Arron slept through an entire day throughout the journey, the road was bumpy but he quickly got used to it and slept thoroughly.

Arron had a dreamless sleep as he was only woken up when it was time to set up camp for the night. The next day they would arrive at Peia where he would depart to prism.

He sat alone on a rock as he didn't really have much to do until he saw a perfectly shaped stick nearby, he jumped for it and swung it in the air. "Oh yeah... This is perfect, I can use this..." He smiled as he started swinging the stick around like a sword, trying out combos of swings thrusts and slashes and eliminating ones that aren't effective.

After hours of rigorous training that he very much enjoyed he panted heavily before he positioned the stick in front of him readying himself with a confident smile. Sweat dripped down his chin his dark blue hair dripping wet. He took in large breaths and let them out before.

He let out a small breath, and unleashed it... The ability that he was sure would win him full entry into Prism. His wooden stick had a white sheen to it for only a single moment before he swung down and dust flew into the air.

After the dust settled down he looked down at the rock that he was previously sitting on and his smile widened, "Awesome..."

The rock was perfectly split down the middle cracks running through it, and not only that but the ground under was scarred as well as if slashed with a blade, except he only used a wooden stick he found on the ground...

"Kid, that was pretty impressive." A voice startled Arron out of his amazement at his own display. His head snapped back to see one of the merchants the one he was talking to.

"What are ya', an adventurer or what?" He said his hand flying to his chin scratching it before he shook his head, "Nah, ye're too young to be an adventurer... A trainee? Or what?" He asked narrowing his eyes in scrutiny at Arron.

"Oh... Uhhh, I was heading to Prism actually... That's why I'm tagging along with you, I want to take the entrance exam..." Arron said simply.

"Oh~~ so ye're one of those~" the merchant smiled recognizing what type Arron was, "Ambitious ain't ya?" He let out a hearty laugh.

"I suppose I am, but I believe I have a pretty good chance at getting in!" He exclaimed happily as he clenched his fist in excitement, the next day they would arrive at Peia and first thing he would do is head to the academy!

"That you should, that you should..." The merchant let out a hearty laugh impressed by Arron's confidence. "Anyways, don't dilly dally too much. Be up early in the morning and don't waste time. The convoy ain't gone wait for anyone." He said sternly before he turned around and departed to his own things.

Arron paused for a moment, the merchant was right. The merchant group that he tagged along with was pretty big, he had underestimated the size of the convoy. There were about 500 carriages from what he could see and that was just what he could see! This was probably the work of the merchant guild... But that caused a question to stem up in his head.

"Doesn't a group like this necessitate good protection?"

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The next day, Arron woke to find it still dark outside. "Huh, it's pretty early right now..." He spoke as he got up and did his morning stretches. He let out a contented sigh before he skipped right out of the carriage to see the merchants were already getting their horses ready and packing up the tents.

The guards or mercenaries that they hired stood to the side chatting with each other not bothering to pack anything. He noticed that they were a group of knights with full body armour that covered everything including the head and face. The only two without said armour were two individuals. One skinny guy with sharp features and a spiky nose. He held a bow with him signifying that he was either their scout, or their sharpshooter, and those didn't need much armour as they never engaged in close quarters combat.

The other was a woman, she wore chainmail armour and held a sheathed saber in her hand, she had some curly brown hair and dark brown eyes. She had slightly tanned skin. She carried herself with a stern air, her eyes flicked around the area as if searching for any signs of danger ready to intercept at any moment.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

One thing Arron noticed about the guards around the convoy was that they all had a small badge out for everyone to see. There was a pattern, the most common colour around the badges was the platinum colour follow by the gold colour.

According to Arron's common knowledge the badges distinguished mercenaries from each other as each one meant a rank in the system of the mercenary establishment. Starting from copper, which meant F to D rank. Once a mercenary makes it to D rank they become a silver mercenary and that will continue to be the case until C rank, which would then allow them to advance to gold. This will continue until said mercenary advances to B rank which would then open the door for them to become a platinum adventurer.

This however, is different. Platinum mercenaries have different badges, each badge has three empty star slots in it. Zero slots filled means the mercenary is still in B rank. One slot filled means the mercenary is close to the A rank range and two slots filled means they are in the brink of achieving said height. All slots filled means they are an A rank mercenary. Among the mercenaries Arron could see a few which had full star slots...

However...The badge that the woman had ported was different... She had it around her neck displayed fully like a necklace, and it might as well be one as it had the sheen to it. It was a ruby red coloured badge which distinguished her from common mercenaries.

Arron couldn't help but gape at the sight, he's never heard of mercenary badges like that before but that could only mean that she was in between S rank and even higher...

Arron gave them an admiring look before he turned and went off to fill his water canteen up in the nearby lake.

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Arron held the leather canteen in the water, watching the surface bubble. After a few seconds the bubbling ceased and he raised the canteen out of the body of water.

He waited for a few moments water dripped from the canteen until it partially stopped, then he put the canteen back in his belt hoister that Erica had sewn for him. She took time out of her week to craft it for him, so he was going to use it well.

He smiled as he remembered his little sister's frowning face and imagined it replaced with a smile. He couldn't help but let out a few giggles as he walked back to the merchant group.

"Haha~ I should get back to the group..."

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Not long after, Arron and the group resumed their road trip, they would not be stopping until they reach Peia.

Arron had no problem with that. The exam was 4 days away, and when they arrive Arron only has to hold out for a night so he can get accommodation since Prism academy offered that to potential students three days before the exam.

Of course not anyone can get accommodation as first you need to be checked for active mana to even be able to participate and receive these privilege. Arron knew all this because he did his research, he paid for the news paper which cost him quite a bit actually.

"Soooo..." A femenine voice broke him out of his thoughts, "You also going to Prism?" The voice asked in curiosity before Arron turned to the source.

His eyes met caramel coloured eyes before his vision expanded to see her full face. Tanned skin, brown curly hair, round little face with chubby cheeks. She had a short and petite stature as she sat huddled in the corner of the carriage. Arron couldn't help but notice her clothes, she wore leather armour with a small leather bag slunk around her shoulder. Her boots were meant for rough terrain, like she's a traveller, however... She looked only 17 years old, 2 years younger than him.

Arron immediately noticed the numerable bandages and patches on her skin, they were precisely focused on her face more as there were several patches on her nose, cheek and forehead.

"Uhhh.... Yeah? What about you?" He asked tilting his head to the side, he was curious about his new carriage companion as he had not seen her before. Maybe she's been on another carriage and she's accidentally wandered into the one he stays at? It's a big group, so it was a mistake that can be made.

"I am as well!" She jumped up enthusiastically, before the carriage bumped and she stumbled flat on her face, she recoiled back in pain, clutching at her now red nose and into a box, slamming her back against the corner causing her to yelp in pain. She stumbled forward falling back onto her face again.

She groaned in pain, her voice muffled by the wooden floor of the carriage as she slowly pushed herself back up against the wall. "S-sorry... I'm a little clumsy..." She spoke, her eyes watering from having recently hit her nose.

"Yeah... I can see..." Arron spoke, having now realized where all those bandages and patches came from. "Are you okay though?" He asked in slight concern as the fall did not look that light.

"Yeah, I'm used to it. Don't worry." She spoke holding up a hand, her other hand dove into the leather bag slunk around her shoulder to pull out some patches and some paper towels, she removed the old ones which were now ruined before she stuffed her nose with the paper towels to suck up the blood leaking out of her nose.

She stuck the patches onto her nose once more fixing them tightly. It looked like she was prepared, maybe this happened more often than not... "Anyways, my name's Rynia!" She exclaimed enthusiastically. Arron was taken aback by her sudden burst of energy after having stumbled and hurt herself just a moment ago.

"I also am a hopefully student of Prism aspiring for greatness! I'm tagging along with my mom right now because she's got business in Peia! So I'll take this chance to join Prism!" She beamed her smile shining, her two front teeth looking like those of a squirrel.

"Nice to meet you, Rynia. My name's Arron. I'm also going to Prism." He flashed her a warm smile as she shook his hand repeatedly. Arron was a little weirded out by her behaviour but he would try his best to not show it... It looks like it'll be a long ride to Peia...