(EVE SOLARIS POV)

“Eve, we're almost there. I suggest you gather your stuff and prepare to meet with the registrators. They will need you to state your name and age as well as providing some form of identification.”

“Identification?”

“Yes, here, take this.” Kalan said, handing me some sort of metal insignia.

It was made of some sort of high quality silver with a golden hummingbird etched into it, obviously representing the Church.

“What is this?” I asked, trying to sift through the numerous ideas running through my mind.

“It is the emblem of a Paladin. Only the Seven Paladins are allowed to carry these. They grant passage and act as an identification for individuals directly associated with them. This will act as your identification until we can register you officially.”

“Hmmm, it must be nice being a Paladin and all. Although you’ve never really spoken about yourself or your job other than being a part of the Church.”

“In due time, Eve. If you pass these selections, I’m sure you’ll be taught everything you need to know about the Church and about myself.”

The carriage came to a steady halt in front of a large stone archway, barely visible through the windows outlooking where I sat. We had only traveled about ten minutes from the headquarters to where we were now.

The door swung open, giving me a better view at what awaited me.

The stone archway was there, however it was much more elaborate and pristine then I could’ve ever thought possible. The individual pillars that flanked both sides of the arch had been carved to a perfect symmetry and were covered in deep emerald-green gems.

The arch itself had intricate engravings that depicted some sort of holy battle between what I’d assume to be good and evil.

On top of both of the pillars were a statue of a hummingbird in marble.

I’m not too sure how long I was sitting there staring in awe, but after some time, Ryla began to beckon for me to step outside and head towards what I’d assumed to be the registration building just beyond the archway.

I stood up and ducked under the doorway of the carriage and carefully stepped outside.

I could now clearly see just how immense the place actually was.

After I exited the carriage, Kalan and Ryla began coming out as well. We walked towards the building that awaited us.

Upon reaching the door, a set of guards holding large, silver spears, tapped the bottom of their spears against the floor in unison, signaling for the door to be opened.

The large doors swung open in a steady pace revealing the enormous hall inside.

As Kalan, Ryla, and I stepped through the doorway, I was met with a sight that almost took my breath away.

A long hallway with an emerald green carpet draped down the middle, atop a gold colored floor with beautiful quartz columns down the side, that had black flags with a red hummingbird on them.

I felt like a child as I followed Kalan, and Ryla down the hallways. Trying to take in all the beauty in front of me.

“Quite beautiful isn’t it, Eve?” I heard Ryla ask, with an amused smile as she looked at my face.

“This is amazing, I never would have imagined I’d see something like this in person.”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, Eve. But you need to remember why we are here. There will be time to take this in after you’ve passed.” Kalan said as he kept looking forward.

Kalan saying this snapped me out of my daydream, realizing we were almost at the registration desk.

“Sir. Kalan, how good to see you again. How may I help you?”

“Ms. Diane, as always a pleasure to see you. I’m here to help someone register.” Kalan said, as he stepped to the side and pointed his hand out to show who he was talking about.

“Oh, now this is truly a rare sight. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you do this before. Is she your daught—?”

“No, she isn’t.” Kalan said quickly, showing a slightly pained expression that confused me a little.

“Oh, I apologize for the assumption, then. May I ask your name?”

“Eve Solaris” I answered plainly.

“What a beautiful name. If I may, how old are you, Ms. Solaris?”

“I am eighteen years old.”

“Perfect! And one last thing, do you have your identification?”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“I don’t have an official identification, but I do have this.” I said as I handed her the silver insignia.

“The Emblem of the Paladin, this is definitely more than enough.” She said with a bright smile as she handed me back the insignia.

“This is your badge for this year's selections. You’ll be a part of group D. It’s not quite time for the selections to start, if you go down the hall to your left, you’ll find a room for all group D participants. Within that room there’s plenty of drinks and snacks, as well as a training room connected to it. I look forward to seeing you compete, Ms. Solaris”

“Thank you very much, I look forward to competing.” I said as I took the golden hummingbird pin from her and placed it on my shirt.

Upon completing my registration, Kalan and Ryla guided me down the hallway to my room.

“This is your room, Eve. Ryla and I have things we must tend to, so for now we must separate. Please don’t cause too much trouble and remember your part of the deal.” Kalan said with a small smirk on his face.

“I promise I won’t let you down, Kalan.”

“Good, then we will see you later, Eve.”

I stood outside the room for a moment watching Kalan and Ryla walk down the halls until they disappeared from my sight. I took a deep breath and slowly entered the room.

As I entered the room, I was greeted with a rather plain area compared to the hallways.

Oak wood tables were lined up all over, with an assortment of food and drinks placed on them. Benches and chairs lined the rooms, with people all over, numbering somewhere in the fifty to sixty range.

Seeing the amount of people started to cause a sense of anxiety to spike within me. I hadn’t interacted with many outside of Kalan and Ryla since what happened and I definitely wasn’t ready to start now. I tried my best to hurry to an empty corner in the room, keeping my head down to avoid eye contact.

From what I could tell, however, it looks like I wasn't the only one.

The room seemed to be separated between individuals and their cliques and others who seemingly had no one else to talk to.

Much like me, many others seemed to have found a spot and secluded themselves.

It didn’t take me all that long to get bored and tired of sitting where I was. After a while, I got up and walked to a set of wooden doors that led outside.

I was greeted with a practical training ground with targets a set distance away behind a marker, along with some training dummies and a sparring area to practice against others.

I made my way towards the archery ground and stood behind the farthest marker in the set before swinging my bow from my back. I grabbed an arrow from a quiver stand beside every marker and nocked it on my bow.

I took a deep breath before instantly releasing a normal shot at the target.

Not to my surprise, it was a bullseye.

‘Alrighty then. Let’s test out how sturdy this target is.’ I thought to myself, slowly nocking another arrow.

I began channeling some mana from within towards my hand that held the arrow in place, watching as my mana began swirling around the arrow itself, culminating compressed air around it. The power with which I held back the arrow was beckoning to be released. I eagerly acknowledged its wish.

The arrow cut through the air without a single sound, almost as if it was repelling it, ensuring that nothing could thwart its trajectory.

The arrow struck the previously shot arrow and split it down the middle, much like most other times I’d done this. To my surprise, however, the target was still standing, seemingly unharmed other than where my arrows had struck.

Not long after, I watched as both my arrows began to disintegrate into thin air and as the target removed any trace of it being struck.

‘Huh?’ I thought as I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn’t going blind.

“W-What just happened?”

“It’s enchanted with runes,” A voice called out from behind me.

I immediately nocked an arrow and swung around, aiming directly at the individual who had somehow snuck up on me.

“Woah woah, easy there. I didn’t mean to startle you or anything.”

I looked at the girl, still not fully convinced and somewhat wary of the fact that I didn’t sense her approach.

“Look here, see, just like you,” she said, pointing at her badge.

I stowed my bow and put the arrow back in its place.

“I apologize… I’ve been a bit on edge ever since getting here.”

“No kidding. Anyone could tell just by looking at you that you weren’t used to these types of things. But don’t worry, you’re not the only one, trust me.”

‘I guess I wasn’t hiding it well, huh?’ I thought to myself.

“So, what’s your name?”

I looked at her with scrutinizing eyes, trying to decipher any hidden reasons or motives behind her actions. I couldn’t find anything, however.

“Fine fine, I’ll go first. My name is Mayla, nice to meet you…?”

I did a mental sigh, calming my growing nerves before answering.

“Eve. My name’s Eve.”

“Nice to meet you, Eve! So, what brings you to the selections?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, slightly raising an eyebrow in confusion.

“Well, aside from the obvious, everyone has a reason to be here. Whether poverty, chance, change, revenge; everyone has a goal that they want to achieve by joining the Church.”

I didn’t really know how to answer her. Answering with ‘All my family was killed’ wasn’t exactly on the table.

“To find the truth.” I said plainly and with a hint of determination.

“The truth, huh? Sounds interesting.” She said, seemingly mulling it over in her head.

“And you? What’s your goal?”

“To be different!” She said almost instantly.

Her eyes shone with an odd sense of childishness, seemingly gleaming with her aspirations. It was almost surreal.

“Is being a part of the Church all that different? I mean, you see all the people here trying out; wouldn’t different be some sort of specific trade?”

“Hey, like I said, we all have our reasons.”

“Oh c’mon, you gotta gi-”

“Hey! Who do you think you’re looking at with those goofy-ass eyes, huh?!? Don’t you know who I am?”

My gaze shifted from Mayla to a young man, no older than his teens, yelling at a younger, more scrawny kid. He seemed to be a bit anxious and seemingly out-of-place, much like myself.

“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to offend you, I swear!”

“Bullshit! Get in the arena! I’ll teach you what happens to punks who don’t know their place.”

“Ughhh, so annoying.” I heard Mayla say a bit under her breath next to me.

“C’mon, just ignore them. Let’s go somewhere else.”

Mayla began walking towards the other training area with sparring dummies, seemingly uninterested in what was going on.

“Hey, tough guy! Are your muscles all you got going for you?” I said, slowly walking towards him.

“The kid obviously didn’t mean anything by it and he already apologized twice. Why don’t you stop bullying him and just let him go?”

“Why don’t you keep your head from being where it shouldn’t be? This isn’t a place for little girls. Why don’t you run on home?”

“Me? Go on home? You’re the one that looks like a spoiled, rich boy who was breastfed until he was ten. I’d be sorry to see you hurt your pretty face here. Go on, I’m sure mommy will understand.”

“Alright, I’ve had enough of you. Why don’t you get in there instead of him?!”

“Gladly.” I said, walking into the sparring area.

Despite his brusque mannerism, he seemed to actually know what he was doing, for the most part anyways.

He took a pretty common stance of one leg forward and the other back, seemingly twisting his body sideways. His hands were up and his eyes were locked onto me, seemingly staring into every bit of myself.

By the time we were ready, there was already a decent crowd forming around us.

“I’ll go easy on you. Wouldn’t want to hurt a little girl too much.”

I rolled my eyes and beckoned him to take the first step.

He obliged by starting with a swift thrust forward, followed by an overhead kick to my skull.

I swiftly ducked under and swept his leg under him, watching as he fell backwards on his ass.

“Man, that was easy.” I said more to myself than to him.

“Bitch, what did you say?”

He immediately stood up and began channeling mana from his heart towards his hands. I could visually see as his body began to get coated with a light, golden shine.

I immediately began channeling mana into my legs, calling upon my wind affinity to swiftly close the distance between us and then carried that moment with an overhead kick of my own. This one, however, connected, unlike his, knocking him down to the side.

He was out cold.

Silence resounded, no movements to be seen or words to be spoken. Everyone had been at a loss for words as to his sudden and hasty defeat.

I began towards the crowd.

The crowd cleared the way for me, avoiding me even, as I made my way towards Mayla without a word.