Institutes and Legends

"So what happens next?" I questioned Tim and Caroline.

"Well now you wait till all candidates are assessed, then the four main teaching institutes will choose up to 50 students they want to take with them, the remaining students will go to lesser-known institutes and militias.

"So the four figures at the examination room were the heads of the institutes?" I further questioned.

"Yup they are the head of the institutes, well renowned for their mastery in multiple schools of magic; Egwene the Ageless Queen of Zessia, Abbraxsoth the Demon is the current ruler of the Fighting Pits of Eshia, Hanna current Grandmaster Artificer of Aspa and lastly the institute I was enrolled to Brann the Headmaster of the floating city of Atlantis," Tim explained.

"Ohh which one is the best?" I asked.

"In terms of military might, the fighting pits of Eshia tend to have the most S-Ranked combatants," Tim answered.

"You don't want to go there, Emilia! it's rumoured to be a dark and cruel place, where the strong thrive and the weak are oppressed, you'd have to be some sort of sadistic dark soul to survive there!" Caroline warned.

"God that place sounds horrible who would ever want to go there? How about the other institutes? I asked.

"Well, I can't speak for the other institutes but In Atlantis, we focus more on the study and applications of magic, rather than solely combat magic." Answered Tim.

"To be honest I'd be happy if Atlantis or Aspa. Zessia, the fighting pits are horrible, the militia is perhaps the worst places to go to, the conditions are terrible and the death rates are worryingly high, although the lesser-known institutes may be a good option." Caroline answered.

"Yes, sadly the militia and the other lesser-known institutes do use their students in a way I could best describe as profit-focused, so students that go there don't always survive sadly." Tim agreed.

Tim and Caroline sat in silence staring into their goblets as if they were contemplating on how flawed and cruel this system and world were.

"So how did you manage to get our uniform, Emilia?" Tim asked breaking the silence.

"Oh during the introduction inside that blinding white room my interviewer went by the name Scarlet seemed to have given it to me. Do you know her?" I intriguingly asked.

"Scarlet? really? Wow, well little did you know she is one of the three S-Ranked students of Atlantis, currently, she holds the position of 2nd in Atlantis First being Paul the back Dragon Slayer and 3rd being Travis Son of the Demon." Tim answered, which instantly made me remember my ex Paul.

"No way you met Scarlet? She's rumoured to be the strongest fighter in all the institutes and is currently undefeated! The only S-Ranked student that doesn't use spells!" Caroline beamed in excitement.

"Yes her reputation is quite accurate, she is undefeated and also monstrously strong beyond belief and impervious to damage." He nodded, "but beware I hear that no one has ever lived to see her angered side." He warned.

"Yeah my first encounter with her wasn't the best either, she was scary in a weird way." I also added, wondering if anyone else got the same feeling I did being near her.

"So why is the whole process mandatory? What happened?" I questioned again.

"It's a long story, but roughly a decade ago, there was a five-year war against beings from another plane, ruthlessly killing everything and anything they come across, many lives were lost and many cities were razed. Until the four legendary sorcerers managed to repel the invasion and end the 5-year long war. Tim explained.

"Yes, and the four legendary sorcerers that changed the tide of the war came from your plane, Emilia!" Caroline added.

"So what was so special about them?" feeling intrigued, maybe I might have heard of one back home, although very unlikely.

"Well from the history books there were four brothers, Alaystin the Untouchable his speciality was to seamlessly move between realities and realms of his choosing, Morphling the Dreamer he could alter himself and everything around him with just his thoughts and imagination, Stryke the Time Lord harnessed the ability to control the flow of time and the last is Erath the Limitless he was able to effortlessly harness and use Arcanum." Tim recited.

"Well I can safely say that I don't know any of them, even their names didn't even sound human. So where are they now then?" I asked, sighing as I lean on my hand in wonder.

"Well after the battle there has been no documentation or sightings of them, the few people who interacted with them would be Egwene and my headmaster Branm, but they refuse to reveal anything about them," Tim answered.

"Oh, one day I wish I would get the chance to be in the presence of a legend!" Caroline said staring at the ceiling in wonder.

"Sorry Tim, how rude of me, so what do you do in Atlantis?" I asked.

"Me? I'm just a 2nd-year student in the engineering division, the engineering division is responsible to maintain the daily operation of Atlantis." Tim answered.

"Tim? What about the family you left behind? Do we ever get to see them ever again? I need to know." I cautiously asked.

"Well, I do miss my family very much, but they are from this plane so although pretty expensive I can send letters to them and maybe even visit them if I saved up enough gold. unfortunately for you, though there have only been three known sorcerers ever that had the ability to freely travel between planes one was Alaystin, the second was Erath, and the thirdly is current Rank 1 Student Paul, but he's been strictly forbidden to use it to reach other planes, Warp gates could be used but visiting other planes are almost impossible and only reserved for diplomats and royalty." Tim replied.

"Warp gates?" I questioned.

"Yeah so warp gates are machines that create portals that allow people who pass through them to quickly travel large distances, but that means of travel is also the most expensive so it is rarely used," Tim said.

"So Tim and Caroline I'm feeling hungry, but I'm a vegetarian. " I asked as my stomach rumbled reminding me I haven't had breakfast yet.

Tim and Caroline looked at me again with a face of bewilderment, "Umm what's a vegetarian?" Caroline politely asked.

"Well, it means that I don't eat the meat that comes from animals," I answered.

"Ohhh sure." Tim and Caroline replied simultaneously.

Caroline and Tim proceeded to point out various dishes to try, much to my surprise the food was pretty good, one dish in particular smelt amazingly spiced with a taste extremely close to chicken which was heavenly.

"So Emilia is there a particular reason you're a vegetarian?" Caroline politely questioned.

"When I was younger I wasn't vegetarian but when I grew older I became a lot closer to my religion and faith so I decided to become vegetarian," I answered.

"Ohh I see" replied Caroline as both Caroline and Tim nodded in understanding.

Hours passed as we shared food, drinks and stories. I found myself smiling and laughing, maybe Tim was right making friends momentarily made me forget my previous life, but in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but wonder if one day I may be able to return home. I was torn between staying in a dream world or my family and friends, why must it be mutually exclusive?

The atmosphere of the hall suddenly changed, the mixture of emotions was concerning, there was happiness and cheer, disappointment, shock, sadness some even openly cried out loudly. I noticed on the back of my left hand there is now a bold letter F on it and the other another weird symbol I don't recognise. I wondered what this means as I turn to Caroline to ask her, as she is also now sobbing in her arms.