"Your Majesty, with all due respect, Her Highness, Princess Arcene is in the wrong here..." A woman who was around 1.7 meters tall countered with a small frown. She had bright red eyes, and long, lustrous black hair with soft curves adorning her beauty. She wore a thin, silky black dress, that accentuated her curves.
A Nixie fairy, with features similar to Arcene, huge silver wings folded behind her back, and the only difference being a much calmer, mature aura exuding from her beautiful visage, looked outside through the huge glass pane of the viewing room in which three individuals stood. She had a wine glass in her hand as she stood strikingly in front of everyone. The Queen wore a backless white dress which enabled her wings to sprout from her back.
"You are right, Grand Duke Sofie Caiy..." The Queen took a sip of the red wine while her gaze was fixed high in the air where a whirling tornado of sorts, swirled, creating a portal.
Sofie smirked while looking at the figure beside her, as the figure just clicked its tongue in annoyance.
"Your Majesty, elders shouldn't interfere in the matters of children," humbly spoke a man whose height was around 1.8 meters. He had black hair, black eyes, a long, well-trimmed beard, and a huge mustache. He was wearing red, regal robes that displayed his imposing power but in front of the Queen, he still showed utmost respect.
The Queen's wings fluttered aggressively, exhibiting her disapproval. "I will teach my daughter..." She knew about Arcene's way of monopolizing the Ace talents into her own faction, " but why are you two here?" The Queen maintained a neutral expression without even glancing back at the two Dukes.
"Who doesn't wish to witness the new Ace talents, Your Majesty?" Sophie's smile widened as she glanced at the man beside her, "Right, Duke Zalark?"
"Of course, but my Dukedom is close to the central region, I don't get how you traveled all the way from Nofraque Grand Dukedom to the Academy just to 'witness'?" Zalark's voice oozed with sarcasm.
Sophie frowned, being a Grand Duke, the level of respect she should get from a Duke was not displayed by Zalark. Although on paper, the status of Grand Dukedoms and Dukedoms were the same and the only difference was military might, Dukedoms would usually lower themselves, humbly, in front of Grand Dukedoms, and bootlick them in pushing their agendas forward to receive boons.
"Duke Zalark, the Academy is very close to Xeheta Dukedom, which I was traveling, recently, and decided to drop by..." Academy was built in the central region where the Royals held complete control, neighboring Xeheta Dukedom, in which Kora's Vrigaipis Maruessate stood, while it was publicly known that Xeheta Dukedom and Nofraque Grand Dukedom, Sofie's territory, had very close ties.
"Oh?" The Queen lifted her brows as the first individual appeared from the portal that was flying high in the air. Zalark and Sofie looked upwards at the same time, ignoring the internal politics and motives, for now.
The portal swirled high in the air above a forest near the Academy, at an unbelievable height but the three people in the viewing chambers had incredible senses that could discern even slight facial changes in the youngsters appearing from the portal.
Their lips curved downwards in disgust as they saw the man crying and shitting his pants after being dropped from such great heights.
Leap of faith, as the name suggested was a test devised by the Queen herself to separate the talented individuals from weak herds. It tested the will to remain calm even in the most dangerous situation and think logically to escape the predicament.
Although cultivators were strong and even had the ability to fly, at Elementary Profound Realm, they were not strong enough to survive the crash and would die. As the man shat himself and almost fainted, a female professor appeared in the air beside the man and covered him in a gust of materialized Qi, as soft a pillow, and threw him towards the servants, while scrunching her nose in pure disgust.
It was shameful for cultivators who dreamed to fly one day, shitting themselves from just free-falling?
The Queen carefully took note of the individuals appearing through the portal one by one, as a team of professors saved them from dying and assign points according to their performance. The less scared one was, the more points they would get.
At the same time, Elliot appeared through the portal and looked down as his eyes widened. While a cool breeze hit his body, gravity did its job, pulling him towards the ground.
"Fuck!" He screamed, panic visible in his eyes, as he fell freely for a few meters, his mind spun at top gears thinking about all the rules Academy made so far. This time there were no rules...
'Wait! Leap of Faith! Faith in Academy!' In the corner of his mind, a sliver of hope shined brightly as he realized it was another test. No way in the seven hell, Academy would let them die? Right?
Thinking about it as a trial, Elliot took out his Greatsword, planning to plunge it into a tree below, in order to save himself, he curled his knees as he tried controlling his center of gravity in mid-air.
"This is the Ace talent, right?" The Queen's eyes shone as she slightly craned her head, "I heard he is the one, Your Majesty." An ambiguous light flashed through Zalark's eyes.
"Interesting..." Sophie muttered as she praised the young man's courage to think rationally and find a way out.
"But he would still die from that height as his arms will be ripped apart at his current cultivation level..." Zalark deduced and watched as a Professor saved Elliot.
One by one, more people appeared and went by, but the viewing party still remained as they haven't seen the other Ace's performance yet. Even though most youngsters performed badly they expectantly kept looking towards the portal for the remaining Ace-level talent to appear.
Even after a few minutes passed by, Kora didn't appear as Zalark, who was getting increasingly impatient muttered in annoyance, "Is he that scared to even enter the unknown?"
"Maybe he is analyzing, or waiting for his friends to come back to confirm what they saw..." Sofie answered but even she had some doubts. But at that moment, the figure they were waiting for finally appeared.
The rays of setting sun shone on his handsome visage. His black hair brushed against the sweet breeze as his azure eyes glimmered with a displeased expression upon noticing where the portal led him.
As he witnessed himself freely falling through the air, he thought of many ways he could protect himself, but none came to his mind. Even the flying wheel, his Soul Weapon-Chakra, couldn't support his weight, and although he had swords inside his storage ring, he knew they would not save him.
The Queen, Sofie, Zalark opened their eyes wide as they saw Kora welcoming his impending death with open arms as no ripples of emotions could be seen on his face. He closed his eyes with utmost calmness and embraced his death.
Kora didn't wish to die but if he had no other options to survive, he would welcome it with a smile. He has already experienced death once and even then, he was never scared of it. He didn't believe in the Academy or anybody else, he only believed in himself, and not once did he rely on having faith in the Academy that wouldn't let him die on their watch simply because he was regarded as an Ace-level talent or because he was a promising cultivator that could be useful to the Kingdom.
*Swoosh!* The Queen disappeared from the viewing chambers in a burst of silver embers as the terrifying oppressive might of Elemental Lord suppressed all being in her surroundings.
The professors at Ace-Tribulation Realm, approaching Kora, halted their step as they felt the powerful fluctuation of space under Kora where the Queen instantly appeared, enveloping him in a gust of materialized Qi, like a blanket.
When Kora felt his speed decreasing and foreign Qi around him, he slowly opened his eyes only to witness the beautiful figure of the woman that could attract any man to bend their knees for her, but instead of a lustful expression as many would make, if they didn't know her real status, Kora frowned, even though he had sensual desires,
"Amazing!" She exclaimed with a bright sunny smile.
'Another Inflammatory Bowel Disease...'