“Where is that damn professor?!” A few more benches were broken by the mana blast that Willard Albarone sent. His breath was heavy and the folds of flesh beneath his chin were flapping around. People from the Houses that served him were standing politely in the back, waiting for any order they might receive. Myriads of foul words left Willard’s overgrown mouth that targeted the sanctity of the Academy.

 

Mehr and the group were enjoying the play with laid back attitudes. They would comment about the situation from time to time, and Fynn even riled Willard up.

 

“Yeah! How dare the puny academy dare to insult one of the High Nobles, that too Great House Albarone. House Albarone’s greatness is evident by its members’ impressive stature.” 

 

The group giggled among themselves as soon as they heard Fynn’s words. Sirius wasn’t on board at first but after seeing how Willard treated people, even the ones who served him, Sirius found the guy to be pathetically inhumane. And well, Sirius also started enjoying the play. 

 

It was when everyone around was either apprehensive of the situation or just cackling like Fynn and others when Willard suddenly kneeled with a loud thud. His eyes bulged as he found it difficult to breathe. People behind him rushed to help him but couldn’t understand the situation. Some of them tried to use healing arts, while some asked others for help. Gradually, Willard’s gasping subsided and he calmed down until he heard Mehr say, “The floor is quite sturdy. It didn’t even break when that sloshed hog fell on it.”

 

The laughter was clamorous, but Willard’s mood was extremely sour. He pushed his subordinates aside and had just started walking towards Mehr when his knees buckled again. However this time, he saw the perpetrator very clearly. It was an old man with a long flowing beard with a limp in his legs. 

 

The old man had just entered the arena when the entire room got silent. The old man walked ahead with a limp and pulled Willard up forcefully. Willard looked in the old man’s eyes that looked like the eyes of a dead fish and the hairs on his body rose. 

 

“Fix all the tables you broke.” The old man spoke in a whisper but everyone heard his words clearly. At this point, almost everyone in the room was bowing to the old man. The ones who were standing straight were the people who had no idea who he was, and those people were only two.

 

“Sirius, Mehr! Bow down!” Nora whispered through clenched teeth.

 

Sirius and Mehr bowed down without asking any question. The air in the arena had gone colder than normal and the eerie silence weighed on everyone.

 

“Do you know who I am?!” Willard managed to squeak out words that struggled in his throat to come out. He felt his bladder getting heavy slowly but managed to control it out of his sheer will. His body was slowly betraying his heart, though, as his legs started to tremble slightly.

 

“A runt of Jason. Boy, even your grandfather bows when he meets me, and your father follow me like a little pup that he is. Now go and fix the tables, or I’ll break your legs.” The old man pushed Willard down with so much force that the ground beneath him cracked. “And the floor too.”

 

Willard huffed and gruffed, and tried to control his trembling legs. This was the first time he had been embarrassed like this. Even his father had never treated him like this. That too, in front of the people who served him.

 

“Why wasn’t I selected?” Willard said with his teeth clenched tightly. “I never died. I was among the finalists. Then why wasn’t I selected?!”

 

His voice slowly rose through his shut jaw and reverberated in the room. It was unfair from his point of view. Scrubs far weaker than him were selected while he was not. It was unfair that he was in the same trial as that monster. Willard looked to the corner of the room, at an assuming person who was looking at him with mocking eyes.

 

‘Daniel Goodstay!’ Willard’s eyes turned red. He could never forget how that monster killed every person in his group without any noise. Before he knew it, he was all alone. And now that monster was looking down at him again. 

 

The old man with a limp turned back and asked in a sharp tone, “Did you withdraw from the trial?”

 

“Yes, I did. I never died, so I should have earned more points than the ones who did. Yet many of them were selected while I was not.”

 

“Did you fight any battle before withdrawing?”

 

“....I did not. No one was stupid enough to fight me except one person, and he was stronger than me,” Willard said with difficulty.

 

“When you realised that you couldn't beat him in a fight, did you perhaps ask for others’ help or rally people behind you?”

 

“...I did not, but that-” Willard’s words were cut off in the middle and the old man continued to speak.

 

“So you couldn’t rally people behind you. Then, did you come up with a plan to overpower your opponent? Did you use the resources provided to you, in an innovative way? Or did you brave your heart and jump into the fight and only withdrew after giving your all and realising that there was simply no logical and realistic way to win the battle?” The old man’s words came out like nocked arrows on a bow.

 

Willard choked on his words and couldn’t reply to the questions. The silence in the room was heart-wrenching and the oppressive air weighed on him like a mountain.

 

“You did not. You ran away like a rat. This academy will take the weakest of the bunch if they deserve to get selected but people like you are better outside. The academy raises highly admirable people that work in the favour of humanity and the future, not pathetic cowards such as yourself. Now get up and mend the floor and tables, or I will have to send a broken child to your father. I’m sure he has many sons to spare.”

 

The old man walked away with his limp and left the entire crowd silent. The air returned to its natural vibrancy and the atmosphere became lighter as soon as he left.

 

“Who was he?” Mehr asked while looking at the door through which the old man had just left. His mind was in shambles. Throughout his old life, he had never felt so small. Even when he was feeble, he had always felt that he could overcome anything with time and effort. But ever since he came to this world, he felt that things were far out of his reach. The world was extremely skewed. He had seen the scene of destruction caused by the Third Star, The Sword God. He couldn’t understand even a sliver of powers that Sir Ghost used. He was never able to measure the depths of Lady Maria and old man Blake’s strength. And here was another person who made him feel small. Just the old man’s words were enough to shake him to his core and he felt uncomfortable with that fact. He realised, yet again, how far the zenith rose.

 

“Ser Judas Serapio. He is the headmaster of the Academy and a legendary hero. He was the master of the Astral Clock Tower before Lady Maria and he fought the cult for over 20 years. He is an Honorary Knight in every Kingdom for his achievements. He is known to be very gentle and caring, so something must have happened to sour his mood this much.” Nora recited like a little bird.

 

“Gentle and caring?” Everyone’s ears perked at those qualities, “Him?”

 

“Well, anyway.” Nora cleared her throat, “That guy from House Albarone had to withdraw because he lost to someone. Who do you think it is?”

 

“Who knows? That person will be in the same classes as us though.” Hope said.

 

“Well, let’s just go to the hall of assembly.”

****

 

The hall of the assembly was decorated so extravagantly that it would make royal palaces shy. The side walls had long flowing drapes in Royal Purple colours that glowed softly. The ceiling was lined with small mana orbs that shined with different coloured lights. A cool breeze was flowing inside the hall and the flowers bloomed on the pathway. Magic of elements was in full bloom as it trickled everywhere to everyone.

 

“It’s beautiful,” Sirius said while taking the entire scenery in. The group walked up the pathway when their eyes fell on a large painting behind the podium. The painting that depicted a young man’s face with silver hair and bright green eyes, covered the entire wall. The young man’s eyes were as sharp as a sword and his expression, anything but gentle. It was the same face that was present in many of the paintings in the Frye’s Castle. Beneath the painting, in beautiful calligraphy, the young man’s name was written.

 

John 'Osborn Ormar' Frye

          The Third Star

 

“His real name was John Frye? Quite a depressing name for a man as great as him.” Mehr commented after reading The Sword God’s name.

 

“That was a name he was given at birth. Osborn Ormar is the name he earned.” Nora said in a drifting tone as if mesmerised by the painting.

 

“What does it mean?”

 

“Osborn Ormar comes from the old language. It roughly translates to the God who killed the Dragons. The Sword God is a title that later generations came up with.” Nora said.

 

“He looks a lot like you in this painting, Sirius, doesn’t he?” Mehr looked at Sirius, who was looking at the painting that described his hero. It was a face he had seen thousands of times and a person like whom he had longed to become. Sirius put his hand on the sword on his side as he tried to calm his breathing.

 

“Welcome,” The group’s conversation was interrupted by the old man with the limp, Headmaster Judas Serapio, who had taken the podium and was now addressing the students who had congregated.

 

“Congratulations on being selected for the Academy. However, do not think of this as an achievement of yours. This is where your life begins.”

 

The students in the hall listened to each word with bated breaths. Their hearts swelled with pride and their eyes became gently wet at the thought that they had made it.

 

“I can proudly say that each of the students my professors have selected is the cream of the crop of this generation in the mainland. There is no better person in nature, heart and character than the lot of you. You might think that you’re weak and cannot compete with many of your fellow students but worry not. This is why you’re here.”

 

Headmaster Judas looked in the eyes of students as he slowly raised his voice with every word he uttered. His speech was filled with emotions that touched the students and tickled their aspirations.

 

“For the next five years, you will understand the world and how to make it better for humanity. You will understand the powers of mana and elements, and how to utilise them effectively. You will understand the dangers of artifacts and the cult, and also how to deter them. You will understand the political landscape and learn how to navigate it with either your wits or your strength.”

 

Mehr and the group were also listening to the speech very obediently. Every time the Headmaster opened his mouth, the students would subconsciously control their breaths so as not to disturb the moment.

 

“So again, I welcome all of you to the Academy. I hope you will make yourselves proud.”

 

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