"To me my Warriors! Today we Die in the name of the All-Father!"

Augurios the Mad's war cry when he was at the front of the war effort for the All-Father.

Hope Morgan Fritz stood by the gates of the Grand Academy, they stood tall gleaming steel and red sapphire as the Gatekeeper took a long hard look at her and said "Non-Nobles to the front please" Since she was alone Hope didn't get it but she walked to the front nevertheless,

The Gatekeeper cast a spell over her and spoke "Hmm, Merc kid... The support desk is just to the left of this path, watch for the big lion statue" with a nod Hope walked through the gates and saw the first sign of activity inside the place, older noble scions who stayed the year around inside the campus living out the best of their lives free and make amazing memories...

Hope's mind again went to the prospect of romance, she didn't know why but it was always running in the background which was something absurd! She had never cared that deeply before!

Sure a crush or two happened but those were normal for any healthy young man/woman, and some of her classmates were very pretty... Ugh she thought to herself it was like she was one of those sheltered Uumaries girls who suddenly finds a Shal'Xhir friend to take them out in the wide world...Hope thought to herself it was time to cut off some of those books she was reading.

"Cool as ice Hope, Cool as ice" the young woman spoke as she opened the doors and walked up to the clerk. An ancient-looking elven man complete with a beard as long as her arm! He took a long look at her and said "Papers please" in a voice that reminded her of ancient oak forests for some insane reason. Hope not wanting to ire the veritable ancient being pulled her papers and gave them to him.

It took near an hour to get the paperwork done, but Hope left the Academy with a shiny new badge of entrance and her paperwork filled. Riding on that high she went to the market for premium cuts of meat for dinner, arriving home she was treated by her parents who were happy to know her paperwork was filled without drama and went right on to make a great dinner.

Said Dinner was interrupted when her father received a magical message and the mood went from happy to gloom and doom in a blink of an eye.

"She killed almost all mercenaries in the first bout... Gods, Above we must thank the Red Dragon for he saved our lives!" Her mother said "Had our company not been on leave we would be..." her voice got quieter as the realization came crashing down. They had dodged death again and this time there were enough bodies on the pile to make a fort of them.

Hope looked at her father who was quiet as a dead man. He stared her down and sighed "Even Jiang died... I fought with that man for years in the last war and he always pulled through even at the direst of odds, godsdamn it all it was a fucking massacre! these new weapons of the northern folk just tore the companies like they were made out of wet paper! Worse was the tactics employed beforehand" He finished.

"The Grannarius spike" Hope finished as her father explained the maneuver "That someone would use the tactics of our enemies against our people" she looked at her mom who sighed as well.

"It is the perfect move against our Knights, and Galius lacked diviners that were miracle based. With Lucrezia's usage of Ardarite, she managed to counter his every move" Her mother finished speaking with an empty look in her eyes.

"Ardarite, isn't that super rare?" Hope asked to change the topic to something less dreadful.

Her father picked up on this and went for it "Yes! Only a few mines are known and all keep supply low to not disrupt the balance between martial arts and magical arts, That Lucrezia managed to use enough means she has a mine of the stuff in her lands. That young woman will have no want for coin with it, not that she would even need to sell the bloody ore! with these new items of hers in every market I believe she's as wealthy as a king"

After that, her parents moved on and the diner went on as usual. Hope got her nightly business done and was preparing to go to sleep when the realization struck her like a bolt of lighting cast by a mage!

"Gods above Lucrezia will be going to the Academy!" of course the woman would be there! By law, every noble was forced to go and attend for at the very least one year, as to further their social and personal ties and foster friendships across all spheres of power from the commoners like her who were in due to the school quota policy to wealthy merchants kids who's parents paid for an entrance permit. And all rings of Nobility of the Kingdom of Vermilion.

Hope prayed to All-Father to make the young woman pay her no attention. After all, even if her parents were war heroes they were simple commoners. Nothing in the yes of a Duchess from one of the houses that made this Kingdom a millennia ago. Hope stared at the moon in the skies her mind drifting ever so close to sleep as she imagined her days in the Academy, learning, making friends for life and who knows maybe finding love? One could hope she thought with a smile on her lips.

Much later in her life, Hope would come to remember these days and laugh at her younger self's thoughts. If only she knew heh If only she knew.