Contrary to the throne room, the emperor's study was quite humble and cozy. A small room with a couple of wooden furniture, a desk, some decorative plants, and a fireplace to keep the place warm on cold winter days.
"You wanted to see me, Your Imperial Majesty? "Enid asked with a respectful tone.
In the middle of the room, seated behind the desk, was a man with long silver hair with a few emerald locks, who looked no older than thirty and, although he was dressed in a modest gray robe and simple reading glasses, he exuded an aura of power and wisdom.
"Come on Enid. I am your father, not some random stranger. You can speak to me with a little more familiarity."
The emperor looked up from the documents he was reading, removed his reading glasses revealing his bright green eyes, and motioned for the young woman to take a seat.
Enid took a seat, but could not help but glance at the black envelope with the seal of a white owl on it on her father's desk.
"Another report from the Whistlers? Is there a problem with the border? "There was a tone of concern in Enid's voice.
"What?... Oh no, no, no, no, there's no problem. Just some strange movements on the part of the church of the deadly plagues, but nothing troublesome. I called you because I wanted to give you this."
The gray-robed man moved some papers around on his desk until he finally found a red envelope with gold lettering and handed it to Enid.
"Congratulations on getting into Imperial University, although being the best Elemental Sorceress of your age, it was unlikely that those bitter old men wouldn't choose you."
Enid was overjoyed and excited. Although she was talented, she had worked very hard for this, and today her effort had finally been recognized.
"Thank you so much. I swear I won't let you down!"
"Haha... You look like me when I was young. I still remember like it was yesterday when I got my letter from Imperial University. Even though it's been like three hundred years since that." The man said nostalgically as he reminisced about his younger days.
"So...When do I leave for the central continent?"
"In two months. Once our neighbors in the Naria Empire are done with the Selection Test, they will send their chosen hundred to the capital and join our candidates to go to the Solar Empire."
"Selection test? I thought all students were chosen based on their achievements, aptitude, and potential."
"Well, normally yes. But you know how the Rasslings are. They always prioritize individual strength above all else. Which reminds me, it looks like this year all the descendants of the six emperors will be attending Imperial University."
"All of them!? "Enid was surprised to hear this.
The Imperial University was extremely strict when it came to choosing their students and they always prioritized the growth potential of their candidates and not their family background. That was why it was incredibly rare for all descendants of Imperial families to attend at the same time.
This could only mean one thing: that all the imperial descendants were geniuses with enormous potential.
"Well I say all, but the Rasslings are still selecting their candidates. But I'm 100% sure those two will make it, especially Prince Runan. That boy sure is a real beast." Said the emperor as a smile formed on his face.
****
*Whoosh...Whoosh*
Two shadows, a crimson bear and a large brown wolf were running through the pine forest at a great speed. Although the terrain of the forest was very uneven and full of snow, this did not seem to be a major obstacle for them who knew the forest like the back of their hand.
A few moments later, both animals slowed down and slowly their forms began to change into human beings dressed in simple fur clothes.
The crimson bear transformed into a man over 2m (7 ft) tall, with fur and a thick crimson beard. The wolf transformed into a young man with brown hair and brown eyes, and although his muscles were well defined, they were not as bulky as those of the red-haired man.
Both men continued walking until they came to a small clearing.
"Well, I guess we can call the test over. Though I honestly expected better from the prince." Said the brown-eyed man as he looked at the scenery in front of him.
In the middle of the forest clearing, there was a small mountain made of multiple beast corpses piled on top of each other. On top of the mountain, there was a dark-haired boy, who seemed to be distracted in his thoughts as he gazed at the beautiful starry sky.
"Sigh...Clark, sometimes I don't know if you're distracted or just an idiot." Said the crimson-maned man.
"Hey, why are you insulting me! It's clear that his performance on the test is only average. Even the other nobles had a better result than him."
"Have you sniffed the air yet?"
The brown-eyed man looked at his red-haired companion with a bit of hesitation. But he did what the latter told him anyway. But after a few seconds, his face went from doubt to astonishment.
"There's no smell!"Clark was in shock.
"Exactly, there's no blood in the place, neither from the beasts or the young master. "Said the red-haired man. There was a hint of pride in his tone of voice.
"But how?!"
The red-haired man advanced a few steps, picked up the corpse of a giant panther, and threw it in front of his companion. Clark began to check the beast's corpse and soon his eyes widened like saucers.
"He has no external wounds, but all his bones and organs are completely shattered!"
"Exactly, he killed them all with his fists alone and without suffering any injuries! Besides, I'm pretty sure he didn't use his hybrid form!"Said the red-haired man. Even he was impressed.
Clark had been speechless. He had heard that the prince was a genius blessed by the goddess of the night, but he didn't think his abilities were so overwhelming.
"Is he really only fourteen years old...what kind of monster has our emperor raised?"
"HAHAHAHA...Well, I guess this ends the selection test."
The red-haired man took out a small notebook, began to write and when he finished he seemed to be more than satisfied with the results of the evaluation.
"39 nobles and 61 scions - yes, this year's candidates look promising! Let's just hope they measure up to the chosen ones from the other races."
****
The original purpose of the rock hall was to serve as a room where young disciples could train and interact with each other, strengthening their bonds together and refining their combat techniques.
But today, the huge training room had a different purpose. In the middle of the hall, 100 young disciples, dressed in white Kāṣāya¹ were kneeling neatly in ten rows.
"THE DISCIPLES SHOW THEIR RESPECT TO THE GREAT ELDER!"They all said in unison.
At the end of the huge room, seated atop a stepped platform, was an old man with white hair and beard, and unlike his disciples, he was wearing a black Kāṣāya which represented the highest authority among the great masters of the temple.
But the most striking thing about the old man was not his clothes, his long beard, or his slightly pointed ears, but his horns and his long white tail of almost 1.4 m(4.6ft) long that gave him the appearance of a powerful and wise millennial dragon.
The old man placed a long pipe to his lips and then exhaled a large amount of smoke whose aroma denoted the mixture of different exotic herbs.
A few seconds later, the old man's golden eyes with vertical pupils began to check each of the disciple's presents. Some of them had characteristics similar to those of Eastern dragons, but others looked more like Western dragons.
But suddenly the old man's gaze stopped on two young disciples who were closest to him. One was a girl, whose hair was blue like water and the other was a boy with red and golden scales.
Like the old man, the young girl's ears were slightly pointed, her horns and long tail were very similar to those of oriental dragons and she exuded an aura of calm and beauty.
On the contrary, the boy (whose muscles were very developed for his age) looked like a powerful warrior, raised on the battlefield. His hands, feet, and neck were covered with red and golden scales, which, together with his horns and tail, gave him the appearance of a mighty fire dragon.
"Young disciples!!... I will not waste the air in my lungs on unnecessary words!! You know why you are here, you know what your purpose is, what your responsibility is, and what you have to do!! Now go and prepare yourselves, may the glory of the great Havall be with you!! Demonstrate the honor of the empire!!"
"GLORY TO THE GREAT HAVALL AND THE EMPIRE!!!"
The disciples began to rise and one by one left the training room.
Once everyone left, the white-bearded elder pulled out a small crystal sphere from his robes, tapped it with his finger three times, and a few seconds later, the sphere began to glow and a voice sounded from inside it.
[Great Elder Zagrin! What is the call about!]
"I'm sorry to disturb you, your majesty, I'm just calling to inform you that the candidates have already been selected."
[OH That's great! And what were the results?]
"37 Mystics and 63 Warriors. Both of your sons have also been selected and....although I haven't heard from the Asrakians of Arabor, it looks like...All the princes of the four remaining empires will be among the 500 chosen this year. "
[Hmmm... This year's batch of chosen ones sure is inusu-]
[ROOOAAAAARR!!!!]
[Sh*t!!]
"Your majesty, what's going on?!"
[That f**king volcanic dragon woke up in a really bad mood! Sorry Zagrin, it looks like I have to hang up...]
At that instant, the voice coming from the sphere faded and the sphere stopped glowing leaving the room in complete silence.
Elder Zagrin took his pipe and exhaled a good puff of smoke.
"It seems that the forces of calamity have been becoming more active over the past few years... Fuuuh... I just hope that this generation can face the coming danger. "
****
*Clang!...Clang!!!*
"Damn, this junk." Reitus cursed under his breath.
The workshop was small and always cluttered with all sorts of metal parts such as loose gears, springs, screws, bolts, tools, some other junk, and half-finished artifacts.
All of these things made getting around the room a bit difficult. Especially for someone like Reitus, who, at ten feet tall and with his four muscular arms, couldn't help but bump and knock over just about anything in his path.
"Hey, be more careful! A lot of this stuff is still half-finished!" a voice shrieked.
"Huh? Your Highness Thalia! Where are you? There's so much stuff in this place I can't see anything."
"Are you blind or are you mocking me? I'm right underneath you."
Hearing this, Reitus looked down. Right in front of him was a young girl no more than fourteen years old, her skin was a coppery color and her hair was snow white.
"I'm sorry your highness, I just didn't see you. I mean... It's not that I'm making fun of your height or anything, in fact, your height is quite normal within the other ra-"
"Reitus... do me a favor and shut up until I finish adjusting this thing."
Reitus stopped talking and just watched as the young woman put the finishing touches on the nearly two-meter tall pendulum clock she had been working on for over a week.
Although the clock was a piece of art, Reitus was more focused on how the young girl's four arms moved in perfect synchronicity as she adjusted the clock's gears.
'It's amazing. So young and yet she already has the same skill and technique as a master craftsman.' Reitus thought impressed by the young girl's skills.
"And done!...and tell me what you think?"
The artifact was made of crimson Huran, a tree almost as hard as wrought iron, which only the most experienced artisans could carve. The inside of the clock was replete with gears that moved the clock's ten plus hands.
"That's impressive! Does it also mark the days of the week?"
"Yep... It marks the 26 hours, of the 360 days, the twelve months, and the four seasons of the whole year!" Thalia said proudly.
"It's magnificent, it's as if Saerich himself had done it in person!"
"Hey, you're exaggerating too much... So... what was it you wanted to tell me?"
"What?...AH! Right, I was asked to give this to you."
Reitus reached into his pockets, pulled out a red envelope with gold lettering, and handed it to Thalia who immediately began to read it.
"I got into the imperial university? But I thought I didn't meet the requirements."
Thalia honestly never thought she would be among the candidates that year despite being the daughter of one of the six emperors. After all, while she was good at using earth magic and mineral magic, her talent was only slightly better than average.
Furthermore, her height hovered around 1.70m(5.5 ft), so compared to the other Asrakians who easily surpassed 2.5m(8ft), she was incredibly short and therefore not good in close combat.
"Don't say that your highness. Your skills with magic are excellent and your gole-"
"Automatons." Thalia interrupted with a cutting tone.
" Right... Your automatons and other artifacts are as good as they were in the golden age. It's more than clear that you would be chosen."
"Sigh... When do I leave for the surface?"
"In a month."
"A month... hmm... I think that's enough time to finish my backlog of projects."
****
1) kāsāya: Clothes are worn by Buddhist monks.