As I wouldn’t see him in the years to come I spent as much time with my father as possible. I helped my father tending to the fields by doing some light chores, chatted with him whenever we rested and spent some typical father son time together.
My life until now one of the most peaceful times I had ever experienced, but that made it even more difficult to say goodbye when the time came.
Just like that time when my brother was taken away they suddenly popped up from the fields after we said our parting words. The inspectors stayed quiet, most likely due to them respecting our privacy, and motioned for me to follow them.
I did so and after a silent walk we reached some kind of gathering spot where I could see dozens of quite big carriages. In the middle of it was a giant mass of children with varying expressions on their faces.
It was quite interesting actually how much they differed. Some had a big smile plastered onto their faces while others seemed sad to the point of being suicidal. But most were like me, having a sad expression but accepting the fate that awaited us.
I had to wait for a long time in order for the other inspectors to arrive but it didn’t feel like that because I spent most of it chatting with the other recruits, which was the term that the inspectors used to called us.
I found myself spending a lot of time with a group that seemed quite different from the others. They just seemed…special and I was drawn to them like a moth to fire. Of course I wasn’t burned by their presence but I learned the reason they were special after asking them about it: Their parents, being retired warriors, had trained them since they were four years old, hoping that they would one day surpass them and bring glory to their household. If they made some major accomplishments, they would be given a noble title and receive a last name from the king himself.
“I really hope the ride won’t be too bumpy, my delicate body wouldn’t be able to stand that kind of abuse for too long” a boy with short brown hair and blue eyes whose name was Owen said. Standing at about one meter he was as tall as me, being quite small for his age in this world.
“Don’t start with this topic again! We already know that you can’t stand bumpy rides, you don’t have to repeat it a million times!” another boy called Frank said. Even though he was only seven years old one could already see that he would grow up to be a womanizer in the future. His straw blonde hair shone the the coating of all kinds of grime on it and his childish face already had some sharp edges. Furthermore, he was already 1.1 meters tall, standing half a head higher than me and Owen.
I think I forgot to say it but in this world it is normal to wash yourself about once a month on the countryside. It was very hard to adapt to in the beginning, especially the smell, but luckily the people in the city bath once every day. As the Academy is located in the city the students there will naturally adopt the same custom which is will be the only aspect of the Academy that I am looking forward to. Until then however I have to bear with the horrible odor that people who haven’t washed for quite some time normally emit.
“Calm down Frank, you don’t have to get angry every time Owen says something stupid. You should learn to ignore him if he is in complaining mode, that way you will have a much easier time.” I said. I had pretty average looks and inherited my father’s brown hairs and brown eyes, in contrast to my brother who I remember to have blond hair and brown eyes. I think the hair color of my brother comes from my mother who I still know nothing about.
“Yeah John is right don’t listen to Owen, I’ve known him for a looong time and learned to ignore him when he is being annoying.” The last member in our little group, who also happened to be a girl, Greta, said. She was about as tall as me and Owen, which hurt our manly egos quite a bit even though I knew that boys and girls would be quite similar in physical aspects before puberty. With shoulder length dark brown hair and blue eyes, she would grow up to be quite beautiful, though I expect Frank to become even more handsome than she beautiful.
“OK KIDS, WE HAVE WAITED LONG ENOUGH. YOU WILL NOW FOLLOW THE MAN THAT APPROACHES YOU TO YOUR CARRIAGE. DON’T BITCH AROUND; WE HAVE ALREADY WASTED ENOUGH TIME!” an incredibly loud voice that made my ears ring shouted. I think everything in a radius of ten miles heard him clearly but in order to avoid more shouting most of the children obediently followed the approaching inspectors into the carriages.
As I was standing quite close to the others in our group we were taken to the same carriage. What I didn’t expect though was that it would be brimming with children. Due to us being the last group to arrive we were barely able to find a seat in the middle but fortunately we sat opposite of each other. As Frank sat next to me we chatted some time but then switched to the others because Greta clearly began to doze off with Owen constantly complaining.
The ride was indeed very bumpy because of the unpaved roads that looked like glorified hunting trails to me.
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A lot of complaining, time and some swallowed aggression later the carriage finally came to a stop as we had arrived at the Academy, which was located in the heart of Frumentum.
Due to the carriages only having two windows that were located on each side of the carriage our group couldn’t see what Frumentum looked like so as we stepped out our jaws quickly hit the ground.
In front of us was a giant building that seemed to have been carved out of a giant boulder which was surrounded by a very big wall I estimate to be at least 30 meters high. Towers which were even higher were placed at regular intervals and we could see some youths lazing around in them.
Off in the distance even higher walls could be seen which seriously amazed me. What kind of manpower was needed to make wall this big and thick? I’m sure it had taken ages before it could be completed, even with the mythical powers warriors were rumored to possess.
The area we stood in was full of training fields where children at various ages either trained or were lectured by teachers. Most of the trainees were clearly exhausted but continued regardless and the students were clearly paying attention, which surprised me to no end. Is this institution really that good enough for the other recruits to behave like this?
The grass seemed greener than normal and one could nearly feel the abundance of life force in the air. Trees were placed everywhere and I could see a small forest in the edge of my vision. When I look closer I discover that certain trees which were surrounded by a faint glow were placed in a certain pattern. I think that this is the result of an enchanter laying some formations over the whole place.
“Pick your jaws up from the ground kids, you are not here to sightsee.” The inspector who escorted us said and started to walk towards the entrance of the Academy.
Most of the other kids who were similarly awestruck regained their composure and followed him. As we walked towards the building I could take a closer look at it.
The whole building was obviously not made to look good, it was made for being practical. This meant thick walls and small windows that looked like slits from which one could safely shoot projectiles at incoming enemies without having to worry about being attacked themselves.
The building itself was flat and if one looked closely it could be seen that the grey walls were slightly glowing, most likely another enchantment.
It didn’t take long to arrive at the heavily fortified entrance of the Academy which was guarded by some men in full plate armor which glistened in the sunlight. They had their big spears with long, kite shaped spearheads resting on the ground and looked quite relaxed as they watched us.
We passed through the gates and proceeded to walk down a long corridor until we were inside of a big hall. Wooden chairs, which were mostly occupied by other recruits, took up most of the space in it and I found myself wondering where we would sit.
The inspector, who was, just like most of the other ones I have seen, quite a stoic man, noticed my questioning gaze and pointed towards an unoccupied row of wooden chairs that were located in the front.
“You will sit here. Don’t cause a commotion or you will be punished.” He briefly explained and left. Wow, I am quite impressed by their way of dealing with children. ‘Do what we say or you will be punished.’ It was a quite brutal but common strategy to treat children in ancient times but I didn’t expect it to be applied here.
After we sat down next to each other we started to spend the time by chatting again but were soon interrupted by a booming voice that came from the direction of the stage which was located about 20 meters in front of us.
“I welcome you to the Academy! I will keep myself short as I don’t believe in long speeches so listen up! All of you are talented young children who are fated to become protectors of our great city, Frumentum. But even our glorious founders had to train in order to get power akin to GODS! I won’t expect something unrealistic like reaching the same heights as them from you because that would be impossible, but I expect you to make the best out of your potential! Maybe some of you will become nobles, some will certainly become officers, but all of you will become warriors. That, I guarantee as the principal of the Academy! I would wish you a good time here but I don’t think believe it myself. “he briefly laughed like a madman “I said enough. Next week you will be tested so we will know which path you are most suited to take. This test will decide whether you are fated to fail as trash or become a general! You can’t do anything to influence it as it tests your soul. Until then I wish you a good time!” after the principal finished his speech he walked down from the stage.
Some other important looking people also held speeches but I ignored them as the words of the principal caught my interest. Power akin to the gods, huh? This world could be far more interesting than I had thought.