Awakening

Location: Unknown

Date: Unknown

In a small sunlit room a beautiful young woman with striking silver-white hair and matching eyes, was having a conversation with an older lady.

"Roselia, though you are a student of this Academy..." The old lady began, "if you cannot form a team within the week you will be expelled. The only way to extend your allotted time is by getting the top spot in the castle exploration event tomorrow."

The beautiful woman, Roselia, sighed as she looked out the small window that lit the gloomy room. Many thoughts flashed through her head as she remembered everything that got her to where she was today. It was definitely not all good, in fact, it was mostly sad memories she had.

"As you have already been told, the castle has recently emerged from the earth and is believed to be over 1,000 years. After being scanned and confirmed that no living beings were within, we received permission to use this as an event for our Academy. The job of the students is to find any useful information or any useful items. The only way to get a perfect score is by finding out who the master of the castle was, what time period it is from, and what kingdom it was connected to."

Roselia nodded and a glint of competitiveness flashed in her shiny silver eyes.

"That is all, you are dismissed...may the gods bless you and your exploration."

***

Location: Unknown

Date: Unknown

Time: 9:30 AM

41 young men and women stood in groups of 3-5 people each, while a lone young woman stood in the back.

There were 5 groups of 5, 3 groups of 4, 1 group of 3, and Roselia in her lone 'group' of 1. Ahead of them were 15 Academy staff and 10 soldiers standing by to protect the students and castle from any threats that might appear.

Among the staff a man stepped forward and yelled "I wish all of you good fortune and herby announce the start of this Exam! GO!"

All of the students bolted towards the enormous castle. The castle is thought to be the 2nd largest in history, based on the knowledge known thus far. It was built with a rare black material. Its dark frame stood out with the clear blue sky as a background. The castles builders seemed to have used extreme precision to every detail as they built it. The only words that can be used to describe the castle are; extravagant, beautiful, elegant, and simply magnificent.

However, before the students could can reach the massive doors to the castle they must first get through an enormous gate stopping all intruders. The gate itself was gold and black with ancient symbols engraved on the earth directly in front of it.

As students approached they stared in awe at the scene beyond the gate. There, lined on either side of the path leading to the doors were massive pillars. Each one was so smooth and clean it was unimaginable to think they were man made.

One young woman said "These black pillars are so perfectly crafted I believe only gods themselves can make them."

Many students agreed and said the same about the castle itself.

After the initial shock a team moved forward to open the gates, but as soon as they reached the symbols on the ground they were forced backward by an unseen force.

Other teams looked on in confusion as they tried and had the same outcome.

At the back of the mob, Roselia realized the symbols lit up a red color every time someone tried to pass. "It must be a spell of some sort used to keep unwanted visitors out. But how? This magic is far too advanced." She thought silently as she continued watching the other students try various things.

And at this time a team of 5 stepped forward and had everyone else back away. Then a flashy young man stepped towards the gate and chanted a spell for a low level fireball and shot it at the gate.

It never even touched the gate. On the contrary, the fireball was immediately extinguished as it passed the symbols, which shown blue when it reached them.

"That's odd, it somehow extinguished the fireball." Roselia thought silently.

After a couple of minutes the symbols started glowing bright gold before losing all color. After seeing that the groups all rushed forward and opened the ginormous gate. As they did, the castles massive doors opened ahead, almost inviting them inside.

***

Time: 11:00 AM

Roselia was wandering a large hallway on the lowest floor. She was inspecting statues, paintings and the craftsmanship put into the castle. As she did, she realized the hall was a dead end, and at the very end ancient symbols were engraved on the beautiful white floor. These symbols shone a faint gold color.

She cautiously approached while paying very close attention to even the slightest change. She noticed they were engraved in a perfect circle, a large perfect circle taking up the end of the hall.

"If I don't take a chance now I will be expelled. What to do?" She said aloud to no one in particular, as she was most certainly alone. With that said she stepped into the middle of the circle.

A golden light rose from the symbols forming a circular wall around her. She looked around slightly panicked as the light reached the roof and then dropped to the floor. Roselia's eyes slammed shut and her body tensed.

Then after a few seconds she slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She was standing in an enormous room, easily the size of the 1st floor of the castle. The ceiling was around 30 feet above Roselia. The room was lit by globes that were glowing a bright white. The room itself was in an octagon shape.

Roselia was standing on a red carpet at the very back of the room. Directly in front of her on the opposite side, sat a massive throne, where what appeared to be 3 figures covered in golden light sat.

The 2 sides to the right and left of the throne has 2 figures each in what appeared to be a bowing position. A few feet from the throne, towards Roselia, are 2 more figures standing to the side of the throne. Directly in front of the throne, on the red carpet Roselia stood on, is a figure on one knee bowing deeply. And behind it, on either side of the red carpet were 15 figures in similar positions.

In total, there seemed to be around 40 figures wrapped in a golden light. Roselia stood there, wide eyed, mouth agape and unsure what to do.

Then she focused on the magnificent throne where the golden light was fading from the 3 figures.