Whispers

After two months of training, Sabito noted that he would have to leave soon. "Only a few more months until they make me leave," thinking about it made Sabito uneasy. Noticing something was wrong, Koku asked Sabito if something was amiss, but Sabito brushed it off and asked Koku if he was done for the day.

"I finished the training a while ago," hearing Koku mention this, Sabito told him to head back to the knights' headquarters since it had been getting dark. But on his way to the headquarters, Koku's attention was drawn away. "Hmm?" he wondered as he heard some murmurs off in the distance.

Koku, being practically invisible to mages and anything related to magic, sneaked closer to where the noise was coming from. Not long after doing so, he found a spot in some bushes where he could see them but still be concealed. "Something's up. This deep in the forest, wearing dark cloaks, and they seem on guard... I'll stay quiet and watch for now," Koku told himself in his head.

As far as Koku could tell, their conversation was rather vague and nothing too important, but a few minutes into the conversation, he heard something interesting. "4 months right?" "Yes, by then we'll have the preparations done," these two unknown individuals seemed to be planning something, something bad.

At last, after 20 minutes of conversing, one of these people left, leaving the other alone. Koku had seen this other person wait around for a few minutes, and then the said person began creating a magic circle. "I read about that type of magic circle formula; it's a trap magic circle, and I think they'll set a timer on it too," Koku watched, and the person kneeled down to whisper something.

But as the person did so, the person practically jumped back and aimed at the bush he was in, and began casting an attack. Koku rushed out of the bush and headed towards the person, "Aura sword," Koku muttered as his aura enveloped his arm and covered his body vaguely. The aura still allowed his body to be seen, and the person was confused as to why a kid was rushing him and producing such an aura.

The moment Koku had gotten 10 feet away from the person, the casting was complete and the person yelled, "Flame serpent!" After the attack had been cast, a snake of fire was shot towards Koku.

Koku moved to the side, but the flame serpent trailed him, and after a second, the attack landed. Koku was sent hurtling towards a tree, and once his body hit the tree, the person who was now confirmed by Koku as a male mage began casting once again. Koku, however, reacted quickly and got up the moment he hit the tree.

Returning to his charge, Koku was aiming to kill the mage, but the mage was very quick at casting. Once Koku had gotten within 10 feet again, the mage yelled, "Flame serpent!" After hearing it again, Koku slashed at the ground, sending dirt flying everywhere. "So this attack is guided by his vision," he quickly discovered as he dashed forward to the mage.

The mage moved back very aggressively and fell on his behind. Koku was 4 feet away by this point and about to slash at the mage's neck, and the moment Koku began moving the dark purple sword made from his aura, something shined in the distance and was followed by the sound of something cutting through the air.

Koku hearing this quickly stopped moving forward and jumped back. The moment he did, he'd see the other hooded person in front of him. "This one's fast," Koku noted and took a defensive posture. The person quickly rushed at Koku, trying to remove his head from his shoulders, but the training with Sabito kicked in, and he protected his neck. For some reason, he felt as if he needed to protect that area of his body.

Protecting his neck proved to be the life-saving action since his aura sword blocked the sword aiming for his neck. "You seem to be decently trained," the hooded person said as the mage got up and began casting.

"But can you take us both, let alone handle me?" the one holding the sword said as it rushed Koku again. Koku blocked again and again and did so for a few minutes. Whatever the mage was casting was finally done, so in a moment, the sword wielder switched from attack to retreat, and that's when Koku saw it.

"Fire tomb!" the mage yelled as a wave of flames scattered in a web formation. Koku looked at the attack and knew he was caught within the range of the attack. But at that moment, stones shot out of the ground, completely blocking the fire attack. "Good job, kiddo," Sabito had arrived and unsheathed his sword. With the intent to kill, he aimed at the two enemies. He brought down the stone shield and rushed both combatants in an instant.

It took but a mere moment for the arm of the sword wielder to come off flying, and soon his head followed; then the mage came next. A simple swing from Sabito split his body in half. After killing the mage, Sabito took a moment and took a deep breath in and then out. "SO, kiddo, let's head back. We'll do more training tomorrow." Sabito didn't even let Koku get a word in, but Koku didn't have anything to ask or say, so he went along with him back to HQ.

For the next 2 months, things went fairly well. The training was progressing at an even faster rate than the knights thought. In those 2 months, Koku had managed to learn all that a starter and intermediate knight would have to know. Was he as strong as an intermediate, though? That was the question a knight asked another knight as they watched Sabito and Koku sparring in the courtyard.

"You've gotten good but still lack in some places, kid," Sabito smiled and laughed out loud. "Kid, I'm messing with you," hearing this, Koku just replied by saying, "All of your horrible jokes aside, I am lacking in some parts." Koku went on a rant and named things he was lacking in. Not even 1/4 of the way in, Sabito asked Koku to stop overloading his brain; he was just 5 years old, he added.

After that, they proceeded to finish the sparring. A few weeks passed by, and a few more after that. During this time, Koku was able to tap into his powers a little more. For example, he was able to strengthen his aura sword, and his aura became thicker. Not only that, but his first ability from his aura sword showed: Void slash. It's a fairly weak ability for the moment, and its growth in power depends on Koku's own growth in power. Apart from that, Koku's gotten better with his swordsmanship.

After another week, Sabito was deployed to the frontlines, and it was evident that war was inevitable. The country they were in turmoil with was the merfolk. In the battles that came along the way, Koku received word that the merfolk had launched a massive strike at the frontlines.

Rumors spread like crazy that Paladonia had taken a big hit from that attack, and lost lots and behold, the rumors were true. In that attack, the Battle of Roke Bridge left 80,000 magic knights dead and 120,000 injured. Merfolk had overwhelmed them with sheer numbers, all of which were strong combatants. The matchup was 200,000 knights against 430,000 Demi-human warriors.

Not much information was given after that, and soon after, a month passed. This brought up the day of entrance exams for the academy. "You got this, kid," a few knights cheered him on after causing a scene as they escorted him to the academy. "He's 6 now... kids grow fast these days," a knight jokingly said.

But that stuff isn't very important. What's important is that Koku was walking through the gates of the academy, and the knights were no joke. They had a few high ranks that also escorted him to the academy, which is located in another city. This city is one of many states within Paladonia, and it's one of the biggest cities within Paladonia as well.

In the city of Aframon, currently known as the third biggest city in Paladonia, and home to one of the three big academies in all of Paladonia. Koku entered the courtyard where all the smaller students were gathered, upon getting there, everyone was given a guidebook. A few students scoffed as they flipped to the very last page, "This thing has 1,500 pages!", a few students yelled, and a few more joined in.

But unlike many others, Koku began reading the moment he got the book, page by page he made it to the next and the next. Eventually when the instructors made the announcements, Koku was easily around the 600th page.

Even then, Koku continued to read as the instructors called out the names of the applicants to see who was here and who wasn't. After about 2 hours the last name was being called, "Koku are you here!?", the instructor made sure to speak clearly and loudly.

After a 3-second pause, Koku raised his hand, the instructors looked at him and checked his name on the list. "Alright!, here at the academy, we're known as bronze, that's the academy name and rank amongst the other academies in Paladonia. Seeing as how you're all applying for this academy, your parents, guardians, or whoever else, amounted enough money to get you in here." Hearing him speak for a little longer.

For about 10 minutes, he talked crap about the student pride and the school's rules. However, as Koku finished reading the book of 1,500 pages, he flipped to this page which was near the end of the book; it explained something about entrance exams, a creature to be specific.

As he scanned the page, he saw the part of the book he was interested in. Koku began to read the page to himself.

"The Cratrus is a fairly big monster, one which possesses poisonous qualities, long and close-range combat capabilities as well. Its shallow armor protects it against shallow strikes such as beginners and intermediate academy students' attacks. The monster has an incredible defensive system, as it's able to decrease the potency and effect of any poison or aftereffects done to itself," Koku read this but noticed something about the page.

He flipped the page upside down and could see another set of words, "One chosen by the vast purple space shall set its eyes upon this monster with curiosity. When the stars align, this monster will bend a knee to another who will challenge-", Koku noted that the page stopped right there; he wanted to know more but heard the instructor start talking about the test, so he listened.

"This test is what determines if you're allowed into the school. If you fail, then too bad, so here's the gist of the test. First, you'll…