After getting out of the car, Mason said his goodbye to Jared. And got on his way to the academy. It was now saturday, the day before the examinations, but Mason decided he should already head there to let the academy know he was going to be there.
Nightfall city had a population of 10 million people. It was also voted happiest city on the continent. When looking around, you could only see people walking around with a smile.
After Mason got closer and closer to the academy, he still noticed that everybody was smiling, except for the kids around his age. He didn't know what that meant but he silently prayed that it didn't have anything to do with the academy.
"Um sir, may I ask you for directions to Nightfall Academy please?" Mason said as nicely as possible. He heard there were quite a lot of rich people that would ruin your life just because you didn't look at them nicely, so he decided he was going to be nice until he was rich himself.
"Yes, you're on the right way, just take a right as soon as you can and you'll get there!" The elderly man said back.
"Thank you!" Mason thanked him as he started walking towards the academy once again.
After taking a right, it didn't take him long to notice the massive building. It looked like a castle from the 1500s. Mason assumed that this building could only be the academy as he entered through the gates.
"Anybody there, Mason White here! I'm here for the academy try-outs tomorrow!" Mason yelled as he hoped for an answer.
Nobody answered, so he just kept walking deeper into the castle. And after a while, he saw a bearded old man.
"Hello, could you please tell me where I can go for the try-outs tomorrow. I got here a day early!" Mason said
The old man looked at the kid with a look of confusion visible on his face.
'What is this kid doing in my office, how did he even get here?'
"Ah yes, you should go to the southern entrance. There should be a line of others waiting there so you can find it yourself." To old man answered Mason.
Mason just nodded as he started walking towards the academy map that he just found in the hallway.
After reaching the southern entrance, Mason saw the insanely long line of kids his age outside.
'Will I really be able to get number 1 in an academy with this many people just trying to get in?'
'Can I even get in myself' He thought as he started doubting himself.
"Yo! Get to the back of the line." Mason heard someone yell at him, but he didn't know who.
He knew they were right as the only thing he could do now was go to the back of the line. It was around 2:00 PM, he decided to play a guessing game. The closer he got to the time he would finally get his turn, the better. In the end, he guessed it would be around 6:00 PM. He was now truly happy he had gotten enough training in the boring car ride from the border.
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7 Hours later.
It was now 9:00 PM, and you guessed right! It was finally his turn! He truly underestimated the length of the line, as his guess was a whole 3 hours off the mark. Mason looked behind him, and saw only 24 more people. It seemed he truly was too late to get a good spot in line.
"Name, birth-date , and birth-place. Please." The man at the gate said in a monotonous voice. He had been here since sunrise, he forgot how much he was getting paid for this already, that's how long he had been here.
"Mason White, august 26th, Greenwood Village" Mason answered with the same monotone voice.
The man looked at Mason weirdly, seemingly thinking that he didn't know a place called Greenwood Village. But the man brushed these thoughts off as he knew he was almost done for the day.
"Alright, here's your pass with your number. Please don't lose it, or you'll lose the qualification to attend the try-outs tomorrow. For the rest, the academy doesn't provide shelter. You'll have to go find somewhere to sleep yourself." The man said
"Alright, thank you!" Mason was getting excited, he might actually get to attend the best academy in the country!
After getting all the work done for tomorrow, Mason went back into the busier part of the city to look for a place he could sleep. His mother had given him 5 gold coins, 30 silver, and 70 bronze coins. This should be enough for him for quite a while.
After he found an inn, he went inside.
"A room for one, please." He said
"Sure, that'll be 20 silver a night please" The lady at the reception answered.
'20 silver! That's food for a couple of weeks in Greenwood Village!' Mason was baffled at the expensive prices, but he paid anyways.
"Alright, heres your key. Once your stay here is done, please leave the key on the desk before 11:00 AM please!" The lady said.
"Sure." Mason answered.
After entering his room, he looked around. It was quite spacious as it fit a pretty large bed inside with a TV. The bathroom was high-quality aswell.
'For 20 silver, this is the bare-minimum.' Mason thought.
Mason once again went out, as he hadn't had anything to eat yet. He simply entered the first restaurant he saw, and ate until he was satisfied. It wasn't a very high-class restaurant, but the kind that serves you more than 30 grams of meat and a small chocolate on the side.
After finishing, and arriving in his room, he brushed his teeth. And got ready for bed.
'Tomorrow is an important day, I'll observe the level of the other kids first. If it seems I'm not good enough, I can always just quietly leave and hide somewhere in the forest until I'm old.' Mason thought jokingly.
"Let my academy life start!" He yelled as he heared someone scream at him to be quiet from the room next to his.