Two days after the test a messenger had appeared in the main gate of Sunfort, leaving after delivering a letter with the seal of the Academy addressed to Leif Crows, Allera set the letter down on the table, Leif and Katlyn stood on both sides looking down at it, the boy had never felt his heart race like this without being directly attacked by someone, with a small pocket knife she broke the seal pulling out a folded paper from inside.
"To the Esteemed Candidate,
We extend our heartfelt congratulations on successfully passing the first phase of the Pallaccian Academy of Runic Studies entrance exam. This accomplishment marks you as one of the few with the aptitude to tread the path of mastery over the arcane."
Katlyn squeeled, a wave of relief washed over the boy who let put a sigh, his legs felt a little dormant.
Allera: [Good, in less then a week you'll be out of my hair, child.]
Leif: [Ill say the same for you hag.]
Allera: [What did yo-]
Katlyn: [That great, isn't it? If where lucky you'll be on the same campus as me! It's gonna be so much fun!]
It took almost a week for the next one to arrive, the same messenger delivering a letter with the same seal, neither Allera nor Katlyn where home this time and Kastro made sure to hand Leif the letter without allowomg anyone to open it, he simply forced the seal until it broke, pulling the folded paper from inside.
"To the Esteemed Candidate,
Following your success in the first phase of Pallaccian Academy of Runic Studies entrance exam, you are now invited to take part in the second test. Please find yourself at the main gate of the Academy grounds at 6:00 in the morning, in exactly 3 days."
He felt his chest tighten, buy this time not with apprehension, according to Katlyn the second test of the entrance exam was some sort of combat, the paper crumbled as he tighten his hand into a fist, not being able to contain the smile that forced itself on his face, for the next few days Leif made sure to train twice a much, everyday, asking for Kastro's he managed to pack himself with essentials, things he wished he had when fighting in the war, three knives, one on the hip, other under the arm and the last on the back of his thigh, a small satchel of medicinal herbs and another one of food, a water pouch and even a flint stick to light a fire, not that he needed one, with a simple rune of fire he could light up everything, but making sure he had enough energy saved was the best move he could take, he didnt know the type of test he'd have to go throught but it was better to come prepared, he asked Kastro for the roughest leather and the best chainmail he could have and was even able the two best pieces for protection he had ever owned, two leather gauntlets coated with iron scales and a iron chestpiece that could be easily hid beneath his cloak.
When time came he got up on the same carriage he had taken the last time, the drive to the Citadel was more then a hour long but it was enjoyable, driving along the cliffed coasts, feeling the fresh air flowing throught the open carriage window, he went over the plans he had made again and again, when the carriage stopped he saw himself a few meters from the closet main gate, the hundreds of candidates crowded right in front of it, despite there still being quite a lot of them there seemed to be much less then last time, about 400 less in Leif's eyes, if the same happened less then 200 of them would actually be accepted, he stepped down and thanked the driver, stepping away from the carriage and standing around the crowd, after about 20 minutes of other carriages arriving and going the massive red gate was opened, standing there where the same cloaked figures as before.
???: [We are pleased with your presence, aspirants.]
A murmur spread through the crowd of candidates.
???: [We ask that you follow us, towards the location of the next test, you will be given 10 minutes before we start.]
The main figure took the spotlight once more.
???: [10 MINUTES!!?]
The same tall and strong tan young man as before sounded, Elsun, the crowd erupted into dozens of different parallel conversations, what do we need 10 minutes for? Leif asked himself, if we where to walk the same path as before it could be done immediately and in less then 30 minutes.
Leif: [Unless...]
He came to a understanding, they were giving them 10 minutes to prepare because the walk would be towards another location, and probably much longer then 30 minutes, thankfully Leif was almost completely sure of himself in this, running and walking for long periods across long distances was one of his best skills, after the 10 minute wait the main figure spoke once more.
???: [I hope you have all prepare yourselves, aspirants, but first before we begin allow me to lay out the rules for this "walk".]
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A silence overtook the crowd.
???: [There are 3 rules I want you all to be conscious off, First! All of those who fall 500 meters behind the first will be eliminated!]
Once more a murmur overtook the crowd.
???: [Second! The last 50 to arrive will be eliminated!]
The murmur seemed to grow louder.
???: [Third! ANY and ALL combat is completely allowed!]
Leif could see a look of panic arise among the faces of the candidates, but he couldn't bring himself to focus a surge of excitement flowed through his veins, he once more had to fight away a smile.
???: [If you have understood the rules, then please, follow us.]
He said, turning around and beggening to walk, three of the figures stood behind as the rest begun to move, Leif made sure to be quick, following behind as the crowd passed throught the gate among panicked punches and and kicks, thankfully he had already seen this before, multiple times, the faces of civilians who have been faced with overwhelming violence, he pushed three or four people away from him and dashed in front of the masses before he could be consumed by their numbers, he looked back to see others still struggling to pass throught, some seemed to even engage in unnecessary fighting, then he felt something hit his cheek with force, the familiar sensation of a punch, not nearly the hardest punch he ever took but it was enough to make him stumble and almost lose his balance while running, he looked looked ahead but couldn't find whoever punched him, he simply gathered himself and resumed running, he was stupid to look back when there where enemies in front of him aswell.
The running and fighting didn't last for long, in less then 20 minutes most of the candidates had already graded the fact that fighting would be less then useless, along with wasting their time they wasted their energy in nothing, the fact that the examiners wherent running either helped, it showed to them that they had barely begun, Leif wasn't the first but he was one of the firsts on the path, there where atleast 30 others in front of him and hundreds behind him, but he could easily see who was at the front, and hear aswell, since the two, Elsun and Ville simply wouldn't stop talking, or screaming, most of the time, when they arrived at the giant tower of the Academy the examiners stopped on their tracks, just then a tunnel opened throught the ground, dirt, rock and stone seemed to move on its own before them, Leif knew it was Runic but what kind of runic where they using to move so much material so easily?
They continued the walk underground for a while, the ground was at times soft and brittle, breaking easily and due to the almost drop-like steep path Leif could hear people falling on eachoyher behind him, but he managed, treading the dirt and rocks on the way, when the drop ended after almost 20 minutes they had stopped right infront of a equally as steep climb, with equally treacherous footing, the boys fingers digged throught the dirt and mud all the way up for over 10 minutes, all along the way many feel and others rolled on top of eachother, he was the 12th to reach the top, dirty and sweaty, a sensation he was quite familiar with, he felt as if he had gone back to crawling in the muck once more, he clutched the leather of his swords sheath once more, a comfort he hadnt sought in a long time, he simply sat for a few minutes, right on the top of the tunnel he had climbed out of, catching his breath, but as others begun to arrive he got up and continued to walk right away, following the examiners who had now started to slowly jog.
They passed throught the second gate of the Academy, the gate situated on the exact opposite of the main one of the Academy's wall, a half as large but still huge gate made of the same red colored wood as the other, once passed it they begun to follow the dirt path that lead much far the he could actually see, towards hills and forests, 30 minutes after leaving Academy grounds Leif was begenning to doubt his decision to pack so much stuff with himself, that and the idea of wearing not only that much thick leather, chainmail and the thick cloak, almost two hours in they where passing throught a forest that sorround the path entirely, the examiners where almost completely running by then, he was among the same group throughout the entire course, the same crowd of 20 or so candidates who continued on the front for the entire course, and this group remained much the same, with the exception of 1 or 2 who had to stay behind, for the next 2 or so hours, Leif was already covered with sweat, he could feel the fabric of his clothing sticking to his skin but he fought on, most of the others seemed to be as tired and exhausted as he was and when he looked back the same could be seen, hundreds of candidates had been eliminated, it was easy to fall behind by then.
Then Leif spotted someone staring at him, a tanned blonde boy who on his back carried a warhammer, he could feel it, the intent the boy had, and when he pulled the hammer and swinges it at Leif's feet he was prepared, jumping it and dashing forward leaving the other teen behind.
???: [Hey you asshole!! Dont ignore me!!]
Said the boy with the warhanmer deeply sinked in the dirt, but Leif paid no attention at all, in fact he was even glad, with that he hadn't only passed one but three others with that quick sprint, by the next 2 or 3 hours they passed throught all kinds of terrain, plains, swamped lands, forests, sometimes the dirt path wasn't even visible, and they either had to jump around through the roots of trees or tread through the dirty and muddy waters that blocked their path, they ran, for what seemed to be an eternity, at that point the cloaked figures where outright sprinting awah from them but, suddenly, they got faster, when Leif noticed they where using enhancements he managed to piece together something, this was the final stretch.
He closed his eyes, imagining his energy flow from his core to his legs, when opening his eyes he could see he wasn't the only one who had that idea, 6 others of the dozen he was along with in the front had pieced the same thing, and in front of him, sprinting full speed and using enhancements was the same bickering pair, screaming and shouting slurs at eachother, the small group whized through the air right behind the examiners, with speeds closet to that of a galloping horse then a normal human sprint, when he looked back he could see that others where using enhancements aswell but they either had started to slow or where overall not as efficient users, even more, Leif was impressed with the group he made part of, he expected some to be comparable to him of course but not so many, there where atleast 7 upfront and other groups close behind, there where way more people like him then he thought, the group dominated the next 30 minutes of running and by the end the examiners had aligned themselves in a straight line once more, now infront of a harbor, where a massive ship was docked, altought three of them where still missing.
For the next 10 minutes other groups begun to arrive, and by the end the three remaining examiners had closed in.
???: [The first phase of the second test has ended, good work, remaining aspirants.]
Said the main figure.
???: [Of the 600 who first arrived, 238 have been eliminated, and now the second phase of the test will commence!]
They made the remaining candidates board the boat, what made this boat large wasn't that it had many floors, or that it overall large, but it had a very long deck, with 30 seats for rowing on each side, the cloaked figures got on to the boat first, 4 standing in the bow and the rest on the back, the allowed each candidate to choose where they would sit and if they would sit at all, the first ones where the fiery couple, yelling at eachother that one could row harder then the other, dozens of others followed but not Leif, he simply stood on the middle along with hundreds of others, in the middle of the water, enjoying the sensation of the rowing and trying to ignore the screaming match in the front, he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see the same blonde young man as before, looking at him with his soft green eyes.
Kallun: [Hello there, i'm Kallun, you did great during the run.]
Leif: [Ah, thank you, i'm Leif.]
Kallun: [Leif, whare are you from?]
Leif: [From a small village in Cithroam.]
Kallun: [Cithroam... hmm...]
They would talk with eachother a little during the rowing, after a couple of minutes they finally could see the small figure of a island in the horizon, slowly growing larger and larger as they approached, when they finally hit the shore, the main figure stepped forward once more.
???: [Now, i will explain the rules for the second phase of the test.]
All of the candidates where silenced.
???: [Each and all of you will be given these...]
He showed off a small grey rock with a rectangular shape.
???: [These are name stones! Each will have your own name engraved into it, and each will be tasked with taking atleast one stone! Those who come back with none other then their own, will be eliminated!]