“This is….fantastic.”

“Holy…..”

“I had heard about it from our father, but seeing it in person really enamours you, doesn’t it?”

The group was standing at a hill-point admiring the view of the entire city of Baelor. Their mouths were open and their hearts were filled with admiration and awe as they looked at the reason why Baelor was called the city of swords. The vast land where uncountable people lived like ants in their little homes, was housing hundreds of thousands of giant swords that stabbed the ground. The sizes of the swords varied but even the smallest was big enough for several families to live on. The sheer number of the swords sent shivers down the spine of Mehr and others.

This was the place where the Sword God had exterminated the dragons. The giant swords had cracks running through the spine and chinks were clearly visible. They had not been able to win the battle against nature and time and yet, their majesty still remained. Yet there was one sword that still stood in far more pristine condition than any other, whose size was far larger than any other.

“That was the sword used to slay the Corrupted Dragon King,” Fynn spoke in admiration.

“I didn’t know we were up there a short while ago,” Sirius said pointing at the massive castle that stood at the slanted guard and hilt of the sword.

“How does the Academy even stay up there?” Mehr asked while controlling his breath. He was absolutely astonished at the view. Never in a hundred years would he have imagined the scale of destruction the Sword God had brought forth. Even when he had heard that he had killed all the dragons, Mehr had thought he had taken years to kill them in patches. After all, killing hundreds of thousands of dragons at one time was a feat beyond comprehension for him. And yet, here was the absolute proof. The innumerable swords scurried around the land were looking right at him as if asking to prove his worth as The Star of this generation.

“Who knows… The academy was established by The Sword God so he must have put some systems in place. How can we know the ways of the gods.” Nora answered.

The group had been wandering around the city and had seen the swords from up close. They looked like simple walls that touched the sky from near them. Their beauty was truly enjoyed from places such as where they were currently standing.

“Where are you guys staying?” Fynn asked the group as they were walking back to the Gate.

“In the residential dormitory. What about you all?” Sirius answered in a tone more chirpy than usual.

“Same,” Nora replied.

“We too. Looks like we will be staying together then. It’ll be fun if all of us would be comfortable with each other.” Fynn smiled and put his hand around Hope, “Isn’t that right?”

The rest of the group looked at Fynn and Hope without understanding what they meant. Hope looked down at the ground confiningly. Her cheeks had gone red as she raised her eyes and looked at Mehr and Nora.

“I-I apologise for calling you commoner repeatedly and you Nora, because I always thought you were kind of stupid and dorky, and I was never nice to you,” Hope said hesitatingly.

“I don’t mind,” Mehr said without putting any attention to the apology. It wasn’t a matter of concern to him anyway.

“It’s okay. I also believed that you were quite stuck up and I would like to apologise for that.” Nora said while smiling.

“Stuck up? That’s so true!” Fynn laughed out loud.

“Shut up. I’m not stuck up.”

“You’re always prancing around like you own the very land you walk on and the sky you walk under. You always have followers from Houses that serve you. What am I supposed to think?” Nora giggled.

“Well, that's because we are High Nobles.”

“Yeah, only you do that.” Fynn elbowed Hope as they entered the Gate that led to the Academy.

*****

In the main arena where the first trial was held, there were several benches laid in a straight line. Every bench had a small mana orb floating, that gave a pleasant light. The children would go up to the orb and touch it to get their results. If the orb turned red, the result was a failure but if the orb turned blue, it meant that they were now students of the Academy. The students who had been selected would also receive a small lanyard necklace that contained an insignia of either their house or a symbol to represent them.

Many students were going in and out of the arena, some with hearts filled with elation while some with despondent faces. The corridor felt like a feast of feelings, with many flavours to choose from.

Mehr and the group were also walking through the corridor while chatting idly. None of them had any hesitation in their steps as they paced ahead with confidence in their hearts. They all knew that they were going to clear the trials.

The group attracted many eyes and the murmurs soon started. Sycophants and opportunists were ready to shower the group with words but no one simply dared to. Among the flowery personalities of everyone else, Mehr’s thorny eyes stuck out the most. Mehr’s existence was like a guillotine to their necks and their hopes simply subsided. Everyone had seen what Mehr had done in the trial the day before, and his presence itself commanded fear from everyone in the vicinity. And so, they all stood to the side while talking amongst themselves and discussing the prowess and monikers of the people in the group.

Mehr, the lunatic.

Sirius, The Heir of Frye.

Nora, The Bookworm.

Fynn, The Titan.

“Why does it seem like they are ignoring me?” Hope’s gaze threatened to burn the people around her.

“It’s not their fault. You weren’t able to show what you’re capable of. They are underselling you due to lack of information.” Fynn tried to appease Hope.

“How did you get kicked out of the trial anyway?” Mehr asked Hope. He had become curious after listening to Fynn talk about it. Even though Mehr knew that Hope wasn’t as strong as the others, she still had the support of quite a large group. And strength is strength, be it of an individual or a group.

“Her group met Adhara.” It was Sirius who answered. Sirius was busy waving at everyone who was looking at him. He would smile widely and wave his arm in greeting to almost every single person he would come across.

“The girl who was with you?” Mehr’s interest was piqued. He hadn’t really thought much about her. She seemed quite unamusing to look at and apart from her cold eyes and demeanour, there wasn’t much to remember.

“I told you, didn’t I? She is as strong as both of us.” Sirius answered while pointing towards Mehr.

“I see. It makes sense then.” Mehr said.

Hope looked at the two boys with bafflement clear on her face, “You guys are suggesting that I’m the weakest among us.”

“Well, you did get eliminated early on.” Fynn chimed in while giggling, “Anyway, our lives have just started. Things might be quite different when we graduate.”

“That’s true.”

“Yeah.”

The group entered the door and their eyes fell on the many small orbs floating above the benches. They went to one of the empty benches and started to touch it one by one. Fynn went first and touched the orb, and it turned blue as expected. A small lanyard necklace slowly came out of the orb with an insignia of a giant mountain.

“It’s not our House Sigil,” Fynn commented on the necklace but didn’t put much thought into it.

Next was Nora. She touched the orb and it turned blue. A small lanyard necklace came out with an insignia of parchment. It was not House Forde’s Sigil.

Sirius, Hope and Mehr also went one by one and, obviously, received positive results. However, their insignias were fairly different. Sirius got a lanyard necklace with an insignia of a sheathed sword. Mehr received a necklace with an insignia of a spear standing upright. Hope was the only one who got their House Sigil on their necklace.

Hope did not like the fact that she was being left aside from her group. She knew that she wasn’t as strong as the other four, but still found the situation unpleasant. She knew that she needed to be on the same level as her friends, and believed that there would be many chances in the future to prove herself. So, she put her unpleasantness aside and focused on the optimistic future.

It was when the group was about to leave the arena to go to the hall of assembly, they heard a loud crash and turned around to look at what had happened. They saw the sight of crashed benches and a person loudly huffing while standing near them.

“This is bullshit!!” The person screamed loud enough that his voice travelled everywhere, even without the mana, “Why was I not selected when even people who were eliminated way before me, were. What the fuck is this?!”

The person screaming his lungs out was the same fat guy from House Albarone that the group had seen the day prior. There were quite a lot of people standing behind him, with their heads low and backs politely bowed. They stood still as their master created the ruckus around them.

“I am Willard Albarone, sixth in line for the position of Head in the great House Albarone. This unfairness needs to be answered! Where is that damn professor who was judging us!”

The rest of the students slowly blacked away listening to the guy’s incessant shouting. And of course, someone who would shut the guy up soon showed up.