In addition, to his bright purple eyes which Mykl had never seen or heard of before in his rather long life, the child's thick curly hair also had a dark purple color, only a shade or two from it being black. Unlike himself who was fairly pale, this small boy had a light brown skin, despite never having been allowed to roam outside. His ears were quite a bit longer compared to any of the other children beside him, a feature that only added to his exotic appearance. Despite his young age, it was quite easy to tell he'd become a handsome looking devil should he ever manage to become an adult.

Caught in his own thoughts, Mykl didn't notice Tomas who had been standing beside him this entire time had started to grow slightly impatient.

"Mykl?" Tomas prompted him to continue the ceremony.

"Umm...? Ah, yes!" Mykl said, leaving his theory crafting behind him and redirected his attention to the entire generation of new trainees once again.

"Now! Listen up!" He called for them to pay close attention.

"To prepare you for the coming trials each of you will facing to evaluate your individual ability and talent we've prepared a short video and live combat starring one of your seniors," Mykl announced in a loud voice.

"Bring up the recording," he directed with a hand as he walked to the side together with Tomas. Behind where they once stood a significant part of the wall suddenly lit up and a recording started playing.

----------

Standing in one of the back rows Raphael gazed up at the wall as some recording started playing.

Only a short time in Raphael had he was watching a deathmatch between a boy and girl seemingly just a couple of years older than him. Without mercy, both of them fought unarmed only aided by their martial skills, strength, and speed as weapons to strike down their opponent.

It was his first time watching one of these, however, he could feel his heart beating faster in a combination of excitement and surprise at the brutal fighting that ended with the girl winning.

After she disabled one of his legs it had been an easy task to gain the upper hand and twist his neck killing him. The video ended with a closeup of her battered and bloodied face edged in sadness despite the victory which confused Raphael. She just won, what reason did she have to be sad?

Looking to the boy standing next to him, he whispered, "hey, what do make of this?"

"Be quiet, stupid! The director is watching," he whispered back, shutting down all communication. Sneaking a peak, Raphael accidentally made eye contact with the director. Now I've really done it, he sighed, wondering why he'd actually been looking over here.

Lucky for him the director didn't make something out of it and instead chose to move back to his previous spot with the video done, this time accompanied by the same girl from the fight though slightly older. She had lighter skin than Raphael, but her hair and tail fur was a stark white creating a distinct contrast. She reminded him of a female version of Tomas who apparently sponsored them.

"This is Amarah," the director said placing a large hand on her right shoulder, "and as you might have noticed she's the one you've just seen fighting in the recording. She's currently 8 years old and part of the 4th generation we're training. At the early age of 6, she awakened to a rare mystery bloodline ability called 'fantasy descent'. It basically enables Amarah to solidify her genetic energy and for it to take on a unique form," he said sounding proud.

"It's an extremely flexible and powerful ability in the right hands. Unfortunately, her ability isn't inheritable making her unable to establish her own bloodline. Because of this, however, we have been able to make an agreement with her generation's sponsor for her to be given to us. Until this point in time, she's the most valuable trainee we've ever had and her future potential is undeniable."

Raphael took notice of Amarah's sad expression when the director brought up the recording, he still wondered why that was, but the director went on.

"To demonstrate what each of you is expected to learn within the coming few years we've asked Amarah and one of her instructors to spar," he said.

Orderly lines were quickly replaced by a wide circle, allowing plenty of space for Amarah and her male instructor to fight within its center. The disparity in sizes was quite significant as she was rather petite and slim, while her opponent was tall and bulky. Not that such things necessarily mattered when it came to fighting ability, or at least that's what they'd been told up until this point. Raphael had never actually experienced a live battle between sentinels before, not that any of the other kids had.

As Amarah and the instructor prepared, the air was thick with anticipation. Unlike the unarmed deathmatch this time blunt weapons were being used. Both of them picked up what they'd been told were the standard weapons amongst sentinels, a single tactical short sword and throwing knives. Through time it had become the favored combination for its versatility in combat, and each empire or kingdom usually exhibited slightly varied designs. Quality was a whole separate issue that depended on the metal used but as with most things, money talks. Something Raphael had understood by reading between the lines of the director's impassioned speech.

With tactical short swords, Amarah and the instructor began their deadly sword dances. She initiated with a quick right slash he parried, only to be forced to twist in an awkward angle to avoid her immediate reverse. Taking a few swift steps backward he brought his sword up to block another attack only to shift his feet to get a better angle of attack. Amarah smoothly sidestepped his stab and once again went aggressive with a series of blurry attacks.

Shortly after beginning, their sparring accelerated into a fierce exchange of sword attacks. Every sweep of their blades was as quick as thought and reacting on instinct they danced back and forth. This continued for several minutes until Amarah somehow summoned a silver mirage-like beast claw going for the instructors exposed back.