Ch-2: The Arcane Academy

A/N: Another super long chapter! But this contains some info dump, sadly.

———————————

Just like that, Tria became in charge of educating and evaluating Raon on non-cultivation-related topics like etiquette, manners, politics etc, etc.

But her position in the family was in jeopardy. Hence, she wasn't going to do a sloppy job, so Raon was in one hell of a pain, totally different from what he suffered on the Island.

Slowly but surely, time passed uneventfully, except for Tria forcing Nerlo, Raon, and Suya to study together, which gave rise to the trio bickering amongst each other.

Luckily for her, none of them wanted to get punished, as Tria had set their punishment to consist of only more boring studies, which, to cultivators like them, was much more annoying than life-and-death situations.

After all the hard work and effort put in by Tria, the boring time elapsed until only a week before the academy entrance test, and Tria decided to give them one last briefing before they began their journey tomorrow as they had to go with their father's family alongside the royal family.

"Alright, Suya. You're free now; go enjoy today since we are all leaving tomorrow to watch the entrance test," suggested Tria in her tired voice, making Raon and Nerlo sulk and look at Suya enviously.

This scene wasn't anything new, as it happened every time. Suya was allowed to go and cultivate, while Nerlo was forced to work for 1 more hour and Raon for 3 to 4 more hours.

"Yay! I am free!! Mommy, I will also see Big Brother Nerlo, Big Brother Raon, and Big Sister Aria, right? Right? You promised me that if I study, you'll take me??" beamed the 8-year-old excited little girl.

"Yes, yes. Your father allowed it. Now off you go, sweetheart," Tria played along in response while chuckling at her daughter's antics.

Suya, hearing her mother's words, jumped up and down in excitement as she headed for the door, but right before leaving, she stuck out her tongue at her 'study companions' while her eyes were dazzling with stars, which resulted in her bumping into Aria as she was not paying any attention.

"Ah, big sis Aria..." Suya muttered in a low voice, holding her forehead that had bumped into Aria, but Aria paid it no heed as she just helped her up and freed her before entering the room.

It wasn't anything new for Aria to come to 'study' once a week, and today, Trie had asked Krose to send her here, but she didn't like interacting with people much.

To no end, one must assume that she is cocky or something. Due to spending most of her time in closed-door training, she had become socially awkward. However, she has shown improvement since her last breakthrough because she had to learn socialization skills from Tria.

Aria had her mind occupied with the entrance test as she was nervous about it just like any other participant, so she wasn't paying attention and bumped into Suya, who was far too excited by the prospect of spectating them.

It resulted in both of them not saying anything despite their collision, but, of course, Aria still gave Suya her favorite sweets before entering the room, much to the latter's delight.

"Ah, Aria, you're here. Come, sit. Now that everyone is here, listen properly, as you're going to participate in the academy entrance test."

"What I am saying is just common knowledge, but you three are especially bad at such matters, so please control yourself when you meet other participants."

"The Academy opens its gate every ten years, and it takes less than half a year to conclude the entrance test."

"Between two entrance tests, that is, every decade, the number of people who enter the academy and survive is less than 10%."

"For example, if 1.000 people pass all tests, then by the next decade, more than half would be dead or crippled."

"Then less than 100 would be calling it a stretch; less than 50 even enter the inner district of the academy, while the rest are destined to remain as is."

"Then comes the core district. There is rarely anyone who can enter. Even every 100 years, less than ten might enter it. There are also rumors of legacy and direct disciples of Elders."

Tria paused as she took a deep breath to calm her heart and let the information sink into their heads as she continued, "Phew... Well, that was all for you to know. Now that you know, you must be dying to know why it is even an Academy and not a Sect, right?"

"The answer is pretty simple. The Arcane Academy got its name due to the Empire we live in, which is titled 'The Arcane Empire' led by the Russell Imperial Family."

"Though it's a stretch to say we live in the empire because we just live in a small kingdom inside an unranked Empire,"

"Well, our Tesra family still has blood ties to the Royal Family of our unranked Tesra Empire. Your father was exiled from there because Raelyn ran away from her marriage..."

As Tria recounted old memories, her voice trailed off before her face lit up as if she remembered something important, causing her to turn her head to gaze at Aria. "Ah, this reminds me. Aria, you will be part of the group that will consist of the direct bloodline of the Tesra Family."

Tria paused, turned to face Raon and Nerlo, and stated, "You both, along with Elric, will be part of the group that will be led by Ziya."

She stopped once again as her gaze shifted between Raon and Aria, but, in the end, she decided to add, "Ahem... You both will face the worst because Raelyn was your direct sister, but of course, the others will only be a bit better because all the scorn will be directed at you two, mostly Raon..."

Tria stopped speaking, observing the minute details as Aria clenched her fists in determination. Nerlo smiled with nervous confidence while Raon, well, Raon just listened, looking unaffected as he already knew that most of it would come at him.

"Ahem... You children shouldn't offend anyone but also don't appear to be a target of bullying like I taught you and follow Ziya's orders."

"On a personal note, if you enter the academy, either follow Ziya or find someone else, but don't follow Elric."

"That's for the academy..."

Just like that, Tria kept explaining major and minor details about the Academy as well as the participants from equal powers and other important stuff.

The gist of the participants entering was as follows:

Every 1-3 years, small-sized cities across the Arcane Empire hold competitions or tournaments to find disciples for their sects and respective powers.

In medium-sized cities, such tournaments were held every 5 or so years, while big-sized cities arranged them every 7 or so years.

They were unofficial recruitments, as the recruiters also sent their disciples to participate and get the ludicrous resources for the winner to increase their rewards.

All the sects and powers have their respective recruitments besides these tournaments, and the ones who are promising and worth nurturing would then be focused upon and sent to such tournaments.

Through these tournaments, various resources were distributed by their respective kingdoms as these cities also formed alliances to defeat the bigger cities.

These competitions occurred almost everywhere, with different time sets. There are also those with fixed times, like the Kingdom-wide tournaments, which have a fixed time, that is, one year after the Arcane Academy Entrance Test.

Through these tournaments, the talented disciples are focused for 8–9 years to prepare for the academy entrance test, while generous rewards are granted should they accept to participate in the training regime.

Yes, they were not compulsory, leaving the decision in the hands of the disciples, and 99% of the time, every talented youth accepted because they all had ambitions.

However, that wasn't the case for all. Hence, the participants may be given a choice or forced into this gamble of life and death since these participants usually die even before the Entrance Test.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Inter-kingdom tournaments were arranged by the Empires every alternate decade, 5 years after the Arcane Academy Entrance Test.

The participants here could win rewards for their Kingdom, and even the Royal Family would be tempted to send their direct or indirect descendants as such competitions offered additional territories and ludicrous resources.

The Empires couldn't care less, though, as they have their own Empire-wide competition that occurs once every 50 years, yet 5 years from the Entrance Test.

Through these several tournaments, the powers select various participants to bet their chance of entering the Academy and recruit them, as it would increase the chances of getting rewards from the Academy.

One might say that the Empires only do it twice a century, so they must be idiots, but they are Empires, for god's sake. It takes them that long to prepare it, and there are only seven Tier-1 Empires under the Arcane Empire, while there are countless kingdoms under these Empires or on their own.

It isn't a stretch to say that if there is so much going on, why does the Arcane Academy open its gates every 10 years instead of 100?

The answer to that is simple yet profound. The Arcane Academy couldn't afford to miss out on even one talented disciple, as it could tilt the balance in their favor in the 100-year competition.

It is one of the major events; after all, it is a competition in which talented youths of Titled Empires are pitted against each other with rewards from the ruler of their continent.

They are the true powerhouses of the continent, which is why the Tesra Empire hasn't gotten wiped out. It was merely because one of their outer Elders showed interest in Raelyn. Yep, that's all.

That's also why Kroste's exile changed from temporary to permanent when Raelyn escaped her arranged marriage, enraging one of the Arcane Academy's Elders.

But that's not what's important.

For the 100-year competition, all the titled Empires tend to use similar methods, like the tournaments, or even forceful methods to convert as many talents into top-tier disciples to participate in this competition.

This competition is far into the future but also very close, so we'll come back to it later one day.

***

With the boring things done,

In the underground chamber, Kroste sat cross-legged on the ground while another man stood poised a few meters behind him.

Surprisingly, the other man's cultivation was even higher than Kroste's, but he politely called out,

"Young Master Kroste, you seem to be enjoying this..."

The old-looking, frail man let his voice trail out at the end of his sentence.

"Elder Herka should know that this is the last time I'll be able to enjoy this..." replied Kroste as he opened his eyes slowly while lamenting how fast his life in exile came to an end.

"It doesn't seem like one would want to be this far from home, so why?" queried Elder Herka curiously.

Kroste stood up with his back facing the man, refusing to open his mouth. Seeing this, Herka also did not bother to ask again.

Unbeknownst to the entire family, the two men had been observing them for quite some time, and both saw that every child, except Ziya, wanted to eliminate Raon and Aria.

The two didn't seem surprised by that or even Elric's desire to remove Ziya. The only thing surprising them was how seriously Tria taught the four, to the point that she even gave personal advice to the two who were not her own children, and the fact that Ziya ignored such schemes entirely.

She didn't have any reason to scheme against her siblings because she was the youngest sister of the firstborn child in the family and the most likely heir, Glen.

The second born in the family was Raelyn, who was well around 30 years old, while Glenn could be said to be nearing 40.

Unknowingly, all the planning and private conversations held no secret to Kroste and Herka, as protection formations didn't interfere with the senses of the two.

***

Time passed until the next morning, when they were supposed to depart.

All the children who were participating and their mothers or siblings who were coming together to watch the test had gathered together as per Kroste's orders. Even the ones who didn't have their children or siblings participating were coming together.

After confirming everyone's presence, they left the city lord's estate using teleportation formations to the King's Palace since that was the only place that had teleportation formations to the Tesra Empire.

All the participants that were already present and prepared, looking at the members of the Tesra Family, couldn't help but feel jealous. After all, the participants came with diversity, as they came from several cities and vessel states.

The looks of desire and lust were vivid on their faces, targeted at both girls and boys except, of course, Raon.

Without any surprises, no one gave a damn about Raon, knowing his low talent and affinity, making his future prospects lower than even theirs.

Quite a lot of juniors were ecstatic and even had scornful looks targeted at Raon or others around them they deemed inferior to them.

Only a little over 200 eligible children could be seen in the gathering, where the representatives were silent, waiting for the King and Queen, who soon appeared to bid them farewell.

Well, it should have been without any surprises, if not for the fact that Kroste had broken through into a new realm, so everyone congratulated him as his entourage also joined to stand in the formation as it soon lit up, covering everyone in a silver flash.

"Sigh... He broke through. He's in the same realm as me now..." mumbled the King while his Queen consoled him, and they returned to their duties.

No King, Queen, Emperor, Empress, or Ruler would go for such competitions, as only their children, who had their own participants, would go due to the difference in responsibilities.

***

In the Tesra Empire, in the capital city of Terod, in the Formation Masters Guild headquarters, a formation lit up before a silver light flashed and teleported a group of 500.

A guide brought them to their resting place as multiple formations lit up across the guild, from which several different kingdoms' participants were arriving.

The Tesra Empire delegation would leave tomorrow for a Tier-2 Empire, and then, with other Unranked Empires and the Tier-2 Empire, they would head for one of the seven Tier-1 Empires before they reached the Arcane Academy.

The journey took them five days due to the massive number of people to be teleported and resting between each teleportation due to waiting for other delegations.

The resting areas were more or less the same; different Kingdoms were granted individual resting areas in the Tesra Empire, while in the Tier-2 Empire, different Unranked Empires were each granted individual resting places. Finally, at the Tier-1 Empire, only the Tier-2 Empires were each granted a resting place for all their underlying delegations.

Their journey, however, ended at the Arcane Empire, where there were only seven resting places, that is, one for each Tier-1 Empire, and all below them were akin to subordinates.

The Tesra Empire was a Tier-2 Empire close to becoming Tier-1, but due to the seven Tier-1 Empires not wanting to allow it alongside the chance given by Raelyn's actions, they ended up being demoted to an unranked Empire.

Due to this, all the people in their Tier-1 Aegis Empire kept looking at and scorning their families.

As a result, they looked at Kroste and his family, but seeing his breakthrough, the people in the same generation as him stopped caring.

That did not mean they would stop the juniors from going and picking a fight, but it was fruitless. Ziya evaded all such fights.

Arialyn, who was supposed to be part of the group consisting of the direct bloodline of the Tesra Family, was put on the same team as Raon, under Ziya.

Kroste had assigned Ziya as the leader and Arialyn as the vice leader, much to Elric's chagrin and anger, but he didn't dare go against his father.

The result of the Entrance Test was all that mattered to every power, however small or big, involved here, so they didn't care about the participants' feelings as long as it yielded a good result.

The participants grew anxious, nervous, or overconfident as they waited for the envoy from the Arcane Academy, who finally arrived to bring them to the Arcane Academy and begin the Entrance Test.