In the large auditorium located in the Academy, over a hundred new mage recruits find their seats under the brightly lit room. By the time, they were mostly settled in, a short but still intimidating soldier marches onto the elevated podium and stops to face them with hands behind his back.
At the base of the podium, a couple more soldiers stand guard while the soldier on the podium quietly looks around which causes the recruits to slowly become quiet mostly due to his scary face which was riddled with scars. Once it was quiet enough, he speaks out with a loud voice.
"Good day, Recruits. I am Colonel Johan, the overseer of this academy. On behalf of the Royal Army, welcome to this country's military arms." Most of the recruits let out a shout of pride while Johan begins to stroll on the podium as he speaks further.
"As you all know, the South-Land's entire military force is divided into two major factions. The Royal Army, stationed throughout the country and are the first line soldiers for battle… And us, the Royal Magic Knights."
He suddenly stops with the recruits now to his left side. "And despite being an integral part of this country's military power, there are several soldiers in the Royal Army that look down on the knights."
He gives a short pause. "They see it as a group of arrogant, outcast mages who only climb the military rank based on power instead of decades of loyal service. In other words… this division is a disgrace to hard working soldiers."
Johan then turns his body a little with half of his face sneering at them. "And as someone who was originally in the army, I completely agree."
Hidden within the crowd, Dom clenches his fists with a glare. "Bullshit!" One of the older recruits shouted, getting everyone's attention. "I've applied for this academy every year for the last 10 years and got rejected each time. I went through hell and back to make myself stronger until I finally got accepted! How exactly is that disgraceful?!"
"Yeah! The Royal Knights saved my entire village from wild beasts! Where were the army when my sister almost died, huh?!" Another boy shouted out and withing seconds, the hall was full of noise as more people voice out their emotions.
"Hey! Be quiet!" One of the soldier trainers standing beside the podium shouted out but the recruits didn't even notice him.
Johan completely turns to them and closes his eyes. While the recruits continue to riot, Dom, Roger and the serious boy along with a few other recruits flinch once they sensed the aura of green aura emitting from Johan's body. Johan suddenly opens his eyes, releasing a wave of mana that instantly fills the room.
The older recruit groans as he clutches his head in pain. Dom holds his head as a powerful headache suddenly attacks him too, like something trying to claw through his brain.
"A mind spell?" The serious boy grumbled as he opens an eye to find every single recruit in the same situation.
A brief moment later, Johan stops his spell, releasing the recruits from that intense pain. "I don't remember giving any of you permission to speak." He said with an intimidating tone that sends chills up their spines.
"It's true that in the Royal Knights, power is what determines your rank. A recruit like you could become the equivalent of a General in a year if he was powerful enough." He smirks a little. "But what they fail to remember, initially… is that power was the reason why the royal knights were created in the first place."
Johan stops to stare at the large portrait of a certain mage group painted on the wall behind the podium.
"Even among the Great Monarchs, the original magic knights, the only one who ever served in the Army was General Anthony. The rest were a group of untrained commoners, nobles and even criminals whose magical prowess exceeded that of any mage."
Dom smiles a little at the memory of Anthony's power 6 years ago, just as Johan turns back to them. "The Royal Knights were created to do the jobs the Royal Army can't. Operations too small to mobilize an army squad or too dangerous to risk the lives of those weak soldiers."
Johan turns his gaze to the older recruit. "And that's why the entrance exams here were that difficult."
The older recruit frowns as Johan looks at the recruits. "In the knights, results are our main aim. Because of that, what we need isn't years of dedicated service… what we need is the power to able to complete any and every operation given to us regardless of the risk."
Johan rubs his head with his eyes closed in thought. "An average person has an E or D class magic. An average army soldier is either a D or C class mage. The higher ranked officers have higher classes but they are still only a small number of them."
He opens his eyes with a smirk. "Meanwhile, an average royal knight has a mage class of at least B. Which means," He turns to look at them, sideways. "That we have more proportionally powerful mages compared to the entire army."
The older recruit flinches once he heard Johan's words. "The only reason any of you are here is because we saw the potential that you can reach that minimum class. Some of you already do." Johan said with a serious look on his face.
"For the next 3 years, our sessions would not just be focused on your training as a military officer… it'll also focus on training your magic until you become another powerful monster."
Johan lets the message sink in for some seconds before placing his hands on his hips. "If you get that then I have a few more things to say." He said as he holds up his fingers to count down.
"First, once you step out of here, don't listen to the army. They're just jealous that despite 500 years of serving, it only took the first magic knights a few months to bring the war to an end."
"Yeah!" A recruit shouted, raising some cheers from the recruits.
"Second, even though power is our major focus, it's not our only focus. Your training here will give you the basic knowledge and skills of an average army soldier." He lowers his arm.
"We'll also look at your conduct, talent and of course, your feats. Like it or not, a soldier is a still a trained warrior who fights for his country. The royal knights are not an exception."
A couple more cheers spill out, raising the morale of the room. "Finally…" Johan paused as he places his hands behind him. "You must always remember that being in the magic knight means that you will have it hardest compared to the army."
He closes his eyes. "I hate sugarcoating things, so I'll just say it now." A sudden tensed silence fills the hall. "Despite the love and attention, they give us, in the eyes of the Capital, we're just weapons they use to achieve their objectives. Which means that even though we're soldiers, we're also escorts, bodyguards, heroes and sometimes… executioners."
Some of the recruits shift nervously but Dom narrows his eyes once he remembered how Anthony killed Elon years ago with no remorse.
"Not only will you be sent on some of the most dangerous missions in history, but you can also be asked to do something that is completely against normal laws or your beliefs for the sake of maintaining peace."
Johan's eyes grow colder as he continues: "Some of those missions are so classified that simply breaking that confidentiality will not only strip you of your knight status but can also make you a wanted criminal."
The serious boy closes his eyes in thought with arms folded while Dom clenches his fist. "That's why we'll also try to simulate such situations in our training to prepare you for what's to come." Johan suddenly then slowly surveys the recruits, roughly counting them with his eyes.
"From my years of experience since this academy was first established, I can estimate that out of the 153 of you recruits here today, only less than 30 of you will graduate. The others will either drop out from the pressure or die in the process."
The silence that followed Johan's words was devastatingly palpable. "Consider that your final warning to leave if you don't have the balls for this." Johan added as he turns and walks away.
"What kind of speech is that?" Another soldier trainer grumbled but the other trainers just smirk once Johan stops at the edge of the podium to give the recruits one last stare.
"But for those of you that choose to stay…" He gives them a little smirk. "… the pay is worth the effort. So, try not to die until you at least enjoy it."
With that, Johan leaves the podium with the hall still very quiet. "I knew I should I given the speech myself. All Colonel Johan does is scare our recruits away." The same annoyed trainer said before glaring at the other officers who laugh. "What?"
One of the trainers shakes his head with another laugh before speaking. "You're new here so you don't know how things work." He said, leaving the new officer more confused. "Most of these recruits see the Magic Knights as a quick way to get fame and fortune. They don't know hard a knight actually has it."
"If we soften our approach, we'll be able to create more knights but eventually, most of them will break under pressure." Another trainer added.
"And once that happens, not only will you end up with defective knights…" Johan said as he approaches them with a hand in his pocket. "… you might end up with a broken, deranged mage like the Mage Cannibal." Johan said as he brings out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.
"Sir." The other trainers collectively said with a salute.
"At ease." Johan said and the officers drop their hands while Johan turns to a female trainer. "Sergeant Sandra." The officer nods as she walks up the podium to continue the welcome ceremony.
"If I may, Colonel?" The rookie officer asked Johan who takes a smoke with a shrug. "I get why you're doing this but isn't there a more efficient way?"
Johan lets out a puff of smoke. "You're the new trainer sent by the Council, right? Let me guess, they told you to find a way to produce more knights for them, huh." The rookie officer flinches at Johan's accurate deduction.
"Well, you better tell those selfish bastards to give up because I won't change how I do things." Johan scoffed.
"But look at them. The training hasn't even started, and they're already scared." The officer grumbled, pointing at the visibly concerned recruits.
"Unlike the Army, the Knights value quality over quantity. If I start watering down my methods, we'll only end up with more liabilities. And when that liability causes them trouble, the Council themselves will be the first to blame me." Johan commented as he lets out another smoke cloud. "Besides, you're only looking at the weak candidates. The next generation of monsters are already cooking." He added with a smirk
With that, Johan walks away, leaving the rookie officer still confused but the more experienced trainers nod in agreement including Sergeant Sandra now standing on the podium. As she reads out the other proceedings, she notices the unique recruits in the crowd.
Despite most recruits being concerned or already depressed, a couple of them held an even more determined and fired up expression including Dom who holds a smirk on his face.
About 30 minutes later, the proceedings ended and before the recruits were even taken on a tour of the academy, a couple recruits had already dropped out, proving Johan's point.
Once the tour was over, it was around 6pm in the evening so they were then taken to the first-year cafeteria for their first dinner before being shown to the first-year dormitory.
Dom frowns as he stares at the piece of paper in his hand while moving through the semi-busy dorm hallway. With his bag in his free hand, he continues to move, comparing the number on his paper to the doors around him until he finds his room.
He stops to confirm the door number before sighing.
"Please give me a fun partner." He mumbled as he opens the door and comes face to face with a familiar serious looking boy making his bed. The two share a conflicted look before Dom slaps his forehead again. "Damn it."