The academy (2)

The two 13 years old teenagers - the rest of the former batch - helped them visit the structure, presenting the essentials, which wasn't much. The bathrooms, the dining room, and the bedrooms.

There was nothing to be said - the inside was just as bad as the outside but with a strong smell of wet wood and dust. Not really pleasant - the 2 guides must have noticed the grimaces of the newbies.

"You should sheer up! It's a chance to be here! The conditions are not very good, but the moment you endure it, you'll understand how much better this place is than the classic academy."

"What's the difference?" Asked a teenager.

"In the academy, only 2 to 4 percent show enough talent and determination to be trained after the first year. Here, that number increases to nearly 10 percent."

"That's a lot!" He resumed with a serious voice. "If it's of any consolation, an apprentice's salary is one dragm a day." Amazement comes from some teenagers. A dragm was as much as a man earned a day.

They would obviously encourage them - thought Adrien - their success could give them raises.

The principal difference was that the classic academy searched for any soul or comprehension talents while training them for occupations in short supply. Here, however, the followers of the future elites were trained. They did so for every batch that awakened an excellent talent. 70 or so in more than 200 000 teenagers.

In addition, the enormous funds required for travel, maintenance, and training were paid for by the rich. This was one of the things that kept society in place. It could be terrifying to make an enemy who might one day eliminate your entire family. And not profitable.

There were still lands that needed to be colonized, and they'd need people able to kill small beasts after they cleared the areas. That's why in a little over a decade, this institution will be the norm - the upheaval would force a shift to the west and south.

(maps in the description)

Then, they made them choose a room to stay inside, in groups of 5. "Running could be done tomorrow." They said. More likely, they didn't want to watch them do it at this time.

Adrien, Paul, and Valentin took a room with the teenager who had objected - Charles - and another - Luc. A simple hardwood board with thorns sticking out made a bed without blankets. Other than that, nothing.

"That's what they called 'luck'?!" Luc asked. Adrian looked at him. He wore simple-looking clothes, not those of a citizen. A rule said you need both parents to be.

Had this rule not existed, would he have turned this way? Had his mother not been forced to give birth to him, would he just be normal? His past life had been an unfun journey, switching from responsibilities to others, fighting for glory till death came to him. This hadn't been a question of strength; it was a question of mentality. But he had only discovered it the last year of his life. It was too late. He hoped he wasn't too early this time.

He focused back on Luc. Given that he'd fail, the traditional academy would probably have suited him better. That would have at least given him some useful job training.

"Father told me it was a chance too." Said Charles, then, flushing, he let out a: "By the way, thank you for helping me."

"Yeah, I really thought he was going to punish both of you," said Paul

"We're in this together." Adrian lied. He continued to speak, lie upon lie, trying to gain their friendliness. Adrien wondered if he was right doing this. He honestly had no confidence fighting these enemies. If so, why should he even try? Telling the truth has always been the easier path, the best for his mind.

There was still an option, his soul was telling him. To just live an ordinary life, never surpassing the third rank and life happily - their enemy had only killed rank 4 and 5, be it both humans and beasts. There were just so many paths before him.

Their conversation till night, the lack of proper beds made it even harder to sleep. When they finally fell asleep, they were awakened a few hours later.

"Time to awaken!" Yelled James. The adolescent blinked their bleary eyes. "You, particularly! He said to their group. "You're already 50 laps late!"