Kal remained sleeping in the academy dormitory, strongly guarded by the emperor's guards, and even if he sought reports on what had happened, all those who witnessed what had occurred were in a total state of shock all this time, this left the entire imperial court uneasy and concerned about the state of those wise men. And after half a day, the emperor himself convened an urgent council with all those who witnessed the event.
At the council convened by the emperor, only Tiberius and Bernstain, another of the great mages and the divine priest Arnom appeared. That event attracted so much attention from the court that all those who had a minimum of importance wanted to be there to understand what really happened. The emperor used the throne room as the venue for the council, where obviously there was more space for all the most influential in the court. When everyone was in their proper places, a guard announced:
"All hail Mordret Lucius Artal Aquarion I, great Emperor of Nannu and lord of the city of waters"
Immediately the emperor raising his hand says:
"You may sit!"
"So Tiberius, tell me what happened!"
For a few seconds there was an uneasy silence in the throne room until, in a very soft voice Tiberius says:
"Forgive me my emperor, this morning we lost Gregarus and it seems that two of the divine priests also died. We are still very shaken by everything that happened so that's why the silence."
"Begin telling what happened at the Heart of Nannu!" - continues the emperor apparently thirsting for information.
"Us, us, we started the test as usual," says Tiberius apparently still very shaken.
"But when we thought we had finished, something strange happened," he continued.
"The gateway to the heart opened by itself ..." - completes Tiberius clearly forcing himself to speak.
"But not even Morin, the last hero, was able to open the gateway to the Heart of Nannu," says the emperor frightened.
"After the gateway opened completely, we thought we had killed the boy, but inside the chamber there was no longer the light of confluence, it was completely dark," Tiberius completes.
"And there we saw him ..." - says Tiberius pausing frighteningly.
"Penetrating eyes, bright as the sun, that pierced our soul, our bodies prostrated in reverence without our control and then..."
"A voice like a thunder echoed in that place, the voice went beyond our hearing, we felt each note of that voice, each timbre. It seemed that our spirit was being crushed by a crushing pressure," says Tiberius with a trembling voice.
At this moment Bernstain, the other mage begins to laugh uncontrollably causing terror in all those who were there, Tiberius and Arnon only lowered their heads to hide the expression of terror on their faces. The uneasy emperor orders his guards to remove Berstain from there, who continues smiling desperately as if he had completely lost his sanity, and by removing him from there, Tiberius and Arnon managed to raise their heads again and the emperor says:
"Continue!"
"I do not know how I am alive, those who had a weak spirit went mad and died, there is no longer confluence in the Heart of Nannu, now it is just a clearing without any magic." - says Tiberius
"Do you still think you can be one of the legacies?" - asks the emperor with a serious expression
"No, I was mistaken, I was mistaken..." - says Tiberius still with a trembling voice
"This entity is something humans should not see, should not have contact, should not have, should not have, should not," completes Tiberius on the verge of collapse
"Guards, take Tiberius and Arnon to their rooms and let them rest," orders the emperor.
The two are removed from the site, but the council will continue:
"So, my lord, what will we do about this?" - asks Marcus, one of Nannu's great generals.
"If this entity is so strong, we must find a way to control it, my emperor," says one of the nobles present.
"But Tiberius said we should not get involved with this entity," says someone standing behind the nobles.
At that moment everyone looked back, it was Suzannah, "The Red Queen," a witch over 150 years old who had once been Tiberius' master. Suzannah was the former rector of the Imperial Academy, but she had been absent from the capital for many years seeking artifacts from ancient times, and for being someone who went beyond the greatest mage of the empire, everyone in the room was astonished by her presence. Suzannah continues:
"How long Mordret, you've aged so much since the last time I saw you."
"Now I am Emperor of this nation, Suzannah, and you must treat me as such," says the emperor.
"Emperor, who would have thought that crying boy would become a war hero and be chosen by the council as the new emperor," says Suzannah smiling and walking towards the throne.
"What do you want, Witch?" asks Marcus.
"I've come to take back my position as rector of the Academy," says Suzannah.
"And why do you think I would give you that position again?" asks the emperor.
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"The most powerful mage in this nation was my student, that should be enough. Besides, I hear we have something really intriguing happening here!" Suzannah completes.
Imperator Mortred places his hand on his head, sighs and says:
"Tiberius was the rector, and now that he is in this state I believe he will not be able to continue. Very well Suzannah, but know this, I am not my father." Says the emperor.
"One misstep and your head will be served to me on a platter," concludes the emperor.
Rising from his throne, the Emperor speaks:
"For now we will keep an eye on Kal Launno until we can discover who he really is!" Says the Emperor ending the council.
"And we will maintain total secrecy about this matter," he concludes leaving the room.
Everyone left talking about the matter and intrigued by what really happened.
Two days later, Kal awakens from his sleep worried and desperate not to be late for class. Clara, who accompanied him, said he was not late because the academy postponed the opening ceremony of the school year as they were changing rectors. And Kal relieved suddenly remembers the excruciating pain he felt in the Heart of Nannu, and runs his hand over his body realizing he was perfectly fine and believed he had been healed by the court healers. Before Kal could ask anything, Clara says:
"I said the ceremony was postponed, and it was postponed for today, so don't just stand there like a fool and get ready to leave."
Kal gets up in a jump and thinks:
"Finally I will become a student at the Imperial Academy."
"Mother, Sin, Inala, I'm starting on the path to our happiness," thinks Kal ascending his desire to be the best for his family.
Kal and Clara were on their way to the great ceremony hall of the Imperial Academy. The two did not have captivating personalities but wanting to get closer, Kal says:
"I imagine you must have worked for Tierius for many years, no?"
Kal notes that a large vein appeared on Clara's forehead, so she looks back and says:
"Are you calling me old?"
Realizing he had fucked up, Kal awkwardly responds:
"No, no, it's just that you're very mature for your youth."
Kal notices another huge vein appearing on the other side of Clara's forehead, so he tries to fix it:
"Actually, you're very beautiful, and certainly if I were older I would fall in love with a woman like you."
Clara clenches her fist tightly, and Kal feels his life is numbered. Then Kal asks:
"How old are you?"
Clara turns to him and screams:
"Ah, what kind of ignorant peasant are you, can't you see that we are the same age, moreover how rude to go around asking a maiden's age, you should die, die, die, die, die, die."
Realizing she was upset, Clara suddenly adjusts her glasses, clears her throat and says in a lower tone:
"Anyway, let's get going."
Curled up in the corner, Kal thinks:
"I thought I was going to die."
When the two arrive at the great hall, Kal realizes there were not many students there. The Imperial Academy accepted only 30 students each year with the greatest aptitude from the entire empire, and there they were trained to become the great leaders of the future in the empire, great minds, strong warriors, magnificent mages and unshakable priests were frequently produced within the Imperial Academy. Clara asks Kal to sit down as the ceremony was about to begin.
In the Imperial Academy, the system was very rigid, so no one could stand around talking, sleeping or playing. Absolute silence had to be maintained until the ceremony ended. However, when all the students were seated, someone enters shouting:
"What the fuck has this place become, I was only gone for a few years."
Suzannah enters before the other teachers and students.
"Stand up you useless ones," she shouts.
"The Red Queen is back, and this school is going to return to what it was," shouts Suzannah with an optimistic look.
Those present found it very strange, but accepted the situation. Kal, meanwhile, was impressed by this woman who spoke. Suzannah was a woman with long red hair, large brown eyes and wore a large witch's hat. Relon, who was also there with his sister, found it a bit strange, as he had heard stories about "The Red Queen," but thought they were legends, as the stories said the Witch was almost 150 years old, but the woman before him could not be over 30, beautiful and voracious. However, Lilla was enchanted with Suzannah, her impulsiveness and strength before the faculty showed her that Suzannah would not lose to any man in anything, and therefore she was a woman to be admired and followed.
"For those who don't know me yet, I'm Suzannah, the Red Queen, and I will be your new queen," said Suzannah.
"Prepare yourselves because this year will be the worst of your lives," Suzannah completes with a big smile on her face.
After saying these words, Suzannah just clears her throat and begins to speak more seriously:
"Students, congratulations to all of you who have made it this far. As you know, the Imperial Academy is a highly selective school made only for the most gifted in the empire. And every boy and girl's dream in this country is to come to this school, so honor those who did not make it and become the best in this empire."
"However, you know that even though there are only 30 students, you will be divided into levels. In level 3 will be the people we consider most prodigious. In level 2 will be the people we consider intermediate and finally in level 1 will be the most limited people among all of you. Each class will have ten students and only ten. But this does not mean that those in the lower classes cannot be promoted, on the contrary, we will encourage competition among students for promotion, the more you stand out, the more points you will receive and the more points you receive, the higher your level will be. And as I said before, there are only 10 students per class, so if someone earns enough points to move up a level, the worst from the higher level will be demoted to the lower level. Therefore, whoever is last in the lowest level, level 1, he or she will be expelled from school. If more than one student is scored lowest they will all be expelled. The point counting will be done every 2 months over the next 4 years, which means that every 2 months one student or more may leave and that means that in the end only 6 students will remain."
"Good luck and have fun," Suzannah concludes with a sadistic grin on her face.
Emotions diverged in the place, most students were afraid of failing and being expelled, others felt surprised and astonished by the rigor that would be applied, and few demonstrated being motivated by what Suzannah had said. Kal, for his part, did not express any clear emotion, even though deep down he was determined to continue rising in parameters, he still feared that if he failed, his family would be left without the best that an excellent position in the empire could bring.