Half the land scorched beyond recognition in vermillion, eternal flame, the other frozen in an eternal battle. The sky was ruled by black lightning as it raged across it. Nighttime had seemed everlasting. The last 3 generals of the Human forces were fighting their last battle. One general named Daniel Morningstar, Dan for short, controlled his black lightning to ravage his ever increasing foes. No matter if he slaughtered hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands…… they kept on coming. After days of battle, Dan had fired his last bolt of lightning slaughtering hundreds of Esuriens. He had run out of mana, out of stamina, and most importantly out of hope. Out of the 5 generals and one supreme commander of the Human forces, 2 generals were dead, 3 exhausted and at their last breaths, and the supreme commander vanished after a grand battle where millions on both sides were mere collateral damage. As the savage Esurien forces attacked him, the manaless Dan closed his eyes and began thinking of the good old days. Before this long 50 year war. Before the brink of human extinction was around the corner. Back in the academy where he was the most happy in all 68 years of his life. As his happiest memories flooded his thoughts, everything went black.

When he opened his eyes Dan was shocked. He didn’t know where he was. Is this the world of the dead, he thought. Suddenly a voice called out to him, “Daniel Morningstar, we have arrived at the academy”. Suddenly it all came back to him. This is the carriage he took to get to the academy 50 years prior. He had signed a deal with the military that if they pay his tuition and give him a letter of recommendation to get into the academy he would serve them for the next 20 years. A common deal for the military to keep a constant batch of genius talent flowing in. Among commoners, I truly was a genius. The talent scribing orb showed him as 7.5 out of 10. The average was 5. So he was considered a genius among the commoners. But when you consider the Nobles, who had the best genes and resources, he was going to be merely average in the academy. 

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The soldier who called out before called out again. Dan realized this was no place to think. He walked out of the carriage and greeted the soldier. The soldier told him its up to Dan from here on. He gave him a military badge that looked like a bronze star to put on. Dan walked towards the gate of the Azure Academy, the most ancient and prestigious academy in the world. “Halt” a guard said. Dan presented his letter of recommendation. In a jeering voice the guard said, “Another military brat. Like we don’t have enough parasites in the academy”. Afterwards the guard motioned to the gate controllers to  open the gates and let him in. Dan was annoyed at the guard but after the view of the academy interior befall him, Dan was full of nostalgia and hope. He was truly back in the past. He had already tried searching his mana heart for his Grand Path Symbol but it was not there. No spell, even illusion based ones, can remove that engraving, at least as far as he knew with his 50 years of experience. Memories appeared and he remembered the guard’s words, the gate opening, and next should be….. “Hi there! You’re new here right? I’m Mary. I guide the Military Freshman!”. Ah Mary, truly one of the more memorable people in the academy. Her red hair, her flat chested, loli physique, her childish enthusiasm. It brought back many great memories. “Hi Mary, I’m Dan. Could you show me around?”. Mary excitedly preceded to give him a grand tour. Just the way Dan remembered, she hyperbolized everything and made exaggerated gestures when explaining historical events or the purpose of certain parts of the academy. I knew everything of course, but I still listened. She was one of my few friends in my last life. Sadly, she died in the early parts of the war. “And now we arrive on our final stop!”