Golden Child
After Helios's disappearance, his descendants emerged into the world. Ever since they were born, these children have always been far superior to that of normal humans.
However, because of their body's special constitution, they were incapable of awakening like ordinary humans. And even if they could, the conditions for awakening were only known by Helios himself.
There was silence among the crowd, Shin looked at Leon. He was quite surprised by this. Leon, the kid that he knew not long ago was actually The Legendary descendant of Helios. "Oh, wow!" Easen exclaims, he stares at Leon who had just been assaulted by the examiner Anthea Vlahos. "I didn't think Leon was actually a golden child!" Shin nods his head in agreement, "yeah, He was so easy going and carefree. And with that personality of his..." Shin closes his eyes with his arms crossed and reopens them again, "I Didn't notice that his appearance was that of a golden child."
Shin imagines how carefree and free spirited Leon was, he thought
'That easy going yet carefree attitude is NOT what I visualised a golden child to be like.'
Shin closes his eyes contemplating, imagining a golden child being arrogant and spoiled. 'I thought that since golden children are tightly sheltered by society, they'd be more... Spoiled and arrogant. Not like Leon at all.'
Shin glances to his side where Leon is standing, 'I guess I was wrong about that, huh?'
Adrien looks from the side, as he thought, Leon was a golden child. 'I knew it.' At first, he wasn't sure whether or not Leon was a golden child or not. But now, he was sure that Leon was indeed a golden child. Though, why did a golden child appear here? Did he appear here because he wanted to enter Helios academy due to the fact that Helios is his ancestor? Adrien shook his head, how can that be? If that were the case, then wouldn't all the golden children in the past all come running to enter Helios academy?
While Adrien was trying to figure out the meaning behind Leon's actions, Anthea asked Leon in a confused manner. "Leon, you've already obtained a golden invitation, why are you still taking part in the entrance exam?"
The crowd was shocked by this news, Shin and the others were no different. They were shocked to find that Leon had already gotten a golden invitation beforehand.
Anthea couldn't understand Leon's actions at all, "you should know that you don't have to take the entrance exam once you're a privileged candidate, right?" Leon nods and smiles, "of course I know."
"So why-" Leon interrupts Anthea, "it's all the more reason why I should participate in the entrance exam." Anthea was about to say something to refute Leon, only to be stopped by Leon's determined look, "I don't want to just be a 'privileged candidate'."
Anthea is silent for a while, Easen and Shin are surprised by Leon's speech. In their minds, a golden child is arrogant and over-privileged. So for them, it was quite surprising to hear Leon say that he wanted to pass the exam equally as well with no special treatment. Anthea sighs, "alright, fine." She lets go of Leon's hands, why bother trying to persuade the stubborn child? He'd still enter Helios academy even if he didn't pass the exam. She would just leave him to do what he wants.
One of the candidates gritted their teeth and stepped out of the crowd, "what? He's a privileged student, and yet, he still wants to partake in the exam?!" Another person comes out of the crowd and angrily shouts, "This isn't fair! We all worked our asses off just to get a white invitation to participate in this exam. And yet, this brat wants to enter the exam even though he has a solid place in the academy?!" He glares at Leon, "don't make me laugh!"
The crowd gets rowdy.
"What? Seriously? Is that kid taking a piss? If he already got a place, shouldn't he stay out of this and let other candidates have a chance?!"
"Who does this guy think he is?!"
Adrien and Tess are appalled by these people's shamelessness. "Aren't they being a little too mean? So what if Leon wants to participate in the exam? It's his right!" Tess looks towards the crowd voicing their complaints. "It's not like I can't understand them."
"Tess?!" Adrien looks at Tess disapprovingly, how could Tess agree with that crowd of meanies?
"If you think about it objectively, they just don't want the possibility of Leon's participation snatching away their chances of getting into Helios Academy."
"But even so..!" Tries to refute Tess, but is interrupted by him. "And above all else, Leon is a golden child." Adrien turns silent. He could not refute that.
The reason why everyone is so riled up right now isn't because Leon is a privileged student, but because of his identity as a golden child.
For as long as they could remember, golden children have always been held high above everyone else. It didn't matter how talented an individual was, they were nothing compared to a descendant of Helios. Even if his descendants could not awaken, society would still treat them like the most precious gem in the world.
Helios Academy is no exception, they would be very biased towards a golden child and immediately welcome them with open arms. Nevermind taking the exam, they'd definitely declare that Leon passed the exam even if he failed. That was just the sad truth.
Adrien had a very good impression of Leon when they first met. And even more so when he heard that Leon still wanted to participate regardless of whether he's privileged or not. 'Leon doesn't seem like the kind of guy who takes his privileges for granted though.'
Sasha looks on silently, she couldn't help but think, 'I knew this would happen.'
She overhears a girl speak, "Tch! His livelihood and fortune were all given to him from the moment he was born! He doesn't know how hard people like us struggle everyday."
The Eyes of the candidates begin glaring at Leon.
"So what? He'll never be able to awaken, unlike us."
"True that. This kid will never know the beauty of awakening."
"Hah! He's no different from trash!"
That last sentence that came out of a boy's mouth irked Sasha to the core. How dare they call her boss trash? Sasha icily glares as the crowd standing in front of her. She ought to teach these classless nobodies a hard lesson they'll never forget! Leon Silently stands there doing nothing to refute them. There was no need to entertain them by trying to explain herself. After all, her actions will speak for her. She'll prove that her getting into Helios academy is not by luck, or them being biased towards her!
Just as Sasha was getting ready to teach the crowd a lesson, Shin grabs her shoulder, preventing her from moving. She turns to face Shin and says angrily, " why are you stopping me? Can't you see how they're insulting my Boss?" Shin refutes Sasha in turn, "all the more reason to stay out of it."
"You..!" Before Sasha could vent at Shin, Andrea claps her hands gaining everyone's attention. "Alight, that's enough. If you are all so dissatisfied, why don't you try and earn yourself a golden invitation like Leon?"
The crowd went silent, they couldn't achieve that even if they wanted to. The requirements to receive a golden invitation were too high... it's better to get a black invitation than to hope for something as impossible as a gold invitation.
Sujin appears behind Anthea, "Lady Anthea, please don't run off like that."
"Ah" Anthea glances to the side, "I apologise."
"It's fine." Sujin replies respectfully, she gazes at the candidates with her cold and almost emotionless eyes giving them a chill. Sujin closes her eyes and reopens them, she walks ahead of Anthea, stopping at a certain distance. "It seems that you've all arrived. I'll now proceed to explain what will be taking place in this entrance exam."
There is Silence in the crowd, they had heard how different it was to pass the exam, they anxiously waited for Sujin to speak. "The Entrance exam has a total of 3 trials. Each trial will be randomly picked from topics piled up over the years. Each topic has different levels of difficulty. Depending on what topic is picked, it could range from an A level difficulty..." Sujin pauses, "To an SSS level difficulty." Everyone was shocked by Sujin's words.
'So all in all, it depends on our luck?!'
They wanted to complain about the injustice being done to them, however, for fear that they would be disqualified, they kept their mouths tightly shut.
"The first Trial has already been decided. It'll be a test of survival." The crowd once again becomes rowdy. "Are there any questions?"
A boy raises his hands, Sujin spots him and gestures for him to come forward, "you said that there were 3 trials in this exam, but why is it that you only mentioned a topic for only one trial?"
Others also realised Sujin's flaw, and whispered amongst themselves. "That is because the other 2 topics have not been chosen yet." She pauses and gives the crowd a harsh look before continuing, "you will naturally find out if you manage to pass the first trial." Silence once again dominates the crowd. The boy feels wronged, 'I only asked because you said if there were any questions!'
Jewellery with spatial storage in them were handed out to the candidates. As Leon was about to take a storage necklace, Elmar stops Leon, "Ah, wait a minute!" "Huh?" Leon turns to face Elmar, "is something the matter?"
Elmar smiles in a friendly manner,"I already have a storage bracelet customised for you." He hands Leon a storage bracelet imbued with golden runes. "To avoid any unnecessary accidents in the trial."
Leon: "..."
Leon stares at the bracelet. She smiles while taking the bracelet from Elmar. "Thank you."