The Learning Institute of Magic, the most prestigious school in the continent. Founded by the emperor almost 400 years ago, it stands as the apex of education and wealth, unrivaled by any other centre of study. It takes talented individuals from around the land and helps them harness their skills in order to make a new generation of superleaders. In this time of relative peace between the fifteen kingdoms, many heirs and prominent figures in society are sent to this school. Their success dictates the quality of the rest of their life. It also acts as a diplomatic hub for these noble families. The school gives students the chance to build relations with the future heads of commerce, power and kingdoms, others whom they would have never interacted with otherwise. In many ways, the Learning Institute serves as the center of the world, and today, I join the hundreds of other 15-year-old teens looking for a chance at glory, fame and international prestige.

I’m Myr Lethe, the third-born son to the Lethe family. I’m not what you would call an outstanding person. Comparatively, I am rather unremarkable compared to some of my other peers. Frankly, the only reason why I’m here is because of my family. The unspoken rule of nobility; if you are a noble, you must go to the Institute. Unfortunately for me, I classify as a noble and therefore I must be sent here if I want to maintain my usually lazy lifestyle.

So here I am, sitting alone in this carriage, on my way to 5 years of hard work, increasing amounts of effort and social obligations. Normally, I would have been pretty upset about this, I quite enjoy doing nothing all day. However, I feel a strange excitement instead. A feeling that pushes me to the edge of my seat and keeps me thinking about what’s going to happen. I don’t know why, maybe the reputation of the school is influencing my opinion of it, maybe it was the influence of my family, or my friends. I don’t exactly know.

What I do know is that excitement isn’t a fun feeling. Time progresses slowly and the carriage ride isn’t the most entertaining thing in the world. The tiniest bumps in the road, the faintest breezes through the trees and the most silent cries of woodland animals. I’m only noticing these things because I’m not distracted by anything else.

The carriage wheels hit a rock in the road and the carriage is slightly launched in the air. I cross my legs and look outside the window in order to distract myself. The forest is thick, heavy almost. Probably infested with monsters too. Thankfully the more dangerous ones don’t wander too close to the edge of the forest. That’s what I was told at least. I didn’t feel like running today.

I sit uncomfortably in my robe. It’s long, and often drapes against the ground, catching dust and making me sneeze. Its usual black colour blends perfectly in the dark of the night, but here, in the early morning, it is annoyingly outstanding. I can’t have that. I snap my fingers and mutter a few words under my breath. I feel mana surround me and the colour of my robe changes to a clean white. Perfect. I don’t like to stand out. My magic helps me in that regard.

I continue to daydream, because there’s nothing else to do. Past memories re-emerge. I remember when I was a kid and I used to run around with my other brothers, mum and dad were always watching… good times. There was the castle, the fields, the forest… let's stop there. It’s not like any of those things are gone, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself because I already feel homesick.

I feel the carriage begin to slow and I look outside my window. In the distance I see a large tall stone wall. Reinforced with a metal crosshair that covers the surface. I grimace as I notice the many figures standing in front of the gate. It’s at that moment, I knew, I’m probably going to have to wait alongside them.

I dismount the carriage and look to my carriage rider. He seemed disinterested and bored. I waved him goodbye, he waved back before sending the horses on the path back home. I watched the wooden carriage bound off, quickly fading behind the many hills that formed the path to the school.

I turn back to the school and it is then when I can actually take in the true glory of the school. Like I had noticed before, tall stone walls made up its anterior. They were seemingly coated with a glaze of metal but I knew that was just a very intricate iron mesh used for conducting spells.

Towers predominated most of the space, evenly spaced on the wall. They were armed to the brim with various ranged weapons and anti-magic constructs. I could see patrols walking across the battlements, also armed and carefully watching the forest that surrounded the students. Of course they would be on higher guard today, I’ve heard rumors of students being attacked by the magical beasts in the forest.

Apart from the defensive arrangements, there were other towers, probably meant for study and magic. The scholarly, simple-slotted towers towered over the smaller, much wider castle towers. They stood ahead of the clear blue sky and cast long shadows on the ground in front of me.

The prime of my focus, however, was the gate that arched from in between the towers. The students crowded around this area the most. That meant I couldn’t get a good look at it, but at least I could appreciate its size.

I decided it was time to stop gawking at the castle and I approached the group in front of me. This was the time to start making friends, and very important future alliances. I quickly scanned my surrounding area. No royals. I sighed. My year has the highest concentration of royal heirs in most of history. Only one royal family has no heir in the Institute this year, that being the Ironwood family, or my kingdom.

???: “Hey!”

I looked up from my self pity to find a rather round boy walking towards me. He wore a thick red and white attire which looked like a cultural norm in the north. He made his way towards me, his wide smile surprisingly refreshing in the sea of stoic faces.

???: “I’m Atnas, I noticed you were alone and making friends is important so… wanna be my friend?” And with a childlike innocence, he extended his hand. The purity I saw in him was so abundant and clear. I doubt that this kid had ever lied in his life.

I took his arm and shook it promptly. If I’m going to have to be here for 5 years, I might as well get find someone fun to spend this time with. This kid definitely looks like fun. “I’m Myr, It’s good to meet you too.” I also realized I have no idea what’s happening and Atnas seems like the type of boy to know these types of things.

Atnas: “Great! You’re the first person to actually shake my hand without me mentioning my last name. I swear, people use those more than actually words here. Like ‘oh, I’m from this and this family’. As if that means anything.”

I stare at him blankly. I didn’t understand a word he said. Thankfully, I didn’t need to, at least I hope.

Myr: “Do you know why we’re waiting?”

Atnas: “Ah, a firstborn eh? Me too, at least my dad told me a bit. Apparently, the teachers are preparing for an entrance exam. This is the first year their doing this. I heard the student council had something to do with this. Pretty exciting stuff actually! I’ve been dying to test out my skills on something.”

An entrance exam? I never heard about this! And how come mum and dad didn’t say anything? Probably too busy with that new spell. I sighed. I hope it’s not combat related, maybe just a show of magic? I can definitely make a show…

Atnas: “It’s going to be great, I love practical exams, I’ll blow my competition away! I have so many spells I wanted to try out, I just hope my opponents aren’t too weak…”

…Damn that student council…

Atnas looked at me concerned. He probably saw the sour look I was giving.

Atnas: “Don’t worry Myr! The fighting is only for those in the magic program, plus it’s tournament style! One on one. You only need to beat two of your opponents to get accepted. I’m sure you can manage that. There are a lot of weak competitors after all! With a bit of luck and some of that mana surrounding you, you can easily pass! Course, if you wanna show off you can keep going, I heard there was a big prize at the end. I think I’ll try and go for that. I’m also interested in the other royals, I wonder how strong they are…”

He started to drone on about the tournament while I could only sit and sulk. Metaphorically of course.

Atnas: “By the way Myr, what kingdom are you from. I’m from Arctica. I don’t usually like to pry but this is pretty important to me.” Atnas’s round face turned a little bit serious. I didn’t like his seriousness, it ruined his good guy appearance.

Myr: “Ironwood. I’m from Ironwood.” I answered him quickly, hoping that seriousness would disappear. Thankfully it did as his facial features softened. Or rather deflated. His face looked like it could never hold an actual edge. Everyone from Ironwood looks constantly angry.

Atnas: “Good… good. Either way!” His talks continued and time started to melt away. Before I knew it thirty minutes had gone by. Atnas is really good at consuming my time. Suddenly I saw movement near the crowd. My eyes shifted there instinctively and his eyes followed too.

The gates started to open, moving slowly and dragging the heavy metal across the ground. A dust cloud formed and the crowd moved with it. Out from the darkness of the tunnel emerged a couple handful of people, large quantities of mana surrounding their personage.

One of them stepped forward, a tall important looking woman with glasses and a perfect posture that exuded dignity, influence and the fact that talking to her would probably bore me to death.

???: “Welcome to the Institute of Magic children. I am your headmaster. It is here where you throw away everything you were before and focus on developing your talent. Whether it be mathematics, the sciences or practical arcana, you will learn it here, all of it. But first, we must separate the weak from the strong. This is the first year we will have a practical exam and the first year we actually test to see if you found your way here through raw strength or meaningless gold.”

The gate, once dark, suddenly flashed with magic and a hole in the space appeared. Colours filled my vision and what I could only assume a portal was formed. Portals… huh?

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Atnas: “PORTALS!? THEY HAVE PORTALS!?” Atnas’s reaction may have been exaggerated compared to the rest of the crowd, but his words perfectly summarized what they were feeling. I forgot portals weren’t a common type of magic. Though, even I’m impressed. The size of the portal…

Guards started to flood through the magic hole and the headmaster started to speak again, her words just barely able to overcome the noise caused by ripping a hole through space.

Headmaster: “Once you are ready, you may enter your portal. Studious majors will be sent to a practical exam involving the maths and sciences of magic whereas Magic majors will be sent to the arena were you will watch your peers fight for acceptance into the school. I can only wish you the best of luck. You will need it.”

With that, the headmaster, followed by the other teachers walked inside the portal, leaving the crowd of children with a few guards probably there to make sure the portal isn’t rushed.

Atnas: “Woah, I knew the Institute was impressive, but this is actually incredible. Come on Myr, lets go! I’ve been to the Institute stadium before and the amount of good seats are limited.”

I nodded and he grabbed my hand and dashed through the crowd. Despite his stature, he was pretty capable and easily brushed aside the students also hurried to get in. When we neared the front, we slowed down, Atnas could see guards moving students who rushed to get inside to the back of the line.

After only a tiny bit of waiting, we walked past the guards and into the portal. There we were met with the stadium. I’ve heard about it before, but it really is impressive. Long rows of seats that line the nearly fortress-like structure of the walls, many of them already full with students and parents. It looked like it could seat 40 000 people, though, most of the seats would be empty today. The bottom row was completely full though. There were obscure passageways that lead deeper inside the stadium, and tall columns that held large slabs of stone that served as roofs and more areas for seats. There were fifteen overarching platforms outfitted with the best view and guarded by guards. I could see some of them were used. Seems like the royals were actually here.

Looking down, I could see the arena in its entirety. It was mostly comprised of a miniature forest that sectioned off the middle from the rest of the area. Around that were other terrain types, a body of water, dunes, hills, a mountainous area that peaked near the edge of the seats and a darkened spot in the corner of the stadium. I took a second to marvel at the gargantuan size and depth the arena held.

Atnas and I made our way to the nearest staircase. There we started our descent downward towards what he probably considers the best seats. I would prefer to sit farther up away from the crowds of people but its not really important so I decide not to bring it up.

We steal some seats from two other kids and sit down, Atnas giving them a smirk before they dejectedly walk away. Atnas turned to me and pointed at the arena.

Atnas: “Incredible isn’t it? I’m always amazed whenever I see it. The sheer size of that forest… either they built this school around a part of the forest or they grew one out of the dirt! Hahaha… no matter what, its still incredible.”

I agree with him, it is incredible. There aren’t enough words in the world to accurately describe the spectacle that the institute is. That praise is further backed by the fact that I’ve only seen the front entrance and the arena, nowhere else and I’m already impressed.

Atnas and I talk about the arena for a good amount of time, I almost completely forgot that I was here to fight in that exact arena. Suddenly, maybe 20 minutes later, I hear a voice echo around the arena. I look up from my conversation with Atnas and realize the seats around us have all been filled, as have the ones far behind us. Somehow, in the span of 20 minutes, a good five-thousand people entered the stands, and neither of us noticed anything.

In the distance, I saw a platform float up into the middle of the arena, on it was a figure whom I could barely see. Thankfully, large magical projections appeared around the arena for viewing convince, on it was a zoomed up portrait of that man’s face.

???: “Welcome rulers of the realm, welcome back to those of us returning. This here is the arena for those who don’t know. We love our magic, our mayhem and our overall chaos! My name is Tura, I’m usually a teacher but for today, I’m your host. We’ve got a special event today folks! As many of you know, the arena is usually used for recreation and disputes between you upperclass people.”

Tura: “Today however, on request by our very own student council, who maintain, work and clean the grounds, we are going to use the arena for the first student entrance examination! Congratulations! You lucky few are going to witness the best and most powerful young magicians in the world duke it out between each other, competing for the top spot!”

There is slight cheering from the crowd but most of the spectators were glued to his words.

Tura: “I’ll go over the rules real quick before we get onto the good stuff. First rule, no cheating. It should be obvious but even during school examinations we still have that naughty rascal who tries to give themselves a little boost over their competitors. This is absolutely not allowed! We only care about your raw strength, not performance enhancing magic, so for those of you who are carrying anything you know you shouldn’t be, throw it away right now. If your caught cheating you WILL bring great shame on yourself and your family, you will also never be able to come back to the institute again but that doesn’t matter as much at that point of time. Oh and, if your confident that you can get it past us, don’t be. Trust me, I took a look at the magic systems set up, you cheat, your out. That’s that. A public announcement, everyone watching is notified and you’ll be dumped outside the school. Next rule!”

I could see a few people shuffling in the crowd. Did people actually bring contraband items? Huh. I didn’t think people were actually that stupid.

Tura: “#2! Surrender! We can repair broken arms, heal the deadliest of poisons and even regenerate limbs! Be as ruthless as you want! Have fun! Release those hidden desires for absolute bloodshed! Just don’t kill anyone in the process, and if someone surrenders, well, don’t attack them either. Of course that comes with some problems but once again, our friendly neighbourhood student council is here with another unnecessary strain on us teachers. Hehe…”

I get the feeling he doesn’t exactly enjoy the student council right now.

Tura: “If you are going to kill someone, or someone surrenders, us teachers will swoop in and take them out of the arena. So don’t hold back, even if you have a knife to your neck, as long as you aren’t dead, your still in the fight. Dead or surrendering. That is an option after all. We want to observe the raw, untapped power of students who are in mortal danger. We fully expect the forest to be completely demolished by the end of today. If its not, then we will be sorely disappointed. Hahaha.”

Tura: “Lastly, we must discuss how the combat is going to work. Currently, we have invited around 5000 students to join our school. At the end of my little talk here, we’ll give the students twenty minutes to fully understand what I had said before we toss in one-third of the students. All. At. Once.”

The few cheers from the crowd go silent. Atnas gives a very confused look.

Tura: “You heard it right folks. Around 1700 students, in that somewhat small area for that many people. Your job is to knock out at least two other students. Knock out, make them surrender, almost kill them, you get the gist of it. We also have a system in place to measure that. If you want the inner magics behind it, there’s a paper published by our.” *Sigh* “Absolutely amazing student council along the exits of the arena. Take a look if your interested in the best observatory magic there is!”

Tura: “Back to the topic at hand. We will switch up the groups every hour. If you surrender, get knocked out or fail to knock out two other students in the span of an hour, then you will fail and you will lose the chance to join the Institute this year. Don’t fret though, you can always try again next year. We only expect 300 out of the 5000 it even get in.”

300?! I looked to Atnas. His face was getting more and more excited. Damnit. I wanted to rant about how insane this was but I should have known Atnas was the type of person to get excited about this. All he could talk about was how he wanted to test his skills.

Tura: “This is due to the prizes we are handing out. We understand that this challenge is already quite difficult, so we decided to make an even more difficult challenge. In each group of 1700 students, if there happens to be one student standing, then that student will be granted a wonderous prize. As provided by the all-powerful student council! Even I don’t know what it is, but the student council president himself prepared it. Keep in mind, he has control over most of the funds that flow into the school. I was told that it was worth trying for.”

Atnas had started drooling. Did… was he thinking…

Myr: “Atnas… your drooling… did you think the prize was... food?”

Atnas looked at me slightly upset. “It’s not?! What other glorious things are there in the world?!”

I look at him stunned. I can’t help but laugh. Atnas, confused, goes back to listening to the announcer as her continued to talk. I couldn’t though, I just kept laughing. Atnas is absolutely hilarious and I don’t really care about the prize. Nor am I going to go for it. I’m here to have fun, live low and leave. I don’t need to deal with this. Once my five years are done, unless I’m forced to, I won’t be going to the greater institute. Lesser is fine with me. I don’t want to spend another five years in the institute…

Actually, we’ll have to see. I don’t know how boring it will be, but Atnas is already proving his worth.

Tura: “That’s pretty much all you need to know folks. You should know that any weapons are allowed. Daggers, knives, trebuchets. Anything you want to bring with you, its absolutely fine. Just as long as you can carry it yourself, its fine. Now that I think about it, trebuchets may be a bit hard. Either way, that’s it for me. There are other rules but they’re all common sense and I don’t want to be explaining this for too long. For now, ready yourself. You could be in the arena at any moment!.”

With that, the floating platform Tura was on, slowly floated away and the magical projections disappeared. I looked down at my hands. Faint bits of mana floated around my finger tips. Am I ready for this? I never did like combat. I’ve been trained but… this will be my first actual test.

I ask myself again, am I really ready for this?

I guess I’ll find out soon.