It has been a little over one month since Lyle and his friends were summoned to the world of Alderaan. Since the time they have been here, they have met a pope and cardinals of a religion and the empress of a massive empire. They have taken the lectures from one of the cardinals and suffered her punishment repeatedly, mainly Salvador for he didn't learn the first time, and since he cleaned the "Roc Mud Pit", he thought it couldn't get dirty so fast but he underestimated how much those Roc birds poop. 

They also repeatedly listened to the loud noise of the other cardinal, Sparda, Antonella's husband, every night for a week, of course, this was also caused by Salvador.

Currently, the five are within a lounging area with the pope and two cardinals, one of which seems to be radiating light, the other haggard and shriveled up that he looks like a skeleton. 

"When is the device going to get here? It already a week late!" (Elizabeth)

"Calm yourself, child, we have gotten word that it will arrive within an hour. I have been informed of this more the 50 minutes ago so it should arrive soon." (Antonella)

Antonella who was glowing answered back with a joy filled tone while she was still holding onto Spardas arm. He, on the other hand, could barely stand.

When the five looked at the two, they felt slightly awkward seeing the "Devil" women, as they called her, to be behaving like that. 

The reason for this was that they realized why Ra and the Empress were so scared of her lectures. It wasn't that they were difficult, it was that the punishments were truly horrible. This mainly showed on the third week when Marc, Elizabeth, and Lyle failed a test given by her on the common language of the world. As punishment the had to feed the  Lizaans. 

A Lizaan is a massive sea monster, large enough to hold a small town on its back. The Empire uses them as mobile fortresses.

(A.N. Lizaan looks like a Thalassomedon but shorter neck, broader back, and just bigger.)

Well, the three had to hand feed these massive creatures. It took them from dawn till dusk to feed just one. It was a good thing that these creatures were very patient, otherwise, at the speed the three were going at, they might have become the monsters food. It took the 3 three days to feed all 5 Lizaans. During this time they couldn't return to the castle and had to stay in the port city where the Lizaans were located.

When they returned, Salvador asked the three how was it…

"It was chum, liquified chum, LIQUID FISH GUTS!!! It smelt, horrible." (Marc)

Elizabeth, unlike her brother, the moment she returned, took a bath and ran to her room. Lyle followed in her footsteps and did the same.

Lee was lucky for, since she was diligent, was able to pass all of Antonella's test and never suffered any punishment.

While the five were reminiscing, they shivered. The pope noticed this and smiled at them.

"You all seemed to have enjoyed your lectures." (Pope)

Hearing this the five glared at him but didn't say anything about it. Instead, Marc asked.

"Have they ever acted like this before?" (Ra)

"Yes, they have. Multiple*sigh*multiple time. You just have to get used to it." (Pope)

When the pope said that, his face was slightly dark, as if he truly wasn't accustomed to it. Hearing him say that Antonella spoke up.

"Your holiness, it is true we might behave like this from time to time, however, were not like you who has a tendency to drop everything the moment you see your wife or hear that she has come for a visit." (Antonella)

Hearing this the pope stood up from his seat and looked at the two.

"So what!!! Unlike you two who can be together all the time, I have to be separated from her and can rarely see her and she can only visit me when the Academy is off for a break. Why can't I chose to drop everything to meet her, HUH!!!" (Pope)

At the pope's outburst, it was Sparda who replied. 

"You do not think about your position when you do these kinds of thing. Remember when you were meeting with a council member of the Beastmen and the moment you heard that your wife returned, you left him in your study to meet her. If the councilmember was not Lord Leon who knows the type of person you are, but another, it would not have gone with consequences!" (Sparda)

"You fool!!! The only reason I did that was because it was Leon, he wouldn't care one bit!" (Pope)

"Then what of the time when you decided to drop by at the Academy to surprise her but caused huge panic among the students and staff with your surprise visit. Not all of them know that the two of you are married." (Sparda)

"So what, it's not a secret that we're married. Plus, they should feel honored that they could see the pope of one of Alderaan's biggest religions!' (Pope)

"All right then what about when you took young miss Lucy and went to the Dra.." (Sparda)

"Ahh, STOP! STOP! That's enough! Fine, I get it! I won't complain about you to being lovey-dovey, just promise you two will keep the noise down from now on at night, your room is right next to mine." (Pope)

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When the pope said that, while Sparda had a satisfied face for cornering the pope, Antonella blushed for what the pope said afterward.

During this whole process, the five teens had blank faces not knowing what to do. What brought everyone back was a knock and the door opening.

"Everyone, the preparations are complete, now if you follow me, I will lead you to the trail area." (Ra)

They all left the room and started to follow Ra. On the way there, Ra started to explain the trail.

"For the trail to start, all you have to do is touch the large crystal that will be in the room. Once you touch it, the trail will begin. You all can go in at once or one at a time, it does not matter." (Ra)

"What are the trails like?" (Marc)

"We do not know. It is different for everyone who does it. The stone will take your consciousness and put it to a test, however from what some of the previous summoned have said, it shows them their greatest fears and they must overcome it" (Ra)

"However, the hero Kaiser said that his was him watching his family die before him and him being unable to do anything. It was quite a surprise when we heard that." (Ra)

When Ra said that, the five paled and stopped their steps. Seeing them do that, he chucked.

"It's alright, his was a special case and it's never that bad. Most of the others who have told us have said that they lost something that was important to them and had to find it or overcome that loss and some didn't even go through a test and were able to form their mana core." (Ra)

"We've noticed that the ones who are more skilled as magicians have a more metal related test and those who are more skilled as warriors have a more simple test or no test at all, however, this is not always the case as well." (Pope)

Hearing this the five were not sure how to feel. However, since they started to run late they had to get moving once again. On the way there Ra continued his explanation.

"No matter what the test is it will never affect the person in real life so you do not have to worry about anything like that. Also, if one fails the test, there is nothing to worry about for their memory of it is wiped clean by the crystal so there will be no metal damage. But, if one does fail the test the will be unable to use the easy way to create a mana core and must take a more difficult way." (Ra)

"What's the difficult way?"(Lee)

"They must have mana placed into their bodies and have to create the core themselves. This method is…..painful." (Ra)

Ra said that with a slightly malicious smile. Seeing him make that kind of face the five tensed. Not noticing this, he continued.

"Also, when you finish the test, whether you pass or not, you will have a choice to change your name. It might seem strange, however, you all are in a new world and will be beginning new lives, I suggest you change your names but that is up to you." (Ra)

"And lastly, this is only if you pass the test, you will have the option to change your race to one other than human. You can change your race into anything but the Dragons and Fallen." (Ra)

"We can change races, Cool!" (Salvador)

"I don't think I wanna change my race. (Lee)

"Come on that sounds cool, who wouldn't want to be something other than human, plus, there doesn't seem to be any open discrimination in this world. Let's change races together." (Salvador)

While those two were having their talk, Marc looked at Ra and spoke.

"Why can't we pick Dragon or Fallen?" (Marc)

"It's very simple…" (Pope)

It was the pope who spoke.

"...the Dragons are not as numerous and only have a population of around fifteen hundred(1500), if you wish to become one, it would be both physically and magically impossible for none of you have met the conditions. As for the Fallen, I believe Antonella explained about them and that they both are and aren't a race so that makes it absolutely impossible for one to change their race to a Fallen." (Ra)

"What are the conditions to become a dragon?" 

"These conditions apply to all races, not just Dragons. First, you psyche must be similar to the race you wish to be, mainly size, and no humanoid race can compare to Dragons in size. As for the other condition, it is an innately born talent, and other than dragons, no one has that." (Ra)

As they were talking they reached a large door. The cardinals stepped up and open it. Inside was  a large dim room. In the center was a large green jade colored crystal. Around it was some type of circle with what seemed to be runes written within it.

Standing outside the circle was the empress facing towards the group that just entered. She opened her mouth and spoke.

"Good, you're here, let's begin then shall we." (Empress)