After many days on the road, Eamon finally reached Lumiur, the capital of the West. He had been in the city when he was young, but that was long ago.
A majestic scene is portrayed in front of him. The citadel's walls were divided into many levels, and he had to clench his neck upwards to see the top of many of the buildings. There were many differences between Stellawood and Lumiur. The obvious one is the size. Lumiur housed hundreds of thousands of people inside its walls. While in Stellawood lived about 15 thousand. The materials used in every building were higher than in the small town. Walking around, Eamon encountered streets for each type of artesan. Each profession had a designated city region, making finding them easy when needed. The merchant guild was responsible for controlling the zoning and regulating all businesses.
The Main Guild Hall occupied a central square in the city. Most requests of the region are posted here. Lumiur was a house for Adventurers with a higher level and status. They came here in pursuit of high-paying jobs and opportunities.
The Royal Knight’s Academy test would take place inside the guild hall. The Academy, located in the capital, was too far for many citizens. The tests happened in many cities around the kingdom to increase the number of applicants.
Eamon checked in at the reception of the guild hall as a participant in this year's exams. The process took about an hour to conclude, even with all four receptionists working nonstop.
After registering, one would have their name and number called to take part in the exam. Eamon’s turn was not long after the first part.
The test consisted of three parts. First was knowledge: a quiz about the kingdom, its regions, economy, geography, threats to the crown, etc.
The second part was the least relevant but existed nonetheless. The participant's status and skills were recorded. Examiners didn’t take the second part as seriously. Noble houses power leveled many of their youngsters before the exam. That created an inflated reality that didn’t match their abilities at all.
The third and last part was the physical test. The participants entered a situation to defend a cart. They would have to defend against waves of bandits and creatures. The primary function of a Royal Knight was to protect the crown. If it was tangible goods, the crown's reputation, or the king himself, it didn’t matter.
Protecting is much more challenging than attacking, especially when you have multiple assailants. Eamon had information about the exam beforehand and prepared for all three test steps.
The first one took only the time necessary to write all the answers. Years of preparation and studying the kingdom had paid off for Eamon. The second part only tells a little.
Name
Eamon Wycliffe
Age
16
Lvl
15
Race
Human
Titles
-
Status
Strength
32 (+3)
Intelligence
14
Dexterity
30 (+3)
Agility
31 (+3)
Vitality
17
Luck
26
The third and last part proved hard.
The best-performing student on all three stages became the first-year representative.
Eamon reached the fourth round. The first round was simple; only wolves attacked the cart he had defended. The second round was a bit trickier, with three bandits. The third, Eamon got scared because it started to involve beasts. A small band of goblins showed up to steal the cart. The last one was a magical beast. The cart, this time, was attacked by one goblin shaman and two of his friends. Eamon got obliterated by them. He had never seen or trained with magic. Coupled with the fact that the previous rounds drained his energy, he could do nothing at all.
At the end of the exam, the guild would heal all participant's wounds and send them on their way. The results would take another two weeks to come back.
Eamon engraved those two weeks in his memory. Knowing he couldn’t do anything to change the outcome, the wait consumed his sanity little by little. He had not slept a wink since the tests. In his mind, the day of reckoning arrived. At the guild hall, the pressure was palpable. Evading many people on the way, he arrived at the results board in the back of the hall. Everyone entered a frenzy when the guild member posted the results on the wall.
Cries of joy and sadness.
Eamon, ecstatic and transfixed, realized his name was there. He had not performed the greatest in the region, but that was never his goal. All he wanted was to enter, and he did.
I wish my parents and Bryn were here. All our dedication paid out! I can finally walk the steps to becoming the greatest royal knight in our kingdom. Thought Eamon.
It took Eamon a month and a half to arrive at the Royal Academy. When he did, he lacked words to describe it.
The Royal Knights Academy of the kingdom stood magnificent and imposing. A true testament to its grandeur. This prestigious school is a true architectural marvel.
The academy's facade had stone sculptures of seven legendary knights in heroic poses. In the middle of them was their King. It is a visual testament to the chivalry and valor it instills in its students. The building had eight towers soaring to the heavens. All in all, it embodies the aspirations of the cadets who pass through its gates.
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The building could accommodate a staggering ten thousand cadets and their teachers. Each is separated into their respective years. The design of the structure reflected the hierarchy of the academy. Each floor is for first-, second-, and third-year cadets. Third-year students had access to every facility, but the same wasn't valid for first-year students. They would have to prove themselves on the thorny path of becoming a Royal Knights.
In the heart of the academy lies a central courtyard, where part of the reception took place. It features a pristine marble fountain surrounded by lush gardens. This courtyard serves as a gathering place for students to get fresh air.
The academy's grand hall is a sight to behold. Walls and ceilings with intricate frescoes celebrate the deeds of past graduates. It is here that gatherings of the entire cadet body take place. Fostering a sense of unity and shared purpose among the students.
The Royal Knights Academy is a place of education and a sanctuary of tradition. Its architecture, scale and ambiance create an environment that inspires every cadet.
Eamon’s jaw couldn’t stay closed for long. Everywhere he looked, another marvel to behold. The place was better in every way than any book could have described.
The president of the student council guided the ceremony from beginning to end. The representative from each year spoke, welcoming all cadets. And then, Eamon saw him for the first time.
As the speeches ended, the headmaster went on stage and asked everyone in the grand hall to take a knee. The request was out of the ordinary, but everyone complied. That's when a mesmerizing light embraced everything and everyone. A man Eamon had seen when he was about to enter the academy for the first time, Alexander Astralhaven, their king, stood in the middle of the stage. One hand on his sword, another with his fist closed and above his heart. Looking up to that man, Eamon knew the difference in power that separated them was immeasurable. One might even doubt he needed guards or royal knights to defend him.
The king started by thanking the cadets for their dedication. Also, thank the headmaster and the teachers for their unwavering loyalty and effort in shaping the future generation. He left with as much style as he arrived, and the ceremony ended.
Eamon’s life at the Academy started with basic training. He and the other cadets unlocked the fundamental skills. If the cadet had already awakened the skill, he could use that time to train it better and better. The first six months' goal was to unlock and improve many skills to level 3.
The professors also taught about the leveling, status, skills, and titles system. The more you defeated and killed things, the more you would level up. The stronger the creature or person, the more experience you will gain. Eamon thought about a disturbing possibility. Could assassins level up from killing other people? The sad reality was, yes, they could.
The status was different. The Academy separated them into three categories: human, demi-human, and magical beast. Humans have ten status points at every level. Those points got automatically assigned according to the way you developed yourself. Demi-humans had a few exceptions, but most got 10 points per level. The exceptions were fauns and draconians. One would get a lower status per level than anyone, and the other would earn more status points. The last class was the magical beasts. Each magical beast race had its development, and there was no clear pattern to comprehend.
The range of magical beasts was like the titles, separated more in grades than anything else. But that would be a topic for another lesson.
Skills had three main characteristics: Type, Development, and Target. For type, the logic was simple; the skill was either passive or demanded activation. Development: the costs or benefits grew linearly or exponentially with each level. Target: was either yourself, single target, or area effect skills.
Within each category, there were many examples. People tried to find the most robust skill route to take. Mage knights focused on skills that demanded activation. Some knights focused on passive skills. They would buff themselves and fight with their hands, feet, and weapons. The path each individual took was a personal decision.
The most complicated category was titles. Eamon had not comprehended them in detail yet. The heavens presented you with them according to your actions. If you hunted too many of a particular animal, you might get a title that benefited you against them. But those were the simplest ones. There were many others about things unrelated to combat.
Eamon decided that, for now, his level of knowledge was enough for him to improve his strength. The path he chose was a mix of both. He didn’t have magic or any activation skills, so that he would train his passives for now.
In the second semester, the cadets learned about the enemies they would face. The first one was about the armies of the different kingdoms and continents. The known world was divided into three continents. Humans control Auroraan. Demi-humans control Astronia. Veridora was the land of magical beasts. There was a lot of information about the first two. The third is very little. Many missions tried to conquer the third continent but failed to succeed.
All continents had humans, demi-humans, and magical beasts. But with proportions unbalanced.
There still are many magical beasts in Auroraan, but they stay away from populated areas. If you ventured deep into forests, mountain ranges, or valleys, you would meet with plenty of them. But the numbers were not even close to the reality of Veridora.
Humans and demi-humans were at war for a long time. It divided both species into their continents. There would never be demi-human nobles in Auroraan as there would be no human noble in Astorian. Both continents kept a military force, dreaming of a day when they would prevail over the other.
Of course, within the continent, there were threats as well. Their kingdom was the biggest and most powerful on the continent. The founding family of the Luminaris Kingdom was the Astralhaven. Alexander, who greeted the cadet earlier, was the current king in a long line of succession. The continent housed two other kingdoms, and skirmishes were a constant.
The second threat was not armies but magical beasts. The population grew in size and power, so they did not pose as much of a threat anymore. Currently, adventurers are enough to deal with them when problems arise. Still, the academy was strict on the cadets, and Eamon learned much about them.
Magical Beast would never stop being a threat because of their strength. Some magical beasts, like dragons, were powerful enough to challenge small cities alone. Others had high reproduction rates on top of their above-average strength.
They separated them into tiers: common, uncommon, rare, super rare, and legendary. Common were your goblins and trolls alike. They had a high reproduction rate and some knew how to use magic. They were much weaker than the others. Next were animals that learned how to control elements. Those were rare but happened quite often. Rare types were proper magical beasts. Naturally attuned with the power of an element. People who adventured themselves inside mountain ranges and forests would see them. Rare and super-rare magical beasts rarely came close to cities. They could feed upon the weaker creatures of their habitat.
Last but not least, Legendary magical beasts. They were the pinnacle of power. Few were the humans capable of fighting them. Still, no legendary magical beast had appeared in Luminaris for the last 50 years. And no academy could prepare someone to face such a challenge. They aimed to create a solid foundation that the Royal Knight could improve upon.
The second year was when things got fascinating. They started to have drills in real life. A professor would start accompanying them on missions. Sometimes, the goal was to level up. Others to protect a relevant caravan filled with merchandise important to the kingdom.
Most missions were safe. The cadets would get a feel for the real-world dangers that being a knight would provide.
Eamon’s first mission was to protect a village in the south from goblins and trolls. The party dispatched had himself, another four cadets, and a supervisor.
The group was able to contain the goblins’ advancements, but at one point, there were simply too many. The supervisor intervened. He was a magic knight dedicated to learning spells related to fire. Their first evaluation was bad to regular, but the mission succeeded for Eamon. He now knew of a professor to help him learn about magic.
He spent the next six months asking the supervisor to teach him. At one point, the professor gave up and properly evaluated his magical talent. There were five relevant points for a magic caster. Intelligence, dexterity, and capacity for visualization combined with imagination and knowledge about the world rules.
Intelligence had the responsibility to put raw power behind your spells. Dexterity helped you perform the signs and body movements without much hassle, maybe even instant casting if it was high enough. The others would help you learn skills and even create them.
His status clearly showed that Eamon would be a weak mage, even if he passed the test. The professor didn't have high hopes, but allowing him to take the test relieved him from his nagging.
The test was simple; the participant would listen to an explanation about magic. Then, receive the chants and signs for basic skills from different elements. He then had 8 hours to unlock at least one skill.
If he were able to do it, he would be able to enroll in the magus part of the academy.
When he arrived at the test center, the magus explained to him about the flow of energy within everyone. He explained the concept of visualization, but all Eamon could think about were his long talks with Bryn. When they were young, Bryn could always help him comprehend the world better. It was as if he had insights into how everything worked.
Surprising the instructor, Eamon learned his first skill in 5 hours. The first element he learned was fire. The skill he unlocked was the fireball. At least, the instructor believed as he watched the young Wycliffe at work. He had to squint his eyes to see the spark the cadet called a fireball.
Rules were rules. If you passed the criteria, you could learn magic. Like that, Eamon became the first Wycliffe to become a magus apprentice.
The fourth semester happened in the blink of an eye.
Eamon remembered Bryn’s teachings every day. Many of their routines and exercises were more effective than the academy taught. Bryn's style helped Eamon become one of the top students in his year.
Eamon was no genius, but a better method combined with dedication is incredible.
His teachers were also shocked at his ability to learn and improve his spells. It was not regular for a cadet with low intelligence status to perform so well in magic. In Eamon's mind, he used Bryn's principles to break down the problematic parts into smaller bits.
The young lord from the far west missed his best friend. Only now did he understand how incredible the faun was. If he could advance so much within the academy, how well would the person who taught it do? What was Bryn’s potential?
One day, after a successful training session, Eamon sat at the edge of his window, looking at the stellar night sky. His mind couldn’t stop thanking the help his friend gave him.
I hope you are well, Bryn. It has been years since we last spoke, and I wish you were here. You would love to increase your strength and learn so many things. I’ll use all my power to grow into the strongest Royal Knight, and then I’ll help you get strong enough to use your talents. I’m sure he already took part in the ritual by now… I wonder how learning about skills, status, and levels felt. He said to himself.
Because of Eamon’s magic tutoring, he would spend at least another two years at the academy to finish his studies. It would take a long time for him to see his friend again.