The examination room was large, with walls painted in green and blue, Lucille sucked in the sight and felt awe from just simply looking at the hundreds of people that it was able to contain, with some already seated. She looked around, noting that there was nothing here but chairs and students, which meant that this test was actually the academic one.

Lucille felt confident that she could pass this particular test, she has always been the studious sort, so what the Academy can bring to bear shouldn't be too hard, especially if princess Neophyte herself had given her- and everyone else's, - village books that were about the academic test- and a few other subjects, - in Pledge Academy.

Lucille could still remember the day when she walked to the princess as she handed them out, there was rain at the time so she had to cover her head with a large hat, which caused some of the water to drip down from the hat and into the books, and just as fear was about to overtake her, the princess used a technique- two, actually, one that created a barrier above them and another to dry her books.

“There,” Lucille looked up and saw her smile then, and the only thing on her muddled mind at the time was charming, “sorry, I forgot about it,”

The giggle that followed after she said those words wouldn't leave Lucille's head for days to come and whenever she thought about giving up, that giggle would come back and an image of the princess would surface within her mind, a pretty face with a background of heavy rain- and Lucille would remind herself that Neophyte worked hard to support the people of the Fauna and Flora territories.

And Lucille didn't want the princess’ hard work to go in vain so she promised herself that she would expend all her effort in improving herself and enter the Academy even with her measly Pledge so that she could one day stand alongside the person who did so much for her community- a small pipe dream to be sure, but one that she'll continue to chase no matter how many setbacks.

That's a promise to herself that she would fulfill.

Lucille took a seat with a determined expression- “Oh, it's you again,” she heard a voice say and she turned to the girl with blue hair, narrowed green eyes met Lucille's own, “you're not stalking me right?” She said in suspicion, “because I'd have to do something if you are-”

“I'm not!” Lucille raised her hands in defense, “it-it's just a coincidence that I sat right next to you.”

The girl narrowed her eyes, then huffed, “... fine, I'll take that at face value,” she nodded before turning away and so did Lucille. Aaaaaaa- the school year hasn't even started yet and she's already making enemies! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

“U-uhm, I'm sorry if you thought that way,” Lucille said, refusing to look at the girl, “I really didn't mean to,”

“Like I said, it's fine, now don't talk, the teacher is here-”

She knew, Lucille already knew obviously because she was facing the front of the room- because she didn't want to look at the girl as she apologized, - and there, a well dressed middle-aged woman walked out of the door (was that a tuft of white hair just now?) to the side of the upraised stage before moving to the only table at the center of the stage, she cleared her throat, causing the conversations inside the room to stop.

“Now,” she started, voice clear to Lucille's ears despite the distance, “I'm a teacher who possesses Techniques that help with my perception, and I'm not gonna repeat nor explain that,” Lucille got the message- no cheating, - and nodded resolutely, she's not planning to! It's simply wrong after all! As she pumped her fist, the woman continued, “so with that being said, your papers are-”

“Underneath the desk! See I told you-” Lucille gulped when the woman's gaze turned cold.

“Who said that?” She asked and a few hands went forward to point at a boy- “for the ones who raised your hands, stand up and so will you-” she pointed at the speaker, who nodded and stood up alongside the snitches, Lucille eyed him- brownish skin, black hair, and a scared expression, the clothes that he wore clearly came from the princess’ donations too, much like all the other Faunist and Florist around him, including Lucille herself.

“Do you know how to control your voice?” Asked the woman as she walked to the edge of the stage and eyed the boy with anger, “do you know how to control it?” She repeated and when he nodded, she smirked, “oh, so you do, then why whisper aggressively?”

“I-I'm sorry-”

“I'm not asking for apologies,” the woman said neutrally, “I'm asking why did you whisper aggressively,”

“I was too excited,” his voice was weak, barely audible and Lucille had to strain her ears to listen-

“Oh, so now you control your whisper,” said the woman, “look up, all of you,” the guys and girls standing up all followed what she said and met her eyes, “get out,”

“Please let us stay-” a chorus of voices erupted and all of them begging for the same thing- to let them stay, that they worked hard for this and Lucille couldn't stand by any longer-

“You can't do this!” She stood up and didn't waver under the hostile gaze of the woman, “just because someone is excited to get in doesn't mean that you can just-"

“And who are you?” Asked the woman, “I don't remember nor have heard of you,” she looked Lucille up and down, face stoic and unchanging, “you don't seem to come from any of the great Families nor do you look like you belong to the Fauna and Flora territories with your white skin so-”

“I'm a Florist,” Lucille defended, how dare she- she shook the venomous thoughts out of her head and met the woman's eyes, “it's just that I work a loom instead of the fields- that's not important- I think it's unfair that-”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“You can also get out then,” replied the woman quickly.

“This is unfair!” Lucille exclaimed, “you can't just make it so that you can make us leave any time you want!”

The woman huffed, “I can and I will, so if you could-”

“Wait- wait-” Neophyte barged into the room, “we can't decide too quickly who to kick out right?..”

Neophyte gave the woman a beaming smile that… did nothing to change her perpetually stoic expression, Neophyte grimaced when the woman stayed silent but Lucille didn't have the time to notice it, she was staring at the princess wide eyed- why was she here instead of one of the examination rooms? Did she already get in? Wait- that would make sense-

“Okay, so uh… you guys can sit down, don’t worry,” Neophyte grinned at them before pointing at her, Lucille- “uh, you with the sanguine pledge, thanks for saving them by the way, you can sit down too,” Neophyte nodded at her- wait, did she hear that right?

“I have a sanguine Pledge?” She asked and Neophyte looked at her.

“Hm? Yeah,” she said, “I know that it turns your current school year into hard mode but I'm pretty sure you'll start to see results when the first exams roll around, I believe in you,” Neophyte's nod at her made Lucille's heart race with determination- she won't disappoint her! Lucille took a seat and watched the princess convince the teacher to calm down, which she will obviously succeed at- “so uh… maybe we can just let them go just this once? I mean, it's not like they'd do it again-”

“We won't!” The same black haired boy cut the princess off and she smiled wryly while rubbing the back of her neck.

“Uhm… you know, maybe they won't do it again-” the teacher's stare was dry as she eyed Neophyte but at least the black haired boy didn't say anything this time around, “- so give them a sec- er third chance?”

The teacher sighed, “... just this once,” she glared at the boy, “I'll allow it,”

“Okay! Great!” She clapped and quickly made her way out of the room, just before she left, she turned to all of them and gave them a thumbs up, “uh, see you guys! Hope you pass!”

Lucille tried to force her wildly beating heart to calm down, “I can't believe it-” she heaved, “my Pledge is actually a sanguine-” so that means she has room to grow! Lucille started giggling, “the princess really is amazing for knowing-”

“Good for you for learning that,” the girl with blue hair said to her side, “but like she said, your first quarter is gonna be hell to go through,” she raised a hand, “and I personally think you're gonna need help so…” she introduced herself with a smile, “Zyra, a Florist, just like you,” her captivating green eyes met Lucille's and she can't help but gulp, she raised her hand and shook Zyra's, “nice to meet you....”

“U-uhm Lucille,” she could've sworn that she introduced herself to her earlier but second introductions are fine too! “Nice to meet you, Zyra,”

The girl smiled before pulling out her test paper and Lucille shortly followed- she wrote her name, where she came from, her Pledge, then she read the first question and smiled:

Survival:

_1. “You are stuck in a forest with 15 people under your care, between these choices, which would you do first?”

She read the choices and circled down the answer that said to pick a place. She knew that the given answer would be perfect for creating a campsite with it being a flat, open ground that allows them to see in all directions so that they can spot the Demons approaching them from a long distance.

Lucille smiled, this test is going to be so easy!

…

“Do you think you passed?” Lucille faced Zyra whose face was concentrated in focus as they walked out of the examination room, personally, Lucille thought that her companion would pass the academic test despite her tomboyish looks, Zyra, after all, seemed to have kept her confidence throughout the test, and if Lucille read her personality right, it should mean that she found it easy.

“Of course I did,” Zyra huffed, “I didn't sit around all day reading instead of training only to fail the things that I studied for,” she said with crossed arms, “what about you? You think you passed?”

“Of course I did!” Lucille grinned, she was confident that she passed, after all, every single question was something that she knew about! “I studied hard for this and I didn't want to ruin the princess’ hard work, so I made sure that I knew every single thing that can be found on the papers!”

“You really like to yell huh?” Smiled Zyra, “so, the academics are done, where do you want to go next?”

“Uhm…” Lucille thought about it and it felt like cheating but she wanted the teachers to see her potential in the categories she excels at, Techniques and Academics, so she wanted to go to the Techniques first- “... Techniques?”

“Let's go then,” Zyra nodded.

It really felt like she was cheating but it's fine! Princess Neophyte that people should play it smart, and right as long as no one is getting harmed, then it's absolutely fine and not cheating at all!

Lucille and her newly found companion walked the halls until they reached the floors where the examinations for the Techniques of the entrees were being done and there, a large line has formed in front of the classrooms where the exams were being conducted, and worse, they're individually done so it'll take even longer for them to finish and Lucille sighed- “should we just go ahead and see if there's a free spot in the Physical examinations?”

“The line there is probably longer,” Zyra hummed, “it's fine, it's basically a given that the entrance exam for Pledge Academy takes an entire day anyways,” the reassuring words made Lucille smile at her gratefully, “so… with that being said, want to talk? I'm curious about what you do for training,”

“Oh! Uhm- I usually just try to increase my speed,” Lucille said with a sheepish smile.

“Like Neophyte?”

“Yes! Like princess Neophyte!” She nodded in earnest, the princess’ fighting style is something that a lot of the girls in her village revered! Where instead of utilizing the body's strength like most people, she abuses her own body's naturally long legs and lithe form to fight with speed that isn't hindered by bulk or weight. “I want to do what she does one day you know?” Lucille giggled, she focused back on Zyra to see a shocked expression etched on her face, “what's wrong?”

“I'm sure you can do it one day, I believe in you,” Lucille paused at the familiarity of the voice that butted into their conversation-

She turned and tilted her head upward to see the princess’ smiling expression- wait what? “I'm glad that I inspired you to do that,” her smile widened and Lucille's heart fluttered, “if you want, you can transfer your line into my own examination room-”

“Yes.” Zyra practically cut the princess off and she blushed, and with a stutter, corrected herself- “I- I'm sorry for my rudeness but we'd love to!” She bowed.

“Great! If some of you can follow me-” it wasn't just some Lucille noted, but most of the students waiting in line who did as she said, “- then I can personally see all the Techniques that you wished to use and grade you based off of them,”

Lucille felt like a chicklet or a duckling while tailing the princess like this, an orderly line was behind her, with Zyra directly behind her and a few other students silently following their lead, the princess, went to one of the empty classrooms and before she entered, Neophyte turned to them, her kind smile present on her face, “come on in, five person each,”

Lucille nodded and walked inside with Zyra, a girl with yellow hair and pale skin, a boy with dusk-brown skin and black hair, and a large guy with bulging muscles- for the last one, the muscles weren't the most notable feature of his- but rather the great sword strapped to his back, a Pledge that looked like it was made of bone- and it probably was, - with serrated edges and a cleaver-like design.

The guy made eye contact with her and intimidated, Lucille looked away to observe the design of the classroom instead: It was heavily modified, with the room being empty of chairs save for the one that their examiner- the princess herself, - is sitting on, on the front is a blackboard, and on the back is a bunch of pages stripped from Demon codexes showing the various Demons that can be found all over the world.

Four large windows were on either wall, two for both left and right, the one facing the hallway was curtained while the one facing the outside wasn't, allowing the morning light to pass through.

In the center of the room is a circle, and one that Neophyte gestured for all of them to stand on.

“Hi!” She said and the large guy when she noticed him staring, he shyly raised his muscled hand before waving like a girl in love, in reaction to that, Neophyte swooned, “awwww~"

The large guy blushed in a way that betrayed his muscular image in Lucille's mind, which went back after he spoke with a tone of deep baritone, “u-uhm, I'm Frovan, nice to meet you- p-princess,”

“Nice to meet you too!” She greeted back with a smile, “I'm Neophyte-” she introduced herself as if that was necessary, “- and I was given permission under the authority of the principal herself so I'm gonna be your examiner for today,” She grabbed a logbook from the blackboard and handed it to them, “please write your name and we'll get started,”

Lucille stepped forward and wrote her name down before taking a deep breath. She didn't know if she could impress the princess or not with her meager techniques but… there's nothing wrong with hoping.