Dom knew how hard the Academy was going to be from Pop's stories, but it still somehow paled in comparison with the real thing. The lectures are overwhelming, and the combat sessions are brutal.
But while most of the recruits' struggle under the pressure, Dom continues to go strong due to his high endurance as a result of Pops' training sessions.
2 weeks later...
In a familiar room, a certain teen steps out of the steaming bathroom in his underwear, revealing his slim yet fit physique.
He dries his wet hair with a towel before noticing Dom doing vertical push-ups on the ground.
"571… 572… 573." Dom grumbled with gritted teeth as he continues to push his already tired body.
His sweat drops into the small pool beneath him as he goes down again.
The teen sighs heavily as he slings the towel over his shoulder. "We were told to rest, Dominic. If you keep doing this, you'll break down."
Dom pauses with a tired smirk on his face as he looks at his roommate from an upside-down view. "Just because I'm training… doesn't mean that I should… slack off… on my normal routine."
The teen narrows his eyes but says nothing.
"Besides…" Dom grunted as he resumed his workout. "… should you really… lecture me when you… sneak out to do your own extra… training?"
The teen flinches and then glares at him. "I thought you were sleeping."
"You're not the first person I've tricked like that." Dom said with a tired smile. "I used to sneak out to do some extra training when I was a kid too." He does a couple more push-ups, then stops to look at the teen again. "Don't worry… I won't snitch as long as you don't."
The teen rubs his hair with a sigh. "Fine." He replied.
Dom smirks as he resumes his workout while the teen prepares for the night.
"578… 579…"
As Dom keeps counting, his mind slowly drifts back to a memory over 4 months ago when he had just gotten the acceptance letter from the academy.
< Pops sits on the porch with a lit cigarette stick in one hand and the acceptance letter in the other which he stares at intensely.
"Pops?"
He looks up to find Dom walking up to him, shirtless and sweaty from his workout.
"You sure you're gonna be okay?" Dom asked.
Pops quietly takes a smoke before letting it out with a sigh. "To be honest, I don't know."
Dom frowns which make Pops laugh.
"There's no need to look so glum, kid. How I feel doesn't matter. You have a goal, and you're determined to reach it. Besides…" Pops pauses for a moment; his eyes looking past Dom's toned body and briefly rests on the home-made cartoonist massive weights now taking up half of the backyard.
"We've come too far already, right?" Pops asked.
Dom stares at Pops for a moment and then smiles.
"Listen, kid." Pops said with an expression so suddenly serious that Dom frowns with confusion. "I'm sure I've told you how hard the Academy training is over a hundred times... but I've never really told you about the Capital itself."
"The Capital?" Dom asked, his expression still confused.
Pops nods, takes another smoke and explains further; "You've never left this town, so you don't know about it." Pops' expression darkens further.
"The Capital… or more specifically, the Royal Council are selfish."
Dom furrows his brows but doesn't interrupt.
"They try to maintain a high public appeal but those close enough know that under those smiles are a bunch of liars who only follow their own wishes."
A beat of silence hangs in the air as Pops lets his words settle down in Dom's mind.
As Pops takes another smoke, Dom gives him a concerned stare. "Why are you telling me?" He asked.
Pops shakes the letter in his hand. "Because the Knights are usually the ones they send to do their dirty work."
Dom's expression quickly hardens, his hands balling into fists as the meaning behind Pops' words dawned on him.
"I only heard rumors when I was in the Army." Pops said as he stares at his lit cigarette. "Even before the war ended, some of those leaders would exploit army forces to obtain different things like land, treasure or resources."
Pops taps on the stick, knocking out the ashes into the tray beside him.
"With the regulations and protocol in the Army now, it's tricky for them to have their way like before… but with a group of mostly untrained monsters," He gives Dom a serious look. "It'd be easy to pin any mistakes on mages like that."
Dom's expression darkens further, this time with anger. "Why?"
Pops takes in a big whiff of his stick and releases a thick cloud of smoke. "Because we're all still humans." Pops said, his eyes fixed on the dissipating smoke. "We're naturally born selfish. It just sucks that our country is ruled by people like them."
Pops snuffs out his cigarette on the tray.
"It's one of the reasons I didn't want you to join the knights." Pops added as he stares at the letter again. "You'd still be sent on normal missions where you can actually help people… but that's usually out of obligation or pretense. You need to know… that one day…"
His grip tightens a little on the letter, the paper wrinkles loudly as Pops glares at it.
"They'll try to use you too."
Dom sits on the floor in front of Pops, his arms folded, and his brows furrowed with concern written on his face.
"If that happens, what should I do?" Dom asked.
Pops sighs, releasing the slightly crumpled paper. "Sorry, kid… I honestly don't know the answer to that." He said as he straightens the paper in his laps, his expression just as concerned.
"Accepting the offer may mean going against your ideals but declining it can also affect your stance as a knight… maybe even make yourself an enemy to the Capital."
Dom looks down at his laps, his mind trying to find the answer to this new problem, just as Pops flicks his forehead. This draws his attention back to the now smiling Pops.
"But knowing you, I'm sure you'd figure it out."
Dom slowly smiles.
"Unless you finally decided to give up and stay here instead?" Pops asked with raised brows.
"No way." Dom said with a cocky grin.
Pops laughs. "I thought so." He said as he taps Dom's arm with a fist. "You're going to be okay."
"I know… but you're wrong about something…" Dom said, and Pops' raises a curious brow. "How you feel does matter. You're going to be okay too."
Hearing that leaves Pops stunned for a moment. Even though it was just a few words, it still has a deep enough impact that makes Pops smile widely with Dom giving him a matching grin…>
Now back in the present…
Dom grins at the memory… before suddenly frowning as he lowers his aching body again.
"Six… hundred!" He grumbled as he pushes himself off the ground and manages a quick backflip before landing on his feet.
He pants deeply with a tired grin on his face just as a shirt flies into his face. He pulls it off and smiles.
"Oh. There's my lucky hoodie." He said.
"How many times have I told you to stop leaving your clothes lying around?" His annoyed roommate grumbled from his side of the room which is obviously neater.
"Sorry." Dom chuckled while his roommate fumes as he goes back to meticulously organizing his newly washed clothes...
Disclaimer: A major component in the Academy training is teamwork which is why at least two recruits are put in the same room together to train as partners based on their compatible magic types, class and skills.
As such, Dom is paired with this mage, named Dae.
Dae is a serious, smart and studious recruit who uses a dual-bladed fighting style along with his lightning elemental magic. But, being a strong rule abiding perfectionist, it meant that he often butts heads with Dom's more carefree, joking behavior.
However, despite the clashing personalities, the two mages respected each other as they both strove hard for their respective goals.
Dae excelled in almost all fields of the Academy training while Dom got above average scores in his normal classes but completely broke every record in all physical training classes with his monstrous physical prowess.
As time quickly moved by, the two continue to grow stronger, exceeding the expectations of their peers and trainers in classes while still doing their own individual training sessions secretly. Before long, their reputation echoed throughout the Academy.
3 years later...
Around 8 in the morning in one of the Academy training halls...
Johan along with his soldiers stand in front of the now third-year recruits dressed in the typical white-blue uniform designated for Army Recruits.
"From 153 to 40." Sergeant Sandra, one of the soldiers said as she walks up to Johan's side. "They did better than other sets."
Johan snuffs out his cigarette on his palm. "It's not over yet." He said as he throws the burned cigarette bud and steps forward to address the remaining recruits.
"Congratulations on all of you to getting this far. The journey to this point was hard but you made it." A smile forms on Johan's face. "Not bad."
"Hell yeah!" A recruit shouted, drawing some cheers from the others.
The soldiers smile, their expressions filled with pride of the products of their training… until Johan regains their attention.
"Now let's not get ahead of ourselves." Johan said, slowly silencing them.
Johan's expression shifts back to the strict soldier they've grown accustomed to. "Before we finally let you go. You have to pass this final exam."
Johan snaps his fingers, signaling one of the soldiers to hold up his hand, projecting his mana upwards to form a large green projection of a circular forest bounded by walls.
The recruits look up as Johan explains.
"The exam will take place in this training field owned by the Capital. Each of you will start at the field's end."
The soldier highlights the different areas with glowing red dots.
"Your goal is simply to get to the center of the field."
Another marker displays the center.
"You're required to move with your partner and reach the center where a gate will be opened for you to pass through."
The soldier releases his spell, allowing his projection to fade away.
"Now, the specifics. First…" Johan pauses with a gesture to some soldiers who arrive with carts filled with different weapons.
"You're allowed to carry your weapons of choice. The forest is full of different mana beasts that were captured during missions."
Some recruits flinch at the thought.
Johan smirks at their reaction. "Relax. Even though there're a lot of them, each beast is B class or less. You can also avoid them all if you want or even team up with other groups if that's what it takes. It won't affect your results in any way."
The recruits visibly relax, and Johan's smirk widens, this time with an evil tone to it.
"Besides, if you consider the dangerous plants, insects and terrain, the beasts would be the least of your worries."
The recruits tense up again, but Johan just shrugs it off.
"Second, you have 6 hours to reach the goal and with the field spanning over 400 kilometers from its edge to the center, you obviously have a lot of ground to cover." Johan added as he folds his arms.
"You need to be fast while also defending yourself. I think that's a simple enough exam considering all we've done over the years, right?"
Some recruits laugh at Johan's comment while others still fidget nervously.
"That shouldn't be a problem for us, right?" A certain uninteresting lackey said to Roger Reginald, who now looks more matured and composed, yet still has the same cocky look on his face.
"Once the time is up, the gate will close. Any one still left in the field by then will fail and have to wait for the trainers to retrieve them." Johan said before giving a slight pause as he looks at each of them.
"Finally…Passing this exam is dependent on your long-term teamwork." His expression hardens. "Which is why both you and your partner have to pass through the gate before the set time. If only one of you pass through or in the worst-case scenario… your partner dies… it's an automatic failure."
The paired recruits share a conflicted look with each other and Johan glances at Sandra who nods as she steps forward.
"We won't monitor your progress in the field… so whatever happens there, you're on your own." Johan said as Sandra stops by a terminal beside two large pillars. "Which means that the only person you can count on… is your partner."
A few taps on the keypad later, the pillars begin to hum with life.
"You have 15 minutes to pick out your weapons or items." Sandra said, gesturing to the carts.
Exactly 15 minutes later, Sandra keys in a command on the terminal, causing the still buzzing pillars to emit a wave of bluish mana that quickly creates a swirling portal between the pillars.
The lazy yet mesmerizing whirl of mana is almost hypnotizing to anyone who stares for too long.
Johan steps forward, drawing their attention again. "We're starting. You'll move in based on the set ranking. The top two. Step out."
Roger's grin instantly morphs into a jealous sneer. He along with the others turn as the top two recruits' step forward.
"Alright." Dom, now 19 years old and 6'1" tall with a still impressive physical build said with a grin as he cracks his knuckles.
Meanwhile, his partner, Dae, now 6'2", calmly walks beside him with two katanas strapped to his back.
The two stop in front of the portal, their eyes fixed on its swirling light.
"Once you're inside, you're to wait at your starting point." Johan said as he stands by their side with his eyes still on the other recruits. "Once everyone's in, we'll give the signal. We may not monitor your course, but we can tell if you disobey this order." He looks at the two. "Got it?"
"Yes, sir." They both replied and Johan gestures to the gate.
The two share a look before calmly walking into the portal.
Dom shivers from the sudden cold sensation that washes over his body only for that chilling sensation to fade as fast as it came once he emerges on the other side.
He quickly notices the soft grass under his feet, a sharp contrast from the hard concrete floor he was just standing on. He looks up, wincing a little from the bright light above before grinning once he finally beholds the scene before him.
"Dope." Dom said as he finds himself in a large forest with abnormally massive trees spanning as far as his eyes could see. The sounds of wild all washing over him.
He then hears a distorting sound behind him and turns to find Dae also staring at the portal which suddenly vanishes. Once it's gone, their attention is drawn to the large wall behind them.
"This must be the field's boundary." Dae said.
Dom turns to face the opposite direction. "Which means that we have to go straight this way." Dom said and Dae nods in agreement.
The two wait, along with the several other pairs all evenly spaced out on the boundary of the field. Once the last team gets in position… a loud bell suddenly projects over the field with a size unmistakable even through the thick threes.
Then with a resounding ring, all the recruits take off, their eyes set on their destination.
One hour later…
Dae sprints across the grass, his legs a blur and the wind howls around his rapidly moving body. He hears a laugh and looks up to find Dom jumping across the tree branches above with enough speed to keep up with Dae below.
"Damn, this place is big!" Dom shouted as he kicks off a tree and performs a few body flips before landing on the next branch.
"Is everything just a joke to you?" Dae asked, a frustrated look in his eyes.
Dom just laughs as he leaps forward while his eyes search through the thick vegetation around him. "I thought they said they were mana beasts to fight! We haven't seen any yet!" He said.
Dae raises a brow. "It sounds like you want to see them." He said.
Dom smirks. "It wouldn't be fun if all we did to pass is just run from start to finish."
Dae rolls his eyes and doubles his speed, his body now slowly advancing ahead of Dom. "Just keep your guard up. We'll fail if anything happens to either of us."
Dom scoffs. "Relax. I always keep my-" Dom cuts himself off as he suddenly stops on a tree branch, his survival instincts kicking in once he senses a pair of hostile eyes fixed on him.
With a single kick, Dom pushes himself off the tree, just barely evading a swing from a massive gorilla-like beast with glowing pink stripes along its black fur that easily breaks through the large branch.
At that same moment, Dae suddenly jumps to the side, evading the punch from another gorilla beast.
Dae's boots skid across the grass as he comes to a stop a safe distance away. His senses not only aware of the massive monster in front of him. He looks around as more gorillas emerge from the trees, their form big enough to knock over smaller trees and crack the thicker ones.
Dae straightens up, just as Dom lands behind him, their backs to each other's.
Dae frowns as he grans his blade handles. "Are you happy now?" He said.
Dom's grin widens. "Hell yeah. I've always wanted to see a Gorback."
The beasts growl as they slowly close in on them.
Dae draws out his slick blades which gleam from the rays of sun filtering through the trees. "We can't waste too much time here." He said as he takes his battle stance.
"I know. I'll be quick." Dom said as he cracks his knuckles and takes a low fighting stance with his fists held up.
Their eyes glowed with their respectively colored aura leaking from their bodies.
Sensing the threat, two Gorbacks growl as they charge at the mages.
Dae narrows his eyes, causing his violet aura to surge outwards, like the water from a broken dam. That enenrgy then distorts and changes, transforming into sparks of violet colored electricity.
With a grunt, Daw blitzes forward and instantly slices the first Gorback's arm off with his electrically charged swords. The beast growls in agonizing pain while its severed arm lands with an earth-crushing thud on the floor.
The second Gorback growls as it draws its fist back, its eyes fixed on Dom who grins at it.
With a loud growl, it throws its fist which whistles through the air and collides with Dom. The impact crumbles the ground beneath them with the debris being instantly swept up by the wind current created by the impact.
The Gorback gives a strange expression resembling a smile which quickly transforms into a look of terror once it realizes that its fist is being pushed back.
"Nice." Dom chuckled as the wind clears the dust, revealing his body completely unharmed with only his left hand easily holding the massive hairy fist in place.
The Gorback growls in fear as Dom's eyes glow while he raises his right fist which was sizzling with his navy-blue mana.
"My turn." He grumbled as he suddenly throws his right fist into the Gorback's fist.
The sheer impact from Dom's fist sends a wave of destruction through the Gorback's arm like a water ripple, until it suddenly explodes with even its bones being reduced to broken shards.
The Gorback growls in pain, causing its pack to flinch in fear from Dom who turns to them with a cocky smirk.
"Who's next?" Dom asked as he cracks his neck, causing the Gorbacks to growl in retaliation and charge at him.