Sunlight entered through a small gap in the curtains, falling on his sleeping face. The face was of a young man with a small mustache growing under his nose. He lay on his table with many books open around him as he lay asleep on one of them. Dark circles stood out on his pale face, which looked like it had not seen the sunlight for months. He twitched, turned his face around and fell back to sleep.

After a few minutes, he sprang up, sitting straight on his chair and looking around. He stared at the door for a moment before he realized that someone was knocking on the door.

“Who is it”, he asked, but no voice came out of him. He cleared his dry throat and asked again.

“It is Albert, sir”, the butler replied from behind the door.

“Come in.”, hearing this reply, Albert unlocked the door and entered the room, along with a group of cleaners. He deftly moved towards the window, drawing the curtain, and then approached the table, closing the books on it and returning them to its shelf. The young man winced as a burst of light flooded his face. After waiting for a few minutes, Albert asked him, “Sir, I believe it is time to prepare yourself now, as your parents wait for you at the table.”

He helped the young man dress up and then walked behind the young man to the table. The young man approached the chair at the centre of the long table. Four of his older brothers sat on his left side, leaving the leftmost chair empty. At the head of the table, his father sat, looking cold and composed. His mother sat beside looking warmly at all her children on the table. Both his uncles sat opposite him with their wives and children. On his right, there were two empty seats for his younger brothers. He greeted them all and sat down for his breakfast.

“Ready for your entrance test, Kal?” his mother asked.

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“What is there to worry about, it’s this bookworm we are talking about, so, of course, he will pass the theoretical part with flying colors. Won’t you, brother?” Rudra, the second eldest, butted in.

“She didn’t ask you, so shut your mouth”, Rudra’s twin sister Mari glared at him.

“I think I am fully prepared. The practical test is what I am worried about.”

Hearing this, everyone’s expression changed for a split second before returning to normal.

Kal ignored it, as it was too bothersome to mention. He knew how sensitive of a topic it was. Kal had once overheard a conversation between the servants talking about how he had Excess Magic Absorption, a disorder which was caused because of excess intake of Magic Energy when breathing. It was an extremely rare disorder with no known cure. Most who suffered from this died by the time they reached 20 years of age. Only by improving Magic Energy control in the body could one increase one’s lifespan. But one could start learning to control their Magic energy only in an academy once they became 15 years old. As it was almost impossible to learn enough Magic Energy control to counteract the disorder in 5 years, the probability of him surviving were very slim. And to add to it they were a House of nobles focused on Swordsmanship, so most would hesitate to teach him magic control. So everyone looked at him with pity. The disorder also caused his body to shut down temporarily when he breathed too fast, and so it was dangerous for him to get tired. So he was even unable to properly exercise, so he was extremely weak in both stamina and strength.

Kal forced himself to not think of such things as today was the day of admission test. It was the day he would have to write a theoretical test, and then there would be a spar to check practical skills. At last there would be a test of his potential for Magic through various examinations of the body conducted by Magical tools. All of these scores would determine the academy in which he could get admission in. So he pushed aside all his other thoughts, and left for the test center after taking the permission and wishes of everyone. He sat in the carriage as it moved down the rocky road. He had been waiting for this day for a long time. He had taken great efforts to convince his parents to let him attend an academy. His body moved restlessly unable to control his excitement, but his eyes remained focused on the large building of the Royal Academy, glowing with fierce determination and desperation to survive.