Before leaving for what would be a new home, the teacher stopped me, it seems he wanted to talk something important to me.
“Listen, Rein, I want you to fulfill a mission or a favor, call it what you want, my daughter will also go with you, she has been in rehabilitation all her life and until a few months ago she has walked again, you will be her bodyguard and you will let nothing happen to her, promise me! She can be very rude because she has been locked up almost all her life and her attitude towards others is not very good, but I still want you to take care of her”.
"But why do you insist that I go to that place", I said in a reproachful tone.
"It is the ideal place for her to socialize, since she has never done it before, besides, you are the only person who is capable of doing this, if something happens to her, you will be the one who pays for it, you heard!".
"Understood, it is not so much", after answering, he shouted.
“Emma! Come here, I'll introduce you to someone! ”
As we were on the plateau of a mountain, in the background there was a small cabin and from there the girl came out, she came to us and the teacher introduced her.
"She is my daughter Emma Aron, Emma, he is Rein Hasenton and he will be your new bodyguard."
"Nice to meet you", I told her and extended my arm to shake her hand, but she was looking in another direction and nonchalantly squeezed her saying "Yes, of course," after letting go, she wiped her palm with her clothes, rather conceited.
"Listen two of you, the Reisen Academy will open its doors in a week, it is the largest in the continent and is located in our allied empire Endobeus, every year students with extremely high levels are presented, I want you to take that exam".
The teacher was with his arms crossed waiting for the reproach of one of us and took a cigar from his pocket, when he lit it and started smoking, I said.
"I have heard of that place, they say that thousands of students are presented every year and that only ten percent are able to enter".
"Yes, certainly the chances are low, but even so in the process they can become strong and try next year."
"What a stupidness, I do not know how strong the enclenque I have for 'bodyguards', but for me to enter that academy is like taking a candy from a child", Emma replied to her father to finally turn and walk where she had come.
After a week of traveling by land, we reach the Endobeus empire, the largest and most powerful on the continent.
More than two centuries ago a world war occurred in which nuclear weapons were used, the devastation of that war was colossal, most countries were annihilated, a small part of Europe and Asia survived that apocalypse, the war zones were they became uninhabitable by the radiation of the bombs and because of that the people who managed to leave their countries moved to that small habitable point.
Technology based on electrical energy disappeared and humanity returned to the middle ages.
The time was advancing and the radiation giving way, the habitable territory became bigger and with it its population.
Suddenly a few decades ago, man developed very advanced technologies, the bombs used in the war were too crude, so they created energy-based weapons where the range of damage was thousands of times lower.
Today it is common to fight with weapons of energy, energy of any kind, and controlling it has become a study in the use of war.
With the system of countries shattered, small towns were created and then cities, to finally form empires, and one of them we were heading.
"We have finally arrived", she exclaimed in disgust.
As the teacher had said, I had to act as a bodyguard for that girl, of course I opposed the idea, but he was clear on that, she Emma Aron, was too hostile to me due to the fact that I had to be with her.
It had been a long journey since we crossed several empires along the way to get there, the academy of the Endobeus Empire, Reisen, the largest and most prestigious in the continent, opened its doors every year to the world, were thousands of students who presented themselves and about two hundred and forty of them entered.
When we arrived at the academy, there were too many people, although the place was immense, it could not accommodate so many people, so, some advertisements were placed around the academy.
"Hey, whatever your name is, look what the ad says," she said, very angry at all the hustle and bustle.
It didn't bother me that she spoke to me with contempt, I already knew that she had that attitude with everyone, so, why bother to recriminate her?.
When I saw the announcement, it reported that, having so many people wanting to take the admission exams, the deadline to take the test would be divided into several days, we had to download a mobile application and sign up for it to give us the day that we would introduce ourselves.
As the announcement said, we signed up and waited two days until I finally got the notification to present the exam, Emma still didn't get it, it was a relief at least not to have to stay with her during the exam.
Once I reached a large section of the academy, there were many applicants gathered, nobody knew each other since the place was silent, after about twenty minutes of waiting, a teacher showed up and began to explain what the test would consist of.
“I’m Professor Chiara Drosu, pay close attention because I’m not going to repeat it again, in this academy, the admission exam has changed constantly every year because many applicants came and tried to cheat or sometimes they presented it so much that they ended up passing, the fact is that the exam has to be partial for everyone, without anyone having an advantage over the other, this year the test has been divided into three stages, the first will be a written exam where it will test your knowledge about energy, fields and mathematics, in the second stage their energy management and accommodation will be evaluated, in the third stage that is the most important of the three, their combat skills will be evaluated either using energy or without it, they will fight one against one against a randomly chosen opponent. Now, if you at all stages get a relatively low rating, there will be judges who will see you in the fighting and if you have talent to fight, then you can enter by jury order, but be careful, only five people with this modality can pass. The fighting has already been calculated and each one will fight three times. In ten minutes the written test will begin. Enter this room and take your seat assigned to you in the application”.
She pointed us to the room and we all entered, in the application I was assigned seat number seventy-four, I got there and took a seat.
When the advisor arrived in the classroom, he gave us the instructions.
“The written exam has fifty questions about energy use, control methods, mathematics, fields and effects on bodies. When I give them the exam sheets, they will turn them upside down and they won't see them until everyone has received the exam, therefore, I will give the order to start, they have an hour to solve it, they will be given another sheet to make calculations if it is necessary, no extra time will be given. When the time runs out, everyone flips the sheet again, their exam and request are canceled if they copy another person or if they continue to take the exam after the time runs out. Some questions are open and others with multiple answers, in any case they have to answer and justify it, does anyone have any questions?".
After he finished speaking, a couple of subjects spoke.
"What happens if someone finishes early?".
"Which what we will have to write on the exam?".
“If someone finishes ahead of time, they have to wait in their place for everyone to finish, and when they are given the exam, in the bag they will see a pencil and other instruments to carry out the exam. Any other questions?”, exclaimed the advisor.
"...".
"Then we will begin to deliver the bags with the exams, by the way, that bag keep it in your pocket because when they finish, they will have to put the exam back in it".
One by one the exams began to be distributed by the advisor, there were two other people who were at the side of the classroom watching that no one turned the sheet early, once the advisor finished handing out, he looked at his watch and said.
"Everyone can flip the exam, from now you guys have one hour to finish it. Start now!".
Once he finished speaking, he began to run time on the cronometer of his watch.
I opened the bag, took out the instruments, flipped the exam and began to read it, seeing the first questions I realized that it would be difficult, I was not good handling those concepts and some were very complex to understand, some questions I didn't answer and others simply I randomized, but that wouldn't work either because the advisor said he had to justify the answers.
I was not good at handling these concepts since I was never taught, my training was more practical than theoretical, although I was taught the basics concepts, few of them appeared on the exam.
After the hour I realized that I had only answered a few questions and also did not know if they were well justified, if before coming I knew there would be written exam, I would have studied at least a little, anyway I had lost that exam, I just depended of the other two stages.
“Time is up! Everyone, turn the leafs, I will pass through the stalls picking up the bags with their exams”, said the advisor when he heard his stopwatch whistle.
That exam would give me few points to enter, I was confident that I would will be well in the other two stages because they were dedicated to the physical issue.
When the advisor picked up all the bags with the exams he exclaimed.
"Everyone get out that door, your next advisor will be out for the second stage of the exam".
It was a different door from the one we had entered, it was at the front of the classroom, which led us deeper into the academy.
The rest of the stages were going to be done in all over the place.
When I crossed the door I was surprised that the place was bigger even than it seemed on the outside, there was a woman who called us raising her arm, she was the teacher who gave us the introduction, Chiara Drosu.
“Come here guys, come and get together quickly! I will explain the second stage”.
Once we had all crossed the door, we went around a large, completely dry and arid field that was outdoors, in the part where the adviser was, there were some large machines that were at least one meter high.
When judging by their appearance, they looked like heavy machines, some hoses came out of the back and were connected to some rocks that varied in size, I looked at the stones and noticed that they were of a strange material, some were bluish green and others of color Orange red that were the biggest rocks. Their sizes ranged from about thirty centimeters to a meter in diameter, I immediately assumed what we would do in this test, we would have to move those strange rocks with our energy, although here we were all newbies to manipulate it, the most obvious is that this machine would help us channel it for greater focus.
“In this second stage, everyone will concentrate the energy to try to move these rocks, with that we will calculate your control capacity, for that there are these machines, however, if there is someone who can move these rocks and do not need the machines, you will have a higher rating, these are not normal rocks, their material and consistency will help us measure their energy flow through them and give a much more accurate rating, it not only will be able to move the rocks, also measure their fluidity, we have three machines, so they will pass three by three, please line up and let's start”.
A large line formed behind the machines, I was almost at the end, so I had to wait a long time.
From a distance I could see that the majority used the machine, but a few moved the stones without using them, I do not say that it was much, but they were very advanced, surely they were those of those that are above average.
When my turn finally arrived, I approached the machine and a module detached itself from it, the consultant from there took out a control that opened in two, in that control, I had the mold of one hand printed.
"Will you use the machine to move the rock?".
She asked me holding control in the air.
"I don't think I can do it without the machine," I told him.
"This machine will measure the flow of energy, when you put the module in your hand, concentrate the greatest amount of energy in it and the stones will move according to the intensity."
I extended my hand and she placed it on the mold to later close it, the hand was trapped as in a sandwich, inside it felt very hot because the other applicants had used it too much, the module was very heavy, I had to grab my right hand with the left to support the weight.
When I began to concentrate my energy, I watched the stones and only one of them moved slightly, it was the smallest of all.
"Concentrate more energy, you will have to put all your effort to at least move the medium-sized ones".
I tried to concentrate the energy as much as I could, but I only managed to move the smallest stone, after a minute of holding control, I felt too much fatigue, had drained a lot of energy and felt weak.
"We're going to leave it there, I don't want you to pass out or die for trying such a simple exercise", she said in an annoyed tone.
Some applicants who were close laughed, it seems they saw a demonstration too ridiculous.
"It's one of the lowest grades I've seen, really, I don't know why such weak guys come to present these tests, I guess they think this place is like the academy of their town, kid, you waste your time".
She was right, the number of people who showed up were thousands and the chances of passing are slim, but I had other options, the first stages were not my forte, although I already had more than half of the lost test, just I had the fighting stage, after reflecting on what she said, I replied.
"That's right, but the flow of energy is not everything, but rather, how you use it on the battlefield, which ultimately counts".
"It seems you say it as if you had experience".
She said staring at me waiting for me to confirm her words.
I tilted my head from side to side and said, "It's general training, if I didn't know, I wouldn't be here trying to beat the elite of the elite."
She removed her smile and with a serious face answered me.
"I'll be watching you boy".
After that, she informed us all that we would take a break and in an hour the fighting would come.
Of course, that machine had drained a lot of our energy, so it was logical a break to regain strength, I was not sure how the other fighters would fight, but I had to prepare for any possible scenario, it was rumored that some lost their lives and others ended up crippled for life.
An hour had passed until they called us, we went to a part of the academy that by its appearance, was a great stage with a large platform in the center, the main gymnasium of the academy, was immense and surrounding it were the stands, although not We were many, as we sat we occupied a small space there, the advisor went up to the platform and began to explain the third stage.
“So, the third stage will begin, calculating their number, everyone will fight three times with different randomly chosen opponents, they can use any type of tool to fight from swords, knives, knuckles, whips and of course also with energy, except firearms that are obsolete. We will provide these weapons before starting the fight, and they are only allowed to use these, some of these weapons are advanced, I will give you guys a demonstration of one of them”.
Two people climbed a huge box, I understood that there were the weapons with which we would fight, once the box was above, the adviser opened it and took out the handle of a sword, then he explained.
“This weapon is not like the others, when they channel their energy in the hand with which they hold the handle, the rest of the weapon will appear, depending on the energy and nature that its owner possesses, it can take different shape, color and edge. We have more than swords, however, everything works the same, the disadvantage is that those who do not dominate their energy well or are very novice to do so, will not be able to use these weapons, they can use ordinary steel weapons, but they can be broken by another one that use energy very easily”.
The advisor took the handle of a sword and after he concentrated his energy, the sword took shape and shine, had the perfect shape of a sword with a color similar to that of steel.
"Anyway, they should know that using this weapon has other disadvantages, if they do not measure their energy well, they can be faint in the middle of the fight, the sword uses all the energy of his carrier to manifest itself, if this is the first time that you guys use this weapon, will run that risk, if your opponent concentrates more energy in his weapon, the one with less energy will break, when this happens suddenly, if your user is not accustomed, the carrier can fall unconscious in the act, so everyone must be careful and not take too much risk ... Well, although it depends on each person, they are all different cases. ”
The adviser deactivated the handle and put it back in the box, did the same with the other weapons and then talked to us about the rules.
"As you guys are aspiring, you do not know how the fighting takes place inside the academy," one of his assistants took out a necklace that had a heart-shaped and grayish color, placed it around his neck, as it was a bit far from the platform, I did not distinguish its size well, but I would say that it was not very large, it hardly hindered his neck.
"Before each fight, everyone must wear this necklace", he said, pointing to the assistant.
“Once they put on the necklace, it will take all the energy and distribute it throughout their body, this will monitor their physical condition and we will ensure that they do not suffer from any cardiac disability. During the fight, the only rule will be not to kill his opponent, if they do they are disqualified and if they were students they would be expelled, to win they can either throw him off the platform, make him give up or break his collar, if the collar it breaks, all the energy in your body will dissipate and you will be unconscious, it's a very vital part, it's almost like your second heart, that's why we train you guys to protect it”.
The necklace was placed at chest level, close to the heart, it was worn inside the clothes so that the enemy could not visualize it, as for the platform, I would say it was about two hundred percent sixty meters perimeter and the stands about a hundred meters high, it was a fairly large place.
"On the top board the names will appear, when this call you, they step forward and go up to the platform", said the advisor as they lowered the platform box, people also began to arrive, but they were on the sides far from we, wearing the academy uniform, they should be second year onwards who came to see the applicants, although there were not many, you could tell when they were arriving.
The exams have been done for two days and the platform was remarkably used, it had scratches and burns all over the ground, many clashes have been taking place with intensity.
When the third stage finally began, they called the first two, approached the advisor who had the box next to him, after a minute examining the handles, both selected their weapons, then placed their necklace and the advisor said with microphone on hand:
"One last thing, once the necklace is put on, they cannot take it off or they will be disqualified!".
With those last words, the two applicants climbed into the ring and drew their weapons, both had ordinary steel swords, they would not use energy.
"Start!" The advisor shouted and the fight began.
With fencing movements, both began to fight, in the nearby bleachers, where the old students were, I heard boos and as they came more and more, they got closer to us, at some point I could hear someone saying, "That fight its so boring", "The newbies of this year seems mostly weak", "If they do not know how to use energy to fight, they are wasting time taking the exams", I realized that the level of the academy was high.
“The first fight is over!”, said the advisor while I saw one of them lying on the floor, I could not see the broken necklace anywhere, maybe I was too far away to see it, he could not move and they lift him in a stretcher.
“Next fight! The chosen ones take a step forward and go up!”, little by little they continued the fights, but most of them used ordinary weapons and others did not use, until finally a fight arrived where a subject used an energy weapon.
“Start!”, the advisor shouted and they began to fight, from what I could see, it was a sword-shaped energy weapon, it was the first fight that involved a weapon of those, “oh, look, finally, something of emotion”, said one student.
The other opponent had an ordinary steel weapon, when they both clashed swords, the steel sword broke in two and with that it went through the other subject's necklace", the combat is over, the winner is...!".
The fights in those that used energy ended quickly, I realized that if I fought against someone like that, it would not help me to fight with an ordinary weapon, it would be over, but the strangest thing was that some participants gave up before they even started fighting, I didn't know why It was, but they did it premeditated.
Many fights went on, finally, the board showed my name, I stepped forward and headed to where the advisor was.
"Choose your weapon of preference, no problem if it breaks, choose the one that suits you", there were steel weapons and many gun handles that could not be distinguished what weapon it was.
"What weapon is this?", asked my opponent.
"That is the handle of a whip", replied the adviser, "There are many handles, which of all is a sword that uses energy?", hearing that, I knew that the fight was not going to be easy, besides, no weapon that was there would serve me, ordinary weapons would only break, while those of energy could not use them, my ability did not allow me to use them, if I used them, I could end up unconscious, I knew that after doing the test of second stage.
“What weapon are you going to choose? You, the one in the tracksuit, can choose the ones you want”, the advisor told me when he saw that I was thinking too long and had not chosen anything.
"I will go without weapons" I replied, and he reacted by opening my eyes as if saying "Let's see what it does", my opponent looked at me shrewdly as if wanting to verify if I was someone very strong, although I did not stand out much, the only thing was the fact I had bandaged my arms, but it didn't show since my tracksuit covered up to the wrist.
Once I went up to the platform, I looked around, the students who were watching the fights were muttering, "Do you really fight without weapons?", "Hahaha are you crazy, right?", "Must be someone strong", the right was that I had at disadvantage, but I had a trick under my sleeve
"You're underestimating me too much or I'm doing it", my opponent must have thought it was too easy.
"I can't use weapons like yours", I replied.
"If so, then you will be an easy prey, but I'm not going to trust you", he replied confused, apparently, it was someone who had already taken the exam before.
The test has always had that stage of the fighting, the only thing that changed, were the first stages.
They put us the necklace on and I held it for a look, it wasn't heavy and I didn't feel any trouble putting it on, it wouldn't get in the way much in the fight, I put it inside the tracksuit so it wouldn't be easy to reach and he did the same.
"Start!", the advisor shouted and the fight began.
The fight started and my rival activated his weapon that was a sword that worked with his energy, there were many options for this fight, he could dodge his attacks until he ran out, but I know that with the sword, if you are very skilled, you can give many uses to energy in a combat, the problem was that, he did not know what kind of attacks he could make.
Immediately the fight began, my rival pounced on me, trying to cut me with his sword, I was fast due to training and took a step back to dodge it, once crouched down, I put my hands on the ground and tried to kick the handle of the sword that my opponent held with both hands to try to make him release it, he saw my kick coming and placed the handle at an opposite angle and printed all his strength, my kick was returned because he printed more strength, I was exposed on the ground and my opponent kicked me, I used my arms to cushion the blow, however, it made me go back a few meters.
"You are good at melee fights, it shows that you have trained".
"Energy, I don't have enough of it... but it can be used in many ways", I said, looking at him seriously.
“Hahahaha, what nonsense you say, if you don't know how to use this simple energy handle, you don't know how to use anything, you idiot!”, he laughed out loud, it was logical, my level had been very low, there were also other ways of fighting having less energy, the case was to use it efficiently.
My opponent pounced back at me, when he failed, I noticed that his attack was not to break my necklace, but to hurt me, he wanted to make me suffer before winning, with my first neutralized movement, I knew I could not do the same again, he would read my movement and it would be the end, so I backed away as he approached.
Suddenly he stopped, stared at me and laughed for a moment, I knew immediately that he would make a ranged attack, waved his sword at me and let out a great wave of energy, looked like a bullet, although it was not as fast as this, Thanks to the fact that I had gone back a few meters, I could avoid his attack by jumping as much as I could, I avoided the direct impact, even so, his shot hit my calf by making a superficial cut.
The cut felt very painful, but it could have been worse, when I fell, I noticed that the ground had a fissure all the way where his attack passed, when I looked up to see my opponent, I noticed he was panting, that attack must had cost him a lot of energy, I knew it was time for my counterattack.
I went straight to him with the intention of surprising him, if he was tired, it would be slower, when I reached a meter away, he sent his sword to stick it in my leg where I knew he couldn't kill me, then, I took a step back and the tip of his sword touched my skin, with my right hand, I accumulated energy to impact at the right moment when I hit it, my hand began to take on a dark tone.
"What the heck is that?!", shouted my surprised opponent, in less than two seconds, my hand was sliding towards his chest where the necklace was, but before that, my opponent raised his sword to cover and crashed against my hand that was open to distribute all the impact on his collar, a bang was heard and, due to the crash, there was a small flash, I felt how my necklace throbbed by the great surrounding energy, my energy did not resist and when I started to feel that my hand was cut, I pulled away immediately.
I felt a picket, a red stripe divided my hand.
"Damned you! What was that? ”Asked my opponent panting with signs of fatigue, of course, I was the same.
“As I said before, the efficient use of energy is also an imposing weapon, I gathered a lot of energy in my hand and released it just at the moment of impact. It's something I had trained a lot,”, I explained, that had been my trump card, but the one that failed was part of my plan.
"It takes a lot of training to achieve that and it is stupid to spend time on such a simple attack", replied my opponent.
It was certainly a very simple attack, but it was something that I specialized in, I did not respond to his complaint, I just stood still a few moments to think about the next movement, then without waiting, he envied against me, we were certainly far away, but as that he was approaching I didn't move, when he was about to hit me, he noticed that my hand was getting dark again and he smiled.
“Do you think that mediocre attack will work again !?”, we crossed glances and he was confident, immediately, I raised my hand to repeat the same movement and, seeing that, my opponent took his sword to cover his necklace because my hand was going there, he knew until that moment that my energy was inferior to his, but that was what I expected, just before the impact, I increased all my energy to the maximum, when both sides collided, my hand broke his sword and pierced his defense until I hit his chest and that way his necklace was shattered, the pieces came out from under his clothes.
"How you could...", my opponent collapsed, suddenly, the students in the stands were silenced, I did not want that technique to be known, but in the end I had to use it and make that strategy, I observed the hand that had hit, I was tempering, I used a lot of energy in that movement, I wasn't getting tired at all, however, it make me take a deep breath.
"The winner is Rein Hasenton!", the advisor shouted and some applause came from the students they were watching, after that, I went to my place.
The result of that fight was small wounds in my left calf and right hand, which because of the situation, I could not cure him, the fights continued.
Once the first round of fights ended they gave us a half-hour break.
I got up from the seat and to stretch and move my muscles for the next meeting, I decided to walk around the platform to tour the entire gym, while I was walking, someone approached me, he was a student of the academy.
"What a good fight you have done, your technique is something peculiar".
"Sure", I replied without giving much importance, but he wanted to have a conversation with me.
"You know, I tried to take the admissions exam three times and I've been in academy for a year now, this is the first time I've seen a technique like that."
That guy had been watching the admission exams for too long, I took advantage of that to clarify my doubts.
“Why do some people retire before fighting the first fight? I do not get it".
He was thoughtful, maybe I surprised him because it was my first exam and he had won the match without using weapons.
“So it's your first time, huh. Well, you see, those who retired are applicants who have been trying for years”.
"That doesn't answer my question".
“Yes, yes, that's what I'm going to, they know that if they lose the first fight and save that energy to fight later, they will most likely win the last two fights, for example, you've spent a lot of energy on the first fight, if you fight with someone who saved your energy, you would probably lose, and the same goes for the third fight. That is why it is very rare to see someone who wins all three matches”.
It was a very smart move, however, it was based on chance, if you were lucky, someone who spent most of their energy in the first match could come out, as in my case, the problem was that I could go out against someone who also saved his energy, at least, I had already secured the first fight.
"And what did you do?", I asked boldly.
"I? I did the same thing as them, I lost the first fight giving up and saved those energies, in the end, I ended up winning the last two fights, it is a strategy that is used very often by those who repeat the exams".
Everything made sense, that's why they were losing on purpose, although there were not many who did it, but if I have to fight against one of them and even worse if they know how to use energy, then I would have nothing to do, all I expected, It was fighting someone in the second round who didn't know how to use energy.
We keep walking and we sit near the other students, "Excuse me, I didn't show up, my name is Halley Yermak and for what the advisor said, you're Rein Hasenton, right?", he asked me smiling, "That's right", I replied.
The second round had already begun and we talked while watching the fighting. I was curious to know more about the academy.
"Are you second year?".
"Yes, how do you know?".
"You said you had been in the academy for a year".
"Yes, right, I forgot, there are also a few who fail year."
"Fail year? I did not know that in this prestigious place that happened."
"It occurs in rare cases".
"What about the academy, are there very strong subjects?"
"There certainly are, these fights are children's games compared to what they can do."
"You say it as if you had lived, have you fought any of them?".
"Well, there is no point in explaining this to you now, since you have not been admitted, but I will tell you, here you have at least one fight per week and that adds points for your ranking in the academy, I have fought against them, but I have also observed their fights that take place on the different platforms where they are usually challenged, the fights are so intense that they have destroyed the platform several times”.
Then he replied almost mockingly, "But they do not compare with the Emperor, he is unattainable, after all, he is the founder of the academy".
On the continent, those empires whose leaders were most powerful were the ones that covered the most territory. This academy is located in the Endobeus Empire, which is the largest in the continent.
"I understand, and he comes to the academy often?".
I already knew beforehand that the emperor was the one who created the academy, so, as founder, maybe he came from time to time.
"He only comes to give the welcome and closing speech".
The emperor was my goal, however, I needed a lot to climb that mountain.
"Will he also give the speech this year?", I said to confirm.
"Yes, it is supposed," he replied looking up and then said.
"Look, isn't that your name on the board?".
I looked up and it was true, a few seconds ago they had called me, I went down the stairs and climbed into the ring, my rival was already there.
When I glanced at him, he had an ordinary steel sword in his hand, apparently, this time I will not waste energy.
Again I told the adviser that I would not use weapons and the fighting began.
"Start!".
I didn't have much energy because of the first fight, and my opponent seems to be one of those who gave up in the first fight, but he didn't know how to use energy, it was going to be very easy for me.
I could break his necklace using my technique as I did with the other subject, but I wanted to save it as much as I could, I opted to throw it off the platform, I took the initiative and went straight to him, my opponent with his sword, pointed straight at me necklace, although he knew that he could not kill me, his sword would only cut superficially, when he threw his sword against me, I stepped to his left and took his wrist with my left hand, with my right, I applied a blow in that area and released his sword, as soon as the weapon fell, I kicked it away and he ran after it, I used all my speed and reached it before he took it, I stretched my right leg and with my foot, I hit its fulcrum and made it fall, as soon as I did, I grabbed his ankles with both hands and threw him off the platform.
"The winner is Rein Hasenton!".
I was lucky to have an easy opponent, but making a general balance, the first two stages were practically losses, I could not do more than try to win the three fights to have a chance to pass, one more match left and the third stage will be over.
I took a seat and the second year subject was still there, when I sat down, he said, "Good combat, although it was a little easy".
"I've been in training almost all my life, and most of those who come here are just amateurs".
"You are close to achieving it, that you envy me, you can be one of the few that can win all three fights, even overcome what I did in two years", that guy had become very friendly with me.
"It may be, but better not to talk ahead of time, I haven't won the third fight yet".
"Yeah, that's true".
The second round was over, the fighting lasted a few seconds, the one who could use energy won in a matter of an instant against someone who used ordinary weapons, of course, except for my case, but I was a specialist in what I did.
They gave us another half hour of rest, I got up from the seat and walked around the gym to warm up a bit, seeing the stands, there were students who didn't look away from me, when I turned around, I took my place again and waited for the rest got ended.
"The third and final round will begin immediately", said the adviser andd the board already had the first two names.
"Start!".
While watching the fights, Halley followed the conversation.
"You know, one of my teammates carefully analyzed your first fight".
"And? What did he say? ”, I was very curious.
“That first blow you made with your right hand, which hit your opponent's sword, was premeditated, you knew that with that force I would not be able to break his sword, your intention was to make him trust, if you had hit him with all your strength since at first, you would break his sword, but then he could dodge the blow, you just did it to make sure that the second blow will hit him full and take him by surprise”.
His analysis was completely amazing, he was definitely among the elite of the elite, although it was a simple strategy, he read it as if he had executed it himself.
"Yes, that's right, your friend has a good eye".
After a while, my name finally came out and I went to the front.
Frankly I was very exhausted, but when I watched my opponent, I noticed that he was putting a lot of effort to stand up, when I realized that, I tried not to show signs of tiredness to persuade him to give up, we both looked at each other, that was when he said with his head bowed, "I give up, I don't have the strength to continue", I couldn't believe it, he really had given up.
With that I got the feat of winning all three rounds, with a little luck, but I had succeeded.
When I returned to my seat, Halley congratulated me, for some reason, he felt empathy for me.
"Congratulations, you got it, to tell you the truth, I have seen very few who manage to do that, win all three fights although with luck, but not everyone has it", I looked towards a place where there were suspicious subjects and I asked.
“By the way, who are those up there? I can barely see his silhouette, there are three people”, I said, pointing with my finger, it was in the last steps where they were sitting.
"Ah, those? They are the jury, they are there to watch the fighting".
"I understand, I hadn't noticed them before".
"True, they watch through cameras installed above the gym, but sometimes they go out to see the match in person".
That is why I had not noticed them before, they had arrived recently, I do not know if my sight deceived me, but they were watching in my direction, I decided to ignore it.
Finally, the third round of the fighting was over, many applicants could not finish, either because they were unconscious or injured, like the subject I defeated in the first round, there were little less than we originally started.
"The results will come out in the application once all the applicants have finished the test, the score will be evaluated in one hundred points and those who enter will be the ones with the best average, any questions?", said the advisor who was in the middle of the platform.
"When will the exams end?", someone in the crowd asked.
“As you are many people, we calculate that in a week or two, depending on the number of applicants attending, although they are registered, some do not show up, so the time varies a lot, I cannot give an exact day, but everyone must reviewing the application constantly after a week”, replied the advisor.
"Any other question?".
"...".
"Well, everyone can go home, we're done for today, go out the back door", he said, pointing his hand behind us.
I said goodbye to Halley thinking that I may never see him again and left for the inn where I was staying.
When I arrived, Emma was reading a book in the living room, I completely ignored her, there is no point talking to someone who doesn't want to see you, when I was about to enter the room, I heard a soft voice.
"Well, how were the exams?", I was surprised that she had spoken to me, but anyone would like to know the exam that will take in a few days, even if it was completely different in his topics.
"It was an exam that was divided into three stages, the first two of knowledge and use of energy and the last of one-on-one fighting", I explained briefly. I didn't want to stay with her for a long time.
"Ah", she said, without taking his eyes off his book, seeing that she said no more, I went into my room and went to bed to rest, I was very exhausted and while I lay in bed, I meditated a little, if I lost the first fight, it would be the end of entering the academy, so I put all my effort into winning and, as a result, my body ached and the wounds I had in my hand and leg.
Days and weeks passed while we waited for the results, I don't know what day Emma presented the exam, but I wasn't interested either, I wasn't watching her all the time, I was her bodyguard, but we hadn't passed the exam yet, I would just have problems within the academy.
The teacher I currently have is the father of that girl, I did not think she was someone strong, she spent all her life in rehabilitation, had not yet seen what she could do, but imagined it was little.
Concurred the days where she and I hardly talked, she had to think: "Why did my father leave me with this guy?". If she was really strong, her annoyance to me was because I looked inferior to her and being her bodyguard offended her a lot, it wasn't that I could do something, since I was forced to do it.
When the day of the results arrived, my phone rang and I received the notification of the results that were in the application, I opened it and eagerly looked for my name among those admitted, since the notification indicated that I was accepted, I assumed that I was one of the last to enter, but when I searched the whole list, I did not find my name, but the surprise I took was that Emma had passed among the top ten.
Wow, she is really is strong, I see that her father trained her and being In a wheelchair it did not affect her much, but the most important thing here, was that my name did not appear anywhere, although I had been admitted and, surely, she also looked for me and not finding me, worsened his expectations towards me. In short, I had to go to the academy and ask in person.
Having no other choice, I left for the academy to ask and, before leaving the inn, Emma told me with a cold smile, “Tsk, how weak you are, and to think that my father left me a bodyguard so mediocre that he was not admitted , it's a shame”, I looked into her eyes and seemed to be happy for the news, to tell you the truth, I already expected her to say something like that, I replied holding my phone in the air in her direction.
“The notification says that I am admitted, I will go to the academy to see what the problem is”, and I left the place without saying more.
When I arrived at the entrance, I noticed that they had put some huge lists on the walls and I began to search among those lists for my name, there were not many people since everyone received notification through the application, but here it also happens that it did not appear my name, a little stunned by the situation, I went to the gate where the guard was and asked him.
"I need to enter the academy".
"What do you need to do?".
"I want to talk to a teacher or advisor".
"But what do you need to know? It's something about those admitted, right?".
"How do you know?".
"Several people have already come to ask the same thing".
"If you know, tell me, why doesn't my name appear on the admitted list even though I was notified?".
"You must appear in a different one, on the left wall is the other list".
"I'll go see".
That list was very small, so I had not noticed before, which entitled "List of admitted by order of the jury", was a small list of five people and in the last position was my name, of course, my score would never have me reached to pass, winning the three fights was what it meant that I was admitted, it is not the best way to enter, but I did it.
My name did not appear on the official list, which was strange to me, I returned to where the guard was and I asked him why.
“Although you have entered, you are not yet on the list of new students, but you have been officially admitted".
"If I have been admitted, I should be on that list with everyone else".
“That information is told on the day that you go to the opening ceremony, since every year they do it the same, but if you want to know now, I will tell you, the five who passed by jury order still do not have a class assigned, as there are six classes for five people, they will play several bouts on the first day of school, the winners go to the upper classes while the losers go down”.
"Which classes?".
"Classes are in alphabetical order A, B, C, D, E and F".
"But we are five people for six classes."
"None of you enter class A, you do not have the requirement to do so, that class is reserved for the best of each year."
I had already understood, even though we had passed by order of the jury, they gave us an order and I was the last one, so I have to fight twice because we are an odd number of people, after those fights, it is decided who goes to each class, and that directly implies that being in an upper class has advantages over others, I did not know which, but if all classes were equal, there would be no need to fight each other to reach the highest.
With all clear, I returned to the inn, when I arrived, a sharp voice stopped me.
"And good? What happened? It would be surprising that a useless man like you did it”, and without waiting a single second I answered.
"I was admitted by order of the jury on a different list."
"Oh, they took pity on you".
As I said at the beginning, she is quite conceited, after she knowing that I was able to enter, her annoyance was evident, but I cannot blame her, if her boyguard is weaker than her, anyone would bother, anyway, her attitude towards me was very hostile and in the academy it was going to be worse, but it didn't matter, after all, it was an order from the teacher and it didn't matter what she or I said.
Thank you for reading!
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