Jolted by Principal Azahl clapping his hands, I started shaking from excitement, grinning foolishly. I started laughing, only to feel a piercing pain. Clutching my head and clenching my teeth, I steadied my breathing and the pain slowly subsided.
Kyra looked at me with a worried expression, while Elder Agrus sighed softly.
Principal Azahl looked at me with a sorrowful expression; his next words marked an everlasting scar, “Your dream changed into a nightmare and damaged your soul. Normally, It is something impossible to happen, damaging the soul due to a nightmare, that is. In fact, It can be said that your soul is corrupted, rather than damaged.”
Looking at Kyra, he continued with a solemn expression, “Even a Soul Restoration Flower will not do, this corruption cannot be removed. Whenever you laugh, a piercing pain will follow up. That is not absolute, but most of the time, you will feel pain, and forcing a laugh will result only in greater pain.
“ It was simply a last-ditch effort by that creature, you were lucky surviving this ordeal. It can be said that you got off lightly,” finished, Principal Azahl sighed and slowly closed his eyes, seemingly deciding not to get involved in the matters to come, leaving one issue unknown to others. Elder Agrus mirrored his movements, isolating himself from the surroundings.
My body shook, and heart fell, I felt my brain freeze, I remembered the whispers from the hand and felt that something was amiss, it was telling me something, wanting me to do something. If it only wished to end me, I doubt I’d manage to survive to this point, especially considering the words Principal Azahl said.
I felt something drop on my hand, sliding down. With a deadpan expression, I raised my hand and found a tear. It did not belong to me, for I did not shed a tear.
Raising my head, I found Kyra staring at me, her right-hand nails digging into the flesh, drawing blood. I held her hand, stopping her, and looked deep into her eyes, smiling warmly at her, I said, “It is not your fault, I was the one who asked you, and you were hurt because of me. I should be the one feeling guilty, not you.”
Kyra closed her eyes for a moment, opened them and stared at me, softly sighing. It wasn’t the first time she saw lasting injuries, but she lamented the fact that I was too young for such an injury, and that she was partially responsible for it. I did not know about her thoughts, only coming to an understanding in the future.
“We should get Cassandra to the test area, it will bring no good not following the rules established by the Exalted Ice Sorcerer.” She said to the principal, without turning her head.
Azahl nodded his head, saying, “I do agree, we should not delay this any further, else, the elders and instructors will make a fuss if she doesn't go.”
I threw the matter to the back of my head, knowing that it was of no use to think of further. I did not laugh much in my life, but suddenly seeing such a situation proves to be uncomfortable for the time being.
Elder Agrus voice echoed in my head, saying, “There are no absolutes in this world, and things might not seem as they look on the surface.”
I turned my head in the direction of Elder Agrus, noticing that he acted as if nothing happened. I did the same, remembering these words clearly for they might prove useful later on.
President Azahl and Elder Agrus took the lead, while Kyra and I followed right behind them. They passed through the curtain of light, the moment I tried to go through it, I felt like hitting a solid wall and bounced back, holding my nose and grimacing in pain.
The sound of metal hitting metal traveled to my ears, and a buzzing resounded from the curtain as it dissipated, turning into glowing motes of light floating upwards. I saw President Azahl holding his head in pain, grimacing, while his brother looked at him with a side eye.
Kyra was standing beside them with a palm on her face, shaking her head continuously. I realized that President Azahl did this as a ‘prank’, making me wonder what other things he’ll do in the future.
I felt unease thinking about that, but looking that none of them said anything about this matter, I shook my head and took the view in front of me.
Deicing to take a look around, the sight of a grand hall appeared in front of me, the floor, walls and ceilings were azure-colored, in stark contrast to the black-colored stones behind the curtains. I felt as if I was standing in the sky, energy spread throughout my body, calming my emotions.
Numerous differently-colored light curtains could be found everywhere. Threads of light rising from them, connected to a multi-colored ball, floating and slowly rotating in the middle of the hall.
I noticed carvings on the ceiling, white in color, appearing like floating clouds, there were images of commoners recovering from illness; soldiers healing their wounds; adventurers recovering lost limbs; and heroes being resurrected from near death, threads connecting them to a gigantic ball, covering the sky. Looking carefully, one would realize that the two balls shared some similarities, but were vastly different.
“There is a legend of a Divine Artifact called [Orb of Life], It is said to be able to cure all diseases, heal all injuries, restore lost limbs, bring someone back from near death and resurrect dead people. Glattias` Kingdom founder, Exalted Ice Sorcerer, found ancient records describing it, which enabled him to create this imitation. It might not be as wondrous as the original, but it is surely a one-of-a-kind creation.” President Azahl said with a mysterious tone, noticing my dazed expression.
Gulping, I looked at the Principle, then the imitation and the carving. My heart started to beat faster, I thought to myself, ‘If I have the [Orb of Life], won’t I be able an immortal? Never dying.’
Reaching this point in my train of thought, I shook my head and smiled wryly, if it was that easy finding such a Divine Artifact, it would’ve been taken long ago.
Walking through the hall, we eventually reached a film of black energy, noticing that we were walking straight through it, I raised my vigilance and suddenly stopped in front of it, letting my hand pass through it before heaving a sigh of relief and continuing.
Passing through, bright light assaulted my eyes, squinting and slowly adjusting my vision, a majestic scene entered my eyes.
Exotic plants as far as the eye could see, some trees were violet giving birth to blue fruits and others azure color spewing a white-colored mist; multi-colored glasses swaying with the wind, spewing out the same mist; buildings towering hundreds of meter high with bright colored jewels floating around them; students walking through the pathways, some were hurrying to catch their lessons while others were picking up medicinal herbs.
The moment we walked out, numerous gazes were directed at us, students bowing in greetings to the Principle and Elder, looking at Kyra with gazes filled with adoration and reverence, and me with curiosity.
We walked to a circular platform protruding from the ground, standing on it, one could see numerous runic symbols arranged in a circular pattern, giving off a mysterious feeling. Suddenly, lit up, and the world distorted. I panicked and flailed, only to fall on my butt, struggling to regain my sense of orientation., looking around, a different scenery entered my eyes.
I was in front of a square plaza, with people lining up to several stone platforms inscribed with runes. I thought to myself, ‘It seems that runes are foundational for everything, better to learn how to use them.’ I couldn't see Azahl, Agrus nor Kyra nearby, thus I decided to search for them.
A man around nineteen years old, wearing a violet robe with two concentric circles, stopped right in front of me. He said, “My name is Joxar, pleased to meet you, Miss Cassandra.”
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I glanced and realized that I do not recognize him, ignoring him, my eyes darted around, searching for Kyra.
“Miss Cassandra, I was assigned to guide you through the admission process by the president. Please do not make it difficult for me.” He said, following me while smiling wryly.
Upon hearing that President Azahl sent him, I realized that they won’t accompany me throughout the day. It was to be expected, the president and elder cannot escort a no-name student while Kyra was the President of the Adventurer Guild, she must have went to continue with her work. Realizing that I will probably not be seeing Kyra for a long time, I felt disappointed.
I took in a deep breath, shaking off these thoughts, looking at the mage Joxar, I lowered my head a little before speaking, “I apologize for my behavior, I did not know you that the president sent you.”
“It is fine, the president told me to take care of you” Joxar nodded, smiling, he waved his hand and said, “Follow me, let us get you tested.”
Following behind Joxar, I noticed that almost every single person standing in the lines had someone accompanying them from the academy, it seemed as some kind of security measure. There was a crowd outside of the plaza, lining up, waiting to test their luck and be admitted to the academy.
Joxar pointed at a platform ahead and told me, “We will be going there, you will be tested to determine your elements and see your Soul Artifact, mainly to follow the procedures as you are already admitted by the president.”
I glanced at him and nodded, following him towards the platform, Joxar kept chattering about random things and bombarding me with questions, giving me a headache, he also asked me about my relationship with the president, but seeing that he was not told much, I refrained from answering these questions and only smiled back at him.
Deciding I should change the topic, I asked, “Can you tell me more about how the test proceeds?”
Joxar eyes lit up, as if a beast awakened, he said, “There is a stone dais on top of the platform, you sit on it and energy will be enter your body which will flow naturally, determining your elemental affinity and a corresponding natural phenomena will occur, revealing it to everyone,
“Afterwards, It’ll pull you into your dream, where you’ll manage to have the first contact with your Soul Artifact, that is, if you have one. If you do not have one, the test will end, with the dais stopping imbuing energy into you,
“If you do not have any elemental affinity, you’ll directly be pulled into the dream, If you also do not have a Soul Artifact, you’ll directly be sent flying away from the dais.”
I pondered and asked, “What if someone got a Soul Artifact but no Elemental Affinity, or got Elemental Affinity but no Soul Artifact?” Ignoring the fact that people get thrown out.
Joxar eyes lit up, saying, “If you got two or more elements and no Soul Artifact; you’ll be endowed with a [Hollow Artifact] and a [Growth Mana Artifact], If you no elements but a Soul Artifact; you’ll be endowed with a [Hollow Artifact] and a [Body Strengthening Gem], perfecting your Soul Artifact. If you got one elemental affinity and no Soul Artifact, you'd still be enrolled, but, will not be able to attend classes on Soul Artifacts, being only bestowed [Growth Mana Artifact],
“In fact, having more elements are not advantageous, but the academy got this policy to minimize spendings. Else, they won’t be able to afford to train the rest of the students,
“There is only one exception, If one has a rare elemental affinity, they can endow the student with a [Hollow Artifact] to compliment his or her talents, but it is a rare case overall,
“Only the Nobles have the privilege to enroll with a single element and attending soul artifact lessons, they receive their [Hollow Artifact] since birth, giving them an advantage to us, commoners.
“Of course, you can complete jobs at the academy or for the Adventurer Guild, buying your own [Hollow Artifact], but the wasted time makes it harder to catch up.”
“You sure talk alot,” I couldn’t help but blurt out.
“You asked, I replied,” Joxar said, shrugging his arms, seemingly not caring.
I smiled but did not say anything. A few minutes later, we arrived and stood in a line, there were around dozens of people ahead of us, so I decided to observe the ongoing tests.
A young man around seventeen years old was sitting cross-legged on an ice-white stone dais, a bright red-colored glow was slowly forming around him, condensing into flames, a lantern slowly forming above his head, looking plain and simple, lt suddenly light up, a flame dancing with the wind.
“He got a good alchemical fire and will surely grow to be a good alchemist. It is best to befriend him before he grows crazy like the others. Once they go nuts, you will never be able to have a peaceful conversation with them,” Joxar said, nodding his head in approval.
“It depends, I just befriend whoever I feel comfortable with,” I replied, disinterested.
The time passed, some people failed and were sent flying, only to be caught by an instructor, and leaving with a dejected expression, looking with envy at those who passed, and those who passed partially, looked with envy at those who passed flawlessly, and those who passed flawlessly, a few were humble, while others were competing on who can crane his neck higher. Juan Peyton, the owner of the alchemical flame, was one of those cranes.
I felt the sight to be ridiculous, even Kyra acted humble for someone in her position, making me wonder if they have a rotten brain. I noticed that anger and disgust welling up within me, startled, I hurriedly calmed my emotions. This was the first time I got irritated for something unrelated to me.
Joxar noticed my change in expression, he smiled but did not say anything, giving me a feeling that there was more than what meets the eye to him.
It finally became my turn; I walked onto the steps, reaching the top of the platform. An instructor was sitting there, cross-legged with his eyes closed, a student wearing a blue-colored robe and four concentric circles coming to my direction.
He asked me several questions, my name, birthdate, height, if I was a commoner or a noble and other trivial questions, filling a form in his hand. My eyes narrowed instantaneously hearing him ask if I was a commoner or a noble, noticing that, he smiled awkwardly, explaining that it was the form and he had no power to change it. I buried the emerging emotion, startled by the changes in my temper.
Finished answering, I walked up the stone dais, the instructor eyes slowly opened, gazing at me. I felt the stone dais warming up under me, strands of energy coursed through my body, circulating in a unique pattern.
Dark Ice shard slowly formed in the air above my head; giving off a gloomy and eerie feeling, blood appeared out of thin air, circulating around the shard, forming a halo and radiating a bloody stench, spatial folds appeared; surrounding the blood halo. Seeing the spatial folds, the instructor nodded approvingly.
I felt the energy was drawing me into the depths of my mind, remembering Joxar words, I allowed it to guide me into my dream, slowly, my eyelids dropped, and I fell asleep.
***
I found myself sitting on a wooden chair, table was in front of me, sitting opposite to me was an old man on a rocking chair, holding a cup with blood-red liquid, stirring it quietly with circular motions with his hands.
The old man slowly lifted his heads, his whole body was wrinkled, but there was not the slightest blemish on his skin, his red eyes exuded ancient air, seemingly tired of the mundane world. I noticed that the house was simple, everything inside was made of ancient bamboo, astounding me because it was extremely expensive in Glattia Kingdom. Dust covered everything except the old man.
He slowly opened his mouth to speak, his old voice resounding, “External power will never help you survive, come back here when you leave the abyss with your own power,” then, he waved his hand, the air distorted around me, I felt the shadow of death and was expelled from the world.
***
My body shuddered as I opened my eyes, sweat drenched my body. I felt that my life was in the clutches of the old man, the moment he waved his hand, If he so desired, I would die without a corpse remaining.
A hand was placed on my shoulder, calming me. I slowly turned my head and found the instructor smiling encouragingly. He gestured for a student to finish with the procedures and then returned, sitting cross-legged as if nothing happened.
I received a blue-colored robe; no circles were visible on it, and a badge with a single circle glowing, engraved on it was, unimpressively, Glattia Kingdom symbol, Ice Spear penetrating a Shield. He gave me a book detailing the rules of the academy. I smiled wryly, noticing my expression, he quickly explained the most important rules.
Summing it up, fighting is forbidden outside the arena, and one must respect their Instructors, Elders, and President no matter what status they had before entering the academy, violators will be dealt depending on the severity of the situation.
He was polite and respectful. I thanked him and asked for his name, finding that he was worth being acquainted with. Claus Colby was his name, exchanging pleasantries, I turned and left the stone platform and the next person to be tested stepped forward.
I felt weird that nobody told me about my Soul Artifact, thus, the moment I saw Joxar, I asked him, “What is my Soul Artifact?”
He said, smiling, “It was not clear, but the only thing recognizable was there was a pair of claws covering your hands,” continuing with an encouraging tone, “It is not the first time this happened, the cause is probably your weak body foundation, and the academy training regime will resolve that. If you can withstand it, that is,” Finished, he smiled mysteriously.
I stiffened upon hearing the cause, thankfully, a chatterbox like Joxar throws everything at the same time, hearing that the academy training regime will resolve it set my heart at ease. I was sure that I’ll be able to withstand the pain, all for the sake of my dream.