The rising sun. It truly is a beautiful scene. No matter how many times I see this sight, I surely will never get tired of it. The graceful mix of pink, purple and orange, paints a pleasant picture that is only accentuated by the fluffy pillows high in the sky. A truly, beautiful scene. The birds in the surrounding forest, flock together, chirping a most pleasant song that serves as some sort of alarm for me. Fairly convenient if I had to say so. I at least imagine it to be better to wake up to this, than the scurrying and murmur that could be heard in towns or the capital. Living isolated in the forest, sounds certainly more appealing than the crowded and congested places that are the towns and the capital.
Today, I woke up with something that I hadn't felt in a while. Excitement. I could feel the corners of my mouth starting to from a slight smile. I hurried out of my small, decaying, wooden bed, and headed outside of my shack with only my trousers on. Another bonus of living in isolation. I could practically walk naked outside, and there would be nobody to voice a complaint. I stopped at the usual river that I would use to clean myself in. It was surprisingly very clean and translucent, and luckily wasn't deep either as it only reached to about my waist when I dipped myself in. I swiftly took of my trousers and plunged in as I usually would. Another thing about the river, was it was connected to a waterfall, making it the perfect imitation of that of a shower head, and even made the perfect meditation spot. It was also a reliable source of food that I could capture. Though it was mostly fish, I couldn't complain. It was good enough that I could at least find food with no issue.
After finishing up my morning shower, I dried myself and proceeded to walk back naked to my shack. As I had already stated, no can complain about me being buck naked. Freedom~! I placed down the trousers that I slept in on my bed, that I neatly made, and proceeded to make my way over to my table. It was fairly small and had only two chairs, with only one of them having all their legs intact. The other one was in poor condition and had already two of its legs decayed and broken. On the chair that was still usable, my uniform had been laid across the back, neatly folded. I picked it up and changed straight into it. It was more elegant and prestige than any other clothes I owned, since I made most of my own clothes. Still, even if I bought some of the finest clothes worn by royalty, this would still not pale in comparison. Not in the slightest. After all, it held arguably the most recognizable badge in the whole Kingdom. An obsidian black shield, with a gold outline and five gold swords centred, going across it. Yes, it was the badge of the famous Royal academy, held in the capital of Alfheim, Eis.
The uniform dawned the notorious colours of the badge. The Obsidian trousers and blazer, with the blazer possessing the gold outline and a neat white shirt. This uniform was recognizable in all parts of the Kingdom and held importance in society. After all, if you were accepted in to such a prestigious and noteworthy academy, that already told of your significance and potential.
Before heading out of my humble shack, I took a long, judging glance at myself in my cracked mirror.
"Done!"
With that, I trudged on out the door of my house, my strands of blond hair, which remained dangling down, whistled in front of my azure blue eyes. I quickly made my way through the nearby towns, each time surmounting an incredible upheaval, filled with whistles and cheers as well as good words of luck, as I soon after reached the capital. The capital was~… well, it was just how I imagined it to be. Incredibly congested. Adults moving about in the streets heading for their designated place of work, mothers shopping and children running around in groups that sounded nothing but laughter. It was a place that held a large concentration of people, due to the outskirts of the capital being cheaper to live in, rather than closer to the centre. Whilst cheaper, it still was rather pleasant and didn't necessarily scream poverty of any sorts. Of course, there'd be some people sleeping on the streets or begging, but they were only a minor minority. Unlike the minority, the majority were living sustainably, neither having lots of money to fall on, but at the same time still having a bit of a safety net set up. There wasn't much poverty in the Kingdom, ever since the five Grand Pillars of Alfhiem came into power, however it still existed, though now being far more decreased in numbers. It's one of the major reasons why these five people are held with such regard. They built themselves such a massive standing and boosted their popularity within the Kingdom, to the extent of them being able to be trusted unconditionally by the people and being made its rulers.
As I delved my way further into the centre of Eis, increasingly did the uniform of the Royal academy become more common. This was due to the fact that most of the students that get accepted into the academy, hail from more rich families, therefore living towards the centre of the capital, where the houses were much nicer, entertainment was more varied and where fancy restaurants were based. It was certainly much nicer than the outskirts, to the point were in the air you could smell a faint scent of wealth, prestige, and power. As you would have guessed, families closer to the centre of Eis consisted of noble families, successful merchants, and business owners. Also, the appearance of the uniforms that were praised by the people in the outskirts, were more of an expectation in the centre. This was why the closer to the centre of Eis you got, the more suicide rates increased, due to the pressures that involve not getting into the academy. Even if the families of the children didn't want them to become heroes of the next generation, the education, and the connections that you earn from merely attending the school, were something to not be underestimated. If the families that live in this district were unable to produce at least a single capable student, the children of those families would be pressed even harder to achieve something in the world of business. They would be given some money and be told to start a business. The ones who would fail would be disowned and would not receive any further money to live off on, whilst the successful ones, would be accepted back and would connect their business, with their family name and other businesses' that the family might have held, strengthening their position, and expanding connections. It was a brutal world for noble children. And for that, I can only pray for them.
I had already stated, this academy's main goal, is to produce heroes. This is the reason for the creation of this academy. The Five Grand Pillars announced the formation of this academy, shortly after being placed in power. It was one of the more memorable changes, which changed our economy and values. In terms of our economy, the academy brought about a new job title. The heroes. Exceptional people were being sort out by the Five Grand Pillars. They hadn't stated a real reason for the number of heroes they wanted to produce, but just stated that they will be the hope and protectors of the people. Obviously, everyone bought into it as, well, they are the previous heroes that won them the war. And are their rulers now. Why wouldn't they not believe them. This was obviously rejoiced as being a hero, was a paid job. The fact that you could help others, for some, was just a by-product. But amongst the people, there was the ones who wanted to become the heroes for the very reason that the Five Grand Pillars had stated, to protect and become the hope of the people. Therefore, a new and popular job title emerged, as well as more teaching jobs, etc.
As for our values. Ever since the introduction of the academy and its harsh and competitive teaching methods, our society has become far fiercer. Competition is everywhere and weakness is looked down upon. Also, people nowadays believe in no such things as helping without receiving. People have become more selfish and thrown away selflessness, throwing away ideals that heroes should possess. But the outcome that is produced is certainly positive. The heroes that have risen since the arrival of our new rulers, have been immensely strong and have become massive inspirations to the public.
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Finally, I had arrived at the front gate. The school grounds were absolutely massive and emitted an ominous and competitive aura. It certainly had lived up to its reputation of being a place where the strong survive, whilst the weak struggle desperately. Its architectural prowess was something to be savoured by the eye. The buildings were large, but not wastefully large. Instead, every brick was placed with intention and meaning, imbedded with complex carvings that were not graffiti, but instead carefully carved symbols from what I assume to be, ancient times. I didn't know what they meant, but they certainly piqued my interest.
With that, I had mustered up my will and passed through the gate. I walked past the multiple students, and for some reason they all seemed to stop.
"Hey, hey. Girls, who's that?"
"I don't know but look at him!"
"He's, he's so dreamy~!"
Whispers emerged from multiple girls, as I passed them. The topic that they were all talking about was me. Though I said they were whispering, they were rather indiscrete about it and made it painfully obvious for anyone who overheard it, that they were indeed talking about me.
"Wowww~, look at his hair. It's so cute in his man bun!"
"It really is. And look how well conditioned it is. His dreamy, golden, locks are so handsome."
"It really adds to his sharp features, and those blue~ eyes!"
You can definitely say I made a rather big entrance. I attracted the eyes of girls and boys alike. Having said that, the boys looked at me in animosity, seemingly jealous of all the attention that I'm getting.
Hmmph, losers. Oh, would you look at that. Perfect timing. I thought to myself as a boy approached me. His smile told me everything. He didn't want to be friends. He just wanted to get some attention from the girls. In short, he was trying to leech of my popularity.
"Hey kid, what's your nam–"
"Bore off, idiot!"
I cut him off before he finished and told him I had no interest in entertaining his desire of using me.
"HUH! What did you say!? I was just trying to be nice! I guess~, you think you're BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE, HUH!?
He emphasised his last words and practically shouted them for everyone to hear. Seems he gave up on becoming my friend and getting attention from girls, and instead decided to drag me down the social ladder, hoping people will ostracize me and sympathises with him. Pathetic
"No. I don't think I'm better than everyone else. But I can spot a retard from a mile away. You saw the attention that was swarming around me in the conversations of the girls and thought you could capitalise on this!"
He could do nothing but scrunch his face, into an unpleasant frown. He frantically started foaming at the mouth as if some wild beast.
"SHU- SHUT UP! DON'T SPIN THIS ON ME! YOUR~, THE BAD GUY!"
"Oh my god! Did you hear that? He only went up to him because he wanted attention from us and is now picking a fight!?"
"Wow, he's the lowest of lows!"
"Look at him foaming. He's disgusting!"
"W-W-W-WAIT! N-N-NO, THATS NOT TRUE! HE'S LYING!"
He desperately tried denying it but to no avail.
People will believe what they want to believe and who they want to believe. In this case, the people favoured me. You, random student, have been deemed as garbage, waste produced by society, and with this mistake you have fallen before you started climbing. That's! The fate of someone who reaches for the sun. They get burned.
The lad's face turned to that of despair, and he ran off. But it was too late now. The damage had been done and people kept talking about his unseemly manner, whilst I got the looks and words of sympathy. This world is truly cruel.