Agh!
Oghf!
Ouch!!
Cries continued to echo inside the damp, dark, murky room.
There were sounds that one fell severely.
Sounds of students who fell on top of another.
Some who were still falling.
A crushing sound.
A cursing sound.
And after the noises –– complete silence.
And the closing of a mechanism, shutting the only way out, bringing along with it the only light from above.
POOF!
Like automatic, a line of torches lit up the murky space, illuminating the room in blurry azure light.
"Ouch! Man, that hurts!" Ethan rubbed his butt while Rain helped him getting up.
"You alright?" Rain asked as he roamed his eyes on the place where they had fallen.
The room appeared to be a large hall, enough to stuff hundreds of students with a space to maneuver. Dilapidated stones covered the walls and floor. The rubble stones were so old, concealed by molds and other plants in between intersections. There were cracks all over the place and fallen debris scattered with the slightest movement, like with just one punch the place would crumble –– and yet, it gave off a feeling of sturdiness and stability.
There were also ten archways leading to a dark corridor, and the students felt the air blowing from each of them.
And that smell.
What is that smell?
A mixture of dampness, decay, old rotten woods, molds, and . . .
Beasts!
Rain frowned, but his frown soon turned into amazement when he saw Ethan materialized a staff out from his Armalest.
Not a second later, a warm haze of light enveloped Ethan's lower body.
[Healing Light]
"Ahhh . . . that feels much better . . ." Ethan hummed in relief.
"Wow. I never thought you specialize in arcane of light," Rain said with a smile.
In Arcane World, light and darkness were rare elements. Though Light element was the weakest in terms of offensive spell, it was uncontested when it came to supporting magic, while darkness was the most powerful when it came to offensive magic.
Rain wasn't surprised since his little sister, Elise also specialized in arcane of light, and there were countless times that he saw her performed spells.
"Y-yeah . . . as I said . . . I'm not the fighting type . . . ," Ethan shyly replied as he waved his hand, and the staff broke into tiny arcane particles and dissolved back into nature.
Actually, people who specialized in the arts of spells could still perform simple incantations with only using their hands. But for those massive and complicated spells, besides the help of the Armalest and the arcane stone to regulate arcane energy, it needed another medium to control the enormous amount of force to maximize its power. And mostly, staffs were the weapon of choice.
Incantations were ancient language used to communicate with arcane energy for the energy to bend to your command. Without this, you could not perform spells.
"S-shit! Where the hell are we?!"
"What's going on?"
"T-this is not cool. No one mentioned this! Once my father gets a hold of this. Hmp!"
After everyone had gotten hold of their bearings and assisted their situation, panic, cries, and grunts filled the damp room while the more experienced ones remained calm. This alone differentiated the ones who were skilled from the ones who were complete newbies.
"Welcome, everyone!"
A resounding voice echoed in all corners of the hall, which caused the students to stop what they were doing.
"I am the Headmaster of this school."
"T-the H-Headmaster?"
"T-the legendary Headmaster?"
"I-I heard with just his might alone withstood any Kingdom's might."
Whispers resounded while the resonating voice that shook the hearts of many continued to speak.
Rain and the others roamed their eyes to find where that voice came from, but it seemed the sound came from everywhere.
"I will not hold you any longer as I presume that all of you is wondering as to why you are here. The answer is simple. This is your rite of passage which will dictate which class you will belong."
Rain and Ethan glanced at each other. Then they resumed wondering their eyes as if they would find the owner of that voice by doing so.
"The rules are simple. There are ten corridors around you, and all of them lead to the exit. All you have to do is reach the exit by any means necessary."
The stuffy suffocating hall was suddenly filled with sighs of relief as the students now gave out smiles for the first time since falling in the darkroom –– until their smiles froze at the Headmaster's following words.
"But of course, each passageway has a different level of difficulty with beasts ranging from rank D and C lurking in each corridor, and one that leads to a rank B. Ohohohohoho!" The voice laughed maniacally like this information was the most pleasant of all.
"B-b-b-beasts!" Ethan frantically stuttered as he unknowingly grabbed Rain's clothes.
Rain remained calm, but deep inside, he, too, felt nervous. He did battle countless beasts before. However, those were all rank D and C. He never did once encounter a rank B.
In the world of Arcane, many beasts roamed the land. If humans could use arcane energy, so were these creatures. Moreover, beasts didn't need an Armalest to unleash arcane energy as they had innate gifts bestowed by nature since they were much closer to nature than humans could ever be.
They were gifted with an arcane heart that had similar properties to an arcane stone. Thus, they could naturally absorb arcane energy and use it without the help of an Armalest.
These arcane hearts usually fetched a high price in the market depending on the beast's rank, as it was much more efficient to use than arcane stones.
"W-what?! Are you trying to kill us?!"
"What's with this ridiculous rite of passage?!"
Due to the sudden striking news, most of the students momentarily lost themselves and forgot that it was the legendary Headmaster they were talking to.
Who wouldn't lose their wits when they suddenly found their selves in a life and death situation completely unprepared?!
One after another, the students joined in the fray as they voiced out their discontent.
"SILENT!"
Urk!
Kugh!
Agh!
Just the force of the Headmaster's voice alone sent countless students to puke blood. Their heart was tightly gripped, suffocating them in the process.
Rain, too, released everything he got to repel the force but failed as blood oozed from his lips.
Ethan had it worse as he vomited a mouthful of blood.
Amidst the sea of people gagging out blood, a lone woman with silky black hair stood tall.
As the Headmaster's force struck the students, Pamela's lips mumbled incantations, and an invincible barrier enveloped her whole body.
"INSOLENCE!"
The Grandmaster's voice echoed inside their mind. This time, all the students fell on their knees as the force suddenly became ten folds, crushing them into the ground.
Rain fell on one knee as he vomited blood. He tried with all his might to resist that massive force that weight like thousands of pounds.
Ethan, once more, had it worse like the rest of the newbies as they laid flat on the ground, continually spewing blood while their ears and nose began to bleed.
At the sight of this, Pamela shifted her head left and right. When she noticed that all the students were now kneeling, she, too, kneeled.
This is not the time to show off. I'm here on a mission, not to be the center of attention. Pamela mused to herself.
As the students were busy struggling at that invincible force, the Headmaster continued.
"What do you think my Arcane Academy is?! The moment you enrolled, your fate was sealed! My academy doesn't need weaklings who can't even survive the attacks from low-level beasts! You are to be bred into soldiers. Powerful warriors! If you can't even survive here, then don't expect to last even for a second in the outside world. Hmp!"
Then the force vanished together with that powerful voice.
When the students could move again, some immediately materialized their staff and healed themselves. In comparison, others who didn't practice in the arcane of spells were contented to slowly pulled arcane energy from their surroundings towards their body to heal themselves.
Ethan too materialized his staff and immediately cast a spell to heal his and Rain's internal injuries.
"Thanks," Rain said as he savored the warm light enveloping his body.
Compared to people who used spells that could heal in a matter of seconds, absorbing arcane energy took time to heal the body.
"W-what now?" Ethan said with a worried voice, "W-what should we do?"
"First, let's ask around and form groups. The many we are, the better our chances to survive."
Ethan's eyes shone in delight. "That's a great idea!" After all, the Headmaster said to reach the exit at any means necessary.
Rain and Ethan roomed their gazes, hoping to find students willing to form groups with them. However, as they saw it, it was not only them who thought of the idea as other students too began to group themselves.
Rain couldn't help but drift his eyes on that blue-haired beauty who was now surrounded by girls asking for her to join their group. The beautiful woman nodded, and they were the first group to head out in one of the passageways, but not before the woman gave Rain a challenging stare.
Rain took a step back. He didn't know why the blue-haired beauty acted all hostile towards him.
"Darn . . . It seems like everyone already formed groups. I bet that most of them already knew each other." Ethan held a disappointed look as he scanned their surroundings.