The annoying beep of my alarm yanked me out of sleep. I groaned and sat up, realizing how quickly summer break had flown by, thanks to all the training my dad had me endure. He's a viscount, which sounds like a good title, but it's one of the lower ranks of nobility. He earned his title by impressing the king during a war when he was younger. Being a descendant of Omnitra, the goddess of intelligence, he's a master with battle tactics and even fights on the front lines to prove himself.

But not everyone respects him. Other nobles are always giving him a hard time because he's better than them since he had to earn his title.That's why he pushes me so hard so I'd be able to inherit the title one day.

"So, how long are you going to stare at the wall?" a familiar voice interrupted.

"Huh?" I turned to see Lyra sitting in a chair beside my bed, already dressed in her uniform. She's stunning with her long, dark brown hair and eyes that change from green to blue when she's mad—like a storm brewing. Despite her slender build, she can flip you over a table and through a window with no problem (speaking from experience).

"How on earth did you—" I started, baffled how she managed to sneak past my house security, let alone into my room. "HOW DID YOU GET INSIDE!?"

"What do you mean?" she replied casually, like breaking and entering wasn't illegal. "The window was unlocked," she shrugged.

Lyra's abilities come from two gods: Belisara, the goddess of beauty, and Aurion, the god of the sky. It's quite uncommon to inherit powers from two different gods because descendants marry only other descendents usually. This creates tension between regular folks and us descendants, who often come off as snobby with all our wealth. But just because we're descendants doesn't mean we automatically have a good life. Some are even born just normal with no abilities.

"Right, you can fly," I sighed. "For someone who talks about using powers responsibly, you sure love showing off." I shot her a playful glare—she can be such a hypocrite.

"Oh c'mon, just cause we both have duties doesn't mean we can't use our abilities how we want." She replied playfuly "pretending to be the responsible princess in public is so boring" she added

"At some point you'll screw up and be in huge trouble with your parents" I sighed "now get out of my room so I can change."

Once I finished showering and put on my uniform I headed downstairs where I found Lyra waiting at the table. The maid had made us both breakfast and after that we headed out where I saw Lyra's driver putting my luggage in the trunk. "I'm going with you guys?" I asked.

"Of course, I mean might as well no?" Lyra replied.

"I suppose you're right" and with that said we got inside the car and we were on our way to Valoria highschool. "So how was your summer?" I asked.

"Just how it always is, boring as ever." She said with a slight criticism. "Just pure diplomatic meetings that I attended but can't even have a say in so I'm just by my dad's side bored out of my mind" she added "how about you?"

"Just training and studying, there's not much I can do so I just spent it outside" I replied

"Hmmm lucky" she said with a slight envying. "By the way do you know how the exam works?" She asked intrigued.

"Yes, it's meant to test your abilities and it starts in stages. The difficulty goes up as you progress and the faster you finish each stage and the more you do the higher your score is" I replied "apparently the exams is tailored to each descendant so everyone is on equal footing and it's meant to challenge you by putting you at a disadvantage" I added

"Is that so? So if a descendant of Stratos were to do the exam then how would they be put at a disadvantage?" She asked.

"Well my guess is that since they're a descendant to the god of war then I'm guessing the automatons would be made of a tougher material and would probably be more agile and fast reacting" I replied

"Ohhhh, that sounds fun" she was now excited about the exam. "Finally I get to put my skills to the test!"

It didn't take long till we saw the academy, It was huge and about a mile away from it there was the dorms. The academy was about 3 stories tall and apparently it had 2 sublevels too. There was many buildings around it as I'm guessing was used for sports or training.

The car stopped in front of the dorms and I got my luggage put of the trunk. Me and Lyra agreed that we would meet by the training facility for the exams and I headed inside the boys dorm where the counselor told me my room and I headed for my room. Once I had put my luggage inside my room I looked out the window to enjoy the view. I head out my room and turned the corner when I bumped into someone.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Watch where you're-" they stopped mid sentence "Ah you're Ansel aren't you?" They said with disgust. They looked a bit taller than me with blond hair and blue eyes. They had a medium frame like they were already used to blade."

"Yes I'm Ansel and you are?" I replied with twinge of hostility.

"I'm Kieran Whitmore, son of Viscount Rylan Whitmore" They glared at me "You're the son of that viscount who gained his title despite being just a commoner"

"Yes, and what of it? At least he's seen battle unlike some nobles." I fired back preparing for a fight"

"Just watch yourself Ansel, and keep away from the princess." Kieran threatened

"I'll do what I want Kieran. Don't underestimate a person without any information, like that you'll just end up getting yourself hurt or worse" I smiled

Kieran scowled and left going towards his room. Seems like I won't be accepted by some people due to their thinking. I went outside and headed towards the training facility where many of the new students were already there and I found Lyra waiting.

"What took you so long??" She asked "I was waiting for ages"

"My bad I just got into a bit of confrontation is all" I replied "so how are we gonna know when it's our turn?" I asked to change the subject.

"They'll call us up when it's our turn" and right on cue her name was called. "Looks like it's my turn, wish me luck!" And she headed inside.

The huge screened in front of the building turned on and we were able to see the inside of the training facility. It seems like since the princess was taking the exam the school wanted to boast about it.

The training facility looked like a made up battle field, with broken buildings and busted up cars. And Lyra was hiding behind a wall. The exam started and already a large automaton jumped over the wall and was going straight for Lyra. Lyra dodged out of the way and pulled out her weapon. It was a golden spear which when you twist the middle it would come apart and would be able to be used for short range.

Our weapons are either inherited from our families or if you were declared a new descendent from the commoners, you would have to go to he schools armory where you are able to choose from a variety. Your weapon was special since you have to know what your strengths are and how it would suit you're style.

Lyra then jabbed the automaton but with a shock of electricity from one of her abilities and the automaton shut down. The battle went on as Lyra past each stage with ease but had trouble in the 8th stage.

The automatons were already aware of her fighting style and were electricity resistant. She was backed towards a wall when one of the automatons charged, Lyra deflected it and with the moment she flipped over the automaton and speared the one behind it. There was one more left but the automaton went into overdrive. And started attacking Lyra with its blade viciously, Lyra faltered and the automaton took this as a chance as it disarmed Lyra and kicked her in the stomach sending her flying into a wall. She groaned as she tried her best to stop herself from going unconscious. As the automaton advanced forward she made a last effort by firing a huge lightning blast between her and the automaton. the automaton flew backwards and Lyra summoned her spear which was behind it as it pierced through its armor rendering it useless.

The students outside watching cheered for Lyra. The alarm sounded ending the exam as the instructors deemed that she was at her limit. the screen then showed the scores of all the ones who have taken the exam and Lyra's name flew into firet place with 4,356 points. it was the most points that any student has gotten so far with second being behind by 500 points. I then saw Lyra walking out of the training facility and I ran over to her.

"You alright Lyra?" I said checking to see if she was badly hurt.

"Yea im alright just a bruise in the ribs from the stupid automaton" She winced. A medic came over and treated her wound as the medic gave her some nectar to quickly heal any damage on her. no one besides the descendants of the god of medicine knew how nectar was created. it is capable of healing us quickly which is useful for emergencies. As Lyra was treated, I noticed the other students around us, a mix of awe and envy in their eyes. It was clear Lyra had set a high bar, and everyone knew it.

"Ansel Dovak, please report to the training facility," a voice announced over the loudspeaker.

"Looks like it's your turn," Lyra said, giving me a supportive nod despite her pain. "Good luck."

"Thanks" I ran to go inside the building.The moment I stepped inside, the doors slammed shut behind me, and the vast room transformed into a chaotic battlefield. Broken structures, scattered debris, and flickering lights set the scene. I could hear the whirring of machines starting up—my opponents were ready.

"Initiating Exam," a mechanical voice announced. "Stage One: Begin."

The first automaton rushed toward me, giving me barely enough time to unsheathe my blade and deflect its attack. I lost my balance for a moment, flipping backward, but quickly regained my footing by placing my right hand on the floor and flipping myself back up. The automaton rushed again but i was prepared this time as i parried its attacks, the automaton was fighting by the textbook so it was predictable.

I managed to do a feint and before it reacted i shadow-stepped behind it and slashed my sword down.

"Stage Four: Begin."

the 4th stage had 4 automatons who were more creative with their attacks. They worked in pairs and were mildly annoying. I just managed to deflect one's attack when the other quickly went for a jab. I shadow-stepped again and the automaton instead jabbed the other one. I quickly decapitated the other automaton before it managed to free its blade. I managed to defeat the other two in a similar style.

Stage eight was difficult as it only had one automaton but it was clearly built of a tougher material so shadow-stepping wouldn't be much effective. It was fast too as it managed to parry my attacks and deliver attacks as quickly like if it was second nature for it. I parried and went for a jab when it quickly pulled out a second blade and deflected my attack while also leaving me disarmed.

"Oh you got to be kidding me." I said in a annoyance "I know you're an automaton but two swords? what are you, a flipping pirate?" The automaton then swung its two blades down and i shadow-stepped out lf the way and hid in one of the busted up cars.

The automaton lifted and hurled a car in my direction. "It's a test, you pile of bolts!" I shouted, narrowly avoiding the projectile by shadow-stepping into a nearby building.

The automaton busted threw the wall and looked around looking for me. it then spotted me and went after me. before i shadow-stepped i tripped over part of the broken wall and fell into the ground. without any room of space the automaton brought its blade down...