The Academy, as its official name, offers more than an education in academia, fighting, and sigil works. It is also a place where students can find their future mentor.
Subsequently, many of those who are enrolled are of established or noble descent. Usually, however, The Academy doesn't accept based on money or power; but, rather, with skill. The age one has to be in order to be able to enroll is 18-20 years old. Meaning that, at most, people who join will only have two years to become relatively skilled with their newfound power and they have to rank up at the same time. And while they do accept people at rank 10, or 9, they are not eligible to be granted a mentor
Of course, anyone who is rank 8 or above and is less than 20 years old is considered a talent-not a rare one, but a talent nonetheless.
At least, that's what they had heard. As Ran had taken the lead, he was the first to enter the gates and what he saw distracted him a bit from his anger. Hundreds, of thousands, of bodies strewn all over the field. Only a few thousand of them were standing and it seemed that they were struggling as their entire bodies were shaking uncontrollably.
But he couldn't look for a second longer as he found his vision blurring, and a head splitting headache threatening to make him unconscious. He tried to grab his head in agony, but he couldn't even do that as he couldn't move his body; as if it was locked in place by a bunch of chains. Next, he hurriedly tried to circulate all his energy into his brain to reduce the pressure, alas, it didn't work as he could barely move it like it turned into such a heavy, viscous fluid. As a final move, he willed for his sigil to activate, but that didn't work either! Ran clenched his teeth as he could only do one thing. Bear it like a man! But as he solely focused on bearing the pain, it suddenly dropped a little. At first it was so unnoticeable that even Ran himself couldn't feel it. But after a full 10 minutes, he caught onto it. He was delighted and tried to make it drop again, as he thought it was his own effort's doing. It was not and it continued going down at a constant rate- though at the rate it was going at it'd be a day before it fully went away.
Ann, after she arrived, didn't feel a thing. It was like someone rubbing a feather across her head-barely noticeable. Being a rank 6 sure has its perks. She is, after all, the only one there. The strongest participant this year, besides Ann, is a girl named Queenie Hell-Raiser who just so happened to have just broken through to rank 7… now, during what is presumably the first test.
Bob on the other time, actually had it the worst. He was currently on one knee trying his best to withstand the pressure. In fact, almost everyone else, besides a few, was on one knee as well. Some had started to drop again, unable to go on. As time goes on, while the amount of pressure stays the same, the continued pressure will chip away at someone's mental fortitude and will continue to do so at an exponential rate.
After about 30 minutes, a gong had sounded and immediately, everyone under pressure stood back up or shook their body to shrug off any remaining numbness from their bodies. The people on the floor were left there until all the people who cleared the test had left to a building on the far right. Once they were gone, another gong rang and everyone who immediately woke up left disappointedly after someone shooed them away.
In the training building, all the participants looked at each other then at the person in front of them.
"Welcome, Sigil Workers! Sigil Works, the field of the inner workings of a sigil and its runes, are the natural laws of the universe. The universe as we know it, is within all of you! And what are you going to do with it?
That was a question for them, but none of them answered. Some thought it was rhetorical, some didn't seem comfortable, but one person-one person just shouted:
"For power." Queenie, the one who shouted, looked at the mentor straight in the eye. She knew what she came here for and she knows how to get it too. Knowing what she's thinking, the mentor named Lanx, said, "Haha, yes, I like your style. That is the answer, for power. To be able to bend the universe to your every whim, what an exhilarating feeling it is!" Queenie couldn't believe her eyes. Clearly, this guy was a fanatic, frenzied, maniac. His eyes were gleaming and an aura of greed covered him like a blanket a mother would use to keep her baby warm. And just like that, Lanx had become her mentor.
"Anyways, since you all passed the test, you are now eligible to be judged! Whoopie for you." One of them asked, "So we haven't been enrolled yet?" Clearly, they didn't understand that a few hundred mentors at the The Academy judging a hundred thousand students couldn't be done in a single day!
"No, not yet. We will have a couple hundred mentors testing your skill, and sigil, and judge your potential as a whole. Don't worry, all of your skills will be kept confidential." After all, some come here in order to seek refuge, both Ran and Ann included.
All of them were then split off into different rooms. Ran entered a room, stood at the center, then waited. Soon after, someone walked in from the door opposite from where Ran came in.
"Dangit, why do I have to do it? The committee said they would bring donuts today." His mouth was watering and even a drop of saliva dropped on the floor to his distracted state. "Oh! You didn't hear that right?" He wiped his mouth and put on a professional face, though it made him look even more silly.
"Uh… no, sir."
"Good." The mentor then proceeded to sit on the only chair in the empty room, took out some blank papers and a pen.
"Okay. What's your name?" "Ran, sir." "Last name?" "... no last name sir. Just Ran." The mentor's eyebrows shot up. "That's… odd. You know we won't share anything right?" He thought that maybe Ran didn't want to divulge that information due to being scared of some opposing party.
"I know." "Well, okay, fine. What is your sigil?" "Parry, sir." "Parry… hmm. Hmm. A reflective type I see. Well, there's no need to see… you know what just show me once." The mentor then got up and with a single finger, a dark ball of light the size of a grain of rice shot towards Ran at a modestly fast speed. Ran was confused at being asked how to show his power, but once he saw the mentor stand up, he knew-he fucked up. Activating his sigil, a translucent barrier that only Ran can see, expanded outwards in all directions for 10 feet. This invisible barrier is the radius in which his sigil can work in. Anything outside of that will not be affected by his sigil. Once that dark light orb hit it, it disappeared and Ran felt over half of his remaining energy deplete itself in order to reflect that attack.
"Dang, that shit almost sucked me dry." Ran was literally on his knees, trying to catch his breath-failing to notice the pale-pink light orb that shot towards its creator.
Seeing the orb, the mentor was confused for a second, shook his head, and then nodded. "Okay, it is a bonafide reflected type. Seems I'm quite lucky today." The mentor smiled seemingly coming in and out of thought.
"How about this. I'll forgive you for making me miss out on those donuts, but only if you join and accept me as your mentor." He even licked his lips, although no one knows if it was for those donuts or maybe… Ran.
Ran was even more confused now. Catching his breath, he got back up and with a pale face he said, "Sure, why not? You seem like a sensible person." There might have been some sarcasm in there, but he definitely sounded excited. Finally, he can start to plan his revenge.
Ran walked up to his mentor and held his hand out. "I'm, Ran. I never got your name, mentor?" His mentor shook his hand and said:
"Lanx. Philips Lanx."