as I've said, it's a simulation so the consequences will be less... cruel."

His eyes scanned everyone, filled with mischievousness.

"Instead of execution, they will face expulsion. They are dead to the Academy."

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