After such a long day, Ed was getting ready to leave the campus so that he can explore the city and train while waiting for the acceptance letters to be sent. The examination covers a period of two weeks allowing the college to properly process the thousands of applicants. It also gave a chance for the applicants to recover in between all the exams. People normally planned to have a day or two in between the exams to recover and prepare some specific exercises for the next exam.

Ed just didn’t want to come back multiple times so he chose to just do it all in a day. Ed had registered on the first day of the second week so he still had to wait six more days for the final results. He was not worried about being rejected with his score so he walked towards the main gate to the hotel he had reserved before the bus ride.

As Ed approached the main gate, a lightning strike came down with a deafening crackle a few yards ahead of him. After the light and sound subsided, a person could be seen standing in a large charred circle which clearly indicated where the lightning bolt had come down. It was a fairly tall man at 6’1 with well developed muscles like a heavy weight lifting champion. He had short, spiked, purple hair but his hair was charred black due to all the lightening. He looked like he was in his early thirties.

???: Hey, you there, are you Ed, the one tied for third place in the examination?

Ed: Yes, and you are?

Mikaelson: Sorry about that, I am Mikaleson. You may have heard of me, I am one of Ares College’s more famous teachers or if you know some history, I had the codename of Thor a few years back.

Ed: How can I help you?

Mikaelson: *Chuckles*, I guess you are the type that always gets straight to the point. There are still 6 more days for acceptance letters to come out but I am here to give you an early admission to the Third Year elite class.

Ed: Thank you, I would like to accept the admissions. What do I need to do at this point?

Mikaelson: Great! To finalize your acceptance we will need to interview you and ask you a few questions to better know you and maybe start on creating a detailed training program for you.

Ed: Please, lead the way.

Mikaelson: You are truly a man of few words but I like how direct you are. I will take you for the interview now.

Mikaelson grabbed Ed and channeled his thunder and in another blinding and deafening lighting strike, they traveled towards the most central building on the campus, the administration tower. Mikaelson led Ed to a rather large conference room and sat him down.

Mikaelson: Do you need anything before we start? Water?

Ed: I am good, please start the interview.

Mikaelson: Alright. Just to let you know this interview will be recorded and monitored for future purposes. First of all, is there a reason you didn’t provide any personal information about yourself?

Ed: Something happened in my past that I would like to stay away from for the time being. I am still a federation civilian and I have the Dire Wolves as a recommendation.

Mikaelson: What is your goal to become a hunter? Why Ares College? What do you think of the Federation?

Ed: I have someone I want to avenge and Ares College will help me get the strength I need for that. The Federation is one of the great countries that helps support humanity.

Mikaelson was about to ask more questions before a voice was projected into his mind saying “We think that's enough questions, we don’t have any issues with accepting him”. After the brief message, Mikaelson wrapped up the interview and officially accepted Ed into the college.

Mikaelson: Talk about a quick interview. You are now accepted into the college. As a student you will be provided housing on campus. You may enter the dorms now and start using campus facilities. All the information you will need will be in this tablet. Take care of it, you only get one for free. You may be accepted early but the schedule will not be moved up. The first class will be in a week after examinations. You have 6 days before then so take your time and have some fun around the city. You certainly earned it.

Ed: Thanks, have a good day.

After Ed received his tablet, he immediately proceeded to the dorms so he can rest up before exploring the college tomorrow.

Meanwhile, in another room, four individuals were talking about Ed’s interview in a dimly lit room. There was some light as the tv monitors that showed what had happened in the interview provided some backlight. Mikaelson soon entered the room after handing Ed the tablet.

Mikaelson: Dam, why is this room alway so dark.

As Mikaelson entered, he turned on the light which revealed 3 other instructors at the college. Mikaelson was the physical training and close combat expert. Caitlyn was the long distance expert who used a bow. She had long, curly, blond hair and stood at 5’6. Due to her beauty and weapon of choice, a popular name for Caitlyn was the Elven Queen. This nickname was still used since she still looks beautiful despite being her late thirties. Another was Dainei which stood for great peace. He was a bald monk that was 5’8 and wore traditional tibetan robes. He was also significantly older than the other instructors as he was in his early sixties. His speciality laid with the mind since he became an expert after searching for peace for decades. The last instructor was Bai who had long white hair. He was a weapons master who specialized with the sword.

Together these 4 made up the staff for the third year's elite class which is why they were required to be present when deciding to accept Ed. These four individuals were all extremely famous hunters that had helped the Federation establish itself after the emergence. The four of them along with a handful of other surviving experts had pushed the manifestations back far enough back against the Chinese Tower which allowed the Federation to form 15 years ago, 5 years after the emergence.

During the emergence, there were 8 locations that produced far more manifestations which is what caused China to collapse back then. There were three towers in the asian continent, one in Europe, one in Africa, one in North America, one in South America, and one in Antarctica. Australia was lucky and didn’t have any towers so they weren’t impacted too heavily and were able to survive the emergence. They spearhead a union with all the other island nations around them. But they are still a bit weaker than the big five.

Mikaelson: He may be a quiet kid but he is direct. I like him quite a bit. He also had quite the high scores for strength and willpower.

Caitlyn: His story checks out as well. My network confirmed that he worked with the Wolves for 2 years and from interviewing his close friends, it seems that before them, Ed was surviving in the wild. He may be the disciple or son of a reclusive expert.

Dainei: Also, I could feel that he had no enmity with the Federation. Though, he did have quite the intense anger when he said he wanted to avenge someone. His mind score is a bit low compared to his other scores but I could tell that he hasn’t had much mental training and his anger is also something that prevents himself from reaching inner peace. If he is taught by a reclusive expert, that expert did not teach him much.

Bai: I agree, he shows great ingenuity and talent but his techniques are crude and he hasn’t shown any unique abilities or affinities yet. He’s pretty much a blank canvas. An expert wouldn’t train such a disciple. I would say he is an orphan from one of the smaller villages that got eradicated. However, his moves show great experience, likely from the years he spent surviving and fighting in the mercenary group. Cait, did you find anything from doing a general search?

Caitlyn: No, I cross referenced all talented or even semi-talented kids around Ed’s age and was not able to find one that matches his looks or timeline. I would like to agree with your idea Bai.

Ironically, the actions Ivan took to shield Edward from being detected by the federation were the very things that prevented the world from finding out that he was still alive.

Mikaelson: Enough with the intelligence gathering, aren’t you guys looking forward to how he develops? He’s such a blank canvas but he is already stronger than Mei and Aleksander. He might even be able to give Lance and Elizabeth a run for their money. Who wants to set up some action on if he can dethrone Lance or Elizabeth?

Bai: Enough, this meeting is over. You still have to create detailed training materials for the other 8 students in the elite course.