Part 1: Seventh Academy

Part 1

The air was a mixture of numerous odours.

The air that flowed into my nose was bringing in an abundance of information. It was the smell of dust at first, then came the sweet aroma of fruits, and the odour of my own body.

I slowly opened my eyes. A myriad of colours danced across my pupils. The light of the sun blinded my vision, so I quickly shut my eyes again. Sometime later, I hesitantly tried to open my eyes again and tried to get up.

I raised my right hand onto my body and then brought it in front of my eyes. I could see a black metallic ring wrapped around my ring finger. The same ring that my mother possessed a few years ago. The ring that I can never pull out by myself even if I tried to.

I opened my eyes widely. My mind was fully awoken from the sleep and I hurried to prepare for the academy. It was the first day of the semester and I cannot afford to be late.

As everything seems perfect, I headed to the academy main building that's not far ahead. The path was decorated with cherry blossoms and perfectly sown grass. The 7th Academy was a beautiful mansion-like building surrounded by mountains.

It isn't all that big. But the main building was delicately built from white granite was very spectacular and mesmerizing. The combination of Eastern and Western continents fits perfectly in the terms of environmental design.

Every student here was a 'Ringmaster' with various ability, but there's still some discrimination between nobles and the ordinary citizen. It's because the ring possessed by the aristocrats seems to be more valuable than the others. But there's still some of the rings can compete with the noble's rings.

My steps stopped at the moment I arrived at the academy gate. Over 200 first-year students stood outside and waited for something. In a few minutes, a middle-aged person appeared in front of the school gate and opened the gate widely. But the students still prohibited to enter the academy until an announcement from the instructor.

"Welcome to the Seventh Academy for all new students. This academy also is known as 'The Academy of Weaponry' among all 13 academies." His voice was deep and quite frightening when spoke to the students.

"Annually, this academy will conduct a test for each new student. Don't worry, the test is not that challenging for you. But if you fail, you cannot enter this school for this semester and return to your home." Students in the crowd started muttering, but there was no one complained about the statement as they are confident enough for the test.

"To be a little more specific, you will choose your own weapon and use it for the exam. The result will be made based on your skill and performance in the test. At some point, you have the chance to enter the academy even with low rarity rings. So, in a few minutes, you can pick your weapon of choice and take the test here." The instructor raised his hand and pointed his finger to the training grounds nearby. All student seems to be a bit nervous and some of them feel excited.

At the training grounds, there are several stations with a few instructors at each of them. Each station has several weapons according to their own types. I am headed to the first station which is for all kind of swords and picked up a sheathed katana. Some of the students chose a normal longsword, two-handed sword and more.

"There are some rules for swordsmanship test. First, you need to destroy all targets in a minute and you're free to use your ring ability. Second, any fights between students are prohibited during the tests. Third, any student that already passed the first test, they can choose secondary weapon other than swords. Of course, they need to pass the second test first. That's all."

The first student to take the test was a blue-haired guy with a longsword. The target was 5 cylinder-shaped wooden pillars with 1-meter in diameter. As the countdown started, he ran towards the target and slashed it with the longsword imbued with wind elemental. But the sword just slashed the target half-way and failed to destroy the whole target. The guy seems surprised but continued to destroy it and proceed to the next target. He cleared the test within 56 seconds and he passed with a total of 54 points out of 100.

"Lapacho wood eh…so this test was a bit hard actually." A guy with high-pitched voice muttered right beside me. He smiled when I slowly turned my head to see his face. His height probably 164 cm and he equipped with a one-handed longsword. The crest on his uniform clearly showed him as a noble.

"My name is Ilze De Fotia. You can call me Ilze. How about you?" He introduced himself with his cheerful voice.

"Kurokami Zen. You can call me Zen and…is it alright to call nobles by their name casually? Surely I don't want any person to despise me in the first semester."

"Zen…an unusual name you have there. It's alright anyway because I don't care so much about it. I think that girl over there also don't mind about these simple things." He looked towards a white-haired girl in the second station with curiosity. The girl equipped with a bow…but no arrows.

The test for archers was to hit five different targets within 1 minute. Not that much difference with swordsmanship test but slightly easier. The girl stepped forward to the archer's spot with only a bow and seems ready to start the test. When the countdown started, she pulled the string and the bow was glowing with luminous tiny stars. Five glowing arrows were unleashed simultaneously when she released the string and hit all targets. Not only hit but she blasted the target completely….

"Terrifying…." Ilze let out his tiny laugh.

After an hour, it was Ilze turn to take the test. His ring ability is Pyrokinesis, those who can control the flames. He skillfully demolished all targets within 28 seconds, which is the fastest record for sword test and his score was 89 points out of 100. He stepped out from the test field and smiled like always.

"Ah…I failed to break the previous record. Good luck to you, Zen." Ilze walked pass me and pat on my shoulder. I should be thanking him but he walked too fast to the other station.

I stood at the starting point with my katana, trying to focus completely. I need to conceal my ability as much as I can in this test. If not, this year will not be a smooth one. With my stance ready, I am focused enough to clear this test.

"Start!" The referee shouted.

I ran towards the first pillar and slashed it diagonally with my katana. The sword was sharp enough to cut them. I am not using my ability, so I took 38 seconds to cut them all. My score also passed the requirement of the test so I am grateful enough.

"You failed." The instructor stated. I am shocked enough.

"What was the problem, Sir? I can see that he cleared the test skillfully without any problems." Ilze approached the judges with his smile.

"He didn't use his ability so he failed this test. Any objections will be ignored."

"As I know, there were no rules that we need to use our ability, Sir."

"It was clearly stated-."

"The first rule, you need to destroy all targets in a minute and you're free to use your ring ability. I'm sure that we are free to use our ability, and we also can do without it. Am I right?" The instructor's face was slightly dissatisfied with Ilze's objections.

At first, the instructors started to discuss with each other. The students in the training fields also start muttering about the incident. I'm trying to approach Ilze during the discussion. Out of the blue, someone touched my shoulder from behind.

"This boy passed the test." The white-haired man told them.

"P-principle?�� The instructor shocked with the principle appearance then immediately bowed to him.

"Boy, if you are taking the secondary test, just use your ability. If you worried about anything, then just tell me everything. I will satisfy your opinion." His voice was too deep, but it's warm and made me calmer.

"I will do it, Sir."

I walked along with Ilze to the third station because he also wanted to go to the same place. I am using a pair of daggers and Ilze picked up a short-sword instead.

"Would you mind taking the test first, Zen?" I think Ilze was curious about my ability after all. In a few minutes, I went to the test area. The test requirement was to stab ten training dolls in 30 seconds.

"Ready, start!"

My eyes focused on the shadow formed below the first doll and teleported there in an instant. It was my ability, 'Shadow step'. Due to the skill cooldown, I need to run to the next doll before using it again. I cast the skill thrice and stabbed the target within 20 seconds.

My energy nearly depleted because the skill required almost 30% of my total stamina. But that's not what I am worried of. My ability was darkness manipulation, which was hated by most of the noble in the world. The ability to bring devastation and catastrophe upon the world. Before I noticed, Ilze already stood behind me with his smiling face.

"I'm surprised to see your great skill, Zen! It was very skilful and fantastic!" He praised.

"But don't you hate my ability? This dark, dreadful power feared by the world."

"I don't care. But if the time comes, I will surely stop you." He offered a sports drink for me.

I took the sports drink and sheathed my daggers. It seems that almost all student completed the test and some of them arguing about the results. A total of 45 students failed to enter the academy.

After a few minutes, all students gathered at the main gate with their new weapons. Many students wondered, even if the sun was scorching hot in the sky, the air at the academy still warm and comfortable. Maybe someone cast a large-scale skill here?

"So today was your registration test day and tomorrow will be the opening ceremony at the main hall. Also, don't forget to bring your weapon every day. Tomorrow is the ceremony, so I won't talk much. See you again next time." His speech was very short. I almost forgot that he was the principal of the academy.

Most of the students headed back to the dormitory after the speech but a few of them walked around the schoolyard. I wanted to rest at the dormitory for the rest of the day. Out of the blue, Ilze invited me for lunch at the cafeteria. I don't mind that much so I accepted the invitation and headed to the cafeteria with him.