The Royal Palace was truly deserving of its name. It was a fortress on top of a hill in the middle of the biggest city in Draac, surrounded by meter-thick walls and high towers. To Erik, the insides of such fortifications looked like an ecosystem of its own due to how big and opulent everything was.

The marble floors, the high ceiling with no stains, solid stone walls that for some reason weren’t cold at all, and big windows that showed a vantage view of the prosperous city.

It felt like heaven here and yet it was a maze.

The castle was so big and full of rooms with different purposes that Erik had a servant assigned to him to help him around. At first, he was quite ecstatic but…

“You don’t need to follow me to the bathroom, Thomas,” Erik told the old man as he stopped in front of the bathroom.

“Oh please, Master Blake, it is my duty as a servant to take care of Princess Elizabeth’s fond guests,” he said with a proud tone.

Erik rolled his eyes and went inside the bathroom to get cleaned and ready for the day as the man stood by the door, outside. To Erik’s dismay, most servants around the castle were men. Of every ten, he could swear only one was a woman.

‘And no pretty ones!’ He screamed on the inside, tears rolling down his cheeks as he took a big shit.

After he was ready, he got up and was met by the foul stench.

“Ew, I don’t know what is it with rich people to poop in these boxes?” he scoffed after covering his nose.

Back in the village, everyone did it in holes on the outside—although there was always that one weirdo who did it in the river. It's not like it was much less disgusting but one at least didn’t have to smell this horrible thing in their house.

Erik coughed due to the smell and went to clean his hands on the sink. This was a useful invention he could agree was necessary. He had learned about it first in the Duke’s home but “the sink” was some kind of magical device where after you turned the handle to the side, the device would create cold or hot water depending on which handle you turned. There was a drain below that sucked all the water and didn’t let any spill.

It was truly a marvelous creation, the masterpiece of the human race. It was horrible having to walk to the river to get water—or when it froze, having to gather snow to boil.

This made him think, however.

How could royals mess up one thing and get another one so wrong? It didn’t make much sense.

Erik turned to the toilet once again, determined to unveil any secrets he had. There was a kind of button on the top that he avoided touching since he didn’t know what it was.

Erik gulped hard and pressed the button.

Nothing.

Then, as he started to sigh there was a loud noise of fire.

The fire incinerated the human waste from below, and then a window opened. He could feel a strong breeze coming from inside to outside, taking away all the smell before it closed.

‘Oh wow, so they didn’t get it wrong then. Damn, I almost feel bad for making that bathroom back in Phillip’s smell like rotten corpses.’

Either way, it was time to move on. Despite the current topic being so interesting and important to him, he was told to get ready and meet the princess at the front gate of the castle in thirty minutes.

By the time Erik reached the front gate, Princess Elizabeth was already waiting, her azure and gold dress gleaming against the pale winter sun. Erik blinked at her, struck for a moment by how immaculate she looked.

“Oh, Erik,” she said with a soft laugh, noticing his approach. “I was surprised when I didn’t see you at the special breakfast. Even as a commoner, you would’ve been well-received there.”

‘Wait—special breakfast?’ Erik’s mind immediately jumped to Thomas who had told him nothing about that. He would surely have his revenge one day.

“Oh, really?” he said, scratching his cheek with a sheepish grin. “I was so caught up in training this morning that I lost track of time.”

Elizabeth giggled. “Such dedication. Just make sure not to wear yourself out before the entrance exam. I hear it’s quite taxing on mana.”

Erik winced inwardly. Taxing or not, he wasn’t feeling at his best after yesterday. His body ached, whenever he tried to draw mana it felt like his veins were burning. It wasn’t a nice feeling at all.

The stagecoach arrived shortly after. Erik followed Elizabeth inside, the ride was quiet at first until he gestured toward the entourage of guards. “So, this is normal?”

Elizabeth’s laugh was soft but bright. “Hardly. Only for special occasions like today. The entrance exam draws over five thousand applicants, and with so many people, security is a necessity.”

Erik widened his eyes, and he leaned back. “Five thousand?” That was a third of Ashford’s population, Erik couldn’t imagine so many people would take this test.

“Yes, and only three percent are accepted,” Elizabeth said with a small, seemingly proud smile. “The Royal Magic Academy has high standards.”

Erik swallowed air and tightened his grip on his bag. The number was staggering, and the stakes were higher than he imagined.

By the time the carriage rolled to a stop before the academy gates, Erik was both awed and nervous. The campus stretched out before him, far larger and grander than anything he’d ever seen.

The academy was surrounded by an iron fence that stretched beyond what the eye could see. There was a large gate, currently open, that allowed a clear view inside.

There was a central field that stretched out before him like a vast garden on the sides, filled with trees and carefully trimmed grass. In the center of the field stood a massive two-story building, held by large stone columns. The large windows it displayed remembered Erik of an opulence only seen in the Royal Palace.

On either side of the central building, there were other smaller structures.

The academy’s grounds seemed to stretch endlessly, and he couldn’t help but think that the entire campus was probably bigger than his entire village back home. That coupled with the thousands of examinees walking to the main building made it feel almost dizzying.

Several were also looking at the pair—or rather, just Liz.

“Wow, is that Princess Elizabeth?”

“I can’t believe it.”

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“And who is that other boy?”

“I’ve never heard of him but he has red hair so maybe they’re related?”

Erik, hearing the murmurs from the surrounding crowds turned to the princess.

She had a smile on her face as she looked ahead. Erik wondered what she was thinking about.

It wasn’t important now though. Erik had promises to keep—to himself, his father, his siblings, his mother, Phillips, and even the director of the academy.

‘And I’ll prove to her I’m not a pushover,’ Erik thought, regarding Eleanor.

----------------------------------------

The writing tests were much harder than Erik could have thought.

“Uhh, what is the proportion of aethu-er being c-converted into mona? Nah, it's mana,” the months he spent playing and training instead of studying had caught up to Erik. Be it reading, writing, or understanding many of the concepts shown in the test—the boy wasn’t good at any of that.

“Hey, Eleanor, help me out here,” he whispered to the redhead. He wasn’t sure if he was lucky or unlucky but fate had put them in tables close to each other.

“Don’t talk to me you weirdo, if the teachers see us—” she stopped, her words stopping on her throat as she saw a bat fly close to the ceiling of the large room, in her direction. That was one of the professor’s familiars, they were trained to tell if someone was cheating. “I’ll be done because of you, idiot,” she snarled once it went away.

Erik wasn’t going to stop like this. He knew Eleanor had knowledge from her noble upbringing, and he’d make sure to exploit it.

He straightened his back and pressed his feet on the floor, trying to gain every inch of height he could. After an insurmountable effort, that in the moment felt far more difficult than any battle, he managed to see her text.

But he couldn’t read it clearly.

‘Crap.’

Squinting, he strained his eyes, feeling his veins pop and almost burst as he tried to make out the words.

Finally, he could read it. Her handwriting was refined and followed a neat pattern, unlike his own messy scribblings, making it easy to copy.

Erik wrote down a few of her answers, looking at her paper whenever there wasn’t anyone looking in his direction.

Just as he finished copying a crucial formula, a loud ring echoed through the hall.

Erik froze, his heart jumping to his throat.

Oh no… Did they catch me? he panicked, beads of sweat forming on his brow. He could already picture the bat swooping down and dragging him to detention, or worse, kicking him out of the academy before he even had a chance to prove himself.

But then, the head professor, a tall, intimidating figure with graying hair and a stern face, walked to the front of the room.

“Time is up,” the professor announced, his deep voice booming over the examinees, silencing the room instantly.

Erik let out a sigh, his shoulders relaxing with relief. “Those of you with scores below 40 will not proceed to the next phase. Only those who pass can continue.”

The professor raised his hands, and the air around him shimmered with magic. He said an incantation, and Erik felt a chill run down his spine. A ripple of energy spread across the room, brushing past each examinee.

The papers on each desk glowed faintly, hovering in the air. Erik’s eyes widened as his test sheet floated before him, bathed in a soft light.

The professor waved his hand, and in an instant, every test was graded. Numbers appeared in glowing golden letters at the top of each paper.

Erik gulped, staring at the number forming on his sheet. ‘Please, please, please…’ he begged silently. He couldn’t fail on the knowledge part.

The number stopped. 40.

“Phew…” Erik let out a long sigh of relief, slumping in his seat. He had scraped by with the bare minimum, but at least he wouldn’t be sent home.

He glanced over at Eleanor, who frowned at him with pure disdain. Her paper floated proudly above her desk, displaying a dazzling 94.

She scoffed, crossing her arms. “I was really hoping you'd fail,” she muttered under her breath.

He glared at her but kept his mouth shut. There was no point in arguing now. He had passed—barely—but a pass was a pass.

As the golden numbers flickered away and the papers fell back onto the desks, the professor cleared his throat. “Those who have passed, prepare yourselves for the next trial. The real test begins now.”

----------------------------------------

The next test took place outside, in the academy’s vast training grounds.

Erik took notice of those around him. Many students had already left, and their dreams of entering the Royal Magic Academy shattered.

He hoped to catch a glimpse of Elizabeth or even Arthur as he was at least an acquaintance to them, but neither of them was anywhere to be seen. The only person around him being someone that hated him wasn’t the perfect scenario.

In front of the crowd stood the target for the next test. A large, humanoid dummy covered in a shimmering magical barrier. Each examinee was required to throw their strongest spell at the dummy, and the amount of damage done to the barrier would determine their grade.

The line moved slowly, each student stepped forward and shot their spells. The flashes of magic were dazzling—bright flames, crackling lightning, shimmering waves of water, piles of rock. The students used every element to make the barrier shimmer and fluctuate with each hit.

Afterward, a score glowed above the dummy's head.

“Eighty-five.”

“Ninety-three.”

“Seventy.”

Those numbers drew gasps from the examinees and the professor called them out and wrote it down on a sheet.

Another line of students took their shots.

“Forty-eight.”

“Thirty-seven.”

“Fifty-one.”

Their score drew scattered laughter and a few boos from the crowd. It seemed that anything above sixty was considered respectable, and judging by the fine clothes of those achieving such scores, it was clear that most of them came from noble families.

The commoners were left to simply have mediocre results.

‘Well, guess I’ll change that.’

Erik watched as another group of examinees stepped forward, his gaze wandering over at them. That’s when he noticed Eleanor among them, her confidence as apparent as ever when she swayed her hair around and pointed her hand at the dummy.

But it wasn’t her that caught his attention this time. A girl with deep blue hair, tied behind her back, and eyes that shimmered like a lake stood nearby, waiting her turn beside Eleanor.

Erik furrowed his brow and rubbed his chin. ‘Why does she seem so familiar?’

And then it hit him. She was one of the two girls he had run into yesterday—when he had fallen on top of that guy when running Bob Lee’s errands.

‘Damn... that was embarrassing. I hope she doesn’t remember me,’ Erik thought.

Erik watched the blue-haired girl with curiosity. She raised her hand with grace and soon, mana began building up in front of her. The hair seemed to shimmer as water condensed into a swirling, translucent sphere.

“[Water Ball],” she said.

The spell shot forward, a water sphere almost half a meter in length hurdling toward the target. As it hit, the dummy shook with incredible force, its mana coating vibrating.

Erik whistled in surprise, that attack was by far the best water spell he’d ever seen.

The dummy absorbed the impact, and a score flickered to life above its head: “One hundred and ninety.”

Erik whistled. She sure was powerful.

Right afterward, there was the sound of another impact. Erik gazed at it, watching lava envelop the dummy.

“That must be Eleanor’s magic,” he muttered as he remembered the signature element of the royal family—the magma element. It was something left by Queen Arthur a millennia ago, all her descendants had that element which was unironically considered the one with the most firepower.

“One hundred and ten.”

Erik could hear a collective gasp from the crowd. These two had just gotten an impressive score, by far the highest they had heard yet.

Still, it didn’t seem like it was enough for Eleanor. The smirk she wore until now faltered, she clenched her fist and turned away from the dummy with a “hmph”.

Maybe she was frustrated that the other girl had gotten a score above hers.

Then came his time.

“Erik Blake,” the instructor called out, his voice echoing across the grounds.

He made his way to the spot, roughly ten meters from the dummy. There were marks and holes on the ground, indicating that some examinees had missed the target.

For a moment, thoughts of doubt crept in but he shook it off. A smirk grew on his face. ‘I was able to use a fireball against Zac all those years ago, this will be a cakewalk.’

Erik breathed slowly, he stretched his right arm forward.

“[Fireball],” he shouted, a mass of fire exploding in front of his hand. This would be it, he would show everyone his ability.