The Academy of Swords and Magic

First Mage Diggory, the Chairman of the Academy, Claude, and Alicia all stood on a stage at the new Academy entrance. Most of the buildings were left from the old Academy de L'échec, but quite a few new buildings including the Tower of Magic had been built on the expanded Academy grounds. The number of students at the Academy had been increased and so it was necessary to build new dorm buildings, dining halls, and training grounds. Unlike the Academy de L'échec, the Academy of Swords and Magic had a new system of separating the students. Each dorm building would represent a separate order. The original Order of the Rose, The order of the Lillie, The Order of the Daisy, the Order of the Orchid and the Order of the Tulip. Each Order had their own facilities for bathing, dining, training, and study. It was decided that each Order would also have its own uniform.

The Chairman spoke first, "Greetings potential students of the Academy of Swords and Magic. There are three exams you'll be asked to complete today. One test will determine your aptitude. There is nothing to this exam, you'll touch this board and then we'll know your aptitude thanks to the power of Magic. The second and third exams will test which Order you'll belong to here at the Academy. At any point in the exam process, you may be asked to leave. We are selecting a specific kind of student, it has nothing to do with your political or social background. You may find that you are asked to be a part of an Order in which someone you used to see as a political enemy or social inferior is placed in your order. If you complain, or lord over your new fellow Order members, you will be asked to leave. The Academy of Swords and Magic is a Meritocracy. Your achievements will be the only standard by which you will be judged."

First Mage Diggory walked up next and then cast a flashy spell in front of the potential students. He then cleared his throat, his bushy eyebrows wiggled and then said, "Most of you are here to become a mage. Look around, look to your left and to your right. You see what, a few thousand people? We will be taking at most three people as official Mages. We will train one hundred Mage Apprentices. The rest of you will compete for a spot at the school with your sword or your mind. Those of you who make it into the school will still have a chance to become a mage, it all depends on you. How you act, how well you study, how well you compete. Each Order will be competing against each other. Your Order is your family, your country, and your future. If you fail your Order, you fail our Academy."

Claude stepped up next and said, "I will train you with the sword. Even a mage will need to be trained with the sword. Thank you."

Alicia stepped up and then said, "I will be teaching the basic Magic class this year. My expectations are that any person who takes my class will give it their full attention and effort. Those who choose to slack off in my class will be asked to leave the school. No second chances. As you can see, we have far more candidates than beds, so we aren't afraid to let you go. Your parents, your empires, kingdoms or friends of a friend can't help you get into the school. We have the final say. I hope that you will all do well and try your best."

Prince Albert was walking with his entourage and bumped into Emperor Wolter von Plettenberg and his entourage. Prince Albert smiled and said, "Well, if it isn't Wolter von Plettenberg, I hear that you have a new capital city now?"

Emperor Wolter von Plettenberg looked at Prince Albert and spat, "Well if it isn't the idiot prince. They are testing you know, perhaps you should return to your palace and dine on garbage little piggy."

Prince Albert smiled and said, "I hear that Wütendes Menschenreich is now considered the poorest country on the continent, congratulations Emperor, you have truly proven to be one of the great rulers of our time."

A beautiful tan dark haired woman walked between them and moved closer to the stage. Both men suddenly stopped talking and followed her with their eyes. Emperor Wolter said, "Princess Viana of El Pais de Lotharios."

Prince Albert licked his lips and said, "She's really beautiful, I hadn't met her before."

Another beauty walked past them, this time A tall blond haired woman with deep blue eyes and very pronounced curves. Prince Albert said, "Princess Huitfeldt from Odinslund."

Emperor Wolter now standing shoulder to shoulder with Prince Albert whistled and made a curving motion with his hands, Prince Albert smiled and nodded. He pointed out another woman, and then Emperor Wolter pointed one out. For the next ten minutes, they compared beautiful women with each other before they realized they were being too friendly with each other and walked off in a prideful huff.

Standing at the top of the Tower of Magic, Guy, Madeline, Doreen and Olivier looked through Diggory's telescope at the crowd. Guy said, "Oh, Olivier it looks like your Brother and Emperor Wolter are getting along. I say we put them in the same Order. Let's see if those two can get along that way."

Olivier chuckled and said, "Alright I like that, assuming they can pass the entrance exams, let's do that."

Madeline asked, "Are we really going to let that jerk go to our school?"

Guy asked, "Which one? I mean, let's be honest here, most of those people have rotten attitudes and will never be mages, but we might be able to at least straighten their personalities out a bit if we show them how small they are without the power that backs them."

Doreen smiled and then asked, "What are we looking for exactly?"

Madeline smiled at Doreen and said, "People we like and that will be loyal."

Guy got serious and then said, "Truthfully what we are looking for, are people who will be responsible. There is an old saying where I am from. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

They all looked at each other and then Olivier said, "We need people who will understand and respect that very saying. We hold the future of mankind in the balance with this power. It is an awesome responsibility that even we here have been a little too loose with. We have a lot of blood on our hands defending the Kingdom and taking action against those two governments."

Guy nodded and said, "In the future, we'll need to carefully think before we act so rashly."

Doreen asked, "Should we consider banning certain areas of knowledge from future generations? We have the ability now to select which spells will exist or not, don't we?"

Guy shook his head no, "We have the magic books of Pays Des Abrutis and the few books I managed to find through other means, there could be a trove of books in another country with spells we have never seen. In fact, that will be something we'll have to start investigating very soon. We might teach someone basic magic that turns around and starts to study books on their own which we don't own."

Madeline nodded and said, "I have a few ideas on that, we'll talk about that after we see the Academy start."