"Let's become heroes together!"
12-year-old Anri shouted to his best friend Vaelus when they were rescued by the hero in his shining armor.
A demon had attacked the friends while they were harvesting a field, they would have been defenseless and surely died if the hero had not rushed to help.
Anri and Vaelus have lived together in an orphanage since they could think, they don't know much about their parents, the only thing they really know is that they died in the great war against the demons.
This very great war that had brought so much destruction and suffering, this war in which the hero banished the demon king into a book, this war that the hero was able to end, but still continues, because even if the enemy was defeated, the hero continued to fight, as long as there were demons, the hero thought, he would not be able to find peace.
But even if he destroyed them, he was sure that evil could rise again and again threaten the peace, so he founded an academy. This academy, the Heroes Academy, is filled with potential heroes, who are trained by the best craftsmen, mages and warriors.
And at that very moment, the friends decided to go to this academy and become the next heroes.
When the demon was killed by the hero, he first took care of the friends, going to them and kneeling to them
"Are you all right?"
The hero asked the children, who nodded in disbelief, not expecting that their new idol would not only approach them, but also talk to them.
"Take care of yourselves, the world is dangerous and I will change it for the good again for you."
He said to the children and flew away, this moment made the friends can't stop admiring him.
When the hero flew away they decided to work on themselves, while Anri sat down every day and trained until he couldn't anymore or the sun went down, Vaelus stayed at home and trained, only when he had too much time, a whole 2 years passed and still Anri had not been able to cast a spark of magic, Vaelus on the other hand had already achieved higher magic and could no doubt be one of the most gifted, if not the most gifted of his age, yet Anri felt not a bit of envy, but more a sense of admiration towards Vaelus.
And so the day came when the Hero Academy would again have entrance exams and the friends set out. They packed their things and set out with a two day's provisions, although they would only tear a day, because who knows if they wouldn't have to come back early.
"Do you think there will be more there as strong as you?" asked Anri, self-doubt boiling up in him, he wasn't sure of his strengths himself.
"There will be even stronger ones there, I'm sure of it, I can't be too lax with my training anymore or we can never become the heroes together that we once so desired to be."
It was clear to Vaelus that becoming the hero would not be an easy task, because then it would eventually be possible for anyone to become as strong as the hero, which he did not feel was right.
"Then I might as well stay here, without a spark of magic they will never accept me, not in the least do I stand a chance"
Anri was already on the verge of giving up, what could he do, so completely without magic, after all it will be hard to be accepted at the academy without knowing magic. Sadly, the boy looked at the path.
"I'm sure they'll see your potential, if you don't try, you'll never know if you could become the hero."
Vaelus tried to cheer up his best friend, after all, they had promised to become the heroes together, and without Anri passing this test, it would never be anything. Nevertheless, he also had doubts. Pityingly, he grabbed his arm on Anri's back to comfort him.
While the two talked, they kept coming towards the Hero Academy, they were lucky that their village was only a day's walk from the academy, for they did not possess much money and would not have managed to sleep in an inn, when they arrived in the evening, they were exhausted, yet Anri admired the huge building with its bright colors and its magnificent pillars, all telling stories that the hero had experienced, from his birth to the death of the Demon King. Still, not all the pillars were filled with stories, others were blank, like unwritten pages.
"Do you think that's where the hero's other legends will be carved? I am so excited to read future stories of the hero!"
Anri said, with an excited look on her face as they moved towards the open gates of the academy, they weren't the only ones here, numerous people, big and small were going in and out of the academy.
"Now keep your feet on the ground, we don't even know if we're allowed to stay yet, and if we are, we're certainly not here to read our predecessor's stories, but to write new ones."
Answered Vaelus with reason, but even he was not left cold by the stories, it was the hero, after all, the idol of both.
They strode into the huge hall of the academy, tables were set up everywhere and a huge queue stretched to the entrance, where, the two lined up.
"Do you think they're all here for the entrance exam? I didn't expect us to be the only ones, but so many?"
Anri asked his best friend, seeming concerned if they would be accepted since there was so much competition.
"Well, the academy promises big money, so everyone who gets wind of it will try their luck, probably only one in ten will make it through the exam"
As Vaelus said this Anri wondered if he would make it, he wasn't particularly confident, after all why should he be.
Then finally it was their turn, a young woman with purple hair looked at them annoyed and then looked at a form what was on her table.
"I suppose you want to take the exam?"
The woman said, annoyed.
"Yes, we do."
Answered Vaelus bluntly.
"Then please both fill out this form and keep it with you, if you follow the corridor on the right side of the hall you will come to the residence, there you can sleep for the time being, tomorrow it starts punctually at 12 o'clock, please find yourself ready here then."
Explained the woman at the table and gave each of them a pen, with which the friends filled out their forms, on the form were the typical things, name, age, date of birth, but also the magic type, where Anri unfortunately could not specify one. Afterwards they had the form stamped by the woman and thanked her, then they went down the right corridor where they had their room assigned by a servant.
The room was small, but sufficient for a few nights, just the double bed on which they would sleep had found space, there were no shelves or a table, but that did not matter to the two with excitement, tense the friends lay down in their beds, it was already clear who lay where, because they had also had only one loft bed in the orphanage, Anri lay below and Vaelus above.
Anri could barely close one eye and so stayed awake all night while Vaelus slept carefree, the next morning Anri was already training for a long time when Vaelus woke up.
"You'll be exhausted by the time the test starts."
Replied Vaelus yawning tiredly, he intended to save his strength best until the exam, because then he could show off his full potential.
"I warm up..... But first warm up."
Said Anri while doing push-ups, under him everything was covered by his sweat.
The two friends went to take a shower before the exam, it was a general shower with a lot of people in the room, but they didn't care much about that, they went to the next free shower and took a shower, it was freezing cold, but they were used to that.
Suddenly a very fat man with a sinister expression approached Anri.
"Hey, that's my shower! Are you looking for some stress? If you want to duel, just say so!"
Anri was about to start apologizing when Vaelus stops him and stands protectively in front of Anri.
"And someone like you wants to go to the Hero Academy? Shame on you! If you want a fight so bad, find someone of your caliber!"
Vaelus admonished the fat man while his aura gave a warning signal to everyone in the room, it even made some people scared, the aura made him seem superior against everyone in the room, the fat man could also feel the aura, which is why he only gave a startled expression.
"You got lucky this time little one, next time I won't be so nice to you."
Anri just looked depressed on the floor, he wasn't even strong enough to defend himself, how could he be strong enough to protect others, or even the whole country, he looked worriedly from the floor to Vaelus who was looking through the shower with a blank expression on his face, maybe the same thing was going through his mind, after all he wasn't sure if Anri would pass the exam, and even if he did, Anri would have to learn higher magic in the same year, that just seemed impossible for him.
Then he noticed a guy in the corner of the room, he was standing only half turned to the shower so he could watch everyone in the room, he seemed very suspicious to Vaelus so he stopped looking at him, one by one the guy looked at everyone and seemed to remember something.
This aroused a suspicion in Vaelus, they had already started checking people out, a good sign for him, but a bad one for Anri, because what had just happened had not made him look very good.
"You can't allow yourself to do something like that again, we're already being watched."
Warned Vaelus his friend, he hoped that Anri could still shine somehow, but even he did not know how.
"What should I do now ..."
Anri was nervous and scared at the same time, he couldn't stand being under pressure and further he didn't know how to make himself look good, since Vaelus was always smart he asked him for advice, Anri thought a lot of Vaelus, he also looked up to him, while he himself felt like being at the bottom of the food chain.
"I don't know that either ..."
Answered Vaelus, Anri's chances of getting a place in the academy kept sinking, so only a miracle could help.
After the showers all participants were gathered in the hall, where a stage and a row of benches had been built over night, where now all participants should sit on a laid out, place, as chance would have it, the fat man sat right next to Anri and took half of Anri's seat, the latter however didn't start a quarrel, Anri just sat down quietly, also the fat man didn't seem to say anything, respectively he had to refrain from saying something, because Vaelus was still with Anri, and at the latest now he didn't want to have a quarrel with him anymore.
But now something else was in focus, the lights went out and everyone looked at the stage, which was now illuminated.
Then, without warning, the hero appeared on the stage.
"I thank you for your numerous attendance and welcome you to this year's Hero Academy Admission Ceremony. This year is special, the last demon has fallen in battle!"
The room erupted into clapping and cheering, but the hero immediately silences this.
"With no demons, there is no reason for me to fight, my task is complete, now you are in a position to eliminate future dangers and I hereby retire."
The room was filled with divided opinions, but on a large scale one could perceive discontent, the hero who has always saved and protected the country would suddenly be gone, unimaginable, for everyone.
"But do not worry, this academy has already produced great warriors and will declare the new hero in the next 3 years and you, dear applicants, could become one of the candidates for this position! May the strong protect the weak!"
Just as the hero had appeared, he disappeared, leaving doubt and fear, but also hope and joy in the audience, he had managed to convince the audience that his retirement was Okay.
However, Anri looked sadly into the void, his great idol stopped, that was terrible for him.
"Don't be too sad, this is our chance, if we want to become the heroes, the old hero has to give way now ... That's the way of things."
Said Vaelus calmly, he was also surprised by the sudden retirement and also a little sad, but that would not help now, they had to think of themselves now and that also became clear to Anri as Vaelus tried to cheer him up.
But they didn't have long to think, a man in a black suit and a gray beard came on stage, he looked quite old as he introduced himself.
"My name is Mr. Anod, and I am your examiner today, your names will now be called, the names mentioned may leave the premises."
The examiner read out a total of seven names and all those called out make a suspicious or dangerous impression, the fat man also had to leave.
However, the fat man jumped up from his seat and yelled at the examiner.
"YOU CAN'T DO THAT! YOU WILL REGRET NOT TAKING ME IN!"
Mr. Anod then simply waved to the guards, who removed the fat man, allowing the lecture to continue.
"I will now call names and assign them a room, please perform the task they will counter in the room, we have been watching them all for the past 24 hours and gauging their strength, in the room they will all counter something impossible for them, but to be admitted to this academy they must be able to make the impossible possible."
The examiner went through all the names of the rest remaining and so Vaelus and Anri were also assigned, and separated from each other.
Anri went into his room, it was a bare room, with nothing but a large stone standing on the floor. In front of the stone was written his task, he was to destroy the stone either by fire magic or by ice magic, immediately panic began to rise within him and he didn't let a moment pass before trying to cast fire magic, to no avail.
The hours ran out and the exhaustion increased, Anri didn't want to give up, he would try until the end and he did, second by second he tried to cast the magic.
And then, already desperate and panic-stricken, a small spark actually entered Anri's hand, perhaps awakening his magic. Because his body was about to die because of the mana loss, or he was just lucky. With this glimmer of hope, euphoria rose in him, but then the bell rang, he was running out of time. With his eyes wide open, he looked at the door, which opened just as he was about to cry.
The examiner stepped into the room and looked at the stone, then wrote something down and shouted loudly through the hallways.
"Number. 141 failed."
The sadness in Anri turned to despair and so he just stood up and left the room before leaving the whole academy. He hadn't spoken a word to Vaelus, who by all appearances hadn't failed.
"Let's go home then."
He said to himself, he had almost gone mad with exasperation, and walked back home along the path they had taken to the academy.
He had been almost certain before the exam that he would not pass, but the fact that it had actually failed now frustrated him greatly.
Then it even started raining, but that didn't seem to bother him, with soaking wet clothes he kept walking towards home, then a merchant drove by on his horse-drawn carriage and stopped next to him, Anri looked at this carriage, it seemed relatively old and not of high value.
The old merchant, who had a long beard and was steering the carriage, called out to Anri
"Get in, lad, it is dangerous to travel this way alone without a carriage. I'll take you as far as the next crossroads."
Anri just looked at the merchant until he emphasized again
"what are you waiting for?"
Then Anri got in, the nice merchant made some room on his seat so that Anri could sit next to him, then he drove on.
At first the two didn't talk before the merchant broke the silence and introduced himself.
"My name is Soth, I am a merchant, what is a boy your age doing all alone, far from any villages here?"
Anri did not know many merchants, in his village one and the same merchant came every month to sell goods from far away, otherwise they would share everything in the village. Anri was not very talkative at the moment, which is why he kept silent, he did not want to be rude, on the contrary, he did not want to burden the old man he had just met with his problems and therefore refrained from venting about everything.
"So you don't want to say it, huh? You don't have to, everyone has their secrets, and they don't get less with age."
He started to laugh and then looked at Anri who continued to look into the distance shocked by the rejection and remained silent.
At some point they arrived at a crossroads, it had stopped raining by now and Anri dismounted from the carriage and bowed to bow, the meeting with the merchant was short but the company had certainly done them both good, the merchant also thanked Anri
"I thank you! Rarely have I been able to enjoy companionship, for an old man like me it is worth much to be accompanied by you. I hope to see you again someday. Take care of yourself."
The carriage drove on and Anri looked after it, he was grateful, but it did not bring him much, by the encounter he would hardly be accepted at the hero academy after all.
He walked on for a few kilometers and eventually arrived at a thickly overgrown forest, it was eerie, when Anri walked through here with Vaelus the forest didn't seem creepy to them, it was probably because they felt strong together, but this time they were alone, Anri had no one to guide him.
As Anri walked through the dark forest, he suddenly heard a voice calling his name, over and over again, at first Anri thought it was Vaelus, who had also fallen through and caught up with him, but this was not so, because there was no one to be seen on the path far and wide.
He looked around in panic for the voice, but then he noticed that it was coming from the forest. Driven by curiosity, Anri went after the calls, he did not know why, but it was almost as if they attracted him magically.
One step at a time, Anri cautiously stepped towards the voice leading him to a cave. Anri didn't care about anything as he placed his feet in the cave, walking further and further into the cave and then he saw a skeleton in a black cloak clutching a strange book that emitted a mysterious aura.