Having finished changing, the crisp sound of our hardened rubber soles on granite echoed as we walked down the grandiose hallway.

Illuminated by candlelight, Lunia pointed to my scabbard.

“Why did you buy that? We’ll probably get weapons at the academy.”

“I didn’t, Thalric did,” I reflexively answered.

Silence descending between us once again, I hesitantly opened my mouth,

“Why are you going to Celestia? You asked me, but you never answered yourself.”

Judging by how she was escorted to Thalric, her family was well off; at least to the extent that the city guards were willing to do their bidding, and as such, why she chose to willingly abandon such a comfortable life was incomprehensible to me.

Planting her feet down on the ground, Lunia stopped walking, and turned to me.

With a bitter smile on her face, and wistful, longing eyes, Lunia held her hands behind her back.

“Frosthelm is a cold, lonely place,” she began, “I hated every single second I spent there, to the point that I was willing to do anything if it meant I could leave. And like you said, Celestia is the only path for which the destination is unknown.”

Nodding at her answer, I continued on.

As we exited the hallway, we came upon Thalric, hunched over and somehow sleeping while still standing up.

Hearing our footsteps, he jolted awake, before stretching,

“All dressed? Good,” Thalric yawned, motioning us to give him our belongings, “Let’s get this over with.”

Still wearing his plainly colored, tattered white robe, Thalric’s expression was one of severe boredom, bordering on disdain.

Following Thalric, we entered a lavishly decorated grand hall.

Blanketed in light by a dozen crystal chandeliers, 5 long, wooden tables ran down the middle of the room perpendicular to an elevated platform at the very front, behind which stained glass inlaid the wall, forming a large mosaic of the Old Goddess and owing to the fact the building we were in was over 200 feet tall, granted a view of the Salt River behind Thaloria.

Finding a seat at the very back, the three of us sat down next to each other at the table nearest to the outer wall, where a balcony overlooking the rest of the city jutted out.

Gradually, the hall began to fill up with people, most of them children around Lunia and I’s age, though some of them adults, most likely playing the same role Thalric had with us, as recruiters.

Feeling a slight chill, I rubbed and blew into my cupped hands, and absent-mindedly watched as Lunia was greeted by those entering.

At first only 1 person, a ratty, mousy haired girl, then gradually increasing in frequency until in all, a total of 30 children had addressed her, and Lunia them, by name.

Turning to Lunia, “Who were they?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“I met them on the airship; they’re going to Celestia too.”

“How come I don’t know them?”

“Because you barely left your room,” she straightforwardly answered, “I had to pretty much drag you out to explore the cities with me.”

“True,” I chuckled, remembering how for every waking moment I wasn’t eating or walking around with Lunia, I was refining my channels, even sometimes cutting into the time I was supposed to be sleeping.

Hearing the noise of a wooden door banging open onto stone, 1000 heads collectively shot up.

100 immaculately dressed servants walked out from the side of the elevated platform, carrying trays of herb roasted lamb, freshly baked bread, fatty beef short rib, roasted vegetables, and a litany of other foods.

Sniffing the air, Lunia, already holding a knife and fork, began to drool and bounce in her seat in excitement.

As the silver trays hit the table, Lunia pounced, immediately grabbing and cutting into a rack of lamb.

Following her example, I took a singular chop from her plate, and bit into it.

Crunchy on the outside from some unknown encrusted nut, the lamb had a sharp, tangy flavor, with an herbal undercurrent.

As Lunia and I continued to eat, Thalric turned to us,

“Save room,” he suddenly advised, “There’s going to be a surprise at the end.”

Hearing Thalric’s words, we slowed down in anticipation for the aforementioned surprise.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Suddenly, the light emitted by the chandeliers’ fire dimmed, and the previously loud and boisterous hall became silent, with no sound escaping from my throat even as I cursed in surprise.

Standing at the front of the hall in front of the glass mosaic, a woman with tan, sunkissed skin, and curly locks the color of hay appeared, warping into the hall.

Wearing metal plate armor the color of darkest night, with red engravings the color of dried blood running across the entirety of the surface, she stood ramrod straight.

With a steely gaze, she scanned the entirety of the hall, confirming that she had captured everyone’s attention, and opened her mouth,

“Presenting his royal majesty, King Aric III of House Thaloria, slayer of the Great Serpent, conqueror of the Central Archipelago, upholder of law, magus of the 7th order, and blessed of the Old Goddess.”

Wind blew from the front of the hall, causing the chandeliers to audibly shake, the clinking of crystal reverberating throughout, yet unexpectedly, the fire illuminating the room didn’t go out, rather, it only burned brighter.

At the very front of the room beside the female knight, a figure materialized, the blowing wind soon stopping as well.

Quickly processing the king’s sudden appearance, half of those in the hall jumped from their seats, and with the utmost respect, immediately bowed with one hand to their chest in his direction.

Attempting to gauge her reaction, I turned to Lunia, though she was just as confused as I was.

Hair colored aquamarine blue, and with an angular face, King Aric was incredibly handsome, but wearing only a black ring on his left ring finger, pitch black trousers, and a simple red cloak, he appeared less like royalty, and more like a normal commoner, the only indication that he was truly who he said he was the air about him, which although normal and calm at a cursory glance, it left those in his presence with the unsettling feeling that there was something fundamentally wrong with him.

With a smile on his face, King Aric raised his hand, signaling those standing to sit back down, before beginning to speak,

“It fills my heart with joy to see just how many of you are gathered here in this hall sharing a meal with me. Each and every one of you is the future of Thaloria, and are destined for greatness. But the path you intend to tread is a thorny one. You will be cut, stabbed, burned, frozen, electrocuted, and you will bleed and shed tears from the pain.”

He paused, scanning our faces.

“But that’s for the future. Now, I hope to leave you with at least one memory that you can look back fondly on in your later years.”

Clapping his hands, the wooden doors to the left of the platform opened once again, the servants carting out 10 dressed, and cooked corpses.

Pitch black, and with 4 arms the corpses were vaguely humanoid in nature yet definitely not at the same time.

“I present to you,” the King continued, “10 freshly slaughtered Shades, Level 15.”

As the servants began to cut into the Shades, plating and serving them, I turned to Thalric.

“What does level 15 mean in this context?” I asked, “I thought monsters didn’t create magic circles.”

“They don’t,” he offhandedly answered, turning to me, “That’s to indicate how dangerous they are.”

“That reminds me,” I continued, “What does the sword you bought me being sub-level 1 mean?”

“Artifacts, spells, and alchemical products are graded based on how difficult they are to create, or cast. So the sword I bought you would be something a beginner blacksmith, or alchemist could create.”

I looked down at his words, deep in thought.

“Don’t look so glum,” Thalric patted my shoulder, misinterpreting my silence to be disappointment, “Better to have an ordinary object that you can actually make use of rather than a treasure you can’t.”

Nodding at his words, I stared at the 10 Shade corpses.

Even in death, they emitted a threatening aura, to the point where goosebumps began to break out on my skin.

Regretting having chosen seats so far back, we were only able to get our portions when most of the others were already served.

A gelatinous, pitch black fleshy thing, the Shade’s flesh was cut into slices, in the same manner as a ham would be.

Skewering a bit with my fork, I attempted to chew the black jiggling thing, only to find that the meat had dissolved as soon as it hit my tongue, becoming a liquid that I immediately swallowed.

Strangely cool, minty, and slightly sweet, the Shade was refreshingly crispy, and served as an almost palate cleanser for the earlier fatty meats.

“This tastes … like shit,” Lunia whined, poking her slices.

“Eat it,” Thalric ordered, already finished with his portion, “It’ll naturally improve your physique.”

Pinching her nose in disgust, Lunia opened her mouth wide, and forced the Shade meat into her mouth. Immediately swallowing the liquid as it was produced, her face warped in disgust.

With the meal just about finished, the King spoke again,

“For each and every one of you, I pray to the Old Goddess for her blessing. May you bring glory and honor unto these lands.”

Finished, he left through the main entrance, the tan knight who introduced him following behind, and the rest of the hall’s attendees leaving soon after.

Standing up, Thalric finished the rest of the water in his glass,

“Let’s go, early to bed, early to rise, and tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

Lunia and I followed, though bellies now filled to capacity, and straining to even walk.

Leaving the official royal reception hall, we re entered the city streets,

“Lunia,” a voice suddenly called out.

As I turned back, a brown-haired girl, still with baby fat on her cheeks, and someone Lunia had previously greeted, ran up to us,

“Anne,” Lunia smiled.

“God, I’m full,” the girl exhaled, “Did you like the Shade thing? My recruiter forced me to eat all of it, even though it tasted horrible.”

“I know right?” Lunia vented, “and…”

Tuning them out, I stared down at the street, counting just how many Lightstones were embedded into the ground.

The stone Lunia bought me cost 13 silver, and it was not only much smaller, but it also shone less bright compared to those in Thaloria City.

Counting up to 20,

“By the way,” Anne began, “Why didn’t you bow to the King? I thought you said you were nobility?”

“Yeah,” Lunia answered, “But my dad never really had me learn that stuff.”

“Luckkkkky.”

Suddenly hearing her name being called, Anne waved goodbye to Lunia and bowed to Thalric, before running back to her recruiter.

My feet slowed, and I stood still, forgetting how many Lightstones I had counted.

Continuing to walk down the street, Lunia stopped, and turned back, tilting her head at me.

“Is your last name Elef?”

“Yeah,” Lunia nodded, “Lunia Elef.”