The Holy Academy.

  It needed no other name— because it was the most prestigious institution in the entire world. There were other magic academies that were given unique names, such as the Holy School of Meridus, or Auster’s Academy of Magical Arts. However, none of them were as esteemed and well-regarded as the Holy Academy.

  Its full name was the Holy Academy of the Church of Life. However, there was no need to call it by its full name, as its shortened name sufficed.

  And today was going to determine the next batch of students that would be enrolling into its rigid and difficult curriculum.

  Because it was the day of the entrance exams.

  But unlike other magical academies which had a much more streamlined process for enrollment, the Holy Academy did things differently.

  Ordinarily, for other magical institutions, there was simply a written exam that prospective students needed to pass, after they met a certain number of requirements such as having a type of Class or a specific Rank.

  However, every single prospective student that was gathered here today for the entrance exams had already passed a written test. Not only that, they all met the eligibility requirements of having reached Silver Rank whilst being eighteen years old or younger.

  In fact, most other magical institutions didn’t have an age requirement. But the Holy Academy was special, in that they were known to not only accept the most talented individuals across the world, but they were going to raise them to become the next generation of Holy Knights, Inquisitors, and Cardinals.

  And knowing this, Myrla knew she was special. That she was destined for greatness far beyond anyone else who was gathered here. After all, while everyone else gathered here was around sixteen or seventeen years of age, she was a fourteen year old child genius.

  Having become a Silver Rank [Younger Paladin Of Light] a few months ago, she had barely just met all the requirements needed to apply to the Holy Academy of the Church of Life. She had already passed the written test before that, although that was quite easy for her, since she had asked her local [Priest]— Reverend Geron— to help mentor her.

  He happily agreed to help teach her, considering most [Priests] in most temples would be more than happy to have someone in their community be enrolled in the Holy Academy. Unfortunately, most children didn’t even ask, because they either didn’t think it was possible for them to be accepted, or they just didn’t care enough to become anything special.

  And while a lack of ambition was an ordinary trait of children, Myrla was an extraordinary child. She proved it by being one of the few ever fourteen year olds to have ever enrolled into the Holy Academy.

  …well, she hadn’t been accepted just yet. Although, she was quite confident in getting accepted. But even still, the second-youngest prospective student who was here for the entrance exam was a fifteen-year-old boy named Kelton who was turning sixteen in a month.

  Meanwhile, Myrla still had just over half a year or so before she turned fifteen. So the young azure-haired girl just beamed to herself, knowing that she was the most talented out of these prospective batch of students. It was evident to anyone who saw the two-thousand or so other teenagers who were here for the entrance exams that she had potential.

  And that was why Myrla had confidence in her passing this entrance exam. After all, this was no ordinary entrance exam where the prospective students had to meet a certain set of requirements. No— they had all already done that, proving themselves to be fit for the Holy Academy on paper.

  Instead, this was an evaluation of the prospective students and the potential they brought to the Holy Academy.

  There were ten examiners from the Church of Life who were gathered here today who were going to evaluate every single prospective student. Ten examiners for two-thousand prospective students sounded like a lot, but there were a variety of tests set up for the prospective students to tackle here in any way or order they wanted.

  It was extremely unconventional. But the point was for the students to show off their strengths— to stand out in a way that they caught the eye of the examiners. And after the entrance exams were over, the examiners would go back and deliberate over each and every student. As long as a student received five recommendations, they would be accepted into the Holy Academy.

  Considering that Myrla was the youngest person here, she already naturally stood out, so standing out a little bit more to get a few recommendations wasn’t difficult. She grinned to herself as she swept her gaze over the vast field that had been set up with the different tests for her to attempt.

  In total, there were twenty different tests— each one unique in their own way. One of them was an obstacle course to test out their physical fitness, while another was a testing ground for their elemental magic aptitude. There was also a sparring arena prepared for prospective students to duel each other in unarmed combat, and training golems for them to face at another corner of the field.

  There were plenty of different tests for them to try out. And it wasn’t even necessary for them to take on every single one of them either. It was just all set up for them to try out, and they could pick and choose which one they took, so they could stand out and show off their best side to the examiners.

  Or at the very least, that was what most of the prospective students here thought. That was why they rushed to take on the tests that they would do best in. But Myrla was smarter than that. She knew that the examiners were already aware of pretty much everything about each and every candidate here. After all, the examiners had access to their application which not only stated their Class, but also listed all their accomplishments.

  So this was a chance for Myrla to stand out in ways that the examiners did not expect from her. As a [Paladin], there was no reason for her to prove herself in the physical realm by sparring with other candidates or taking on the obstacle course. Instead, she dashed towards the elemental magic aptitude test to show off her magical capabilities to the examiners.

  But right as she took two steps forward, she bumped into a figure who had suddenly appeared just ahead of her. The two of them stumbled back as she narrowed her eyes.

  “Hey, watch where you’re going!” she exclaimed, raising her head.

  Looking at the figure standing just across from her, she realized she was speaking to a young boy— somewhere around twelve or thirteen years of age. He had white hair and black eyes, and he looked lost and confused. He bowed his head apologetically at her as spoke.

  “Sorry, I was in a rush to get here, so I wasn’t looking. That’s my bad.”

  “It’s… fine,” Myrla huffed, feeling slightly embarrassed for getting upset at a kid who was younger than her and probably didn’t even know what was going on. “Just be careful— you don’t want to accidentally hurt yourself by wandering into a stray spell.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  She looked towards the side, watching as a student unleashed a barrage of ice arrows at a training golem. Some of the ice arrows went whizzing out of the arena, but fortunately, the other candidates who were waiting for their turn easily blocked the magical attacks.

  “It’s dangerous, so make sure you watch where you’re going.”

  The white-haired body just nodded back at her. “Right, thanks.”

  She looked him up and down as a thought crossed her mind.

  “What are you doing here anyway?” Myrla asked with a frown. “I thought family members of candidates weren’t allowed to watch the entrance exams…”

  If she could’ve brought her family with her, she would have dragged her mother here with her to watch the entrance exams play out. Not her father or her brother though— neither of them had believed in her, and thought she would have never made it this far. In fact, they hadn’t even come to Lux with her or her mother. So she would’ve only shared this moment with the person who had supported her all throughout.

  “Or at least, that’s what they told me in the acceptance letter,” Myrla continued as she tapped a finger on her chin.

  “What am I doing here?” The boy blinked for a moment, before scratching the back of his head. “Oh, you’re mistaken, I’m not someone’s family member. I’m here to take the entrance exams too.”

  Myrla froze when she heard what he said. “...what?”

  This had to be a joke, right? The boy couldn’t have been older than her. He wasn’t even her height! Sure, it was just an inch or two at most— but… but… but…

  Myrla gaped at him for a long moment, trying to work her jaw. But no words came out. She almost wanted to accuse him of lying. However, he just smiled and proffered his hand

  “I’m Eli, by the way,” he said casually as she continued to stare at him blankly. “It’s nice to see there’s someone else who’s around my age taking the entrance exams too. I felt completely out of place, seeing all these much older kids gathered here.”

  He looked at her expectantly, but the girl didn’t respond. She just swayed where she stood as he raised a brow at her.

  “What’s your name by the way?”

  “I—” Myrla opened her mouth. And then she closed her eyes. Slowly, she accepted his handshake as she replied. “I’m Myrla Arthus, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance too.”

  Even though her entire body was numb and her head ached, she had no choice but to accept it. She was not the youngest prodigy that was present here in the entrance exams. So she just resolved herself to really stand out.

  After all, that was the only way she was going to be accepted into the Holy Academy.

  “Now, if you’ll excuse me—” Myrla drew away from the boy as she quickly started in the direction of the elemental magic aptitude test.

  All the while, Eli just eyed her curiously from behind.

  ***

  “What a strange batch of candidates we have this year,” Emmett remarked as he swept his gaze over the vast field. “An elf, two child prodigies— one of which found a cure to the Blight— and a prince. It appears we are making quite a few exceptions to our enrollment process this year, aren’t we?”

  “A farce, that’s what it is,” Garrion spat, crossing his arms next to the archdeacon. He was evidently much younger than the elderly [High Priest], even if he was in his forties himself. “When I was enrolled at the Holy Academy, we did not make any exceptions. We only allowed those who were the best of the best to join— we only had a thousand candidates, and every single one of us were far more competent than this rabble of weaklings.”

  As a Captain of the Holy Knights, Garrion had been chosen to be one of the ten examiners of the entrance exam, alongside Archdeacon Emmett. However, neither of them got along well with each other, due to their conflicting personalities.

  “Need I remind you that you enrolled during the War of Fate?” Archdeacon Emmett said as he raised his brow at the Holy Knight. “Most young men and women in the Sanctus Empire were being conscripted to fight against the Death God. That is why there was a historical low during that period in enrollment to the Holy Academy.”

  Garrion scoffed as he looked away from the elderly men. “Even still, we’re growing soft. When I was a student, only eight-percent of us passed the entrance exams. Now, at least ten percent of candidates make it through every single year.”

  “That’s simply because the talent pool is greater.” Emmett shrugged in response.

  “Or perhaps, it’s because of soft men like you that we’re lowering our standards,” Garrion countered.

  Sighing, the archdeacon strode forward as his gaze swept over the field. He looked towards where Eli had gone— in the direction of the elemental magic aptitude test.

  “If that is what you believe, then you should be glad that you were chosen to evaluate this year’s batch of candidates.” The [High Priest] shook his head simply. “After all, not only can you recommend the candidates you think are truly fit to be a part of the Holy Academy, you can also sway the opinions of the other examiners during our evaluation process later on.”

  Garrion just harrumphed, but he didn’t say another word, instead looking in the same direction the archdeacon did. A young girl had reached the front of the queue of the elemental magic aptitude test before Eli did.

  Emmett recognized her— her name was Myrla Arthus. She was the daughter of one of the barons who presided over the northern territories of the Sanctus Empire. As a [Paladin], it was unexpected of her to go straight for a magic-related test, since her Skills should have mainly suited close-quarters combat.

  But she strode forward with confidence as she approached the training dummies about a hundred feet away from her. Raising a hand, she took in a deep breath and began to conjure up a fireball. At first, it was only about the size of the palm of her hand. But then it grew until it was the size of her head.

  And then it shot forward, completely engulfing one of the training dummies in a fiery explosion.

  Emmett whistled, evidently impressed. “A [Paladin] capable of casting a fireball spell, huh? Now, that’s something.”

  “Bah, any Bronze Rank [Mage] is capable of casting that exact spell,” Garrion snorted as he waved a hand dismissively. “That’s nothing to be amazed at.”

  “She’s fourteen, and she’s not a [Mage].” Emmett rolled his eyes. “[Paladins] are often only capable of casting light magic spells too. The fact that she can cast an elemental magic spell is impressive in itself too.”

  Garrion just shook his head. “As I said before— we’ve gone soft because of men like you.”

  The archdeacon didn’t bother with a response to that. Instead, he shifted his attention towards Eli. The young boy stepped forward as he applauded Myrla’s show of elemental magic. Now, it was his turn to show what he was capable of.

  Let’s see if Donovan was right about you, Eli, Emmett thought as he took in a deep breath.

  The [High Priest] would have liked to have had the chance to evaluate what the boy was capable of before the entrance exams started. Unfortunately, due to Eli’s late arrival, that wasn’t possible, and now, Emmett had no choice but to have faith in his former student’s words.

  After all, they were not just mere words of praise— it was the fact that Eli had cured the Blight. So it was a promise that he would become someone great. And Emmett had relayed that very same message to the Holy Academy, letting the boy skip the written tests and go straight to the entrance exams.

  Even Garrion, who was normally skeptical of these things, seemed to be curious about the boy. The Holy Knight straightened, watching the boy intently with one eye.

  Raising a hand, Eli began to conjure up a ball of fire just as Myrla had done, although his movements were far more subdued. He moved slower, taking his time to cast the spell as sparks gathered at the palm of his hand, forming a fiery sphere.

  Emmett wondered why the boy was taking his time to cast the spell. Many possibilities crossed the archdeacon’s mind— such as a possible lack of control and refinement that made the boy much slower in spellcasting than Myrla. However, another possibility stood out.

  And it was the idea that Eli might have been trying to cast a [Greater Fireball].

  A Gold Rank Skill.

  Archdeacon Emmett’s eyes widened as the boy began to weave circles around the small sphere of flame, and the spell began to grow larger and larger. It happened so quickly— Eli’s fireball rapidly expanded in size until it was three times larger than Myrla’s fireball. And he held it there, aiming for the training dummy.

  “Impossible—” the elderly man started, his eyes widening.

  Even Garrion was taken aback, likely having reached the same conclusion as the archdeacon.

  And the giant fireball… blew up in Eli’s face.