The Fourth Prince (1)

William took a deep breath, still doubting whether the course of event so far had been real.

In front of him stood a huge gate. The carving that was placed on top of it reads, 'Royal Academy of Heavenly Blessing Kingdom'. There was a smaller carving underneath that reads, 'Carve Thy Own Path'.

"Great, right? Maaan, I still think I'm dreaming!"

Sean, who was standing right beside him, pinched his own cheek. The sudden jolt of pain told him that everything was real. They were really here, right in front of the royal academy.

After the tournament had concluded, Sean's family held another party to congratulate Sean and William's result. The next day, as they had just recovered from their fatigue after dancing wildly for the entire night, two letters were delivered to the shop.

It was the letters of admittance for the two boys.

"They're... really efficient, huh?" William couldn't help but comment,

"The kingdom is eager to bring new manpower every year. Every students here will take important position in the future, whether in the court in the capital, or out there in the military. They want to keep the talents from escaping to other kingdoms or sects. That's what my uncle told me."

"Sects?"

He remembered that the village elder had mentioned something like that before, but never in full detail. The elder didn't seem to like talking about it.

Seeing that William was interested, Sean continued his explanation.

"Ah, you don't know? Sects are... well, think of a small country, but everything is about martial arts. In this continent, there are numerous sects, but the strongest are the Great Nine. Almost all kingdoms in the continent was subject to one of the nine sects. As for the rest, they're all just little fishes."

"Almost? Then, there are kingdoms that aren't affected by the sects?"

"Of course! It's none other than our kingdom, Heavenly Blessing!" Sean patted his own chest, feeling proud for his homeland. "That's why the royal academy is a special kind of existence in the continent. Youths in other kingdom would rather cultivate in their respective sects, but here, the royal academy is your best bet for a brighter future! And it's all for the good of the kingdom, not like those stinky sects who only want to strengthen themselves!"

William nodded. He didn't feel as strong patriotism like Sean toward the kingdom, but it was still his homeland. He still felt a sense of pride.

"Alright, alright, don't let those 'stinky' sects heard you. You'll lose your head."

A group of older-looking youths were standing right behind them. They seemed to have overheard Sean's words. Each of them was wearing a white training robe with the mark of Heavenly Blessing kingdom stitched on the chest.

Disciples of the royal academy!

While the tone of the youth was admonishing him, yet his face didn't show any trace of anger. Instead, he was all smile, thinking that Sean's words were good in the ear. When he passed by him, he gave Sean a slap on the back.

"Seems that the new recruits got guts. Keep it up, kid!" another one followed suit. And then another. In total, there were eight of them.

Sean felt his back tingling, but he still grinned foolishly.

Heavenly Blessing might be a small kingdom in the corner of the continent, but the residents were proud of it. Even more so for people in the royal academy, where promising youths had gathered. While in public they still had to give those sects some face, in the back, ridicule and insults were not rare.

They were just seniors teasing the new recruits. If anything, it just made Sean felt more welcomed in the academy.

"Let's go in first. We can continue this later," William laughed.

It seemed that the academy was an interesting place. He couldn't help but got excited.

---

The new recruits from the tournament numbered a hundred and sixty in total.

The youths who had passed the preliminary was automatically entered. The rest were handpicked by the instructors from those who had shown potential.

Gilbert's friend, the spear-user who couldn't pass the preliminary, was also accepted. William quickly approached him to give his congratulations.

"Rematch, rematch! I can't leave it like that! There are good sparring locations here in the academy, let's have a go at it in the future!"

"Haha! I'm looking forward to it!"

The chubby kid was really enthusiastic about it. Apparently, he was the most hot-headed one in the group.

"But really, you're accepted as inner disciple, life's really unfair," Gilbert lamented. Usually, new recruits at elementary stage had to start as outer disciple. William was an exception this time around. That showed how high the academy had valued him.

"What's the difference between inner and outer disciple? I thought disciples are just disciples?"

Sean and Gilbert stared at William as if he was an exotic magical beast.

"I say, your master didn't tell you a lot, huh?" Sean sighed.

Actually, that was the truth. While the village elder was quite proficient in techniques, when it was time for knowledge of the martial arts world, he would go silent.

"Listen up. Usually in a sect, disciples were ranked as Outer, Inner, and Core disciples. Outer disciples were ordinary disciples who had just started their training. If they can prove themselves and improve their cultivation, they'll become inner disciples. These disciples are given more freedom in the sect, can use more resources, and are given more access to secret manuals of the sect! As for the core disciples, they're the most valued and talented disciples, under direct tutelage of a sect head. For example, I'm sure those Altair siblings would be core disciple upon entrance!"

"Actually, from what I've heard, they did," Gilbert added, further reinforcing his belief that life was unfair.

"That's for a sect, right? What about our academy? I though you said we're not a sect?" William asked, still slightly confused.

"The academy is using those terms to make it easier to understand. In reality, we aren't that strict about ranks and seniority."

A familiar voice came from behind. William quickly turned around only to see the older youth from before, the one who had led the group of eight.

"S-senior!" William and his friends quickly saluted. The youth waved his hand, telling them to be at ease.

"I'm happy that you're enthusiastic about your learning, but you should line up now. The entrance ceremony is about to begin."

"Y-yes! Right away!"

The kids scrambled toward the field, laughing all the way.

The entrance ceremony was only attended by the new recruits. The speech was given by the current Supreme Elder, while eight other figures, six men and two women, stood behind him. The Supreme Elder had a white, long beard, looking like he was at his sixties. In comparison, the figures behind him were all in their thirties for the men, or late twenties for the women.

"Don't judge the book by its cover," Sean whispered. "Those people are Elders. They're all monsters in Nascent Soul stage. They're at least twice as old as their appearance!"

William gulped. So it was true that cultivation could prolong one's life and maintain their youth!

"...Remember, train hard, and carve your own path!"

The Supreme Elder concluded his speech with the same words in the carving. The field erupted into cheers.

As the Supreme Elder and the eight Elders left, the instructors came over to help manage the children.

Today, they only had to attend the entrance ceremony. Class would have to wait until tomorrow.

"For those living in the dorm, we'll escort you. Remember the route well!"

Of a hundred and sixty new recruits, two jumped ranks to core disciple, thirty-one were accepted as inner disciples, while the rest were outer disciples. Curiously, all the inner disciples were nobles, except for William. His simple attire stuck out like a sore thumb in the group.

He could hear some nobles talking about him in hushed tone, their expression marred with disgust. He tried his best to ignore them.

The royal academy occupied a huge plot of land, the size of a small city. For this reason, the academy had to be constructed a bit far from the capital.

The area for outer disciples was the largest, mostly to accommodate housing. In contrast, inner disciples' dorm wasn't as big. The excess land was used to create specialized training grounds. As for core disciples, they lived in their respective Elder's courtyard.

There was a large gate separating the outer disciple and inner disciple's area. Outer disciples weren't allowed to enter without a reason, but it was the other way around for inner disciples.

The instructor ushered them toward a five-storied wooden building. Rows upon rows of windows could be seen on the walls, each of them for a dorm room. just counting the windows alone, William deduced that there were around four hundreds room in total.

And there were seven more buildings like this in the distance!

'Really... everything in the capital is so exaggerated!"

There were a lot of disciples in the dorm, the youngest was barely seven while the oldest was around twenty. From the quality of their clothing, they seemed to be nobles. They gave William a disapproving look before resuming their business.

It seemed that they didn't like a commoner like him in the building...

At that moment, an instructor approached him while holding a scroll on his hand.

"Hey, kid. Are you William?"

The boy nodded.

"Usually, we paired newcomers with each other in their group. However, there's a slight problem. Would it be okay if you stay with a senior?"

William agreed, not thinking too much about it. He didn't feel like it was a big deal.

The instructor heaved a long sigh, looking as if his life had been spared.

Moreover, the nobles were stealing glances at him while snickering.

...Alright, that was suspicious.

"Your room is in the fifth floor, at the east end of the hallway. Here's your key!"

The instructor passed him a bronze key, and then quickly walked away without giving William any chance to ask question.

'I wonder what was that about?'

Fifth floor. William decided to take a look first. Ignoring the nobles' piercing gaze, he climbed the stairs in the blink of an eye.

---

When William tried to open the door, it was still locked.

The instructor did say that it belonged to a senior. Since they didn't attend the entrance ceremony, he thought that they were still in class.

His mind was still affected by the unwelcoming gaze of the other inner disciples. With the thick door blocking most sound, he failed to notice he rustling noise coming from the inside.

He casually put the bronze key into the lock, and then turned it open.

When he opened the door, he was greeted with the sight of a naked boy.

No, to be more precise, the boy was in the middle of changing. His inner garment was flung over his shoulder, while the rest of the clothes were sprawled over a bed nearby.

The boy froze. William froze as well, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of the water.

A sharp gaze was directed toward William, the intensity inside was enough to kill him.

"I'm sorry!"

He closed the door with all his might. The loud bang echoing throughout the entire hallway. Luckily, nobody was outside at the moment.

"Haaa... what a blunder..."

His heart couldn't calm down. It was beating so fast, as if trying to break out of his chest. He felt his cheeks burning like wildfire.

As he began to calm down, however, he felt something weird.

Eh, wasn't that just his roommate? They were both boys, right? He was sure that the academy didn't allow mixed-gender rooming.

Ah, heck, what was he doing, getting flustered over a brother? That was creepy!

When he had finally regained his wit, he opened the door again.

The boy had finished changing. He was wearing a majestic white robe, and his long, black hair had been gathered into a bun with a silver hairpin. An aloof expression rested on his face as he sat straight on the bed, his hand holding a book open.

A handsome, attractive face that could turn over heaven and makes women scream in delight. That was how William evaluated this roommate of his.

He didn't feel any weird feeling like before. He sighed, thanking the Gods that he was still 'normal'.

"Uh, I'm sor-"

"Nothing happened. Forget it."

A sharp reply cut his words immediately. William sighed. It seemed that the person involved was still angry, but what could he do? It was truly a mistake!

"Right, I'll be your roommate from now on. I'm still a new recruit, so please take care of me, senior! Oh, by the way, my name is William."

He stretched out his hand for a handshake.

The boy lifted his eyes off his book, only to stare at William's lonely hand hanging on the air. A minute passed and he didn't seem to have any intention to take it.

As expected, he turned back to his book.

William's lips twitched. He didn't have other option but to retract his hand.

When he thought that all hope was lost, suddenly he heard the boy's murmur.

"I'm Elias Harwell. That's all you need to know."

After throwing that bomb, he turned his back to William.

However, William couldn't be bothered with his action. The reveal of his name was enough to shake him silly.

Elias Harwell. The surname alone was enough to tell him everything.

'Elias. Harwell. Isn't that... the Fourth Prince?!'

William frowned. It seemed that he had been handed something troublesome...