The next day Reed called the number he had been given by the recruiter for the academy. He was told to come to the academy in a week for registration and the entrance exam. Reed was a bit surprised when he heard there was an entrance exam, seeing as he was directly recruited for his talent. Apparently, rather than using the exam to judge whether he could join the academy, the exam was used to determine the amount of resources he would be allocated.

The days leading up to the exam were fairly uneventful. Reed made sure to exercise and study throughout the week to keep himself in peak condition. Afterall, he had no idea what the entrance exam was going to look like. Before he knew it, it was the day before the exam.

*ding*

Reed had gotten a text on his phone.

Ema: Hey Reed come over for dinner

Ema: Bring your family

Reed: wut why

Ema: My dad wants to meet you

Reed: aight then I’ll ask my family

Ema: I’ll send someone to pick you up

Reed: ???

Send someone to pick them up? What does she mean by that? Without thinking too hard about it, Reed got up and headed out of his room.

“Hey mom!” He shouted down the hall, “My friend wants us to come over for dinner! Can we all go?”

“Huh? Eh? Honey, you have a friend?” His mom was genuinely confused. For years now Reed hadn’t talked about any friends. She had been seriously worried that he wasn’t getting along with other people his age, but for Reed to have a friend!

“Sure honey! I’ll tell your sister.”

“Thanks mom. She’ll send someone to pick us up apparently.” Reed went back into his room and closed the door.

His mom, standing down the hallway, turned stiff.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Wait. It’s a girl?” She got a mischievous grin on her face. “Sounds like my boy’s growing up.”

Later that day…..

*Ding dong*

The doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it!” Reed shouted, running to the door. Opening it he saw a well dressed man wearing clothes more expensive than everything Reed owns combined. “Uh, h-hello?” The clothes intimidated Reed.

“Are you Reed Chambers?” The man asked solemnly.

“Yes I am. Are you perhaps…?”

“I was sent by Ms. Ema to escort you to Blume estate.”

“Ah. Is this something I should’ve dressed formally for?” Reed was a bit embarrassed by the fact that he was casually wearing jeans and a sweatshirt when the man in front of him was so well dressed.

“No, your current attire is acceptable.” Reed was relieved. He didn’t even have any formal clothing, his family could barely afford to have cell phones so such clothing was a luxury.

Nodding, Reed replied, “Let me go get my family, I’ll be back in a moment.”

After grabbing his mother and sister, the three of them were led into a luxurious black limo.

“Holy crap Reed! Your friend sure is loaded!” Amelia looked around the limo with sparkling eyes.

“Y-yeah. I wasn’t expecting this at all.” Reed was extremely surprised. Ema’s casual attitude and choice of clothing gave him the impression she was from a regular middle class family.

After driving for a bit, Reed noticed that they were clearly arriving into the wealthier part of the city. The further they drove the larger and more extravagant the buildings became. Eventually the limo stopped in front of a beautiful victorian style building 5 stories tall. It was the most expensive looking house Reed had ever seen in his life. At this point his nervousness began growing. ‘What if we somehow offend them? With the amount of wealth they possess they could ruin our family a hundred times over.’

“Eyy! Reed, you made it!” He heard a familiar voice. “I’m glad you could make it.”

“Hey Ema, glad to be here.” Hearing Ema greet him so casually helped him to calm down. ‘I’m sure it’ll all work out fine,’ he told himself.

“Welp, follow me and I’ll take y’all to the dining hall.” Ema guided Reed and his family into the mansion. After passing through multiple hallways, each adorned with beautiful pieces of art, they arrived at the dining hall.

“Ah, your mom and sister can wait out here for a moment.” Ema said, “my dad can go a little overboard with his greetings.” Nodding, Reed followed Ema into the dining hall, leaving his mom and sister outside.

Walking into the hall was a little intimidating. Rather than being called a dining hall, one could call it a ballroom. There were rows of tables, each stacked with delicious looking dishes, and in the center of the room a glorious jeweled chandelier was hanging from the ceiling. Below the chandelier there was a long table with silverware placed on it. Sitting at the end of it was a man.

“Reed, this is my dad. Dad, this is Reed.” Ema introduced them. In normal circumstances Reed would have been extremely nervous coming somewhere like this. However, all of his nervousness vanished when he looked at Ema’s dad.

“Yeah. My dad has horrible style.” Ema said a bit disappointedly. The man in front of him was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, cargo pants, and slippers. Reed looked at him with dead eyes.

“My dear, dear daughter, you simply don’t understand the fashion of us higher class people.” Her dad shook his head. “You must be Reed. I’ve heard that you’re a friend of my daughter? I wanted to invite you over and make sure…” it seemed as though an invisible pressure came down on Reed, “that you were someone qualified to be her friend.”

The pressure felt incredibly heavy. It was undoubtedly heavier than when he took the strength test, however Reed was stronger than he was then thanks to the energy in his body. Sweat began to pour down Reed’s face and back as he resisted the pressure with everything he had. Pushing his body as hard as he could, Reed managed to just barely stand up. The ground beneath his feet cracked.

“It’s good to meet you sir.” Reed said, mustering his strength in order to stay standing. The pressure faded away.

“Hahahaha! You are quite strong for a kid your age! No wonder you managed to beat my girl in the physical tests! You will make a fine addition to the Player Academy.”

“Thank you for the compliments sir.” Reed said respectfully. This man possessed a strength he couldn’t understand or match.

“Now, please bring your family in! Let’s all eat!” The man was a lot more joyous than he first appeared.