And just like mister Silverheart said, after half an hour of awkward silence, we arrived at the academy.
Eternal academy. Currently known as the greatest academy for raising young heroes. Every young awakened aspires to enter this school but for most those are mere fantasies.
Eternal academy is only for the most elite or for the rich. The poor and untalented have no shot at entering.
But why is Eternal academy known as the greatest academy of all? There are mutiple reasons for that.
The first would be that it's supported by the hero association. Currenlty, the human domain has two main power forces. The hero association and the government.
The government is responsible for upholding the law and making sure no one goes out of line. The hero association on the other hand is purely focused on creating heroes.
Well, that's what they say but they really just focus on creating soldiers. There is a constant war going on after all. So that's basically how the human domain is ruled.
The government keeps the human domain under control while the hero association creates the soldiers we need for the war.
The second reason for the academy's succes would be the principle. The principle is also one of the few SS rank heroes we have. He is currently ranked five, just behind mister Silverheart.
And last would be the work force. Nearly all of the teachers are at least S rank. This shows that the students of the academy only receive education from the most elite there is.
Stepping out of the car, I saw a huge building in front of me, if you could even call it a building. I mean, it's way too huge.
It's size was about equal to 10 soccer fields. And not just it's size was insane, the building was basically a fortress. I could see guards nearly everywhere and all of them seemed to be at least B rank or higher.
Only one word came out of my mouth. "Wow"
I didn't have any words for it. But breaking me out of my stupor was mister Silverheart taking the lead while Sylvia followed him and soon after Rachel and Alice as well.
'Right, I gotta keep my cool. I'm currently part of the Silverheart family. They have a huge reputation so I can't look like a fool.'
Realizing that I need to put up a front, I decided to put up my emotionless mask. Of course I could still use it. I just prefer not to anymore.
But I just have to show all these people here that I don't care what this place looks like or how magnificent it is.
I quickly caught up with them and walked next to Sylvia. Though I preferred not to, we were the ones that were going to enroll so it would be better to walk next to each other.
I could also see that she didn't like it either but she didn't do anything for the same reason I said.
The reason Rachel and Alice are here is because, after we enroll in the academy, we won't have any outside contact. The only times we can even leave the academy would be during vacations or during a field trip. And apparently, visitations are not allowed unless there is a very important reason.
So of course, students would want to say one final goodbye to their relatives before they got stuck here.
When we entered the building, we were in a huge reception. I could see an enormous line of kids my age.
Nearing the line ourselves, mister Silverheart turned to us.
"Alright kids, this is where we say our goodbyes."
He gave a quick hug to Sylvia.
"Sylvia, I know your dislike for Alan. But he is now part of our family. Take care of him, okay?"
She didn't answer him. He shook his head, perhaps dissapointed. He hoped that they wouldn't part ways like this but he couldn't do anything about it now.
Next he approached me. "Alan, unlike Sylvia, you haven't been prepared much. And seeing how you lived your life till now, you will have a hard time hanging out with kids your age."
"…"
Was that it? Where is the motivational speech? Like 'despite all of that, I believe you can make it' or something like that.
This is disappointing.
"Don't worry sir. I have always survived by adapting. These are just a bunch of kids my age, nothing compared to the pits."
He shook his head and had this sheepish smile on his face. 'This kid is underestimating things.'
Though his thoughts were unknown to me. In my eyes, nothing could go wrong. I just have to hang out with a bunch of kids, behave myself and get stronger.
Sounds pretty ez to me. What could be worse than my life? And even if my rank is the lowest of them all, I can defeat most of them.
They'd have to be at least E- to come close to defeating me. And even then, they still might lose. Apparently, Sylvia is one of the more skilled people among kids my age.
Which honestly, surprised me quite a bit. No hate or anything but in my eyes she wasn't that great. I mean, she nearly died to me when I was a mere G rank.
She neither had proper fighting experience nor the skills. Sure, her swordsmanship may be better right now, but I just began practicing. To be honest, I should already surpass her in about half a year.
But yeah, apparantly she mops the floor with most of the kids here. So I shouldn't really struggle against most of them.
I turned around towards Alice and Rachel. They seemed to be quite sad. I guess they were going to miss me.
And deep down I have to admit, I'll miss them too. Not that I'm going to show that.
"Hey, why the sad faces? I'll see you guys again in a couple of months."
"Un" (2x)
Ahh. Why are they so cute?! I will really miss them. And get those dirty thoughts out of your head! I'm just a loving brother.
I bent down and picked both of them up in a hug. It lasted a couple of seconds before I put them down. I ruffled their hair a little and stepped away.
After all, I'm not the only one leaving. Though Alice and Sylvia hadn't really build a relationship, Rachel and Sylvia did have one.
She approached Rachel with slow steps and a small smile on her face. "Rach, I know that you are mad at me but I'll be gone for a really long time so could I at least get a hug."
She bent down a little and spread her arms so Rachel could hug her. At least, that's what she expected to happen.
Rachel had other plans though. She just crossed her arms and looked towards the side, completely ignoring Sylvia and not even sparing her some parting words.
Sylvia stayed like that for a couple of seconds before she stood up. I could see she was pretty close to crying but she kept it in. Instead, she just threw me another glare of hatred.
Rachel still hadn't forgiven her. Rachel is quite fond of Alan you see. He saved her life and took her out to explore the city a bit. And even with his busy schedule, he always made some time to hang out with her and Alice.
And yet, her sister for some reason hated him. She didn't understand how someone could possibly hate Alan. He was kind and protective, and a little crazy. And not just that, she was told that he'd grow into quite the monster.
So Rachel couldn't understand why her sister hated him so much just for being adopted. And not just that, she tried to turn the entire house against him and even her.
Even though Rachel still loved her, she decided that her sister needed a little punishment.
I had to say, I pitied Sylvia. I don't know what I'd do if Alice began to hate me, though I doubt that could ever happen.
After that, mister Silverheart took the kids and left. Now it was just Sylvia and me standing next to each other.
"Sooo… should we enter the line?" I asked hesitantly.
However, she just scoffed at me and walked away. "Humph"
I didn't expect that to happen. Though we were not blood related, I thought we had to put up a front to show that we were proper family. But I guess that's not the case.
Sylvia, instead of going to the back of the line, just straight up entered the line somewhere in front and joined this group which seemed to consist of her friends.
And for some reason, no one said anything about her just cutting the line. I guess that's the Silverheart name for you.
Looking at the group, I saw two boy and two girls. The one who took most of my attention was the blonde guy.
I don't know what it was but he felt different than the rest. His blood red eyes looked like he could kill anyone. Not just that, I could sense something.
'He's strong.'
He wasn't like Sylvia. This guy had proper experience and also seemed to be quite skilled. It's just something I can see.
And looking at the aura he emits, he also has a much higher rank than most here. He was pretty tall as well and unlike me, he was ripped. That combined with his amazing face, he could get any girl he wanted.
'Must be nice. He looks like he is blessed by the heavens. I whished I received that as well instead of the curse of hell.'
Though he was the one that took my attention the most and also clearly the strongest, that didn't mean the others weren't impressive.
The other boy had silver hair and matching eyes. Just like the blonde guy, he was tall. Though his build was a little smaller, still ripped though. He had a spear on his back and also had an amazing face. He was probably a little stronger than Sylvia. He also seemed like he was trying to impress the girl next to him, though it looked like it was going nowhere
Then there the girl in question. She had jet black hair reaching her shoulders and jewel like eyes. I had to say, she was quite the beauty. I could totally see two boys fight to the death for her. She had these ocean blue eyes that seemed to drown anyone looking at them.
And last would be this other girl. She had long purple hair reaching her waist and amythest eyes. Just like the other girl, she was beautiful. But that wasn't what took my attention.
'Why does she seem so familiar?'
I didn't know why but she felt familiar. After staring at her for a bit I finally recognized her.
'Emma Ranger.'
She was one of the commentators in the pits. She actually commentated my last match as well.
Well, this is problematic. What was she doing here? I always noticed that she was young but I never expected to meet her here. She was probably some rich heir.
'I hope we never meet in the academy. I mean, there will be 2000 students, what are the chances we'll end in the same class?'
I preferred nobody knowing my past so I just wanted to avoid her.
Each of them were strong. I won't be able to defeat any of them as I am right now.
'I have to get stronger!'
Having reaffirmed my devotion to become stronger, I decided to enter the line. Unlike Sylvia, I just entered the back of the line. I wasn't well known yet so I doubt anyone would recognize me as a Silverheart.
But I noticed something weird. The person in front of me, there was something strange about her.
She had blood red hair and equally crimson eyes. And I could sense she was strong, stronger than most of the people in Sylvia's group. She was about equal to the spear guy, who was second only to the blond dude.
But that wasn't what was so strange about her. It was the air around her.
"You are not human, are you?"
I asked in a low tone, making sure that my words reached only her.
She quickly turned around sith a shocked expression. But she quickly hid it, and put up a smile which could mesmerize any boy. Except me of course.
'She is even more beautiful than those other two girls.' Why was everyone so beautiful here? Am I the only one that's ugly?
"What are you talking about. How could I not be human? We haven't even met."
I stared at her for a bit, trying to discern what my feeling was. She seemed to be uncomfortable under my gaze but I am too dense to notice such things.
"How do I say this, the air around you is not like with other humans. I heard dwarfs were short and bulky so I doubt you are one of them. And orcs were supposed to be huge and muscular so that is also not possible. That means you are an elf right? You used an artifact to hide your pointy ears. That has to be it. You are also incredibly beautiful which I heard was one of the features the elves had."
After having seen all kinds of humans, I could recognize them. But I don't know if it was intuition or something else, she just didn't feel human to me.
Seeing her dropped mouth, I came to the conclusion that I was right. Sometimes I wonder how my intelligence is just D rank. I'm a genius as far as I can see.
"I don't know why you are hiding the fact that you are an elf but don't worry, your secret is safe with me."
Of course, I wasn't going to tell anyone about this. I knew what it was like to have secrets that I don't want exposed so I'll help her out.
It seems she still hadn't recovered from her shock. She just nodded her head and turned around.
'Wonder why an elf would come here though. Not that I care. But she really is beautiful. I had been fantasizing about love so who knows, perhaps I'll get into a relationship with one of these girls. Though I doubt someone with my looks could get them.'
Shaking my head, I just waited in line.
————————————————————
~two hours later.
"Why can't I participate in the physical exam?"
Of course, shit had to go wrong for me like always.