As he and his small group continued through the city streets, they passed by market streets, residential homes, and even a few fine dining restaurants. The atmosphere was drastically different then what he had been accustomed to.

  The streets were busy with people, some were on their way to the academy gates, others were simply following their day to day. Automobiles drove up and down the streets, carrying well dressed noble men and women.

  ‘I didn’t expect it to be so… Lively.

  The area was vibrant, colorful even. He had been so used to the dull, cold streets of Ravenshollow. While not nearly as flamboyant as Barbizona, it still shared that charm.

  The academy was considered neutral ground; it, along with the city surrounding it, wasn’t directly under a single family. Aside from the slums, this was the only place not directly controlled by a family.

  ‘I remember Seline mentioning how the academy controlled the surrounding area.’

  Following along with the large group, they neared the massive academy walls.

  Up ahead of Soren, there was a group of girls chatting amongst themselves. He didn’t like the idea of prying in on their conversation, but with how loud they were he hardly had a choice.

  “Did you hear about the changes they made to the test this year?”

  The other girl shook her head.

  “No, I didn’t know they even changed the test.”

  Giving her friend a cocky grin, she continued.

  “Well my sister overheard a conversation between the dean and the examiner. Apparently, the examiner completely changed one of the tests, and the dean was furious.”

  The other girl leaned in a bit.

  “What exactly did he change it to?”

  The cocky girl simply shrugged her shoulders.

  “Not sure… My sister only caught a bit of the conversation.”

  It felt like a tight knot had formed in his stomach, the normal test scarred him, but now they had changed it. Soren hoped that the girl was either misinformed or had been trying to scare her friend.

  Normally the test consisted of two parts. First was a written test, this was taken before arriving at the academy. It served as a filtering system, you needed to pass the first part in order to take the aptitude test.

  ‘I just barely passed the written exam, but the aptitude test is all about physicality. I’m definitely better when it comes to combat than most, so I’ll be better prepared for whatever they throw at me… Hopefully.’

  After following the crowd for a while, the large mass of young weavers stopped at the large gate surrounding academy grounds. Now that he was closer, he could take in the full scale of this wall. It was taller than most of the buildings surrounding it, casting a foreboding shadow on the city street.

  It took a bit of time, but eventually the once small group of twenty, now was nearing three hundred. More and more students arrived and once it seemed that everyone was in attendance, the heavy academy gate opened up.

  Awaiting the arrival of the students, two figures stood at the gate. One was a young woman. She wore an academy uniform, a simple pair of black trousers, white button up shirt, and a brown embroidered sweater with the school’s sigil sewn on.

  She was very beautiful, however, she wore a stern face. She had on a simple pair of glasses covering her velvet eyes, her black hair was neatly tied up. Without even speaking to her, Soren could tell she was a very strict person

  Adjusting her glasses, the young woman addressed them.

  “Welcome everyone. Today you all will be taking your aptitude tests, how you end up scoring will determine your class placement.”

  She raised her hand gesturing to the man standing next to her. He was a large young man. The dress shirt and sweater vest seem to barely contain his muscled frame. His brown hair was cut extremely short, his amber eyes seemed to soften his sharp face.

  “We will be escorting you to your respective testing environments. Angus will guide the weaving initiates.”

  The large man suddenly spoke up.

  “You heard her. All of you who are enrolling in the research or rune crafting sections stay here with Merine.”

  With that Angus turned away from the crowd, heading through the large gate.

  Nearly half of the crowd followed after him, Soren included. He led them into academy grounds, at least a small section of it.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Now that he was inside the walls, Soren could see just how large this place really was. It felt more like its own pocket of civilization, students relaxing in common areas, exiting and entering dormitories. It all seemed so peaceful.

  Leading the group into a large rectangular building, Angus called out to them.

  “Everyone head inside! The instructor will be with you shortly.”

  As they entered, everyone was taken aback. Inside the building was a deep pit. The pit took up almost the entire room, except for a large platform surrounding the pit.

  It seemed like this place was some kind of arena, all the hundred or so weavers spread out around the pit.

  Many of them chatted amongst themselves, others leaned against the cold iron railing, preparing themselves for what was to come. Soren had hoped to do the same, but as he pushed through the crowd of people, he saw a young boy fall to the floor.

  “Damnit! What have I told you about getting too close!?”

  Standing tall above the boy, a handsome young man with long blonde hair and pale skin, cursed at him. His dark blue eyes were full of rage.

  “I-I’m sorry, I just wanted to see if you knew why…”

  The young boy shared a similar appearance to that of the angry weaver, though his features were a lot softer, his hair was also far shorter. His eyes however were a light lilac, they were full of fear as he was suddenly cut off.

  “For the last time, I don’t wish to breathe the same air as disappointments like you Amon!”

  The boy had been knocked down, his belongings scattered across the dark wood floor. He seemed on the verge of tears, those words seemed to have hurt him deeply. As the other boy began to leave, Amon started to pick up his things.

  The crowd around the boy seemed to ignore him, no one offering to lend a hand. They all acted like he wasn't even there.

  Soren didn’t want to get involved in the business of others, but seeing the boy scramble to pick up his things, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of… Obligation.

  Leaning down, he helped the boy return his belongings to his suitcase.

  “Here let me help.”

  The boy stared at him for a moment, then in a timid voice he replied.

  “Um… Thank you.”

  Soren simply nodded to the boy as the final item was returned to him. Then standing up, he tried to leave. However, Amon quickly followed behind.

  “Wait up!”

  The two moved over to the railing, a good distance from any of the other weavers. They stood in silence for a moment, Amon was the first to speak.

  “Why did you help me?”

  Tilting his head slightly, Soren answered.

  “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I?”

  Amon stared at him for a moment, a puzzled look on his face.

  “... Do you not know who I am?”

  Soren shook his head.

  “No. Sorry, am I supposed to?”

  A relieved expression appeared on his face.

  “Oh no! It’s fine, don't worry… My name is Amon Valentine.”

  Amon extended his hand out to Soren, he looked at it for a moment then took it.

  “Soren Grimshade.”

  Amon’s face paled after he introduced himself, the people talking around him also went quiet.

  “Did you say Grimshade?”

  People around them began to murmur, turning back to Amon he simply nodded.

  “I-Is your father Killian Grimshade?”

  The atmosphere in the room suddenly changed, the chattering youth now all stared at him. Their eyes filled with shock.

  “Yes… Why?”

  A loud voice from the crowd drew near.

  “I’ll be damned! It’s the devil’s bastard!"

  Pushing through the crowd was a heavy built young man, with dark black hair and yellow eyes. He had a fat round face and wore a sadistic grin.

  Soren had not spent much time around people other than Seline and Callagen, not since the incident at least. But Killian had been a prominent figure in the world of scholars. So news of what he did would have been common knowledge.

  ‘Shit…’

  The fat faced boy came closer.

  “I can’t believe they let the child of a murderer in here! Honestly, I thought this place had some class.”

  Soren bit down hard, struggling to stop himself from striking the fat face. He knew if he gave in it would only worsen things.

  Seeing his anger building, the fat face grinned wickedly.

  “Oh, did I strike a nerve? What? You gonna follow in your daddy’s footsteps?”

  It took everything he had to control himself. Taking a deep breath, he prepared to get as much distance from the fatty. He wouldn’t be goaded so easily. Turning his back to the pudgy young boy, he took a few steps.

  “Ah… You’re a runner! I see why you survived… Too bad your siblings weren’t so smart…”

  He barely finished his cruel remark before Soren spun around, throwing his fist towards the boy’s fat face with all his might. The punch sent the boy stumbling back, a trickle of blood falling from his nose.

  Soren had hit him so hard, he was sure he broke something in his hand. But he didn’t care, as long as he mangled the fatty’s face in the process, it would be worth it.

  Reaching his hand up to his bloody nose, fatty’s face turned from surprise to seething anger.

  “You little shit!! I’m gonna send you to join your worthless family!

  Watching as several threads of light emerge from his palm, forming into a sequence, Soren braced himself.

  ‘To hell with the exam! To hell with the academy! This fatty has to die!!”

  Just as he was about to charge forward, a booming voice echoed out through the building.

  “Seace this idiotic behavior at once!”

  Standing at the entrance was a tall man, he had raven black hair and cold purple eyes. His face was thin, with hollow cheeks. When he spoke, it sent shivers down Soren’s spine.

  “You two wish to fight? Very well… Let’s start the examination with you.”