After exiting the bank, Jack decided to pay a visit to the academy and see what it looked like up close. He was new to this world, and he considered taking his chance to enter the academy to learn more things about this world.
An academy with such reputation must surely teach many things to students that would not be taught in other places. He thought that in case he didn't like staying in the academy, he could always leave. He didn't like one bit what Mark told him about students not being able to leave school grounds until their graduation unless you got a permit, which Jack was sure was not easy to get. He never liked being restricted, and total freedom was what he always desired. To be free to roam around the world, meet new people and have new experiences.
"Freedom", such a simple word to pronounce, but such a complex meaning. Something that many people would never get in their lives.
Lost in his own thoughts, Jack was walking in the direction of the Sun Tower. And when started to get closer, he started to see an outline of some big fences with many buildings behind it.
An entrance was in the middle of it and there seemed to be a long queue in front of it.
Green gardens were behind the fences, and the majestic white buildings reminded Jack of some of the biggest and most prestigious colleges from Earth. But he was sure that none of them could be compared to this academy whether it was on scale or looks.
Just from outside, Jack could feel vibrations inside his body. Something deep inside him was screaming at him to get inside. Something called him. He didn't know what it was, but he felt a connection to this place.
"Ok, another queue. What a sense of Deja Vu." Jack stood behind the last person in line and waited for his turn.
The queue advanced very slowly compared to the one from the entrance of the city, not even mentioning the one of the bank.
The closer he got to the academy, the stronger the vibrations inside him became. His blood started boiling, and he had to start chanting the scripture the silhouette gave him to calm his mind and body. After practicing it for some time, he came to know that the scripture given to him was called "Mad Lord Technique". He didn't like the name one bit, but the shadow told him to only use that technique. He knew he shouldn't believe everything he said, but he couldn't help but trust the man behind the shadow.
When only a quarter of the queue was remaining he heard surprised voices behind him. At the beginning he ignored them, but once more and more voices were heard, he decided to turn around to see what was happening. And he would be lying if he said that what he saw didn't surprise him.
A group of 3 men and 3 women were walking in the direction of the academy's gates. 2 men were wearing red robes, 1 men and 2 women were wearing white robes, and the last woman was wearing blue robes. A badge was carved around the chest area of the robes.
"Look at their robes. They are students of the academy. It's weird to see students outside the academy nowadays." People were whispering between them.
"They come from a special task most likely. I heard some students leave the school grounds to carry out special tasks from time to time. But not all students are allowed to do that." Someone explained the situation to the previous person.
While everyone was looking at them, the group of students didn't even glance at the people on the queue.
"Senior Jean, there seems to be more candidates to enter the academy this year than the previous ones. Do you think there would be any good one between them?" The man wearing white robes asked one of the men wearing red robes that was walking on the front. He was a handsome redhead man with a height above average. He seemed to be the leader of the group.
"It doesn't matter how many candidates there are. The entrance exam is hard, and the number of admitted students will barely change this year compared to the previous ones." Senior Jean answered while he kept walking.
But then he added. "But I heard that this year there have been a handful of interesting candidates. Some of our seniors are already keeping an eye on them."
"Then they surely must have potential." The girl with the blue robes said. She was a cute blonde girl with a short stature. Anyone who saw her would be friendly with her. She was the usual next house girl.
"Potential is not enough in the Glowing Star Academy. Potential can get you inside the academy, but it is hard work and dedication what will make you shine inside it. You should know this well Mila." Senior Jean gave his opinion.
"But having good potential gives you some advantage." Mila gave her last words and the discussion ended.
Jack was looking at them, and when they were passing by his side, the vibrations started getting stronger once again, but thanks to his technique they got back to normal once again before they even had the intention to go wild.
"They are strong." The feeling the group gave Jack was that of power. Especially the young man in the front, who seemed to be the leader. He was sure that he would lose in a fight against him quickly.
Senior Jean sensed a pair of eyes looking at him from behind, so he turned around for a second. Then he saw a pair of pitch black eyes staring at him. Looking at those eyes he got the feeling that he was looking at the deep abyss of hell. But on the young man's eyes he could see some brightness. There was admiration but also defiance on that brightness.
Senior Jean smiled and turned around once again. "Yeah, there are some interesting candidates this year."
The others didn't understand senior Jean's words and when they turned around they didn't see anything unusual. So they just continued walking, and passed through the gates with no opposition. No guard would stop them after seeing their robes.
After some more time, it was Jack's turn, and he came in front of a middle-aged woman wearing purple robes. The woman was sitting in front of a table with some guards behind her. Papers were on the table and Jack was feeling like he already did this today.
The only difference would be that there was a crystal ball on the table next to the papers.
"Name and age." The woman started asking.
"Jack Immortal, 20 years old." Jack answered politely, this time saying his full name.
The woman looked at him weirdly for a second hearing his full name. But when she saw him she made a confused face for a second before asking. "Are you really 20 years old?"
"Yes I am." Jack was wondering why the woman asked that.
"The floor your are standing on right now has a bone checking charm. And it says you are 18 years old and not 20." The woman looked at Jack's face trying to see any lies.
"I'm sorry if I was mistaken. I come from a small village where I was raised as an orphan. The village chief was the one that told me my age, but we had no way of confirming if it was right." Jack lied through his teeth calmly, but on the inside he was screaming not understanding how he became two years younger suddenly.
The woman raised an eyebrow hearing his explanation, but she decided to ignore it and continue with the questions. "What do you want to achieve here in the academy?"
"Learn as much as I can about everything." Jack answered without even thinking, which seemed to please the woman who was writing on a paper.
"Which department would you like to be in? Note that this doesn't mean you will be assigned to the department you want as long as you pass the entrance exam. But if your affinity with that department is high enough we would take your preferences into consideration as long as you don't have a monstrous affinity with any other department." The woman asked one of the key questions.
"I'm sorry but I don't know which departments exist." Jack scratched his head while he answered awkwardly.
"It's ok, there are many people from outside whom don't know either. During the entrance exam you will know of your affinities. And if you manage to pass, you will assist to a briefing on the first day of classes where new students will be explained everything about how the academy works. Then you will be able to decide which department you want to be at. For now, I will mark you as no preference."
"Sounds good to me." Jack accepted the woman's explanation.
"Ok, now please put your hand on the crystal ball and don't get your hand off it until I tell you to." The woman instructed Jack while pointing to the crystal ball.
Jack put his hand over the crystal ball and the fluctuations inside him started going wild while the crystal ball started turning brighter and brighter for each second that passed.
The woman was surprised seeing this situation, and she started getting nervous seeing that the ball didn't show signs of stopping from becoming brighter.
Jack got scared seeing this happening, and he channeled the Mad Lord technique to the maximum of his ability to try to calm down the fluctuations inside his body.
And it seemed to work, cause his insides seemed to calm down and the ball started lose brightness until it was half bright. It would be able to give some light to a little room but not fully illuminate it.
"B rank bordering B-. You are above average, congratulations. I thought for a second you were some kind of monster seeing what was happening. But it seems we need to replace this crystal ball. After so many days using it, it has started to malfunction already." The woman exhaled a deep breath before she gave Jack a small badge. "Keep this badge and don't lose it, this contains your identification for the entrance exam. Without it you won't be able to participate on it this Sunday. Take care young man." The woman quickly dismissed Jack. She wanted to change the crystal ball as soon as possible so as to not have the next candidates waiting for too long.
"Thank you so much. Have a nice day." Jack bowed to the woman and left as fast as he could.
Once Jack got far enough from the academy, he stood with his back facing the wall while sweating bullets before he let out two words. "Fuck me."
The situation back there got a bit out of control, luckily the woman didn't suspect anything weird.
"I need a cool shower and a nice sleep on a comfy bed right now." Jack muttered to himself before he started walking in search of an inn.