1 Leo

In the eastern part of Old Land is occupied by a very large peninsula called Orion, that around is surrounded by scattered isles of differing sizes; the peninsula itself is linked to the mainland, whose geography is mainly unknown.

Orion is a neutral nation with a population of almost 17 million peoples, of which almost 60% of the population is a human race. Even so, racial differences do not make them discriminate against one another. Instead, they live side by side.

...

My name is Leo and I'm eleven years old. I was an orphan from birth; that's what my uncle said.

Ever since childhood, I lived with my uncle, Uncle Neal. We live modestly in a small town called Deerbay Town; It's simply meaning that everything about our life is well-off.

Uncle Neal is just an ordinary hunter and the money from the hunting is enough to cover up our daily needs. In addition, I am a sensible child, never demand anything other than foods and books.

In my opinion, Uncle Neal is the best person in the world. He never asked me to do anything such as doing chores, he also never seemed to be bothered every time I acted idly at home. In fact, because my hobby is reading-- Uncle Neal always generously provided me with new and interesting books for me to read. That's why I like my uncle very much.

In short, I've considered my uncle as my own biological father. It wasn't because I thought I'm an orphan, it was because my uncle had taken very good care of me, moreover, I felt that he really treated me as his own child.

But one day Uncle Neal suddenly disappeared and only left me with two letters in his own room; the first letter was his own personal letter for me, and the second letter was a letter of recommendation for entering a certain magic academy.

In this mainland, Magic has become essential for all beings and it has been around for centuries. With the existence of magic, it can facilitate daily activities. In addition, magic can also strengthen the body and extend people's lives.

Having said that, in reality, even though magic is very practical but only ten percent of the world's population is able to use Magic, which is noted to keep a balance between ordinary people and those with Magic. After all, It takes an enormous amount of concentration and mental ability to use Magic.

The world of magic is very competitive, if there is the highest then there is also the lowest, if there is the strongest there is also the weakest, so are magic talent.

Magic talent can be measured based on the color of energy in a person's body, namely: White, Yellow, Orange, Red, Green, Cyan, Blue, Purple, Black, and Gold. If it is calculated numerically, all have ten levels.

The white talent is the lowest magic talent, while Gold talent is the highest. In testimony whereof, many powerful mages come from high talent.

But in this world, there is nothing absolute! Based on the legend, Sage Erudore was born with a yellow magic talent. He was looked down on and discriminated by many people because of the weak magic talent he got, but who would have thought he was now a legend that was renowned throughout the mainland.

Sage Erudore said: "Magic is not only about talent, but also about perseverance and self-confidence in yourself"

Ever since then, the discrimination of magic talent among mages has decreased a lot. Many people respect one another as proof of Sage's good teachings.

In fact, I was personally impressed by the legends of Sage Erudore. And since that time I was a little interested in magic, but unfortunately, everyone can only learn magic from eleven years. And besides, I still can't be sure that I can use magic or not.

Uncle Neal said in the letter that he would be fine and had to take care of something out there. Since he said that, it was useless for me to continue to grieve over his departure.

Uncle Neal also asked me to go to Vinia City to study magic there.

This is the first time Uncle Neal asking something from me, therefore, I will definitely do what he wants without hesitation. Though, I don't know why Uncle Neal is so confident in me...

Apart from that, Uncle Neal also left me with a lot of money, I was greatly shocked at the amount of money. I never thought that being an ordinary hunter could collect that much money. Well, that is not important, the important thing is that I can use the money as a living expense in the city.

It's been two days since I arrived in this Vinia City. Initially, I thought I would suffer so much when I arrived at this unfamiliar place because I don't know anyone here and I'm just a little boy after all. However, it turns out everything went well than I expected. Everyone I met, luckily, was kind and friendly people; they gladly helped me learn many new things that I had just seen in this city.

Currently, I live in the Crescent Inn, an inn whose rent is 'very cheap' in the city, it's 2 silver coins per day. This kind of price almost made me petrified on the spot because compared to the rental price in my small town which is only 10 bronze coins per day, it was soo...

Fortunately, I am currently rich, so I paid rent for one week in advance.

Well, putting in the fact I am currently in the big city plus the inn facilities are far better than inn's in the township, so I think the price is quite plausible.

For a while, I don't think I need to worry about my economic problems.

Year X780...

In the morning, the lines of glares that shot for my eyelids awaked me. I'm really not used to getting up this early, but for some reason since I arrived in this city I always wake up early, maybe because I'm too nervous by the new environment.

As such, I got out of bed and immediately cleaned my face with clean water. After I finished changing clothes, I immediately went downstairs to eat breakfast.

Upon reaching the downstairs, I saw a middle-aged woman wearing an apron preparing a lot of foods for her husband to serve customers.

"Good morning, Aunt Sora, Uncle Gal!" I looked for an empty spot and immediately occupied it after greeting them.

"Oh, morning kid" Aunt Sora greeted me back from the kitchen.

"You are up early again kid" Uncle Gal provided me with a cup of warm milk on my desk.

Aunt Sora and Uncle Gal are married couples who run a small hotel in this city. They have helped Leo a lot.

"Today is different..." I grabbed the milk cup and blew it softly before sipping it, "Thank you, Uncle Gal"

Uncle Gal respond with a smile as he tried to guess something, "Let me guess, is it about the Imperial Unicorn Academy?"

I was quite a bit surprised, "Oh, you know?"

Uncle Gal sat in the chair facing me, "Of course, everyone in this city knows that, after all, this happens every year"

"Great! Uncle Gal, please tell me how to get into Imperial Unicorn Academy!" I'm happy after finding an agent-like who seems reliable.

"Cough, take it easy kid" he coughed as he looked at me and explained, "There are three ways to be a student of Imperial Unicorn Academy; First, you pay with 4.000 gold coins. That way you can be directly accepted as the student of the Fladora Academy without undergoing any tests "

"4.000 gold coins ?! so expensive!" My eyes almost popped out of my eyelids, I was once again very shocked because of money, the big city is really scary!

Uncle Gal unexpectedly laughed, "What do you mean by expensive? Imperial Unicorn Academy is the best magic school in the Vinia City and one of the Top Five of the Magic Schools on Orion. So, it's natural that the cost of entry is skyrocketing" he gives me a look,

"Kid, if you think it's too expensive for you, I can introduce another magic school that is much cheaper than Imperial Unicorn Academy, how?"

My face was slightly red in embarrassment as I shook my hand fiercely, "No need, please continue uncle!"

Uncle Gal continued. "The second is through a magic talent test. This method requires us to expose our magic talents before the public, and whatever the result you have to accept it with grace. The requirements are quite high, at least you have to have the talent of red magic, so they can accept you for free"

I tilted my head, "I thought the academy doesn't care about any magic talent"

Uncle Gal shook his head helplessly towards my naivety, "Of the course they are, if they don't filter the participants then that means everyone can become a student of one of the Top Magic Schools on Orion. Put it aside, the resources in each academy are limited, and not just anyone can enjoy it"

I held my chin in an adult-like manner and nodded, "I see, that makes a sense. Then, the last one is?"

Uncle Gal chuckled, "The last one is through a recommendation letter. This means is arguably a special method because only some people can get a letter of recommendation. Usually, only people with large backgrounds have it... and they are quite proud people"

Oh! finally, I understood the use of the recommendation letter left by my uncle.

I throw another question, "Doesn't that mean people who have letters of recommendation no longer need to pay 10,000 gold coins and don't need to do magic talent tests?"

"That's right, kid!"

"Umm"

Soon after getting the important points from this conversation, the breakfast dish arrived on my table and I immediately ate it without further ado. While Uncle Gal decided to stop this conversation and must return to his unfinished work.

....

The morning atmosphere of the city is very lively and the crowd has a life of its own, the vibrant clothes shine in the morning light and the people move like enchanting shoals of fish. There is chatter between sellers and buyers all along the way. Anyway, it's busy for sure, but the hustle and bustle bring life to this city that I can't shun.

I don't really like the crowd so I speed up a little more. The distance between the Crescent Inn to the academy is actually not too far away, it's just that the road is a bit complicated like a maze that makes the distance feel far away.

Almost after one hour I finally manage to arrive at a stan in front of a large and sturdy gate, which on of it was majestically engraved "Imperial Unicorn Academy".

In the stan, there are two young people; man and woman. They were dressed in unique uniforms, which were the first time seeing this kind of outfit. Come to think of it, I think this is the official uniform of this academy.

I didn't see anyone around, besides me and the two people at the stan. I was a little nervous and thought I am too late. Nevertheless, in the end, I walked closer to the stan and asks politely,

"Excuse me, am I late?"