Old Ben had brought us to the Moonshine Inn. He had told us previously, a night would cost 40 coppers per room. They also provided breakfast and dinner as well, though it cost an extra 20 copper. Me and Sam had paid 40 coppers each for the food fee and the room. Since it was better to save our expenses, we decided to share a room.

Our room only had a single bed but it was big enough for two to fit. We would often have sleepovers so I didn't really mind. The room was kept in a clean condition and the food was also pretty tasty.

...

Today was the day of the entrance examination. After having breakfast, Sam and I went to the Magic Knight Academy for the examinations. At the entrance, there were two sides. The right side was a rather short line with people in shabby clothes lining up. The left side had people in fancy clothing flowing in.

Turned out, the left side was for aristocrats while the right was for commoners. As we reached the reception desk, they had us pay a silver fee. Once Sam and I paid the silver, someone brought us to the testing site.

The first test was a physical test which allowed the usage of weapons. As long as one could take 3 blows from the administrator, they passed. Despite how simple it sounded, I knew that those below the Beginner Knight Student realm were dead meat since even if they were able to block the administrator's sword with their own weapon, they would be blown away by the shear impact force. Why? Because the administrator was already at the Knight Captain realm. That was at least a 7 level difference in strength.

Looking at the test administrator, I appraised his status.

~~~~~~~~~~

Name: Mark Hunter

Race: Human

Class: Swordsmanship Teacher(Rare)

Life Force: 260/260(26 years)

Strength: 98.92

Agility: 92

Physique: Knight Captain(Beginner) - Lvl.9

Magic: Ordinary - Lvl.0

Techniques: Imperial Swordplay(Rare-Lvl.2), Imperial Footwork(Rare-Lvl.4), Meditation(Common-Lvl.Max)

Active Skills: Flashing Pierce(Rare), Flash Step(Rare)

Passive Skills: Speed Point(Epic), Unperturbed(Supreme)

~~~~~~~~~~

As expected, he wasn't your normal run of the mill swordsman. It was rare for people to have anything above the Epic tier from what I have seen up to now.

I had only displayed my Imperial Swordsmanship and I was able to last 8 exchanges while Sam was able to stay on for up to 21 blows. Like that, we passed our first test.

The next test was on basic knowledge such as math and the three human kingdoms. It was almost impossible to fail unless you were brain dead.

The final test was our magical potential.

Looking at the line, it moved rather fast. It looked like a simple yes or no test.

When it was my turn, I walked up and placed both my hands on a crystal orb that fortune tellers used. I didn't feel anything particular change in my body upon contact but the orb just stayed the same.

"Pass." The person in charge said while waving me away.

I was a bit confused since the orb was still crystal clear. It was completely transparent. I had expected something like a change in color.

I watched Sam and he went through it exactly like I did.

I later learned that the way the orb tested for talent was if we had reached the first realm of magical cultivation. As for how the administrator could tell by looking at a seemingly dysfunctional orb, I honestly did not know.

As commoners, Sam and I were lucky to be born within the first realm: Mana Sense so it was an easy test. As for aristocrats, most of them were born with it as well since it was hereditary. The only unlucky ones were those who were born without a realm: Lvl.0, or Ordinary. That meant they could not sense magic particles at all. It has been theorized that it is possible to increase their magic realms through certain means but other than those theories, there wasn't much hope for the ordinary to learn magic.

Commoners needed to pass all the tests to enroll into the academy while the nobles only needed to pass two tests. Like usual, elitism and discrimination was a thing in any functioning human society.

Just like that, we made it through the entrance examinations and received a Student ID. Tomorrow would be our orientation day and the first day of school.

Luckily for me and Sam, we were able to pick our own dormitory rooms but each room had to have three people. We didn't really care if some random guy was forced into our dorm room since it didn't really matter to us as long as we had a place. After moving our stuff in, we decided to practice in the training field I saw while walking into the academy. It was practically an empty field, possibly because the school year had yet to start.

After warming up, Sam and I went at it for a couple rounds before someone interrupted us.

He was a kid who seemed to be around the same age as us. Reddish-orange hair and deep blue eyes, a natural redhead guy. I could see his bulging arm muscles underneath the sleeves. He was definitely the fighter type.

"Hey! The name's Robert of the Gib family. Mind if I join you?"

I couldn't sense any malicious intent so I let him. "Sure.The more the merrier. I'm Daniel and he's Sam."

"Nice to meet you Daniel and Sam. I don't really know anybody here since I usually stay at home training all day. You guys wanna be friends? I am pretty good at the sword too." He said.

I thought he sounded a bit tense, almost as if this was his first interaction with kids his age. From his speech, I would classify him as a socially awkward person, not that I had anything against such individuals.

"This...If you're fine with hanging out with us then you're definitely welcome to join us." Sam said with an inviting smile.

"Sweet! To be honest, the only thing I was ever good at was fighting so I don't have any friends. Is it possible for me to squeeze into your dorm rooms or is it already occupied?" He opened up all of the sudden as if contradicting my previous thought that he was socially awkward.

Realizing his true intentions for approaching us, I nodded and told him why not. As for why, I thought he was pretty chill.

'For the son of an aristocrat like him to approach us either means he is an outcast or he has another motive. Judging from the way he acts, he lacks the etiquette most nobles have so he must be the former.' It was also because my judgement felt pretty solid.

Like that, Robert made our duo into a trio.

—an hour later—

When he said he was proficient in fighting, he wasn't joking. His swordsmanship was at the level of father, if not better.

—a couple hours later—

After eating at a restaurant with the both of them, Sam and I had started to grow a bit closer to Robert. Just as I assumed, he was indeed an outcast. He seemed to also be a muscle head, which also meant he was good supporting character material.

It was ten something so it was about time for lights out. After reflecting on today's events I began to grow curious. I had yet to check out Robert, literally.

I looked at Robert on the other bed, sound asleep, snoring loudly.

'Appraise Robert.'

~~~~~~~~~~

Name: Robert Van Gib

Race: Human(Sealed)

Class: NONE

Life Force: 100/100(10 years)

Strength: 59

Agility: 40

Physique: Knight Student(Expert) - Lvl.5

Magic: Ordinary

???: ???

Techniques: Imperial Swordsmanship(Common-Lvl.Max), Imperial Footwork(Rare-Lvl.5)

Active Skills: NONE

Passive Skills: Copycat(Mythical)

Sealed Skills: (Sealed)

Curse: Eternal Torment(Legendary)

~~~~~~~~~~

This was definitely a sign of something. I could smell some type of plot brewing that was centered around Robert. Wait a moment, I had no right to meddle in someone else's affairs.

Although I was curious, I realized something. My good old childhood friend was also a hero. It should be his job to handle a situation like this, right? Hmm...

I felt like ever since Sam became the o' so cliché hero, I had learned some sort of foresight skill.

Either way, I sealed my thoughts about Robert away and went to sleep.