The Four Moons Royal Academy is perhaps the most prestigious school in the world. It was founded almost thousand years ago after the Blackreach Treaty by the four Kingdoms to foster cooperation and understanding between the future leaders of the kingdoms. As the name suggests the majority of the students who attend it are nobles, however, there are some talented or promising commoners who received sponsorships to be eligible to attend.

Once every five years, the academy holds an admission examination. Although, technically there is no age limit for attendees, meaning they can stay until they die, examinees on the other hand must be younger than fifteen to be admitted. However, no one remains past the age twenty since that is when they, as nobles, become eligible to receive a title making it pointless to remain at school any longer.

Today was the day of the examination. Every examination day, at least a thousand people attend in hopes of gaining admission, however, only two hundred are picked and today was to be no different.

There were currently a four long lines of people outside the gates of the academy. In front of each line was a desk with a staff member sitting there and processing the examinees one by one to verify their documents.

Wesley was currently standing near the end of the first line. Even though he woke up early, he was surprised to find that there were at least eight hundred or so people before. Thinking about how early the first person must ve arrived made him shudder.

Fortunately for Wesley, there were four lines, so he only had to wait for two hundred people or so, and he didn’t mind waiting in line. However, the majority of applicants were nobles, so they didn’t share Wesley's view of lines, and most of them grumbled and complained.

The guy behind Wesley was even more so disgruntled at having to wait in line than the other people. He kept complaining to god knows who about how he has never been humiliated before, he even cursed at the school.

Eventually, he calmed down after realizing that most of the other people were nobles as well making his complaints about his mistreatment rather stupid. However, he suddenly felt a tinge of anger after noticing the guy in front was nothing but a beggar. He looked at Wesley, then spoke in the most condescending and arrogant tone possible:

"Ha, I didn’t know beggars could apply to this school."

Of course he didn’t speak to Wesley directly, but Wesley knew he was talking about him. Only Wesley didn’t mind being called a beggar, so he just ignored the guy. Seeing that he was being ignored, the guy started getting angrier, so he raised his voice even further and spoke again:

"I wonder if they have an alms program for beggars. Haha, that must be it, it must be the alms program"

Wesley already shut the annoying person behind him so he didn’t even hear what he said. The guy was starting to get really annoyed at the audacity of a beggar ignoring him, and the giggles from those near him who saw what was happening made him even angrier.

He reached for his sword thinking that no one should complain if he killed a random beggar, but the moment he was about to pull out his sword, he heard a cold voice full of killing intent come from the beggar:

"Unsheathe that sword and you will die"

The guy instantly froze, he honestly saw his head roll off his body the moment he heard Wesley's voice filled with murderous intent, in fact everyone around them who heard Wesley speak felt their heart tighten and didn’t dare utter a word. The guy didn’t even dare remove his hand off the hilt of his sword for fear that it might be mistaken as unsheathing. He simply stood there, his face pale.

Wesley just stood there waiting for the idiot to unsheathe his sword so that he wouldn't be blamed when he killed him since it was self defense. He kept waiting but was disappointed since the guy didn’t even move, maybe he should just kill him, but then he would lose his chance to attend school here forcing him to return to the palace, so he retrain himself with a heavy heart and just continued waiting for his turn in line.

....................................................................................................................................................

After a few hours, it was finally Wesley's turn. He stepped forward to stand in front of the desk were the staffer was sitting. This staffer wore a light blue robe and seemed to be in his late forties, only his face showed signs of an older man with wrinkles all over it. He looked unconcerned at Wesley's appearance and spoke in a professional voice:

"Your Documents."

Wesley instantly dug out his invitation from his little satchel and handed it over. The old staffer looked at the document, then his face showed a hint of surprise but then instantly returned to its original tranquility. He wrote some things down then pulled out a little blue rectangle and while handing it to Wesley spoke in a voice that was still professional but with a hint of respect:

"Number 217, please head towards the second hall."

Wesley nodded at the words and walked towards the second hall. There were 2 halls behind each staffer and an extra hall at the far end, and it seems that each hall is supposed to hold around a hundred people since only the sixteen people before Wesley were sent to the second hall.

The moment Wesley walked in, he saw that there were indeed sixteen people in the hall, and in front of them were three doors. Two small doors next to each other, and one giant door to the side. In front of the sixteen people stood and elderly man with a blue robe and a hunched back. His eyebrows seemed to cover his eyes making it seem like he was sleeping and his face was full of wrinkles.

Wesley didn’t approach the old man since he felt that there was more to this old man than met the eye. However, the old man seemed to have taken note of Wesley, and he scrunched his drooping eyebrows to look at Wesley showing a pair of shady silver eyes that seemed to gleen in a threatening way. After looking at Wesley for a short period, the old man went back to his original look.

The moment Wesley noticed the old man's eyes on him, he felt a dreadful pressure similar to whenever he experienced his teacher's Dark Globe, only when facing his teacher he at least knew he was safe, but this strange old man was different, he felt like he was going to die that instant. The difference in power was evident to Wesley,

He thought of releasing his Dark Globe and fleeing but that wasn't going to have too much effect on such an opponent, but he didn't give up on living, he kept racking his brain about what he could do to escape from this old monster.

Fortunately for Wesley, before he could start his escape, the old man looked away and the tremendous pressure instantly disappeared. Wesley let out a deep breath of relief as he relaxed a little, alas with some fear still lingering in his heart.

For the next few hours, regardless of how many people entered the hall, Wesley didn’t leave the corner of the room. He didn’t want to be anywhere near that old man and was preparing to invoke his Dark Warp as soon as he felt danger. He planned on using Dark Globe to at least slow down the old man, and use Dark Warp to flee, but he still wasn't certain of his escape.

Finally, the hall was filled by people. As soon as the last person walked in, the hall gates slammed shut and old man stepped forward. While everyone was looking back at the gates Wesley was staring intently at the old man and the moment he saw him move forward he truly started feeling nervous.

The old man didn’t open his eyes this time and spoke up in a clear but commanding voice:

"Welcome to the first admission test. I am the Second Elder, and I will be your examiner today. Now, this exam is simple, all you have to do is walk into that door and come out of the next. Simple right, now who will be first."

The moment the elder finished speaking, the hall erupted into chatter. These people were not idiots, they knew that the tests were not going to be so as simple as the elder made it sound like so everyone was cautious. But after a few minutes, a burly guy with a great sword on his back stepped forward. The elder gave him a nod and the youth walked into the door.

After almost half a minute of the burly guy walking in, a deafening scream was heard from within the room which startled everyone, what sort of thing was inside these doors. The elder simply shook his head and spoke again in his usual monotone:

"Failed, next."

Everyone was startled by the sudden declaration. They realized that this test was not only complicated but potentially deadly. But these youths were relentless, one after another stepped forward but one after another scream came out from behind the doors. Almost thirty people were pronounced failed by the elder. Eventually, no one dared to step forward anymore.

Suddenly, and slim youth about Wesley's height stepped forward. He wore a white robe with blue patterns embroidered on it. The youth had had one hand behind his back as he walked towards the door. The elder turned his head to look at the youth and a faint smile appeared on his face for a split second, but no one noticed, no one except Wesley who was unconcerned with anything else but the old man.

The white robed youth walked into the door without a hint of hesitation. No one was really expecting much from him since stronger looking guys failed before him. But no matter how long someone waited no scream came, and after three minutes, the other door opened and the white robed youth walked out. He didn’t seem injured, but his robe was torn in many places and his face was covered in sweat.

Seeing the youth emerge out of the exit, the hall erupted once again into shouts, some cheering, while other's cursed. Immediately, the elder raised his hand to quiet down everyone, and after the whole hall was silenced, he spoke:

"Passed in three minutes and fourteen seconds. You may proceed"

The moment the words left his lips, the giant door opened and the white robed youth walked in. Everyone was emboldened by the youth's passing, it meant that the test was not impossible, but everyone was still hesitant to go.

Wesley however, was delighted, if he passed this damn test, then he could leave this place and get the hell away from this old monster. So Wesley started walking towards the door, only he kept glancing at the old man as he kept walking. The old man seeing Wesley walk forward turned his head towards him but didn’t open his eyes this time. Then he spoke in an almost amused voice contradictory to his usual monotone:

"You are allowed to use any technique."

Wesley didn’t even speak back to the old man, his only objective was getting into that door, getting out of the other door, then getting the hell out of here. He didn’t have any time to spare on words so he just pretended like he didn’t hear anything, but the other people in the hall grasped the situation. This youth who looked like a beggar elicited words out of the elder. something was not right.

Wesley walked into the door without hesitation and as soon as he set foot inside, he was greeted by darkness. Wesley didn’t mind the darkness, in fact he felt at home in it, so he looked into it and what he saw made him exclaim in surprise. He was expecting some scary things since a lot of people failed, but this room that was about fifty feet long was filled with traps; arrows coming from the wall, pits, trip wires, swinging swords and so on. It seems that those who failed were simply horrible.

He laughed in his heart, then he invoked his Dark Warp and reappeared at the end of the hallway, then he turned into the other hallway. Since the two doors were side by side, the hallways were shaped into a U shape. The second hall was not very different from the first hall since it also had traps all over it. He again used his Dark Warp and reemerged next to the exit.

Wesley however didn’t walk out immediately, it people saw that it took him ten seconds to pass this test, it would attract too much unwanted attention, especially from that old monster, he definitely wanted to avoid that. After he waited for a few minutes, he walked out.

The moment he walked out, he immediately walked towards the giant gate, he really didn’t want to be near this wretched old man for any more than necessary. All he heard behind him was the shouts coming from the people in the hall and the old monster's declaration:

"Passed in three minutes and ten seconds. You may proceed."

.................................................................................................................................

The moment Wesley set foot into the giant gate, his eyes stung because of the bright light. He stopped for a moment but as soon as his eyes adapted, he noticed that he was in a hallways that was brightly lit by odd crystals on the roof. The hallway didn’t seem to long, around fifty feet, so Wesley walked towards the exit.

After stepping through the exit, Wesley, noticed he was in a square room, and in front of him was a black pillar. On the opposing wall behind the pillar were two gates, and between the two gates was a viewing balcony with three blue roped people sitting there.

Seeing the three people sitting in that balcony, Wesley cursed his fortune. These three elders gave Wesley the same feeling he got from that old monster, and the fact that there were three of them, was enough for him to believe that today was truly the last day of his life.

While Wesley was engrossed in his self pity, the middle elder spoke in a similar monotone voice as that old monster:

"Welcome to the second test. Please use your best technique on that pillar."

Wesley was surprised at the command, and then he spoke in a surprised voice:

"What are the requirements to pass?"

"That is for us to decide." The reply came as soon as the question asked.

"What kind of techniques do you want to see?"

"That is for you to decide."Again the reply was fast.

Wesley just shrugged his shoulder. Then he bent his body forward twisting his upper body until his right shoulder was perpendicular to the pillar and then he put his hand on his dark sword. Wesley was planning on using his final Silent Sword technique: Silent Beheader. It is comparable to Silent Draw, only while Silent Draw depends on the speed of the sudden draw, Silent Beheader uses more strength from the swing like action of the draw.

Wesley then suddenly swung his sword towards the pillar. This swing was not too fast, but it was still fast, and the moment the sword came into contact with the pillar, a loud ting sounded throughout the room.

Wesley felt his sword arm recoil from the impact, while the black pillar did not even have a scratch on it. Wesley was flabbergasted. His Silent Beheader was the strongest physical technique in his arsenal, in fact he was certain it could even slice steal, so what the hell kinda metal was this pillar made from to not even get a scratch left on it.

While Wesley was pondering at the marvel in front of him, the middle elder spoke:

"Passed. Please step into the left gate."

Wesley was brought back from his daydream, and after bowing slightly to the elders, he walked towards the left door. Immediately after entering the left gate, Wesley was in a long hall with around two hundred chairs. The hall was currently occupied by around seventy people, including that white robes youth who was the first to pass. Wesley simply sat in one of the unoccupied seats.

He was really happy to have left those damn geezers.

.....................................................................................................

Back in the second testing room with the three elders. The three elders were currently leaning towards one another while speaking in a hushed voices.

"That sword technique was rather impressive." The left elder said with a smile.

"Indeed, only I was expecting him to use magic given his body and aura." The right elder spoke only he had a slight frown.

"His technique was very powerful. But I am still surprised he was sent by that bastard Rale. Why would he send a swordsman" The middle elder spoke while staring at some sheet.

"Do you think he......." The left elder was about to say something when he was interrupted by the right elder.

"Impossible. That Rale would've never let him live if he was. There must be something else" the elder's face was ugly as he imagined something

"Either way, we'll keep an eye on him. After all, that bastard never did anything without reason."

..................................................................................................................