Taking your First Steps

The touch of the rising dawn peers through the drapes into his room before reaching the resting figure to draw him from the grasp of his sleep.

Shynerai stumbles up from where he was sitting...with the realization of having fallen asleep during his meditation forcing a disgruntled sigh out of him.

After finally shaking off his fatigue with a bit of stretching, he went to take a shower and have a quick breakfast. Once he was finished, he went back upstairs to change clothes that would be appropriate for the Exams though he was shocked to find that what he was looking for wasn't with him.

After searching for almost fifteen minutes, Shynerai could only surmise that his training gi was thrown out by Sarah...after thinking on it for a while, he decided that he would have to go on without it, so he got dressed in some clothes that Shadow picked out for him and began to head out, though not before writing and finally posting a letter back home as he left.

From Shadow's condo, it was only a forty five-minute walk to the Academy or a fifteen-minute cab ride so Shynerai decided to walk.

Despite being in the Deep City which was the area of the city that was below the floating metropolis above known as High City, the area was just as lively and just as impressive.

The individuals that dwelt here were either from out of town or they were merchants, companies and businesses that were taking advantage of the fact that most tourists and "passersby" had to come through the Deep City first when entering Aria.

Because of this, Deep City took on the appearance of a hybrid between a business and entertainment sectors rather than some slum. All of this made travel by foot pretty efficient but also notoriously difficult to navigate but Shynerai did manage to receive some directions from a small local equipment store.

Thirty minutes pass.

He had finally arrived at the gate of the Academy, Trinity Cross: the most renowned Guardian School on the continent of Melodoria .

The mere sight of the entrance was enough to impart the weight of the challenges that he would have to face from the moment he steps onto the grounds.

Despite how nervous he began to feel, he continued to walk forward and proceed with the other entrants to the quad outside of the Main Auditorium of the First Assembly Hall.

Here there were booths, each with a designated letter range, the first being A-B, then the next being C-D and so on to give a total of thirteen booths.

These designations were to correspond with an examinee's initial for their last name.

At their respective booths, they would receive their examination numbers as well as the first exam to which they needed to go.

Shynerai made his way to the "A" booth where the admin was being handled by a Second-year student by the name of Henrietta Vermilion. Once he got his exam number (223), he proceeded to enter the hall and sit in his reserved seat.

Nearly an hour passes until every single entrant is accounted for and seated within the halls...whereby they are greeted to the sight of a stage filled with all the individuals that assisted with the admin as well as two educators.

Once there was silence, the teachers introduced themselves.

The aged individual on the left, possessing a hunched stance and gaunt expression with a look of mild uncleanliness was known as Dr Edgar Arturion, the resident physician of the Academy, and on the right side of the stage stood a tall gentleman of elvish descent with a fair appearance and noble aura that managed to capture the attention of most in the audience.

This individual was Dr Regis Ulrich, one of the most renowned educators at Trinity Cross Academy.

Once they had introduced themselves, they proceeded to welcome the entrants for participating...before quickly dispensing with the pleasantries to begin the Introduction.

"Today all of you have come to our school to begin your journey as fledgeling Guardians, so let us see if you are worthy of doing it at our Academy. Please pay attention to the monitor and save all questions for the end of the Introduction, Thank you."

"The lights in the hall begin to dim as a projection appears behind him."

"Today marks the beginning of a series of exams which you will need to pass to be considered as one of our students."

"Success will be determined by whatever criteria is set for each test, no matter how unreasonable or incomprehensible they may seem"

"Once you have completed all the examinations, we'll reach out to you within a week to inform you if you have become a Trinity Cross Academy student."

"We will now separate all of you into your respective groups before we start examining you."

"So examinees: 1 through to 365 (Group A) will head over to the South-West track field with examinees: 366 through to 725 (Group B) going to the North-west track field."

"The rest of you will be divided into five separate groups of a hundred and forty-five students each, forming (Group C, D, E, F, G)."

"You will fill the West-Side gymnasiums."

"Group A and B will be taking the Illumination Test and Group C through to G will be doing the Pillar Test. The rules of your exams will be explained at your designated locations. If there aren't any questions, you'll have ten minutes to head over to your exam locations. Dismissed."

With that, Dr Regis ended the Introduction and the students went to their respective locations...though their feelings of excitement and confidence were thrilling, the shock of reality was about to make those sensations short-lived.