Chapter 6 - Imperial Academy

Author's note:

'Thoughts'

"Dialogues"

Page for arts:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088473842323

————————————// ————————————

Arthur woke up around 06:00, washed up and went down to breakfast with his family, not missing the chance to make some comments about waiting for him to be at the gym to put his sister's project into action.

Of course, this gave him some bruises, a parting gift from his mother. He was very excited to see the capital and the academy.

Every small town had a portal to the capital, the portal was fifty meters wide and twenty meters long, Arthur always wondered how strong he had to be to master a magic of that level.

"Nervous boy?"

Lucious put a hand on Arthur's shoulder pulling him out of his thoughts.

"As my student for three years, only class A is acceptable, remember that!"

"Can I do it? Remember that my teacher was only teaching me with ulterior motives!"

Arthur was shaking his head like he was starring in a teen drama as he looked at Lucious.

Lucious pulled Arthur into a hug and whispered.

"I don't know if the spoiled children of the capital could compete with a monster that can form its hidden mana core!"

Arthur's heart skipping a few beats, he looked questioningly at Lucious.

"What's up kid, I may not be a master of masters, but how could I not realize that"

Lucious shrugged at Arthur and started to laugh.

"How did you find out? Were you watching me?"

Arthur tried to keep it a secret, but it seems he only made a fool of himself during that time.

"Anyone could feel it, if you don't use a concealment technique and to your second question, why would I waste my time watching a brat!"

'I need to prepare really well, make the most of my time at the gym.'

Arthur's knowledge was based on the town of Maplewood, he didn't know anything else.

"How long are you two going to keep this secret? Come and say goodbye to your mother."

Hellen, who was seeing the pair of student and master talking, decided to intervene before it got too late.

Hellen hugged Arthur very tightly, avoiding talking so as not to cry, she stayed like that for almost a minute and walked away. Even worried about her son, the trip to the capital was quick, and she only needed to notify the imperial guards a day in advance that she was going to use the portal.

Unlike his mother, Arthur couldn't hold back his tears, perhaps because he was a child or simply to lighten the burden he placed on himself.

"I'll be fine mom, and you have to promise me you'll be safe until I get back!"

Hellen started to cry too, her failed attempt to appear strong in front of Arthur collapsed when she saw him crying.

"I should say this to you, promise me you'll be fine until my son returns!"

"Next!"

Shouted the guard, Arthur turned away from his mother and started walking towards the portal, while he shouted at her.

"LOVE YOU MOM, AND YOU TAKE CARE OF HER FOR ME."

Arthur was looking at Lucious and his mother as he walked through the portal.

For a second Arthur felt like he was on a roller coaster ride, when he looked around he saw a group of kids that looked about his age, he joined them and waited for the rest of the kids who had made the inscription to appear.

While waiting Arthur looked around, the buildings were mostly two-story Victorian style, it was a huge city as far as you could see, huge walls protected the city, carts pulled by strong and beautiful horses passed through the street.

The number of inhabitants in the capital was 100 thousand people and it was constantly growing, Arthur was distracted when he bumped into the boy in front of him.

"Sorry."

Arthur quickly apologized, he didn't want to draw attention to himself, and have to waste his time dealing with childhood conflicts at the academy.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

The boy responded with a question as he pointed towards the city, surprising Arthur.

'Me here thinking he would be a problem, I guess I'm too paranoid lately.'

The boy was the same height as Arthur, slicked back black hair and eyes and dressed in elegant Victorian clothes, he was very handsome and probably came from a very wealthy family.

The boy looked away from Arthur and looked at other children.

'Many of them have already developed their core, this year the competition is going to be intense.'

As Arthur looked at the capital, that same thought crossed the minds of several other children from the big families who could already feel someone else's core.

After confirming that all registered children were present, the academy representative took them to several luxury wagons and left for the academy.

Fifteen minutes later they arrived at the gym entrance. It was huge, it looked like a separate city from the Capital, several three-story buildings, at the back of the academy you could see a huge forest divided by a lake that must have been about thirty meters from one edge to the other and disappeared in the horizon.

The students were received and directed to an arena inside the academy, all new students were in the center of the arena and looked at a huge green crystal covered by runes.

"ATTENTION EVERYONE, AS YOUR NAME IS CALLED, POSITION YOURSELF IN FRONT OF THE TEST CRYSTAL!"

The voice was loud and reached every corner of the arena, it was a type of magic that used the wind to increase the volume of the voice.

In the stands, thousands of people looked at the children expectantly. Having a good result on this test was essential for anyone who wanted a good future.

"Hey do you know what kind of ranking test?"

Arthur asked the same boy he had bumped into.

"The test is simple, when your name is called you will place your hand on the crystal and circulate your mana, the crystal will say the level of your core and the number of mana channels in your body."

"Mana channels?"

The boy looked at Arthur with a questioning look before answering.

"Mana channels are the points where mana circulates through the body, the more channels the faster the mana circulates."

"How do I increase the number of mana channels in my body?"

The boy looked a little annoyed, he thought Arthur was making fun of him.

"You're not already training that with the training ring!"

"So that was the function of this ring, so cultivation is more difficult with it."

Arthur was thinking out loud and asked the boy one more question.

"Is there a limit to the number of channels or do I have to wear the ring every time?"

The boy pondered the question and said.

"I saw in a book that in the blue stage of the mana core the number of channels would be around sixty in four."

"Thank you very much friend, my name is Arthur, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me."

Arthur took on a very formal tone far from his normal one, if Lucious was there he would surely laugh at him.

"Guth Swordhand and a pleasure to meet you."

Guth waved Arthur back.

'No last name, so a commoner managed to develop a nucleus, admirable.'

Guth didn't judge a book by its cover, his family was a family of swordsmen, who respected the strong and hardworking.

While in their internal monologue, they were in an uproar over the result that just came out…