The Academy of Krol occupied the center of the town. It was considered as one of its largest establishment. It spanned multiple buildings with each fulfilling a purpose unique to its own –such as the School, an enormous place where knowledge of all sorts were taught at, or the Mess Hall, a wide area dedicated to serving food, or the Dormitory, a place for the people of the Academy to stay.
It was dominantly a place of learning, and in order to ‘fully accommodate and provide the quality its citizens deserved’ as declared by the First King, the Kingdom took on the brunt of the cost of establishing Academies across the Kingdom and was followed by a rule that by the age of ten, ‘the fees for attending the Academy will be exempted for four years.’ It was an undertaking that took the First King years to complete. Since then, the Kingdom –while the cost was atrociously high in maintaining the many Academies-- had advanced tremendously on all fronts. To the Kingdom, even disregarding their reverence for the First King, it was a cost that they were willing to pay.
But the Academy possessed another purpose other than for a place to learn –it was a purpose that started from a tradition that stemmed during the Founding.
The Founding was when the Kingdom had just established itself from the ruins brought upon by the War of the Nether –a war that sundered the lands and carried Death upon the Great Continent. After the War, what followed was not the expected peace, but an Era of Strife.
The Era of Strife was riddled with the ruins of ancient Kingdoms and Empires caused by the War and because of their fall, the Great Continent was ushered into a desperate time of depravity and disorder. Resources were lacking and places hospitable for life grew fewer as the Corruption spread.
By then, the First King, whom had the mission of protecting his people, was faced with a glaring problem as the Era of Strife progressed on. The number of capable men he could muster to defend his rule withered as they fought and died in battle. The Kingdom which was just recently established, was already on the verge of crumbling down from the lack of manpower. The few men he was left with were incapable of defending its borders from the marauders who seek to deprive them from their lands. A grim time that forced the Kingdom to its last leg.
The Kingdom was eventually pushed back to a measly piece of land –it was the Kingdom’s first true lost but a stroke of fortune had befallen upon them for the land they were left with had a small mountain at the back. It proved to be an easily defendable position for the First King, and defeated the sieges of the marauders one after another. Afterwards, under his lead, the Kingdom bid its time as it recovered its strength.
Learning from the events that almost fell the Kingdom, the First King requested his people to train all of their offsprings in the art of war, regardless of aspirations. By then, when the Professional Army proved to be lacking –the Kingdom would muster battle-ready men from among its citizens. It eventually became a tradition that made all of the people in the Kingdom a warrior in their own right and to continue this tradition, the Academies willingly established a system that would train its students even further than what the First King asked for. The Academies then became places where knowledge could be learned... and places for warriors to be bred.
And from among these freshly-bred warriors, the most suitable would be weeded out by the Order to join its ranks. Every year, Knights from the Order would be sent out to scout for potential prospects from the Academies, and bring them back for the Order to train.
This was the day of the year when the Order held its Exams and it was usually held at the centerpiece of almost all Academies in the Kingdom –the Arena.
*
After going through the necessary process of meeting with the officials of the Academy of Krol, and confirming that preparations were made –Morr’s squad, along with some instructors of the Academy, made way for the Arena. What greeted them was an enormous courtyard that overshadowed the other buildings of the Academy in terms of size.
The courtyard, as of the moment, was filled with scores of people who were seated on large platforms overlooking the stage in the center; some had the intention in watching on how the Selection would play out as if fueled by their desire of abating their curiosity, while others were here just for simple entertainment and the main highlight was precisely the group of students on the center stage.
The students were aligned perfectly, as if the entire procedure was drilled and beaten into them since their first day in the Academy. While the Academy didn’t regulate standard clothing for the students to wear... they were wearing clothes of the finest grade they could afford. It produced a certain finesse that impressed the Justicar of Morr’s squad, as he curtly remarked, “Impressive.” In turn, the instructors that were with them, beamed with smiles. But blocked by the other students, the Justicar did not noticed the one that seemed out of place as he was wearing clothing completely far from the refined and expensive ones of the others. It was a student carrying a jagged wooden sword.
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Morr’s squad and the instructors, with a relaxed pace, headed for the stage. Noticing that the Order’s Knights had arrived, the noise that plagued the platforms instantly quieted down. It was a silence born from respect and envy.
Morr and the others situated themselves to the sides while the Justicar stood on the center of the stage. Glancing lazily around the Arena, and taking note of the students in front of him, he motioned to speak. ”Greetings, everyone,” he spoke loudly with confidence, as if he was unbothered that all the attention in the Arena was centered on him but while he spoke in a way representing a higher authority, his voice lacked the vitality. In other words, he seemed uninterested but not with ill-intent.
He continued with his hands clasped behind his back, “Today is the auspicious day when the Order would conduct its yearly Selection across the Kingdom. And I have been honored to be picked among the many Knights to oversee the Academy of Krol,” he turned to the students standing in rows beside him. “As like the past Selections that were held in this Academy, the Selection today will be held in a tournament-styled format but unlike the Selections before, as the Knight overseeing today, I have deemed that losing will not necessarily mean you have lost the chance of joining the Order. Conversely, winning will not correlate to your suitability in becoming a trainee of the Order,” he ended, and in turn, some of the students twitched in response.
Their faces betrayed their doubts, as if they were confused and were not content. It was not a surprise, considering the students were precisely trained to fight. After all, their entire lives spent in the Academy was determined on how much battles they had fought and victories they had won. It went beyond their expectations of what the Selection would be.
“Do not misunderstand. This is not a contest, but a demonstration of your skills,” the Justicar noting that the students were not exactly willing, spoke to quell their doubts.
Not soon afterwards, a student whom looked the most imposing among them, voiced his dissent, “Lord Justicar, forgive my impoliteness, but may I have the right to ask?”
The Justicar, unperturbed but somehow amused had waved it off and said, “I don’t mind,” and motioned the burly student to continue.
“If Lord Justicar says so, then I absolutely have no right to complain... But won’t this mean that our efforts in training ourselves with the intent to win would be disregarded as a criteria?” the student, contrary to his imposing build, asked affluently.
“How you interpret my words will be up to you,” the Justicar replied with a relaxed smile. “I can only say that strength can be shown in many ways –not just through the application of force and your body’s strength. The Selection seeks not worthy warriors, but warriors possessing the bearing of a Knight. Martial aptitude, while respected in great heights in the Order, is not the quality the Order desires the most.”
The burly student stood dazed. He took a single step forward and opened his mouth, but no words had come out. He stood like that for a second at most, and embarrassed to continue any further he slightly bowed as a gesture of respect, and went back in line with the other students. In truth, he wanted to ask on what quality the Order did desire, but he would not dare to waste the Justicar or anyone’s time on an important day but he thought to himself that if he was selected as a worthy candidate, he would shed all pretense and ask by then.
The Justicar nodded as if he knew what the youth was thinking, and proceeded to speak once more, “Each student will fight at least once. The matches will only last for fifteen minutes at most. Weapons are to be allowed, but to kill is strictly prohibited. Remember that this is an examination to determine if you are worthy to be a Knight –not a warrior of the highest caliber. Fight by whatever means necessary, but never dishonor nor disrespect your enemy!” What came as a response was a chorus of affirmative shouts. “In five minutes, the Selection will begin! Make your preparations, and may the First King guide you.” The Justicar saluted the candidates and strode off to his squad and the instructors. When he got there, he was amicably received by everyone other than Morr whom was gazing far.
It made the Justicar puzzled, especially if he thought back on how Morr would always be the first one to greet him and even more so if the man in question was the most unyielding when it came to expressing respect. Strange, the Justicar thought. Someone must have caught his attention. But no matter, I’d find out by the day. He smiled as he was greeted by the others, and waited until the start of the Selection.