"Oh and don't forget to pack up, cuz you might be gone by Monday", those words had been in Earl's head all weekend, he started packing up his bags by the time he heard her say that, but he was still speculative on wether he would get accepted or not, though all the anxiety from the Nora incident had died down, his new found anxiety of being rejected or accepted had resurfaced. It was Monday morning, and as Early as 4am, Earl was sitting outside the shop with all his bags packed outside, he was wearing a white shirt, and brown shorts, along with some sandals, he tried his best to comb his messy hair, but it was no use, and ended up being a waste of time, he packed everything he thought he would need, from clothes and books, to hairs and baby teeth, he was so anxious and nervous he was killing himself over it, 'Are they late?, Am I early?, Am I late?', he kept questioning himself, just then his grandfather then walked outside stretching out his arms, "Don't you think your a little too early?", he said while yawning, "I'm pretty sure your the only one awake around this time of the day, just give it a rest, okay?", but Earl didn't even look at his grandpa, or hear what he had said, as he was deep in thought, 'maybe I just failed again, or maybe that's what they want me to think', seeing this his grandfather sighed, "I guess it's no use, he's in the thought pit, I'll wait for about an hour or two before coming out here again", with that his grandpa went inside the shop and headed back upstairs.
6 hours had passed since then, it was now 10am and Earl was still patiently waiting outside, but this time he had a huge grin on his face, his grandpa came out once more wearing a huge black robe with his trusty clay pipe in hand to check up on him, "You okay now buddy?", his grandpa asked, as Earl turned his face to look at his grandpa, his grandpa Ollie was shocked by the hideous smile his grandson had on his face, it was so horrifying, that his grandpa almost swallowed his clay pipe, he had to join his hands together and hit himself in the chest as hard as he could to get it out, as he recovered from his near death experience, he decided to ask his grandson once more "Are you okay buddy?", although he was now a little scared of his grandson, he knew he meant no harm, the smile that was plastered on Earl's face soon disappeared as he gave him a reply, " I don't know grandpa, I guess I'm just nervous, and read it somewhere that smiling helps get rid of anxiety so I've been testing it out", his grandpa then hard a warm smile come across his face as he sat down beside him, "well what are you so nervous about?", "A lot of things, what if I don't get accepted?, what if I become the laughingstock of the town?, what if I fail?, like I've done so many times before?" Earl said with his head held down, his whole life, he had been hated on and picked on, he had always failed when it came to alchemy, and if there's one thing he hated the most, it was being laughed at, all he wanted was a chance to be treated equally, a and his grandfather knew this, that's why he decided to pat his head first like he had always done since he was a kid, "Listen, in life, there are winners and losers, and there's one difference between the two of them, when a loser fails, he keeps his head down and cries about it, and anyone who brings it up, he gets problems with, and he holds on to those failures, and gets scared of trying, but a winner, .... they try, and when they fail, they cry, and when they're done crying they try again, and again, and again, if anyone brings up their failures, they laugh along side them, because they know that they are gonna get better", When hearing those words, Earl was at a loss for words, he looked up at his grandpa and saw his warm smile, this made him feel warm and safe, but he still had doubts, seeing the doubt in his eyes, his grandpa spoke once more, " Trust me, I would now what a winner is, I raised one", Earl quickly raised his head and looked his grandpa in the eye, "You mean dad?", grandpa Ollie nodded in response, "Your father was pathetic at first, picked on, toyed with, but he never gave up, and when he the time came, he proved to everyone that he was a star, a winner, so trust me when I say, don't beat yourself up before the fight starts okay?, I know you're gonna get accepted".
Earl now looked at his grandpa in a new light, he no longer saw a lazy old man, but a wise old man, but his anxiety still remained, " but how will I make friends?, how will I make ones I can trust?", his grandpa then laughed out loud after hearing Earl's question, "a friend isn't someone you can trust, or someone you can believe in, a friend is someone who comes through no matter what, betrayed or not, someone who's there to smack some sense into you when you say stupid stuff like this, someone who you don't have to talk to before they become your friend, because they already know what their role is, you'll know a friend once you see one, I promise", Earl was admiring his grandfather when he pulled something out from inside his robe, it was a hanten, it had a fox design all over it, and came with a small fox mask, " I know it isn't the best parting gift, but I hope you like it", Earl couldn't hold in his tears anymore as he started crying as he hugged his grandpa, this was surprising for his grandfather, but he immediately embraced him back, his grandad then spoke up "Oh, and Earl", "Yeah" Earl replied, "Don't ever smile like that again, no-one would be your friend with a smile like that, it's probably why I haven't had any customers all day'.
Just then a bus pulled up, with a couple of people already inside, the bus driver, not wanting to ruin the moment waited for about 1 minute, but saw that they hadn't stopped hugging, so he went ahead and blew the horn alerting both Earl and his granddad, hearing the buses horn, he immediately wiped his tears on his grandpa's robe, and took his things with him along with the robe and mask and entered the bus, "see you later grandpa Ollie, be said as he boarded the bus and it went off.
The bus ride there was mainly quiet, as most of the people in the bus were already sleeping, Earl also noticed one thing, everyone there on the bus were from different towns, though he couldn't tell which was from which town, he had noticed the difference in dressing, they all dressed a little different, plus his town was a small one, and he knew most of everyone there, and yet no-one from his town was on this bus, so he had to take a guess and hope for the best. After about 2 hours of driving, they had arrived Infront of a stadium, and everyone was told to leave the bus, but without any weapons or luggage, the bus then drove into a garage that was at the far end of the stadium, while a man wearing a black hanten walked out of the stadium's front entrance, Earl had one thought after seeing what the man wore, 'Its just like mine, but a little bigger, now that I think about it, mom and dad also wore those', a hanten was a Japanese cloth that was usually worn in the winter, but it seems like it was for high ranking Alchemists as he had seen his parents and this stranger wear it, while his grandpa had even given him one, he felt as though the man in front of them was a high ranking Alchemist, as he addressed the students, "Hello students, if you would just follow me into the stadium, your entrance exams would commence shortly", suddenly there was confusion amongst everyone, " Entrance exam?!!!" one student said, "Stop bullshiting ", another shouted, "I thought that once we passed the final exam we were on?", another sayed, there was a whole lot of confusion amongst the students, and most of them began shouting, while Earl along with a few other students just kept quiet and stood still as they didn't want to cause a fuss, they had suspected something like this anyway, it was weird how after passing the first exam, they would have free admission and accommodation, when I'm times before. one would still have to pass several other exams before getting into the school, the students kept ranting for about one minute, while the man just stood there in silence, he then raised his right hand up and Earl suddenly felt the feeling of impending danger, it was as If all the hair on his body suddenly stood up, his senses were all on alert and he knew something was coming, there was a downside to his skill 'Third Eye', it warned him of danger, but didn't know where it would come from, like the incident with Nora, it warned him prior to her attack, but she was still able to burn his face, which almost cost him his life, this was actually the reason he raised his speed and agility so much, as he raised his head to look at the man in front of them once more, he could visibly see an Alchemy circle inscribed on the man's palm, 'Crap' he thought, after the Nora incident he had an idea what that was, it allowed the user to perform alchemy in an instant without having to build up mana, it was the only explanation as in Nora's state, she shouldn't have been able to build up mana while being so injured, at least not immediately, the man in front of the crowd of students suddenly brought down his hand, and all the students in front of him suddenly went on their knees.
Earl, along with every other student felt the immense pressure that was put on them, it was as if a giant had been placed on their shoulders, not a single one of them could move, they couldn't even open up their mouths, all they could do was kneel there in silence, "That's more like it", the man in front of them said, "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Horace Glenn, principal and owner of Wallace Alchemists Academy, the most successful alchemy school in the country of Welgrid, at your service" said Horace, All the students suddenly became scared, what Horace had said was true, he ran and owned the most successful alchemy school in Welgrid, and it was known for being the hardest and harshest school in the country, and the man who ran it was standing right in front of them, they all suddenly regretted their ranting and screaming from before, and hoped to be delivered from this current situation.
After Horace was done speaking, he released his alchemy, and all the students could move once more, the massive weight was off their soldiers and what was originally anger and confusion, became fear, "When I say Entrance exam, I mean to a specific school, you were all informed that the school would handpick your highschools right?, well that was a lie, although you all will definitely get into an Alchemy highschool and get free accommodation, which alchemy school is determined by your score in this exam", all the students remained silent, as they didn't want to upset Horace, though they still a few questions and complains, after what just happened, no-one was willing to speak up, that was until a hand went up, everyone was shocked that someone still had the guts to ask a question after that, but what surprised them more was that Horace had given them the chance to speak, "Yes, you with the scattered white hair and red eyes", After given the stage, Earl then spoke up "Mr Horace, with all due respect, we were not informed of there being an entrance exam, and in addition to that, all our weapons and gear were taking from us, it'd be unfair to us to have to fight without weapons without being properly informed", the point Earl just made, was what was on everyone's mind, they weren't informed, and had all their belongings taken from them, the only belonging they had with them were the clothes they had on now, but they were still unsure if it was unwise to ask that question as they waited for Horace's answer, "That's because your all meant to be Alchemists, if some calamity struck at anytime, you wouldn't be properly informed now would you, life isn't fair, not for Alchemists not for anyone, so I suggest you just follow my instructions from now on", what he said made sense to Earl and most of the other students, though some still wanted to complain, they had no choice now, "Now please come with me to commence your entrance exam", with that, all the students followed him into the stadium, they were taken to a reception area where they were registered, they then ushered them into a huge open room with plenty of students already there, they were then each given a number, Earl's was 345, they didn't know what it was for, but were all given one and told to wait in the room, they then began calling out 5 random number every 6 minutes, after 30 minutes, the number 345 was called.
Earl went to the entrance which they had been called to, and was taken to a separate room, inside the room were 2 girls and 2 boys, after seeing him enter the room, one of the boys sprung up, "Yes I win, you owe me 50 pebs", the boy said while pointing at one of the girls, the girl looked like she didn't care and wasn't paying any attention to the boy, but he kept on ranting about it, 'What is going on here?' Earl thought to himself, just then the man who had escorted him spoke up, "Come on then, get in there and meet your teammates", Earl was confused after hearing what the man had said, "Teammates?!!!!"