Chapter 28 : Aldercrest Academy Testing Site #12

The carriage ride was a long and tedious one. It had started raining for a while, and it was a gloomy afternoon. Dark clouds filled the sky, thunder occasionally striking in the distance. Everyone talked to each other, since they were from the same village and same age group. They all attended the school, so many of them had already known each other. The carriage was made of wood, with some sort of water resistant hide that covered the top to prevent the rain from reaching the inside. Kieran sat there alone, watching the distance growing smaller and smaller. Some people had tried to talk to him, but he just ignored them. He was slightly embarrassed at himself, a grown man crying for such a thing, he couldn’t stop cringing at himself. At the moment, he just felt so emotional and sad, but now, he was reflecting upon his actions.

“I’m never doing that again,” he thought to himself.

The rain never stopped pouring. They soon arrived at their destination, the Aldercrest Academy Testing Site #12. It was a huge rectangular building that was 2 floors tall. It spanned across the whole grassland. It was about two to three football fields long, and had a huge empty space square in the middle, which they called the quad. It was made of stone and marble, with beautiful carvings that seemed to feel like they were in a castle of some sort. There were many pillars that stood strong and tall. It was intimidating.

“What a waste of money,” Kieran thought. “Isn’t this just once a year? They really had to spend so much for just a “Once a year” event?”

His thoughts were instantly interrupted by the examiners shouting.

“Alright! You will all group and line up according to your village!” yelled one of the Examiners.

“People from Gaste Village, please come here and line up in front of me!” yelled one of them

“Children of Tudo Village, line up in front of me!” yelled another.

“Children of Brindle Village, please come here and line yourselves up properly! Single file line!” said an Examiner.

The children all lined up, and the Examiner brought them. They passed endless hallways, rooms, seeing other children as well. They eventually reached the center, the quad, where they were gathered. A middle aged man walked up in front of the five lines, with escorts following him.

“Good morning, Candidates!” he said loudly, like a lions roar.

“I am the Head Examiner for the Aldercrest Academy’s Testing Site 12!”

“For the next few weeks, you will be tested to see if you fit the scholarship program!”

“Each village will have one, and ONLY one scholarship candidate!”

With this, the children started murmuring to each other.

“Only one scholarship receiver for each village?”

“That’s absurd! We were going to go in together!”

“SILENCE!” he yelled. The chattering came to a stop.

“Thank you. I will continue,” he said as he pulled out a scroll and read from it.

“I will now read from this scroll, which will explain the things you will be examined for, the criteria, and the Headmasters message for you all!”

U-hum! He cleared his throat,

“Good day, children of the world. My name is Headmaster Vantiel, and I welcome you all to a chance at attending our academy. Aldercrest Academy is the most prestigious academy in the world, where people all over the world attend. The scholarship program was created in order to scout talented individuals who may be in situations less than ideal. For the past few years, each village has had the chance to have a scholarship student attend our school. Your efforts and performance will be what decides whether or not you attend our school! Now, you may be wondering, what exactly are we looking for?” the Head Examiner paused before continuing.

“There will be a written exam with subjects you have all learned in your schools. This is phase one. Anyone who does not score at least 85 will be dismissed and returned to their village.

The second phase is mock battles. You will go against multiple students and an Examiner. As Aldercrest Academy is a school where many become Knights, you will need to have some talent. Don’t worry, the criteria for this won’t be too hard.

The final phase will be a test where we will test your affinity with Laylines.”

“Laylines? What’s that?”

“What about the battles? I’ve never trained before!”

Children were talking with each other, unsure of whether or not they would pass. Kieran looked around and noticed everyone was nervous. However, there were a few there that seemed like they would be trouble. From each village besides his, there seemed to be a few children that had an aura about them. He kept a close eye on them.

“That will be all!” he said as he wrapped the scroll back into its container. “The Examiner in front of you will lead you to your rooms! Exams will begin tomorrow! For now, rest, relax, train, do whatever you wish!”

He pointed to the area behind him.

“Behind me is the training grounds! There are some wooden weapons here for you to practice with if you wish to do so.”

He pointed in the direction that everybody had come in from.

“Over there, on the second floor, is the library! Many, if not everything you will be tested on will be inside. “

“You will now be escorted by your Examiner. Goodluck, children, and may the Angel shine upon you!”

As he said that, each Examiner brought the children to their own rooms. The first floor was the boys floor, and the second floor was the girls floor. The Examiner explained that past 11 pm, unless it was to use the restroom or find an instructor, nobody was allowed out. Violence amongst children was not allowed either. With each instance of rule breaking, there would be one strike. On the third strike, the student will be returned home.

“All of you will be here together for the next few weeks.. You will share rooms with other villages, the assignment will be selected at random. Later, we will put out a notice on the board so that you can see which room you are assigned to,” he said as he pointed to the board next to him.

A child raised her hand.

“Yes?” the Examiner asked

“If we only have so few children, why are there so many rooms? Why is the place so big..?”

“That’s an excellent question, child. The reason is that you are the third group.”

The kids started talking to each other.

“What does this mean, you might ask? Well, it’s simple. Each group will receive 5 villages or towns, and they all come on different dates. After each group finishes their testing, they will remain in the testing site until all testing is over.”

“Alright, that’s enough. For now, you will have free time. Get to know the layout of this place, other kids, or do whatever you want,” he said, as he walked away.

The children of Brindle Village all stuck together. Even though they had said to get to know other villages, it seemed that the villages were like teams. They all thought of each other as enemies and wanted to stay in the comfort of the people they knew. Kieran sighed. He thought this was foolish. It would be better to get to know other villages and learn about their culture, and if possible, their techniques.

He walked off on his own without his own village realizing it. He wandered the place, just in awe by the sheer size of it. It must have cost a lot of money he had thought to himself. As he walked around, he walked past the library. There was a girl inside, it was one of the people he kept an eye on back at the orientation. He entered the library, but she didn’t even look at him. He went to pick out a book, looking through all the titles. Despite the building being so fancy and new, the books and shelves were extremely old. Some of the books were ripped, missing pages, really just in terrible condition.

“Mathematics 7”

“History of the Kingdom of Judaeil”

“History of the Eras”

“Story of the Hero: Arak the Brave”

Most of the books were stories and history books. Though none of them stood out. Kieran had already learned about them all from Mr. Anavos. Just as Kieran was about to give up looking for a book and leave, a voice called out to him.

“Why were you staring at me earlier?”

He turned his head, the girl was still reading her book, but it was obvious that she was asking him that. No one else was in the room.

“No reason,” he replied. “You just looked interesting.”

“I assume it's the same reason for everyone else that you were staring at?”

…

“What’s your name? Which village are you from?” she asked

“... My name is Kieran. I’m from Brindle Village.”

“I’m Alice. I’m from Gaste Village,” she said, still looking at her book.

“Don’t you know it's bad manners to not look at the person you’re speaking to?”

“Don’t you know it's bad manners to stare at a girl?”

…

Kieran sighed, and walked away. As he approached the door, she wished him good luck, as he opened the door and left.

“What a cheeky brat,” he thought.

He walked around, occasionally bumping into kids from the other villages. Some of them greeted him, some of them stared, and some just ignored him. He didn’t mind, and greeted them nonetheless. He finished touring the testing site, and was interested in the training grounds. When he walked over, he saw children picking up weapons and practicing. A lot of them didn’t know what they were doing at all. Some were tripping over their own feet, some swinging wildly and looking smug, as if they were hot shit. Kieran could only cringe watching them.

“Weird, right?”

Kieran turned around quickly, to see a boy with bright, blonde hair. He had blue eyes and was quite tall.

“What do you mean?” Kieran asked

“Well, think about it. Twenty kids were selected because they were the best of the best in their village, and this is the quality you get.”

He was looking down on them. Even though Kieran had never met one, he instantly thought of him as a noble.

“What makes you any better?” Kieran asked, trying to defend the kids

“Me?” he asked, surprised that Kieran had even asked

“Why don’t you find out?”

He grabbed a sword from the wooden rack, examining it.

“Aren’t you going to grab one?”

“The Examiners said there was to be no violence between students,” Kieran said, reminding him.

But the boy simply laughed.

“You’re funny! That only applies when you’re OFF the training grounds. Anything that happens in here is just considered training. Even when you’re on the brink of death,” he said smiling.

“...How would you know that?”

“Because I’ve been here before. This is my second time in this place,” he replied. “My brother took my spot last year, which is alright, but this year it’s mine. He tested a few things to push the rules. One of the things we found out was that as long as you’re on the training grounds, they won’t care what happens to you. Of course, unless you die, one of the kids was punished for accidentally killing someone.”

Kieran looked disgusted. How could someone say all that while smiling? The smug face on the child was irritable, and Kieran wanted to wipe the smile off his face. Kieran picked up a sword and got into his stance.

“That’s what I like to see,” the child said grinning at Kieran.

A crowd started to form, with Brindle Village kids cheering on Kieran and Tudo Village kids cheering the boy on. Other villages simply stared. Some kids from Group 1 and 2 even came out to watch the spar.

“What’s happening here?” an Examiner asked, walking past the students. “Are you guys having a spar? How cute. I’ll sanction this match, this will be recorded, but not on your examination evaluations.”

“Fine by me,” Kieran replied.

“It doesn’t matter, he’s going to lose anyways,” said the boy.

They both got into their stances, Kieran with his very basic stance, feet planted and body ready to spring at any moment. The boy held his sword with one hand, his body facing Kieran.

“One handed? Interesting,” Kieran thought.

The Examiner got into position, everybody chanting each other's names, cheering for their village’s victory.

“Go Kieran!!!”

“You got this!!”

“Go Alex!”
“He’s nothing! You can beat him!”

“On your marks,”

“Get set,”

“Begin!”