Arriving at the academy location, I stood up and opened the door of my wagon. The sight before me was truly amazing.
I could see hundreds of awakeners gathered outside the academy gates, all waiting for the announcement of the entrance examination procedures.
"Look at the size of this place!" a young woman exclaimed to her companion. "I heard the training grounds alone are larger than most noble estates!"
"The rumors say they have magical beasts contained within the academy for practical combat training," another voice added with obvious excitement.
"Real Noble and Elite-rank creatures that students get to fight! Some also say that it you have enough strength, you could tame some of those beasts!"
My ears picked up dozens of conversations happening simultaneously throughout the crowd.
"I've been preparing for this my entire life. If I don't pass, my family will disown me." a nervous-sounding boy was muttering.
"Don't worry about it," his friend replied giving him a pat on the back. "The acceptance rate isn't that bad if you're actually talented. They're looking for potential, not just current strength."
"Easy for you to say, you awakened a Rare bloodline. Some of us are working with common talents and hoping for the best."
The scents hitting my nostrils were equally diverse. The metallic tang of weapons and armor mixed with various perfumes, and blood. Each awakener carried their own unique scent profile based on their abilities and heritage.
All kinds of blood scents made my hand twitch slightly. Luckily, I had drank my fill just earlier in the wagon. So, I wasn't particularly worried about losing control.
Then I heard my family name mentioned in hushed tones nearby.
"Look at the family crest, it's one of the four ducal houses."
"Is that a Blackwood carriage?" someone whispered.
"Which heir is it? I heard the Blackwood heir was supposed to be pretty weak. I heard that he never trained, and he was always out playing and somurging his family wealth." A young noble whispered to his friend.
Even if he believed he was stronger than Adrian. He didn't dare say that outloud, lest Adrian heard it and snitched on him. His family would definitely disown him to avoid damages.
"Doesn't matter how weak he is," another voice whispered with obvious envy. "Ducal families get automatic consideration. He'll probably pass even if he's never seen a sword before which is not fair to the rest of us who actually had to earn our way here."
His friend chuckled before replying. "When was anything fair in this world?"
Hearing their words, I scoffed inwardly. Not only were they born in noble families, they had good talents. Yet, they still complained about unfairness.
In his eyes, they were shameless through and through. Unlike him, they didn't have a death halo over their heads. Nor did they know about what kind of chaos was going to come.
Ignorance is bliss.
I could sense eyes turning toward me as I stepped down from the wagon, though most people were trying to be discrete about their staring. The eyes of expectations and assumptions pressed down on me from all directions.
"Thank you," I told the driver quietly. "Please return home and inform my parents that I arrived safely."
"Of course, Young Master," he replied with a respectful bow before preparing to depart.
As the heir of one of the four ducal families in Luminara, I didn't need to wait in the general crowd. I'd already been provided with a referral letter that would grant me direct access once registration officially began. The letter would allow me to enter with the first batch and compete in the examination without the usual preliminary screenings of background checks.
Based on the timeline I wrote down, the first batch would consist primarily of nobles and a select number of exceptional common awakeners who had already proven themselves through preliminary testing. This arrangement meant I wouldn't encounter Kyle during my examinations, since he would be placed in the third batch with other unsponsored applicants.
That timing worked perfectly for my plans to avoid unnecessary interaction with the protagonist.
Turning my attention to the academy building itself, I was struck by its magnificence. The structure was incredibly large, sprawling across what must have been several square miles of carefully maintained grounds. Open fields surrounded the main complex, providing ample space for outdoor training and combat exercises.
The architecture reminded me strongly of Hogwarts from my previous life, but with significant differences that marked it as distinct. The entire complex was constructed from gleaming white quartz and stone, giving it an elegant and pure appearance that spoke of both power and nobility.
Towering turrets reached toward the sky. Elaborate buttresses supported the main structure while creating an aesthetic that was both imposing and beautiful.
Massive gates stood open at the main entrance, flanked by guards in armor who woukd soon check credentials and direct applicants to their appropriate areas. The gates themselves were works of art, crafted from what appeared to be enchanted metal. The metal was said to withstand Transcendent rank attacks.
A voice suddenly erupted across the area outside the academy, cutting through hundreds of conversations between future students.
Turning my head towards the direction of the voice, I could see a man floating in the air on what appeared to be a platform made entirely of compressed wind. His robes billowed softly as he hovered above the crowd, clearly a high-ranking academy official with the power to back up his authority.
"Silence! The registration will begin shortly. But before that, I will remind everyone here about the rules."
The moment his voice rang out, I could no longer hear a single person talking. The entire crowd of hundreds fell into immediate, respectful silence. Even the most confident noble heirs seemed to understand that this was not someone to cross.
The floating man continued, his voice carrying easily across the vast gathering. "Once you are rejected, you will leave the premises immediately. Any argument with the assessor will not only lead to your immediate removal by force, but it will result in your permanent ban from this facility. You will never have the chance to enter this place again!"
His tone was deadly serious, and I could feel the tension ripple through the crowd. For many of these awakeners, this represented their only opportunity to join the kingdom's most prestigious institution.
To change their lives and the lives of their families to the better. Without entering this academy, they could at best become small time adventurers that waited for their inevitable deaths.
The academy didn't only offer a guaranteed job after graduation, but it granted you connections and skills to survive this world.
"Some of you might be thinking: 'What if the assessors are biased? What if I'm wronged?'
Well, the answer is simple, it's high unlikely. Each assessor carries a device that records their every action during the examination process. Every decision will be documented, and any bias or error will be corrected after careful review. So if you are truly wronged, you will receive justice later."
That was reassuring, though I suspected the review process probably took weeks and rarely overturned initial decisions.