It was ingenious, Bryn thought to himself.

Beast taming

Whilst it wasn’t something that would allow him personal power, or even power straight away, it would cover the two weak spots he currently had, if not now, but with time.

The first point it covered, was the weakness that was demonstrated when he was outnumbered in the second exam, he didn’t have anybody to cover his back and that was what led to his downfall.

Armarni may have come in at the end to save the day, but before that, the reason he was losing the fight was because he was being attacked from all angles, if he had someone, or something, to cover his back, the pressure that was on him could have been halved at the very least.

As for the second weakness, that was power.

He was currently stronger than a ‘Civi’ by quite a bit, but in comparison to a hero, he was bottom tier and that was being polite.

The worst part was, this probably wouldn’t change for a long time unless something changed, personal power took a long time to develop, but there were certain ways to get around this, and in this case, depending on another to bridge the gap in power was exactly what he needed.

If he could tame something that levelled the playing field and put him on the same level as multiple heroes, then he wouldn’t have to worry as much as he was over when the next attack was suddenly going to happen as he wouldn’t be left to face it alone.

A massive dragon like the one in the second test would simply have people giving up!

Of course, that example was a long ways off even if it was possible but the sentiment was there, magical beasts grew up and came into their power a lot quicker than a person did.

As he continued down the path, a new sound joined the rhythmic tapping of his shoes as he walked along the concrete path. It started out faint but soon he could clearly here what the sound was and even what was making it.

It was the sound of a beast, and not just one, but many.

The tunnel ended and Bryn was exposed to what he could only compared to a room that was a combination of a zoo and a coliseum.

Hundreds of animals and beasts of all types lined the walls, from ones that had just been born to those that were fully grown, they came in all 'shapes’n’size', from those that flew to those that swam, the only thing that linked all the difference beasts together was that they were all caged.

Further into the room he could see the other prospects that had chosen this path crowding before another platform where a proctor was already stood waiting.

It was an older gentleman with white hair, but he by no means looked like a normal old man. He had style for one, he was wearing a three pieces suit with the jacket off and his shirt sleeves rolled up, but unlike a person that looked like they had been living for the better part of a century, he looked like a triathlete that had a pension for tattoos..

The man had gravitas.

The man in question had noticed when Bryn had entered the room, and whilst he was slightly surprised due to his presence, a crooked smile appeared snook into the corner of his mouth.

“Hah…Definitely of their blood” he said to himself before walking forward and drawing the attention of those in the room.

“Welcome, Welcome, it is good to see so many of this generation having the ability to use their minds and imagination to choose the path that offers the best rewards at this point in your heroic career” he said with his arms held out.

“Many of our student later in their academic careers choose to pick up this class but I assure you, Taming is not the easiest or quickest subject to learn, the partnership between a Hero and their chosen companion takes time and effort to build up, and I assure you, those who have chosen to start strengthening this bond in what may potentially be your first year, are in a lot better position than those that have chosen to create a new bond in their final year” He announced to which not only Bryn, but the rest of the prospects in the room were even happier with their choice.

“However! That only applies if you pass my test” He announced to which the room went still with anticipation.

“In the Cages around you are a variety of beasts that are of different species and at different points of development in their life cycle, The criteria to pass is the same as what it takes for you to be admitted into the academy”

“My name is Magnus Solomon, and as long as you gain the recognition of your chosen beast, not only will you be allowed to keep it, you will in turn gain my recognition to join the academy as well” he said before he dropped to the edge of the platform to sit down.

“You can use any tool within this room but you have but only one chance in choosing in regards to which creature you pick to partner with, you have three hours…. begin!” He said and the Crowd burst into motion as they ran towards the closest cages as they examined and searched for the ‘best’ creature to be their partner in the room.

It was no surprise that they were exited, nothing in this room was from earth as there wasn’t an animal of earth that could keep up with a hero, these were magical beasts that had been collected from all over the universe and for the most part, the only time they had even seen half of these creatures were on their favourite heroes stream.

Lion, tigers, hounds and dragon, eagles, moles, slimes and creatures made out of Gold.

The sheer amount was amazing, but even more so was the variety available.

Bryn walked over to the cages to get a look but was quickly blocked off by other prospects under the excuse, ‘I think I’m going to pick this one so hands off’.

Bryn of course, was fine with this.

It had literally been 30 seconds since the exam began, he was not going to pick a potential partner is such a short amount of time; he was going to have a look around, the creatures were pretty amazing to be honest and he couldn’t say that even he wasn’t exited to be in their presence.

As he walked around he saw creatures from every walk of life, most were similar to the creatures on earth, only a bit different due to their magical natures, but others, they were so far from normal that if someone had described them to him, he wouldn’t have believed they were telling the truth.

After he had made his way around about half of the room, a disturbance at one of the smaller arenas offered to each of the prospects to train in caught his attention.

One of the prospects had made their choice, and it was a big guy.

The prospect had used a robotic loader to move the entire cage of his chosen companion into the arena before he followed it in tow, only he had chosen to take one of the whips from atop the table full of tools before he had entered.

It looked like a normal whip made of a brown rod and leather whip, but unlike normal, there were strange glowing runes atop the rod and veins of glowing power flowing down the whip.

Before the boy opened the cage, he tested the whip once on the floor and when the tip made contact with the sandy arena, it was as if an explosion of sound was released on contact.

Both surprised and pleased, the boy had no lack of confidence as he unlatched the metal lock from the cage before backing up.

As he backed up, the creature that had been within the fully enclosed metal cage started to wearily make its way out, one claw at a time.

Bryn had to give it to the boy, he had balls of steel!

He had actually dared to attempt to tame a wyvern!

With a large dragon like head, it walked forwards on his front arms that doubled as wings, whilst it thick back legs trundled out one after the other, the tail however, swung freely in the air with what he could only equate to a bludgeon on its tip.

The wyvern had its eyes locked onto the young boy as it was the only other presence within the arena, and it was not happy after being locked up in that cage and was only all too willing to take it out on the smaller creature before it.

It made to move forward but the crack of the whip sent it stepping back in surprise, Bryn could tell that it was not amused by the sound the whip made.

“There, move!” the boy shouted out as he pointed to the side of the cage, cracking the whip in the opposite direction to encourage it.

The wyvern roared in anger before moving in the direction ordered.

Bryn and the others prospects were impressed by the boy in the arena but from the pleased smile on his face, he could tell that the boy was as well.

Too bad, they had all been too quick to assume things were going well.

With its body turned as it moved to where it had been commanded, its tail whipped out as if it was a meteor crashing into the earth, only it wasn’t the earth it was crashing into but a fragile little boy.

The boys bloodied body was splattered against the edge of the arena before the wyvern chased in preparation to finish him off, only it never had the chance as a towering rock guardian appeared above the arena and dropped atop it, quickly taking it into a head lock before flipping its massive body onto its back.

A quick but brutal punch to its snout had the wyvern seeing stars.

“Medic” Magnus casually said from where he was watching, an all too familiar group of examiners rushed into the arena to tend to the injured boy.

He was alive, but Bryn didn’t think he would be participating in the rest of the exam.

It didn’t take long for the crowd to disperse, more enlightened and cautious over choosing which creature to pick as their partner.

They now knew that whilst they wanted something powerful, they still needed something they could handle to pass the test.

Of course, Bryn had already known this, he had just found the entire show entertaining because he expected something like that to happen, he was also interested in what the whip did as whilst his aunt had taught him the basics of looking after and caring for animals, she had never taught him how to use the tools that were available to them, nor how to raise magical animals so he couldn’t be too sure how much what he knew would apply, but as he made his way around the room, he noticed that a lot of the creatures available were similar to earthen animals and what he knew could probably be applied to magical creatures but he wasn’t willing to take the risk with something too strange, he was going to focus on a species that he had the most experience with.

He was going to choose a creature from the canine family.

He was going to get a pet Dog.

In fact, he was going to get a puppy.

His reasoning behind this was that Dogs were pack hunters, they were used to working in a group and taking orders, what more could he want in a companion.

Bryn had seen a few that had caught his eyes but he had settled on the one he was standing in front of now.

He didn’t know if what had happened at the end of the second Exam with the dragons had influenced him, but he ended up choosing a water attributed magical dog.

It was small puppy that looked like a Dobermann with pointy ears, only it had a blue back and white belly, its fur was similar to that of penguin and thick long fish like tail.

There was a little Plaque to the side of the cage the same as with all the cages, it named the creature and gave a brief description.

‘Carolina Island hopper

An Aquatic type hound that hunts along the so named Carolina archipelago, it possesses the natural ability run on water whilst its tail allows it to free range of the oceans depths, this genus of hound possesses minimal magical abilities but possesses high physical capabilities”

The little puppy was frightened and huddled itself in the corner of the cage, growling and yipping as Bryn moved to open its door.

It tried to bite Bryn’s outstretched hand but he was too quick and grabbed it by the scruff of his neck before pulling it out of the cage and carrying it towards the tool table to gather the rest of the supplies he needed.

Atop the table were electrified collars, whips, batons with hooks lining its length, and from the way the small puppy whimpered as they passed by each one, it was smart enough to know what they are and what they did.

However, Bryn had no intention of using any of those tools, he had a different plan in mind and headed towards the section of the table he needed.

He placed the puppy down on the table that held all the treats!

The puppy sniffed the air and immediately grew exited, it began to follow its nose as it investigated one treat after another until it came upon one that sent its tail wagging and it saliva drooling.

Its head reeled back as it was about to take a big bite out of the treats, but was unhappily surprised when its head continued reeling back as Bryn grabbed it by its scruff, picking it up off the table with his one hand before grabbing the treats in the other.

The puppy whimpered and growled at Bryn, but it was of no use, so he unhappily dangled as Bryn made his way over to one of the free arenas.

Making his way down its curved side, Bryn sat in the centre of the arena before letting the puppy go much to its pleasure.

It quickly ran away from him before stopping after a couple of meters, it hadn’t forgotten about the treats and it was going to get them!

By now, Bryn had poured the treats out in front of him to create a small pile, but strangely, he didn’t do anything else.

He just sat there, waiting for the small puppy to make the first move.

Inquisitively, the puppy moved towards the mound of treats but as it got close, Bryn reached out and stopped it, “No!” he called out forcefully but the puppy was having none of it.

It tried to run around his hand but like the hand of God, Bryn easily picked it up and gently tossed it back, “No!” he said again to which the puppy growled and yipped in anger.

Again and again, the puppy tenaciously charged at Bryn in an attempt to overcome his evil might and attain the long-promised reward, but alas, no matter what the heroic puppy did, it could not overcome the evil human.

It had bit and scratched but no matter what it did, the human had only said the same word over again and again.

‘It is hopeless, he is too strong’ the puppy thought and lay its head down in surrender, its eyes closing in defeat.

Bryn Cocked his eye at this, it had taken much longer than he expected to get to this point.

He picked up one of the treats and gently tossed it towards the small puppy.

It didn’t notice at first due to its eyes being closed, but by the twitch Bryn saw in its nose, it had smelt it.

Its eyes opened and it tail wagged, it pounced on the treat and tore into it in delight, licking its lips when it had been completed consumed.

The treat had tasted just as good as it had smelt, even more so! It wanted more!

It charged forwards towards the mound of treats, its tail wagging, eyes filled with joy, only to collide with Bryn’s outstretched hand.

The puppy was confused and angry, it growled and yipped at Bryn but Bryn only said the same word with his hand out stretched “No!”

The puppy was incensed, it ran around and yipped angrily but no matter how much it tried to intimidate Bryn it was of no use, it was to no effect.

Once again it placed its head down upon the sand, and once again Bryn Rewarded it with a treat, only now it realised he was speaking as well, “Good Dog”.

The puppy was confused but hungry, it moved towards the treat, its eyes on Bryn, but Bryn made no motion to stop it, he only smiled and nodded, conveying his approval.

Dogs, no matter whether they were of the normal earthen variety, or of a magical variety from across the cosmos, were pack hunters, they worked in a team to take down their quarry, but no matter the team, there was always a leader, there was always an alpha.

Bryn was the Alpha of this pack.

Magical beasts were smart, but it was still only a beast led by its desires and instincts in the end.

It finished off the treats before looking to the large mound that still remained in front of Bryn, it wanted more, it was still hungry.

It moved towards the mound but as soon as Bryn held out its hand and told it to stop, it lowered its head to the ground and did not move a muscle.

Bryn smiled and picked up another treat for the puppy, “Good Boy” he said and tossed the treat to the puppy who happily gobbled it up.

It knew what it needed to do now to get food, it moved closer to the mound before stopping when Bryn motioned it to, and in response, Bryn gave it another treat!

The back and forth between the two continued until the puppy was practically on top on the mound, Bryn would not be able to tell it to stop again before it was atop the treats.

The puppy was exited to finally be able to dig in, but unexpectedly, Bryn did something different.

Bryn picked up a treat but instead of throwing it towards the puppy, he held it out in his hand for the puppy to eat out of it.

The puppy was weary, but the treat was so tempting.

Eventually, its desire overpowered its instincts and it moved in, nibbling at the treat out of his hand under the continuous reiteration of Bryn calling out “good boy” until it felt something touch the back of its head.

It yelped and nipped at Bryn’s other hand before backing off, curious as to what Bryn was doing, but Bryn made no other motion but outstretching his hand for the puppy to continue eating, only this time, he kept his hand in view as he brought it closer towards the puppy.

The puppy was weary at first but it was also distracted by the treat, slowly edging forward, Bryn reached the puppies ear and ever so gently, began to pet and stroke its fur.

The Treat was quickly finished but the puppy made no motion to move, it was enjoying being pet.

“Good girl” Bryn called out again as he now stroked it more vigorously, and started to play with it as if it was a normal dog and it too in return, started to play and lean in to the Bryn’s hand.

“oooh, you are a good girl aren’t you, yes you are, don’t suppose you’ll let me pick you up now will you” Bryn asked as he spoke to it like he was speaking to a baby before moving his hand under the puppies belly.

It was weary at first, but Bryn had bought himself some goodwill so it made no motion to stop him.

Smiling, Bryn lifted the dog onto his lap where he allowed it to freely eat from the mound of treats whilst continuing to stroke the puppies soft fur.

The minutes passed until the mound of treats was eaten and gone, and all that remained was a full and content puppy, only too happy to nap upon the strange humans lap.

It was unafraid that Bryn would do something to it, it trusted him…it recognised him.

Bryn looked up to see the small crowd that had gathered around his arena whilst taking notes, Magnus Solomon was sat on the edge with a content smile on his face.

“A Beast Tamer does not start out by simply ordering a beast what to do, a bond must first be created…. You have shown true potential as a tamer and as such, gained the recognition of your companion, you may continue on down the final path, welcome to the Academy boy” he said before waving Bryn on.

Bryn carefully picked up the puppy before carrying it like a baby, moving towards the tunnel in the distance whilst those that had watched him ran off to copy what they had learnt.

The tunnel was much the same as every other he had been down before, only the ending did not lead towards another underground room, but stairs that led to the surface.

Atop the stairs was a bark laden path that led through an old and eerie forest, the path was short but it came to an end at the edge of a lake, in the centre of the lake, atop a miniature island that floated freely, was a temple that could be found all over the world, the Heroes Altar.

It was but a single stream of glowing light that descended down from the sky, but Bryn knew that it was so much more.

It was a gateway to another place, maybe another world or even another plane, nobody knew, they only knew that if you wanted to become a hero, then you must bathe within that light and accept the [Guardian]’s contract.

Bryn walked across the stepping stones to the island lake, he hovered before the light, apprehensive as to stepping in.

He looked behind him as if to question whether this was the path that he really wanted to take, but he had no choice but to walk it now, it was suicidal to do otherwise, but more than that, he knew that even if all these revelations had not been exposed in the last few days, and he was not pressured into making this choice, It may not have been at this academy, but he still would have been standing before the Hero’s Altar like he was now.

This was his choice, his desire, his ambition.

Bryn took the step into the light and disappeared from the clearing.

The transportation was but a blur, at one point he was atop the lake and then he stood within the centre of the cosmos and all its glory.

Bryn was amazed by what he saw, but quickly noticed when some of the stars and nebula’s came together to form the outline of a person.

It was a giant of person, sat cross legged as it floated above where Bryn stood.

“Welcome human, I am [Aegis], avatar to the [Guardian] System” it spoke in a soothing and spiritual voice.

“Have you come to accept my offer” it asked.

As for what its offer was, Bryn of course knew, it was required subject to learn about in school.

When the First beam of light descended upon the earth and gave humans access to the Hero’s Altar, a voice appeared in every humans mind across the world.

“The realm is in peril and its people need your help, those that choose to step upon the path of the hero need but enter and let your deeds go down in history”

Of course, there was some more subtle fine print in regards to what you had to do as a hero and how you could obtain the power to be one, but it was something that nobody had yet to reject.

Once every three weeks, a Hero must take on a mission for the good of the galaxy.

If a Hero fails to take on a mission within the time allotted, they will grow weaker until a mission has been accepted, or they inevitably passed.

There was one part of the deal that some questioned and came to despise, it was those that had battled and journeyed enough that they no longer had any fight left in them, those weary from the battle and bloodshed hated with a passion. The contract did not end; there was no time limit, no retirement.

Once a hero, Always a Hero!

“I Accept” Bryn stated.

[Aegis] slightly bowed its head and waved its hand, the stars that circled them glowed bright for an instance before dimming once more.

“Due to your heritage, you already possess mana veins running through your system, in exchange for the usual gift of power granted to you humans, you shall in exchange be granted a secondary first tier token to be used within the System shop, I bid you farewell” [Aegis] said before the stars shined and his world turned to light.

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

Within a castle that looked across a grassy plain, the regal gentleman that had issued the bounty on Bryn had just learnt that he had passed Black Roses Entrance exam.

The regal man jumped from his seat and threw the glass of red wine he was drinking at the wall; its contents slowly stained the priceless painting that it had unfortunately hit.

“I WANT HIM OUT OF THAT ACADEMY! SPREAD THE WORD, ANYONE THAT GETS ME THAT BOY CAN NAME THEIR PRICE” He shouted before a number of attendants bowed before rushing out of the room to deal with their masters orders.

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

“HAH!” Bryn shot up breathlessly from where he had been asleep on the bed, his chest heaving as he panted whilst taking in his surroundings.

It looked like he was in some type of nurse’s office, and not alone either, several other Prospects that he recognised from the exam were in their own beds, only they were still asleep.

Bryn went to get out of the bed, but as he noted his bare chest he quickly looked under the quilt to notice that he was bare everywhere!

With a panicked look about, he noticed that his sword and gun were resting on a small table to the side of him, but his tattered clothes were gone and in their place was a neatly stacked uniform that rested on a seat beside him.

A folded-up note was atop it.

‘Please note that whilst the uniform below is a gift from the academy, it must be worn at all times, if a student has any article of clothing/armour they wish to replace, then the new article must be emblazoned with the academies symbol for Identification purposes - once you have changed, please exit the room without disturbing the other students, an attendant will be waiting outside’

Holding up the uniform, Bryn couldn’t deny that it looked good, it was designed such that it looked like a combination of light leather armour, and that of a formal dress uniform for a military prep school.

Only, he wasn’t too sure about the colour, khaki pants with a dark red leather Jacket and waist coat, the symbol of the academy stitched onto the back of the jacket and the inner pockets of the pants.

Well, it was not like it mattered whether he liked the clothes or not, he didn’t have any other clothes to wear anyway.

Bryn got dressed and left the room, finding an older female student waiting out in the hallway with a clipboard in hand.

“Over here Newbie” she called out as soon as she noticed Bryn Emerge.

“Name?” she asked

“Excuse me?”

“Your name, I need to mark who has woken up and who is yet to wake up before we can proceed on to the next location” she said whilst tapping her pen again the clipboard unhappily.

Bryn was puzzled for a second as he was unsure whether to give the name that he wanted to go by now or is original name, but in the end he decided on going with the original as that was what his grandfather had registered with the academy when he came up with this entire plan.

“Gideon Bryn” Bryn said to which the girl cocked an eye in surprise before taking a good look at all of him.

“Ah, Gideon, I’ve been waiting for you, a teacher has requested that you visit them as soon as you wake up, Please follow the Firefly, it will direct you to their office” she said before a ball of light congregated in the air above her palm before taking the form of a small, glowing firefly.

Bryn was about to ask a few more question about who wanting to speak to him but the firefly had already taken off flying and showed no signs of slowing down so he had no choice but to run after it.

Down two high ceiling hallways with wooden beams sat overhead, three grand stone staircases, and two open air sky-walks later, the Firefly flew into an old wooden door before bursting into a firework of lights.

Bryn noticed a plaque to this side of the door stating who the office belonged to.

‘John Clementine

Doctor of Necromancy’

Bryn knew the Subject whilst ominous, was neither inherently evil nor unique, many a hero had dabbled within this art of magic, but few had managed to stand out recently amongst the Hero ranks so it was rare to see in the current generation.

Knocking on the door before entering, Bryn heard a polite “come in” from the other side.

Inside the office was much what you expected the office of a magic teacher to be like, scrolls, books, magical items and props, only in this case they were more in-line and attuned to death as it was the office of a supposed necromancer.

On the other side of the desk was the Teacher in question, a middle-aged man with strangely pale skin and white hair, he was more akin to a living corpse than a person but for all Bryn knew he really was, once again, he was a necromancer and that was not unheard of in the undead community.

Dressed like an anti-establishment ethics teacher at a 2first century top university, the professor smiled freely as he welcomed Bryn and bid him to sit before him.

“It is good to see you young Gideon, I trust you had no problems finding my office” He asked in an attentive voice whilst awaiting Bryn’s Answer.

“It was no problem at all sir; I simply followed the student who advised me, magic”

“Good, Good, Well, I bet your wondering why I invited you here, so I will put you out of your misery”

“I invited you here to make you an offer” the professor, Clementine said as he tapped his fingers together whilst Bryn stood before his desk awaiting.

“I’m guessing that you were sold on the story that if you made it to the academy then everything would be okay and that you would be safe from those that was do you harm” Clementine stated certainly, to which Bryn gave a now slightly worried nod.

“Well, you would be wrong”

“The Academy is not the safe-haven you have been led to believe!”

“…even amongst the students that have attended this den of scum and villainy, what your father did still sticks out above the rest, and for that, both students and Teachers want you dead and will come after you so long as you remain”.

“I would be surprised if you even lasted the week” He said without any tone of doubt, To which Bryn now looked worried as he thought over what Clementine had said.

“But fear not, I can help you, I will give you a choice” He added quickly.

“Join my class and study necromancy under my leadership and I will teach you all I know and give you the power to fight off your aggressors in time whilst protecting you until you are ready, or…”

“…I can provide a way out for you, an escape route, I will contact a few of my colleagues and arrange for you to have safe passage from here and set you up with a new identity, free from the public eye” Clementine offered to which he eagerly awaited an reply from Bryn who was now worrying about his precarious position within the academy, but before he could answer the door to the office opened and in walked Eduardo Espinoza, Examiner of the Entrance exam and Head of year for the first year students of the academy.

“This is my private office and you are not welcome here!” Clementine angrily stated as he stood up and slapped his desk with his palms, glaring at Eduardo as he walked into his office unperturbed.

“My Apologies ‘Professor’ but my Duties as first year Head demand my intrusion” Eduardo stated in obviously fake remorse, bowing ever so dramatically as he did.

“Come along Gideon, you’re going to be late to the welcoming assembly” Eduardo spoke and motioned for Bryn to leave.

There was obviously some type of power struggle going on between the two teachers but as for whom to listen to in this moment, Bryn didn’t know.

He knew very little about Eduardo and even less about Clementine, He could only listen to his gut and that was telling him to get out of there and make a decision on who to trust and whether he should take the necromancy teachers offer when he had more information.

Eduardo continued Motioning for him to go but Clementine called out to him as he was leaving, “Remember Gideon, my offer is always on the table” but before Bryn could respond Eduardo had cupped his shoulder and was gently pushing him forwards, “Now Mr Bryn” he said as he followed after him, giving a gentle head nod towards Clementine who wore a displeased look as soon as Bryn was out of sight.

After walking down the hallway for a few minutes Bryn finally asked, “What was that all about?” To which Eduardo smiled lightly, “That my young friend, was a teachers attempt to bait a trap” He said it as if it was almost normal, continuing on his way whilst Bryn stopped in place, both surprised and confused by the teachers honesty.

“Trap, what do you mean by ‘trap’?” Bryn asked as he jogged to catch back up with Eduardo who had not stopped.

“Tell me, what did Clementine Say” Eduardo asked but he could have guessed what was spoken in the office.

“He said that this place was dangerous and that I would be targeted by both student and teacher alike” Bryn asked slightly hopeful that the other teacher had been exaggerating.

“True, next” Eduardo stated matter of factly.

“…He also said that if I wanted to make it here then I should Join the necromancy department and be taught by him directly …”

“Ha” Eduardo softly chuckled under his breathe whilst Bryn continued.

“…or if I didn’t think I was safe here and wanted to leave, then he would provide safe passage for me and a new identity to use on the outside” Bryn stated but before he could ask about Eduardo’s little outburst that he thought Bryn didn’t notice, Eduardo turned on him and grabbed him by his shoulders.

“I think you have got the wrong impression about this academy so let me set some facts straight for you, This place is a den of snakes with a threat around every corner, and that is for normal students…you are in a whole other pile of shit, Look, there are going to be some students and teachers that are going to try a make your life a living hell so that you will voluntarily leave, you cannot give into these people, compared to the outside world, This place is practically heaven, if you had taken his offer to run then you would have been in the hands of people who would have flayed you alive by lunch” He spoke in a voice that left little doubt in whether he was being truthful or not.

The two turn back around and carried on walking, “the academy is not perfect nor is it safe, but it is exactly what you need right now for it is only in adversity that a person can grow powerful, and you need that type of power to survive in this world we live in” Eduardo said as he arrived before two large doors heading into the assemble hall.

“Why are you doing this, helping me like you have?” Bryn asked as he waited by the doors, “For the same reason that clementine just tried to set you in a trap, both your mom and dad came to Black-Rose and whilst they did make enemies, they also made friends, friends that will not stand by and watch as their only child is blamed for their mistakes, Just because you’re dad did something bad doesn’t mean you should be punished for it, hell, if we lived in a world where that was law then ninety percent of the students in this academy would have been sent to prison instead of ‘playschool’” Eduardo joked before he gave a quick smile, “your dad was a charismatic bastard that made friends wherever he went, he was one of the few students at the academy that made both friends and connection no matter the organisation they belonged to, a lot of people have mixed feelings on how they should feel about him nowadays, but he was and will continue to be a person I consider family” Eduardo carried on whilst putting his hand onto Bryn’s shoulder, “ and as his son, you are apart of my family as well, so if you have any problem that you need help with, know that my door will always be open to you” Eduardo finished before moving to open the door before them but Bryn reached out to stop him.

“Then what about that professor, was he a friend of my dad’s?” Bryn asked to which Eduardo scoffed.

“Clementine, hah, he and your father were the furthest thing from friends, the best way I could describe them would be rivals”

“But then why did he offer to protect me if I joined his class then?” Bryn asked in confusion as things weren’t adding up.

Eduardo stood there for a second with a puzzled face before a look of understanding appeared on his face, “back at the academy, in our last year your father obtained a [Skill] that clementine was viciously jealous of, he always loathed your father for getting it as he believed he was more deserving of it, Maybe he thinks that you may awaken the [Skill] due to being of the same blood as him, that you coming to the academy is the second chance he always desire to secure the [Skill]” Eduardo reasoned but his words had made an inevitable question appear in Bryn’s mind.

“What was the [Skill]?”

Eduardo lost the smile that he had on his face, “It was the [Skill] that caused your father to go mad and destroy Hong Kong” Eduardo said and opened the doors to the crowded room.

A few people looked over to the two new arrivals but most were lost within their own little worlds; Eduardo quickly moved off to join the rest of the teachers on stage whilst Bryn found a seat just across from the door as he walked in.

The room was filled with hushed whispers, some of the older students were physically exited and were practically holding themselves down from jumping for joy, others were looking at the first years as if they were a piece of fresh meat and they knew it, but as a robed women walked towards centre stage, the voices trailed away until silence reigned.

Her face was covered by a white cloak with gold inlay, a blue under garb and an old book fastened to her belt could clearly be seen.

She stood at the podium for two seconds before scarlet wings flicked into existence and imposingly spread out like an eagles, shocking the few still talking into stunned silence whilst waves of power emanated from magically constructed wings.

The first years gasped whilst the older years whilst impressed, were more subdued about showing it.

She flourished the wings a single time, blowing a gust into the faces of those sat closest, before the wings disappeared just as quickly as they had appeared.

“Tactics, Training, Techniques and Speciality”

“There are many types of Heroic builds in this world; there are heroes that fight on the front line as the vanguard whilst others that heal those at the back”

“There is no one build better than another because what may work for one person, may not work for another”

“There is only the build that is most suitable to you” she said as she eyed the first years who would be starting to build there heroic abilities from this week on.

“You may think you know what you want, the powers that you wish to wield, but how do you know this, if what you know is incomplete”

“What we desire to impart to you at Black rose is the true understanding as to what path you have stepped upon by choosing to became a ‘Hero’, and an understanding of the pitfalls and dangers that are upon it”

“Many academies will focus on acquiring skills from the Altar and then using them as a basis as to what you learn within their academies, this will not be the case here!”

“In time you will understand the gift that you will be taught here, but until then this place will be hell, you may cry, beg, barter, or threaten, but as long as no academy rules are broken, we will turn you into a Hero!”

“I am known to the world as the Scarlet Sorcerer but you will address me as Headmistress throughout your stay at the academy”.

“Para bellum” she said as she looked towards the students in the hall and all but the first years responded in one voice, “det illis infernum” before walking off stage under the students resounding voice.

Whilst the rest of the academy knew what the saying meant and what was to happen next, the first years knew neither, the first years were silent for one reason, the rest of the academy was quiet for another.

“What’s going on now? Is it over?” one of the first years asked quietly, but it wasn’t the person who he had been speaking to that responded, it was an older student that had been sat behind. “Nope, it is only just beginning” He said before standing up in the middle of the assembly hall and speaking for all to hear, “I challenge you to a Duel for ownership of whatever goods may be on your person” The older student declared with a smile on his face whilst the student he had challenged was turning pale, but it wasn’t just him, the twos actions had signalled the start and all of the first years were too late in realising what had just happened, what it meant and what was going to happen next.

One after the other older students began to challenge the first years for ownership over whatever they had on him, they were going to challenge the fresh meat before they learnt how to fight back, they were going to rob them blind and leave them with nothing.

The sound of challenges rang out in the hall as one older student after another chose a first year to challenge but as it all was beginning to kick off Eduardo walked to the centre of the stage and called out.

“first years with last names starting with A through E, your first class is Techniques, F through k you got tactics, L through Q you got Training, U though Z, you got unlucky, good look finding your individual speciality courses, classes start in ten minutes” he said before waving the students free but Bryn didn’t wait for him to signal that they could leave, as soon as he had said ‘A through E to Techniques’, he had burst through the door and took off running like the other lucky students who were close enough to the door and had thought to do the same.

The Start of the Academic year had begun, and ‘Hell week’ was now in full swing!