Chapter one – School begins

While the crowd was passing through, the school ground appeared to be deserted of people. All the students were already in classes and only a few lost persons were running around trying to find their place. The buildings that seemed to be big from afar were actually huge and majestic once you got close.

The Royal training school has five different departments and every one of them deals with a different matter. The armanet departament is dealing with forging and creating weapons, armors and many different items for the students. The medicine department creates medicine and suppliments. The discipline department that deals with students that break the rules. The magic department that holds skills, spells and techniques. The human resources department is dealing with the recruiting of new students and management of all the students within the school.

The elder entered in a white building followed by the crowd. That was the main building of the human resourses department.

Inside the building there was a huge hall made from white marble with a few pillars beautifully crafted that supported the rest of the construction. The elder stopped at the end of the hall and waited for all the people to enter.

Beside him was a man in his late thirties. He had a very solid body and was wearing a full body armor made form a special kind of metal that Arkad never saw before. On the armor there were inscripioned a few runes, meaning that this armor wasn't usual and had some magical properties. On his back was a great sword made from the same material as the armor which had, as well, a few runes on it.

The elder clapped his hands and the hall that was earlier noisy went silent.

“This is the place where we will test your capability of becoming a mage. I would like to tell you that even if you don't have the capability to become a mage that's ok, our school isn't only for mages. Actually the biggest part of our students are fighters and not mages.”

Hearing the elder words some people felt relieved. They hoped that they will have the talent to become a mage, but in case that they don't, is good to know that there is another way to stay in the school.

“The test is very simple and shouldn't take more the an hour.”

Immediately a girl enter the hall holding a wooden box. The girl was very beautiful. She had red hair and black eyes. Her outfit was made from a blue uniform with a golden start on her chest. She was clearly a golden rank student.

Spotting her, a few student blushed while others started to visibly drool.

“She's so cute.”

“God, what a beauty. If I could marry her, I could happily die after.”

“Are all the girls in the school beautiful like her?”

A few of the students couldn't hold their admiration and started to talk between themself while some girls were looking at her with envy.

She didn't mind the people that were looking at her and started to share some white pearls from the box to everyone. After finishing she left the hall and the elder started to talk again.

“The white pearls in your hands are special items that can determine if one has the capability to become a mage. Everyone try to channel energy into the pearl. If the pearls turns red then you have past the test and have enouth talent to become a mage. If not then you will take a second test to see if you are capable of becoming a fighter. You have one hour to turn the pearls red.”

Arkad looked at the pearl in his hand and a smile appeared on his face. He was convinced that he can turn the pearl. The reason for that was that two years ago, his grandfather already tested his magical capabilities. Normally around age of fifteen the human body develops enough for him to use magic and that's why nobody can practise magic before age of fifteen. But Arkad was different. Not only that he could unlock his magic capabilities at the age of thirteen, his body was special as well. Since then he trained he reached  the seventh rank of the earth realm.

Not long after they received the pearls, one boy managed to turn it red. His name was Clim Ernem, the second son of the Ernem family, one of the seven most noble families within the kingdom.

“As expected from Clim. He truly is a genius. Who in the entire year could compete with him.” Someone said.

“No wonder the Ernem famlily is one of the noblest.”

A few people started to prize the talent of the boy. That made him feel proud and even more arrogant than before.

At that time, another person turned the pearl. He was a boy that nobody heard before. He had black hair and blue eyes. His structure was not big but not small either.

Seeing that someone turned the pearl as quickly as him, Clim felt annoyed. That was because all the attention was stole from him, so he asked the young boy beside him

“Do you know who that is?”

“I never saw him or heard anything about him. But young master’s talent is huge compared with some unknown plebeian. You shouldn’t worry about someone so insignificant.” Said the boy.

He  was the kid of a servant at the Ernem house and usually followed Clim everywere like a little dog.

“How could I be worried about someone like him? ” Continued Clim with on a arrogant tone.

“Young master is right, he is not even worth of your time” Finished the boy while laughing.

While the two boys were mocking the unknown person, in the back of the room elder Waye turned around and spoke to the big armored man.

“ It’s been a few years since we had a genius like this in our school.”

“That’s right elder. Usually it takes at least half an hour to turn the pearl red, but those youngsters did it in less then five minutes. Their talent is indeed outstanding.” Added the man.

“Yeah. If they are nurtured carefully they will have  big achivements in the future. I will personally bring this matter to the principal. “

“That’s the best course of action.”

The big man was Slayne Orom, the best instructor in enhancement magic. There are three types of magic in the world. The most common is arcane in which the mage uses natural energy to propel different types of magical attacks. There is enhancement magic that can enhance the body of the user and the last and rarest type of magic is runic magic. The runic magic is used to create formations, create magical items, and enhance proprieties of different objects. Every mage can use only one type of magic, but there are exceptions where one can use two type. Of course those who can use two types, in the entire kingdom can be counted on a single hand. Those who can use all three types of magic exist only in legends and there isn’t anyone in the known world to posses three types of magic.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

While time passed more and more people started to turn their pearls in red. Arkad was one of those people. While he could do it in a few second after he got the pearl, he chose not. He didn’t want to attract unwanted attention on him. It’s best from now to keep a low profile. If someone would know that a fifteen years old is already a seventh rank earth mage, it would be very hard to explain. Normally it takes a lot of time to reach that rank. For example from sixth rank to seventh rank, a normal person would need al teast seven or eight months. So the decision to not stand out was the best course of action for now.

After the hour passed the elder clapped his hands and spoke.

“Good. I’m happy to see that this year our school will have almost one thousand mages. Those who managed to turn the pearls please follow me in the next room. The rest of you will stay here to take the next exam in becoming fighters. “

The fighters where different from mages. They didn’t train in magical techniques but in martial arts. While are not as well viewed as the mages, they are a force to be recognized. If they train well and wear magical item, they are no weak them common mages.

The elder went in the next room followed by the future mages. When Arkad entered the room the first thing that cought his eye was a huge wall with fifty cristals on it. The cristals were arrange In five rows with ten cristals each. The first row contained brown cristals, the second blue cristals, the third yellow cristals, the forth crimson cristals and the last row containd black cristals.

“Probably most of you are asking yourself what those cristals are. To explain to you what they are, first I need to explain what the ranks of a mage are.” After he said that, he took a mouth of air and started to explain.

“There are five realms that a mage can achive. The first realm and the one that you are about to enter soon is called the earth realm. It’s the realm where most of the mages are. The second realm is the spirit realm and the ones that manage to enter it are considered experts. The third one is the heaven realm and very few people in the entire continent are in this realm. The forth realm is the abyss realm. This realm is very hard to enter it. In my entire lifetime I never heard of someone that is in this realm. But of couse there are a lot of people in this world and it’s impossible to know. Problably there are a few that are in that realm.”

The elder stopped a little and let his audience to process the information before continuing again.

“Now, about the last realm. It is called the void realm and it’s says that it’s impossible to reach it. “

At this time, a student raised his hand and asked a question that made the elder smile a little.

“Senior, if it’s impossible to reach it, why is considered a realm?”

“haha” The elder laughed a little. He knew that someone was going to ask that question.

“There is a legend about a ancient mage that managed to enter the void realm. Since then, the void realm is accepted as the fifth realm”

“Now that I cleared that problem let me tell you that each realm is splitted in ten ranks each. For example, if someone is tenth rank earth mage, and he achives a breaktrough, he will become a first rank spirit mage. What you must understand is that the more you advance through ranks, the more difficult is to advance further. But each rank is more powerful than the last one. “

“The realms are the same. Each realm is many times stronger than the previous one. For example a first rank spirit mage is much more powerful than a tenth rank earth mage.” Said the elder.

The elder keept explaining some small stuff and answered a few questions and then proceeded to the next matter.

“Now, you are still not in the first rank of earth realm so the wall is useless for you. In the future you can came here whenever you want to show us that you achieved a new rank."

“You should know that a mage becomes more powerful through cultivation. The first step that you will take in becoming a mage is to create a energy pool in your body. It takes around one month of cultivation to create a pool. After you create it, you are considered a first rank earth mage.”

“After the pool is formed, one must keep refining natural energy through cultivation in order to extend the pool. The ranks of a mage only show how big of a pool you have. The bigger the pool, the more energy you store, the more powerful spells you can use. It's pretty simple.” Said the elder while smiling

“Until you form your pool you can't enter the classes to learn more about magic. Forming the pool should be your only goal for now.”

The elder knew very well that forming the pool takes  a lot of concentration and effort, so any distraction will only delay the students.

“I imagine that some of you already started to cultivate, so you go and take your uniforms. After that you are free to go anywere in the school ground to cultivate. For the ones that doesn’t know how to cultivate please remain here so I can teach you the basics.”

When the elder stopped talking, a few people started to walk towards the exit. The entire hall was watching them, including the elder and the man beside him. They wanted to remember the students that already started to train, because, who knows, there may be a few geniuses. Between them there was Clim, the unknown boy and Arkad of course. Even through he wanted to keep a low profile, wasting time wasn't on his plan.

After they left the hall, everyone was silent. The elder looked at Arkad before he left not because of his unusual appearance, but because earlier,  when everyone was trying to turn the pearls,  the elder noticed him not even trying. To an expert like Waye, he could already sense when someone uses natural energy close to him. At that time, Arkad wasn't using it, and after he started to use it, in a few seconds, the pearls changed color.

“What a interesant fellow” The elder murmured to himself.

After Arkad left the building alongside with another twenty people, he was preparing to go in a quiet place to start cultivating, when two persons among the group shouted.

“Stop!”

Everyone stopped and their eyes started to watch the two persons that keept walking until they reach the front of the crowd. Then they stopped and turned around. One person was a youth with blode hair and blue eyes. His face was quite well and he gave a air of nobility. The other was a plain looking boy that followed the good looking boy. They were Clim Ernem and his little dog.

“So you are the ones that started to cultivate already.” Said Clim with disdain.

“Yeah, so what if we are?” Responded a boy quite well build. His face was pretty good as well.

“Nothing, I just wanted to let you know that you should not make hope to become first student of this year.”

“Why not?” Asked Arkad with in a mocking manner.

“Because that place is reserved for me.” Responded Clim like he was born for that place.

“That if you can take it”

“What? Are you implying that you are more talented than young master?” Asked the little dog, clearly being pissed off.

Arkad was a pretty peaceful person, but if it was one thing that he hated, that was arrogant people that looked down on others. If someone was arrogant and had his own power to back it up, he wouldn’t mind. But a person like Clim who didn’t even become a mage yet, to declare that he was more talented than him… that was annoying. So he started to walk and then spoke.

“That is exactly what I’m implying.”

“Hey! Get back here, I’m not done.” Said Clim angered. Not only that he was looked down opon, he was ignored either.

He took a few steps and caught Arkad arm who was walking away

“I told you to stop you piece of trash!” Exclamed Clim truly angered.

Seeing that his arm was grabbed, , Arkad channel energy through his arm in Clim's arm. Being a seventh’s rank mage, he already had a pretty good control over his natural energy.

“Ahhhhh” The shock made Clim to scream and fell on his butt.

Arkad’s attack wasn’t very powerful but for a normal person, even the raw energy from a seventh rank earth mage could make a little damage and inflict a lot of pain.

After he released his arm, he keept walking.

“Ahhh, You piece of trash. Do you know who I am? I’m gonna make you regret that day you were born.” Clim Keept shouting angry while Arkad keept walking further away.

The people from the crowd were astonished. They knew very well who Clim was and what kind of background he possess. To attack him, one must be either very courageous or very stupid.

While the crowd was still looking at Arkad, Clim took the opportunity and left with his little dog trying to avoid further embarrassment.

After they went far enough Clim spoke.

“Who is that ugly piece of shit?”

“I don’t know young master”  responded the little dog.

“The why the fuck are you still here? Go and find out.”

“Yes, young master.”

“I will find out who the hell are you. If you don’t have a powerful background than you are screwed. If you have a powerful background, I will find other way to deal with you.” Said Clim to himself.