“Next aspirant, Sirius from House F- The House Frye!!”

The commotion that I had created, silenced in an instant. The audience looked like they had been splashed with cold water at the height of their heat. Eyes bulged, unsavoury expression and their heavy breathing was enough proof of the myriads of emotions that were attacking their heart at that moment. Every pair of eyes were following Sirius’ movement right now. While my time at the middle arena was filled with contempt and hostility, Sirius’ moments gave the feeling of dread and agitation. Just the name Frye commanded everyone’s unbroken attention.

And the attention did remain unbroken. People’s hearts jumped with every step that Sirius took and they looked ready to worship the ground he walked on.

Sirius reached the middle arena and closed his eyes for a moment to settle his focus. Professor Willem had created a barrier around the arena, so he couldn’t do something like I had done. Well, even if he could, he wouldn’t have done that. That was the kind of person Sirius was, after all. People in the hall, me included, waited quietly. Sirius was just standing there without moving a single part of his body. I could see mana coalescing around his sword rapidly, shaking the air that it touched. The mana that filled the entire hall was rushing towards Sirius as if being sucked in by a higher power, and soon it was all let out at once.

Sirius pulled out his sword, the mark of a Frye, and slashed vertically in a full circular motion. The mana, that had turned into the sharpest substance in existence, travelled to the ceiling with an intent to break it apart. The ground beneath Sirius had already been sliced apart and a long gash was running through the floor that reached the entirety of the training hall. Sirius’ attack reached the ceiling, slicing all the chandeliers that adorned the hall, cleanly. There wasn’t a single piece of rubble that fell down, testament to how clean the cut was.

I turned my head to look at the audience, most of whom were looking in awe at the scene my friend had created. Some of them, the stronger ones, looked a bit concerned for reasons stranger to me. I looked at Sirius, who was huffing deeply and trying to catch his breath, and noticed that his eyes looked happy.

There wasn’t a cheer from the audience, nor any applause at this show of strength. The only thing that prevailed was absolute silence. The silence was soon cut off by Professor Willem’s words, “Pass.”

Professor Willem’s words cut through the oppressive atmosphere. Sirius, while looking happy, said in an excited voice, “Yes!”

A sombre applause, that had started from a corner, had spread to the entire hall now. The audience showed no feeling of excitement and only applauded Sirius’ performance like they had been forced to. Sirius, while walking towards me, also noticed this odd behaviour.

“So, you’re a Frye? The heir?” Professor Cecilia asked candidly. Sirius nodded.

“I see. It’s an honour to meet the heir of Frye. However, your time in this academy will be spent like a student. I hope you do not abuse your status.” Professor Cecilia spoke in a straightforward manner and dismissed us.

“Next aspirant, Daniel from the house Good….”

The announcer had already started calling the next person. Before turning around to leave the hall, I asked Professor Willem a question, “Professor, what would you be teaching us?”

Professor Willem smiled mischievously as his gaze shifted from my eyes to the pendant I was wearing. The same pendant that Sir Ghost had given me all those years ago.

“I’ll be your Master of Artifacts, child.”

****************

Sirius and I left the hall and proceeded to the location of the next test. We were given a badge that signified that we had cleared the first test.

“Is the written test even necessary? What would that even accomplish?” I thought out loud. We were walking down the corridor, with many other children who had cleared the basic screening. Excited faces were all around us, when we reached the room allotted for the written test.

“They can’t let just anyone enter the academy, you know. Only sophisticated people are allowed.” Sirius said.

“You do realise that the numbers of commoners will be thinned even further due to this, right? All that talk about unfairness was bullshit. This is a system, very clearly structured to benefit the privileged.”

“Mehr, language!” Sirius said as he looked at me. He thought for a while and agreed with my proposition. There was simply no need to have a written test, filled with history, etiquettes and basic politics. This was a system created for the nobles. The academy mirrored the state of mainland perfectly. The system that was built for people’s safety had become a tool for segregation in the dirty hands of imbeciles.

Sirius and I bounced around these thoughts in our conversation while we waited for our chance to enter the room. Several people were waiting, just like us, for their turn. Prospective students were allowed in batches of twenty people, and only those twenty people would take the test at a time. The waiting was a bit boring, not at the level of being unbearable though. We passed our time while looking at other children who were waiting. Sirius and I talked about the other children with each other, and by the time it was our turn to take the test, we had secretly made fun of every single person present in the area.

So we went inside, after being called and sat on the closest seat we saw. An old woman was standing at the podium, looking at the children as they scowered for the seats. Her face was full of wrinkles and her lips seemed tightly shut. Yet, there was a liveliness in her eyes that bloomed a cheerful expression on her face.

“Welcome everyone.” The old woman said in a tone filled with endearment, “My name is Sorsha Innis, and I’m the Master of History and Politics in the Academy. Please make yourselves comfortable. The test will begin in a few moments.”

Just as her words came to an end, the papers kept in the corner of the room flew around and settled themselves on the benches in front of us. This display by the old woman, Professor Sorsha, just showed the intricate control of mana she had. While I had also shown such control, albeit at a far lower level, even that was difficult for me as I had started breathing heavily right after that. And yet, this woman was standing at the podium as if nothing had ever happened.

I ceased my thoughts from wandering around and focused on the words written in front of me. My eyes widened a bit in surprise and a hollow chuckle left my mouth.

The very first question stated :

‘The Academy has a policy of not taking fees from the commoners. They are charged with a part of their wages, after they have graduated from the Academy. Why do you think this policy is the most optimal?’

Haha. These fucking hypocrites, self adulating right from the beginning.