The city of Laputa seemed very advanced. And also very modern. It still had it's medieval look, but some of the buildings were comparable to skyscrapers. (Short skyscrapers, but still!) It was as if someone had taken a modern city, trimmed the top, and given it a medieval texture pack. There were lots of modern looking devices, like street lamps, vending machines and the occasional camera looking thing. But then they also had some far less common, but far more futuristic stuff. There were a number of people flying around on brooms and clunky looking jetpacks, except instead of spewing flames, the bottom just glowed blue. We even passed one guy riding what was basically a hoverboard. 

...Until he lost control and the board shot out from under him, spiraling into the air before exploding in a shower of parts. Surprisingly, the people around us seemed unfazed. They simply glanced up, dodged or blocked the shrapnel and went about their day. The guy was approached by a couple of guards, but they just gave him a paper and moved on. Turning to Jaque, I found him staring down at me as if he was expecting a question. Not waiting for me to ask, he explained.

"Laputa has a lot o' inventors who're testin' their stuff on the daily. It ain't too rare for 'em to blow in their faces though. When you live with that for years, you get kind o' used to things explodin' every now 'n again."

"That doesn't sound like a very good thing to get used to. What if it's actually something bad happening? Like... terrorists or something?"

Jaque took a second to think before responding. "I suppose that'd be an issue. But I also think this level o' freedom's what allowed Laputa to progress as far as it has."

I nodded as we continued on. We were headed towards a large tower in the middle of the city, as that was where the academy was. We passed a few shops on the way, and eventually found ourselves in a sizable plaza with a fountain at it's center. There were a few crowds here and there as people held little shows and demonstrations throughout the square. There were also stalls lining the outer edges of the plaza, selling all sorts of things. As we passed by the fountain, someone crashed into me. I simply fell over this time. Progress.

"Ah crap! I'm sorry, you alright?"

The perpetrator turned out to be a young man with messy black hair. He was wearing a dirty tunic, and had a sword strapped to his back. He had his had outstretched to help me up. I took it and he hauled me unto my feet. As soon as I was up, he immediately started apologizing again.

"Sorry about that, I wasn't really looking where I was going, haha... Are you alright? You're not, hurt, or anything, right?"

I chuckled. "Yes, yes. I'm fine. Though, I do wonder what has you in such a rush."

He was beginning to look like he wanted to bolt, and responded in quick, short bursts. "Uh... Training Academy! Registration ends in.... 10 minutes, I think. Speaking of which, if you're fine, I gotta go. See you later!"

And with that, he took off running towards the Academy.

Then I hear Jaque say, "That sounds like we'd better get goin'."

I shoot him a look of disbelief, to which he shrugs and takes off running. Muttering under my breath, I quickly chase after him.

===========

Arriving at the Academy with barely a minute left, we immediately headed over to the small stand with a sign above it saying 'Registration Here.' The lady at the desk gave me a professional smile, and took out a form.

"You're just in time, I was about to close the desk. Can I have your name and age please?"

"Aer. Spelt with an 'e'. Eighteen."

She wrote down the information, then handed me a wooden token with the number 112 inscribed on it.

"That will be your identification for the duration of the exam. Please do not lose it. The examination hall is the first door down the hall to your left. Good luck!"

She turned away and started packing up, so I said my farewells to Jaque, and headed down the hall to the examination room. Entering, I found myself in a massive room with what seemed to be hundreds of people. Wasn't I the last to arrive with 112? How are there so many people here?

Someone clapped twice, and the room quieted down. I looked to the front of the room, where there was a raised platform with a few people standing on it. In front was a blonde man wearing grey robes. He spread his arms and addressed the crowd of applicants.

"First of all, welcome to Tirion Training Academy! My name is Lyell Coleman, and I'll be your principal for the next two years. Standing behind me are..."

He went on to introduce a few of the teachers and spoke briefly on the history of the school. Apparently, this school was founded by the hero Tirion. Seemingly, the school functions as a complete meritocracy by virtue of its founder being a commoner and a hero. It makes sense, there isn't much nobles can say about prestigious bloodlines when someone without such bloodlines is above them. Though I suspect there will still be some elitists who think themselves better than everyone else, at least this way they'll have to prove it. After the lecture, they split us into five groups of around a hundred each, and I wound up in group B.

The first test was to be a battle royale. Each group was to take turns in the arena, fighting until there were only 5 left. While we waited for group A to finish, the instructor assigned to our group clarified a few of the rules.

"You'll be competing in a raised stone arena, and anyone who fall off it unto the grass is out. The last 5 people will be guaranteed spots in the academy, but we'll be picking a few others as well based on your performance, so do your best."

Around ten minutes later, the battle with group A had finished, and our instructor hurried us out to the arena. It put the other arena to shame. It was MASSIVE, and the battle area alone was bigger than a football field. As we all filtered out unto the platform, I gawked at the amount of people present. It seemed like the entire city had showed up to watch. Listening to the people around me, it seems I wasn't the only one shocked.

"Wow....."

"Look at all these people!"

"It's to be expected really."

"Yeah, the exams are the only battle royale style event all year! No wonder they're excited!"

"Alright! I'm PUMPED UP! COME AT ME!"

Once we had all gotten on the platform, a voice boomed out over the arena.

"Alright everyone, it's time for group B's battle! In group A's battle, Layla Lightbringer showed absolute domination! Will we see any heavyweights in this group? Let's find out in three! Two! One! BEGIN!"

Akajaro

I'm gonna be honest here, I just wanted to try the poll feature. Feel free to ignore.