1 and a half years later…
"Get up you stinking little kids. Did you forget what day it is?"
A deep voice reverberated through the camp. A figure in blue robes stood outside the gathering of tents and roared at them.
The young teens hurriedly scrambled from their beds in a furry. To these teens who had spent the last year and a half listening to this voice, there was nothing more daunting than the owner of the voice. The pain, the horror, the suffering, and the other various experience throughout this period had taught them a lesson they would never forget as long as they were still in the academy; do not offend the man behind the voice.
"It's already been half a year, and you still need me to get you out of your beds? Get your arses out of there right now!"
Within just seconds, a line-up of 19 students appeared at the gathering spot for the camp.
"You guys seem to have been having a good sleep and forgotten what day it is right? Hmph. I might as well do you a favour and remind you. Today is the beginning of the midterm test for you little kids. After today, you'd be assigned official ranks and given better living conditions than what you currently have, better resources and even an opportunity to be trained by a sacred land. Of course, excluding the first mention, the others are only available to those who do well; in other words, the top 260 and above. That means about 82 of you would still be in living in this current condition for the rest of your year unless you can seize another's rank. I won't go into specifics as you would be addressed by the other instructors later.
"For now, we warm up. I want five laps of the entire field, one hundred sword slashes and three mana circulation cycles all at moderate breathing pulse. Now go!"
Among the students who were forced on this seemingly unfair training was the famous son of the popular White Fox duke, duke Darius Arnhaunt's son, Asher Wyss Arnhaunt.
It had been a year and a half since Asher had discovered the secret of the underground mine as well as unlocked his constitution. During this period, Asher showed off some of his abilities whenever possible. Although he didn't use all his skills, he still managed to be ranked among the top 10 students in his generation's class in the First Dawn academy.
In the First Dawn academy, the first-year students numbered over seven hundred and had a lot of freedom as they weren't recognized officially by the academy's rules yet. For this reason, their education in the first 5 months was mostly basic, and they were provided with little to no resources. The situation took a better turn by the second 5 months, but the students still didn't have many resources to use.
It was only when they moved on to the next year that they were considered true students and granted the official uniform and badge of the academy. However, only 492 students of the original 720 were able to make the white long-sleeved shirts with a blue tie, a black cloak and black trousers their daily outfits. Their living area also got changed as they left buildings C, D and E to occupy buildings A and B. Finally, they also began to receive monthly resource allocations and had access to better facilities, although their freedom was drastically limited and their movements were now monitored by the school.
Finally, an exam took place at the end of the year which saw one hundred and fifty (150) students expelled from the academy due to 'poor results'. The expelled students were demoted to Second Dawn academy or an academy of similar rank in the kingdom.
In the third year, Asher and the rest of those in the set, about 341 of them, were provided more resources, but moved out of the dormitories and made to stay in tents for five months. That's right, tents.
Golden Gate province was one of the largest provinces by size and population, and the same holds for Veluriyam city, the capital, as it was the largest city by both standards. First Dawn academy was developed on the outskirts of the city, but it still managed to occupy a large expanse of space, some of which were left undeveloped. It was this undeveloped region that became the three hundred and forty-two students' new home for five months; part of the special training programme of the academy.
The three hundred and forty-two students were divided into eighteen groups of nineteen students each, and every group was assigned a special instructor to aid them in their training. They rarely had classes in buildings as they did in their first years, and when they did, it was normally a general class with all students present. This, however, only occurred thrice a month, so it wasn't very often. Their instructors handled the rest of their curriculum which included broadening their knowledge of magic and giving them special training, all of which was done in the undeveloped region of the academy, away from civilization, to a certain extent.
Asher's group instructor was one of the strictest in their entire academy and was known for his heavy-handed training methods, hence the reason why he was feared by even his students. For any slight failure, he would give out a harsh punishment that would make one question their decision in coming to the academy.
It was currently the midterm test period but from what Asher and the other students were told by the instructor, the test would be different from how it usually had been. It would be more practical and there would be a ranking list right after, based on it. The top two hundred and sixty students (260) on the list would have their living areas changed from the tents they had been occupying for five months, to a more elegant housing complex. Apart from that, they would get more resources than the other eighty-two (82) on the list and the gap would continue to widen as one climbed higher up the rank.
At the top 10 places, the students would have an enviable supply of resources, and private housing, and would also go under the training of a mage from the Purple Sun sacred land, one of the two main sponsors of the First Dawn academy. It was this reward that was the most enviable of all and made everyone pumped for the event.
Why?
This was because the Purple Sun sacred land was a sacred land; an entirely different entity of its own, but with power greater than an average kingdom. Apart from that, unlike kingdoms where one has to swear fealty to the royal family and serve as their 'dogs' in hopes of being rewarded, sacred lands paid more attention to one's talents. So long as you are willing to join and can prove that they wield an impressive talent, the sacred land would accept you into its numbers and bestow upon you their reserved knowledge. Apart from that, it was rumoured that they had far more complex manuals, magic spells, technological advancements and so on, than the Great Dawn kingdom. All these would be accessed by them as long as they could get into the sacred land.
Coming under the tutelage of a mage from the sacred land was an opportunity for one to show off their talents and if they did well, they could be recommended to the sacred land for admission. If that were to happen, one would become like a carp that had leapt the dragon gate, transforming into a horned dragon. At that point, even counts would try to warm up to you while the dukes and marquises would be more respectful around you. This was the clout from being associated directly with the Purple Sun sacred land. Hence, although this was just a midterm test in simple terms, it was an opportunity; one that would have a huge impact on one's future.