The Sacred Admission Ceremony - Part One

"Since the early dawn of the universe our academy was established to serve as the sword and shield. Throughout its long and deep rooted history, our academy has followed the same protocol sat by the long gone great fairies."

A small sized man with a head of peacock spoke, standing alone on top of a great stage taking the center of this grand hall.

The hall was oval in shape, with two tapering ends. One led to a big twelve gates made of special wood and the other ended on the stage.

On both sides of the stage, floating balconies resting over small golden clouds resided. Each had a group of esteemed looking people of each race, and some included old men and women acting as the masters of the academy.

When Jim entered here for the first time, he was taken by the grand and majestic decorations of this place. He also noted the presence of giant statues at one side of the hall, taking up the entire side with loose curtains covering bits of them.

He couldn't perfectly see the details of these statues, but he knew for sure that the central one wasn't complete. It was cut from the waist, leaving only half or less of this statue.

When he was led here, he was told he was the only one permitted to enter. And when he entered, he realized he was too the only one without proper clothing.

Each one standing or sitting here wore a certain robe with specific color and a strange emblem over their chests and the center of their hats. From the rapid glance he took, everyone here seemed to already be part of a group, where each group was marked by a certain style of clothing.

"This is the inner disciple acceptance ceremony. For those who are new to our world, I have to tell you some facts so you can catch up with what you miss," the peacock spoke again, attracting Jim gaze.

Jim was now standing behind a gigantic curtain he was led to just behind the stage. He couldn't see the front or even look to the side as the light here was slightly dim.

From the mere words he heard from the two who led him here, he knew he was the latest to arrive, and so he was the last in this long line of many races.

"First the academy is built on the concept of the great pantheons in our universe. Each pantheon represents the founding father of a great race, and each pantheon can support an unlimited number of disciples and weaker races."

'That's exactly like what Siera told me,' Jim muttered to himself while the peacock continued:

"We have the esteemed dragon pantheon, the esteemed phoenix pantheon, the esteemed kraken pantheon, the esteemed medusa pantheon, the esteemed griffin pantheon, the esteemed unicorn pantheon, the esteemed hydra pantheon, the esteemed chimera pantheon, the esteemed banshee pantheon, the esteemed berserker pantheon, and the long fallen fairy pantheon."

Jim noticed that peacock didn't treat the fairy pantheon like other pantheons, making him realize how the academy was seeing the fairies.

"Eleven main pantheons with only ten currently active. Each pantheon has many races under them, and these races are known in our world as the mighty lords," the peacock said before adding:

"To know more you have to go and ask around for yourselves. Right now we are going to test each one of you based on the esteemed pantheons we have. Failing to be accepted by a pantheon isn't the end of the road, you can go and ask the mighty lords to accept you, making you also part of the pantheon in one way."

Jim nodded as this matched what Siera just told him. 'She told me her mother will accept me as a disciple, following the fox clan that follows the medusa pantheon,' he said to himself before thinking, 'the issue here is what will happen if her mother didn't do her promise and no one accepted me.'

His question was instantly answered by the peacock who said:

"If you fail to be accepted by the esteemed pantheons and the mighty lords then you will be considered failing to be admitted into the academy. You won't leave it but will be lowered to a degree where you won't have to follow a certain pantheon directly."

'What?!!!' Jim inwardly exclaimed in shock while keeping his silence. He was warned by the two who led him here before to never make a single sound until his test started.

"Now, let the first disciple come forth please."

Jim watched a silhouette moving forward through the curtain and then he heard nothing.

"Accepted," after a few minutes of pure silence, the sound of the peacock came again before adding, "what's your name, son?"