Fresh air and fresh Stoney paths, one young man like me and an old fellow, a professional gatherer, following my tail as I moved forward with new excitement.
He told me, that the Academy his son went to was recruiting disciples, they were mass recruiting for some reason. Usually, there is no set time for recruitment for the academies of Britannia. They do as they see fit according to their standards while some do early in the year and some late. This system of recruiting was made for the people so even if one misses his shot in one academy he can join and apply to the next one.
The age requirement to join the Academy differs as per region or standard of academies. This one, the one I was going to join needed sixteen-year-olds to twenty-four-year-old pupils.
I was optimistic because there would be a lot of opportunities for me if I joined the Academy. Opportunity to learn swordsmanship, alchemy, or that strange shield magic, and conceivably I could comprehend sorcery.
Not to mention there will also be a lot of chances for me to get tons of money while doing certain assignments, and tons of experience points to collect because as far as I know, the system needed a request to create quests, and inside the Academy, getting quests will be like a cup of tea.
I smiled manically. Blazing Star Academy, here I come.
The moment I decided to head to join the Academy my daily quest panel was re-set, completely.
At the moment I have no daily quests and no chances to get experience points.
[ Character. Skills. Inventory.
- Character
Name - Noah Stone
Level - 13 ( 4210 / 8500)
Age -16
Race - Human
Perk point - 3 ]
To reach the next level I needed at least four thousand points, quite a high cliff but there was no rush, I know things will go smoother after joining Blazing Star Academy.
[ Inventory. (12/20 kg)
Red Blade
Bedrolls 1x
Extra pair of clothes 2x
Cabbage soup
Water bag 1x
Blueberry muffins 5x
Bread 4x
Healing potion 1x
3174 gold coins ]
This was all I had in inventory. I had two pairs of the full set of clothes, from my underwear to trousers and furry shoes.
The Academy provides their respective uniforms to every student according to his size and desire but I can't possibly wear that all the time, can I?
Speaking of Academy and recruitment I heard it always gets difficult to meet Academies standards for a country bumpkin like me. The people who live in town always have ethical proficiency regarding the entrance examination process like what they will need to do to get selected.
The old man had little knowledge about the entrance exam as his son never mentioned how he got admitted into the academy but as the worldwide norm, there are a few stages to getting selected, first register your name and abilities, of course.
Then if you are a non-combatant person only interested in studies or alchemy you have to demonstrate your abilities in a written exam. If you pass the test you are in and if you nailed it then the teachers of the Academy will try to make you their personal student.
On the other hand, those who are mages or warriors. They have to show their battle skills while fighting fellow recruits to make an impression. Then furthermore the same process follows...
I am quite sure I can crush a few if I went all out but I don't want to overdo it. I better focus on myself. I am going there to get stronger.
Stronger! Jeez. Previously I wanted to invest my perk points in refinement but to my surprise, I cannot use it since I reached max state and if I have to make it for thirty percent I have to reach above level twenty-one.
It's like I am at level thirteen and only could be able to reach twenty percent since there was a max cap for that level, eleven to twenty. If I were to level up to twenty-one then I would be able to go for thirty percent, twenty-one to the thirty-level cap.
One to ten will unlock ten percent for me, and eleven to twenty will unlock twenty percent, twenty-one to thirty will refine thirty percent, and so on...
And there goes my all hopes to be stronger if I wanted to be in the middle of fights. It seems I have to keep grinding to level up and use everything at my disposal to win.
Who cares! After all, I am the honored one. I am deathless and can't die... Hahaha, it's ok to be cocky, right?
It took three full days to reach the Academy steps, a small town resting beneath the foot of the mountain as steps lead up to the entrance of the Academy.
The mountain was not soaring but had a plane ground enough to encompass the whole as protecting walls and the magnificent structure of the Academy.
I could see the tall peak of the Academy's main building from the bottom of the mountain. The air was cold as snow covered most of the roofs of buildings in the small town yet It was not enough to fill the whole street.
The small-looking town had everything from Shops to smiths and clothes stores. From the looks of the outlet, it seems the sole purpose of this small town was for the Academy so the students do not have to run around looking for anything.
Sweet! We rented a local inn. There were a total of six inns in the vicinity with different sizes and prices. We chose one decent-looking and above-average price.
Forty gold coins per night, two meals included. Are you kidding? That is a huge amount of money if I had to stay here for longer I would go bankrupt in a few days.
The reason they have high prices is the necessity for rooms for those who seek to enter the academy and for those who have other businesses regarding the Academy. Their business runs around the Academy stuff, I wondered if this is all owned by the academy itself. Who knows but one thing was sure the populace here was five times larger than Stormfront, even if I did not include traffic of visitors.
Thankfully the Academy has living quarters for their students, so I don't have to bother with these overpriced inns.
The next day we went to the location where recruitment was held, and a few teachers set their booths near the steps of the mountain.
The count of people around those tables was unimaginably high, it seemed they were having a hard time dealing with them even after the students were helping all around.
The old man walked to a certain irritated student and after having a brief conversation he returned with a smile.
"All you have to do is register, first at that table" He pointed. "I am not allowed to enter the premises, they do not want to deal with more people"
He laughed patting my back. I hugged him, gently. This old man helped me a lot, more than family members.
After standing hours in line, they registered my name and gave me a token that would operate as an entrance pass to the Academy entrance.
They also told me to tell my family members, not to worry and leave the town as the process of admission will be lengthier and will take time due to the large number of students.
They do not have to wait for that long and return to their respective places. The town was not capable of keeping all the people who were coming day by day in the hope of their future. The state of affairs in town seems concerned thus faculty had to intervene and tell their pupils to empty their rooms for the next batch of people.
In the evening we went shopping or one might like to say I was dragged to go shopping in a nearby clothes store. The old man wanted to purchase some decent-looking clothes for his dear grandson. He does not want me to feel impaired in front of my fellow pupils.
We brought mostly overpriced clothes, fine woolen clothes better than I ever had before. According to him the clothes I had were not enough and not up to the standards of others so he chose the most dashing-looking clothes for me.
The following night I barely slept. The next day my official journey into this vast world will start, I will embark on a new trip with new people and adventures. I can't wait for the next morning...