Insunya told on on the night he visited us that he'd come and pick us up in the morning. I couldn't sleep all night, I just kept thinking, "What if I fail?"
Then that'd mean I'm a failure. I just can't imagine how disappointed Aunt Mary would be. This is a golden opportunity for me and Bell, and I'll try my hardest, I'll push myself to the limit if I need to. I know that the nobles will be looking down on us, which means that we'll need to go above and beyond on the trials. We'll be the underdogs, exactly like how Insunya said it.
It's morning now, and even though I didn't have a good night's sleep, I feel refreshed and ready to go. I brushed my teeth and took a shower then headed downstairs to greet Aunt Mary.
Bell sat on the dining table with all her focus on the book she was reading.
"Is Bell's training coming along good?" I asked, snatching an apple from the basket.
"Yeah, she hasn't mastered it fully yet, but she's coming along, what about that Sh..., that style you've been training so hard on,"
I laughed. "The Shinrai Style you mean," I took a bite from the apple.
"It's so crunchy," I said. "Changing from any type of element into lightening is really hard since there aren't a lot of sources for me to know it from, what I know comes directly from me,"
"Well it makes sense," Bell said, but still focused on the book.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
Bell closed the book and turned around to me.
"Lightening bind is kinda rare, not many people have it you know, and even if they do, they wouldn't have a second element to practice the Shinrai style with." Bell stopped. "For someone who knows a lot of releases, you're pretty dumb."
And I thought she wouldn't tease or insult me for the day.
"So lightening is rare huh," I said.
"You're kinda special Red," Bell said, unexpectedly.
It caught me off guard. "What you u mean?" I said hesitantly.
"Weirdo," She muffled. "Having more than one element is uncommon, but you have all five of them, the main ones, of course, that's really rare, I haven't heard of Sentinels who have all the elements except Xian and Gran..."
"What Bell is saying is to be careful, okay," Aunt Mary interrupted.
A car horn blew from outside.
"I think Insunya's here," Aunt Mary said, heading outside.
It was the same black car that he had when he came last week.
But something is off, I don't sense Insunya, I don't sense his Orizambi.
"Insunya, are you in there?" I asked.
"Big brother is out for a job, so he asked me to come to pick you guys up," A girl about my age came out of the car, smiling.
"You must be Elizabeth," Aunt Mary said happily. "You've grown into such a beautiful young lady,"
Beautiful seemed like an understatement.
She had long white hair that fell to her waist, her olive skin complimented with the morning sun.
"Hi Aunty, you guys must me Reid and Bell," She said. "Insunya talked about you two a lot."
"He mentioned you too," Bell said.
"Nice to meet you," I manage to say.
She smiled brightly. Felt just like how Bell smiled at me.
"We better get going, the first part starts in a few hours, don't wanna be late,"
"You're taking it too?" I asked.
"Well of course I am, and I'm aiming straight for class S-1, you guys are too right?" She asked.
S-1 was the highest rank of class in the school for the first years.
"Of course we are," I said, getting all hyped up.
"By the way, you don't happen to know what the first trial is," Bell asked.
"They don't tell us, but based on previous years, it might be an exam," She said. Her voice was so soft. She added," just a guess tho,"
"That makes sense," Bell said.
Both Aunt Mary and Liz nodded in agreement.
Confusion.
"Why does it makes sense?" I asked blatantly.
"Times running," Bell ignored. "We should get going,"
"Chop, chop, chop," Liz hurried.
"Can anyone answer my question," I kept saying, getting into the car.
The driver greeted us as we got in.
"Next stop, district 5."
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The Libertarian Republic, that's the country that we live in. The capital, Liberty city, is guarded by dozens of sectors, and after entering, surrounded by 7 districts, governed by their own ministers and the one who overlooks all of this, is the Paladin, or the Overlord. He is a symbol of hope and justice. I wanted to be the Paladin when I was younger, but after I learned about the nobility system, the dream farther from reality, but I haven't given up, not yet.
District one of Liberty City was the first place we passed after we went through the gate, it was way different from the sectors. And the air even had a more refreshing scent. Some parts looked like the sectors, while other parts looked like a metropolis. Adverts and announcements on the huge screens were filled all around.
The driver took a shortcut to get into district five, instead of passing through all the districts. He took a route to get us into the actual capital.
I was so crowded yet everyone looked to be in sync, younger children played around the streets and smugglers roamed free. You can spot a Sentinel everywhere you went, they were everywhere.
It was an amazing experience.
Bell and Liz talked about whatever and I just looked outside the window.
"This part reminds me of the fire capital," I said.
"Probably because it's inhabited by fire binders," The driver said.
"That's soo cool," I said, excitedly.
We drove around for a bit, before reaching a signboard that said,
"District 5 ahead, 5 minutes away,"
"Go East for the route to District 6,"
"Go West for the route to District 4"
"We'll be there in a few, get ready,"
There were over hundreds of cars at the parking lot. But thankfully, we found a spot to park at.
"I and the Madam Mary will check you guys in, you guys head to the student area," The driver said.
"Yes, Sir Wolfe,"
Wolfe is his name huh.
There were people around my age at the student area, some looking confident and others scared to death.
We sat at an empty bench, and soon enough, a couple of kids joined us. Some of Liz's friends invited her to come to sit with them, but she kept declining.
Liz's phone made a small noise, notification I assumed.
"Aunt Mary and Sir Wolfe have signed us up, all we need to do now is wait," Liz said.
"Right," I said, getting nervous.
"Nervous too?" A guy behind me asked.
He had red hair just like me, but the shade was a bit lighter, with freckles over his face.
"Yeah, a bit, you too?"
He nodded. "I've been cramming for weeks, I just wanna pass, A-Class would be good, but S-Class would make my family so proud."
"Well, go for it, buddy, if you try your best, you'll make it in,"
"Really?" He asked.
"Why not, even though I don't know you, you seem like a pretty strong guy, let's get to S-class together,"
He smiled, nodding in agreement.
"My name is Christian Ballack, nice to meet you,"
Ballack huh?
"I'm Reid Flannel, but call me Red,"
"Flannel huh, you weren't at my academy for sure, where did you train,"
Naming all of them would be a hustle.
"I've trained all over the kingdoms," I said.
"That's really cool, nothing like good old experience huh,"
I nodded in agreement.
I like that dude, I guess not all nobility are bad, but would he have reacted differently if I told him in not a noble?
"Attention all incoming first-years, the parts of the trials are going to be announced, by our new headmaster, a round of applause, for Professor Kirian Storm,"
Every student in the campus applauded, even I did too. His presence felt very assuring. And he was younger than I expected. I expected an old dude with a long white beard and white hair. But instead, a young man, with dim blue hair, with no beard at all.
Disappointing.
"I am very pleased and honored to be here today, an honor to stand in front of what to be a new generation of Sentinels and our future as well. I remember sitting here years ago and listening to the headmaster then welcome us. All you guys need to do is try your best and use every bit of knowledge you have. Over 500 students have applied, and 200 students will go on to pass, make sure you are a part of the 200. The first trial will see off 200 of our applicants and the 300 left will move to phase 2, the second and last trials"
There were murmurs of confusion around the students.
"What's going on," I asked Christain.
"Normally, there are 3 trials," He said.
"Gotchu,"
"Refocus on me guys, because the first trials will be," He paused. "You guess it, a written exam of 750 questions, a mixture of basic orizambi skills, history, and martial art techniques. His exam will test your intelligence, critical thinking, logical thinking, and guess. You'll have an hour and seven minutes if you don't know the question, just skip it. But if you think this all too much for you, you can leave and try again next year."
"Goodluck,"