The next morning, sunlight filtered through the curtains of their rooms at Franco's Inn, waking them to a series of knocks on the doors.
Krista was the first to open the door with hesitant steps, finding a young employee in a simple royal uniform, carrying with him a bundle of sealed papers.Behind her, Neil emerged, casually tying his hair, while Adam merely watched the scene with empty eyes.
"These are the official invitations. Each one of you has received a specific appointment for your individual test."
The employee began distributing the papers one by one, speaking clearly:"Krista Lenz… ten o'clock in the morning, eastern courtyard of the training palace."Her heart pounded so hard she could almost hear its sound.
"Neil… eleven-thirty, western courtyard."Neil smiled as if it didn't concern him, folded the paper, and slipped it into his pocket.
"Adam Ethan… three in the afternoon, central field for advanced measurement."Adam took the paper with a cold hand, as if he were receiving a decision that meant nothing to him.
Then the employee explained in a practical tone:"The appointments are strict and do not allow for lateness. The test locations are distributed according to our initial assessment of your competencies and the types of your abilities. Eastern courtyard tests focus on offensive and defensive magic control. The western courtyard is for examining energy and fusion skills. The central field… is for candidates who have shown rare mutations or unclassified energies."
He gave them a quick glance, then bowed slightly in salute and left.
At that moment, a strange silence fell among them.Krista gripped her invitation tightly, trying to calm her nerves.Neil let out a short sigh, stretching as if preparing for just another ordinary day.Adam remained standing, staring at the paper for a long time, then lifted his eyes toward the window… showing no trace of emotion on his face.
"So this is it… everything will begin."
Announcement of results – eveningAs the sun set, the participants gathered in the front courtyard of the training palace.Carla stood with the other supervisors before them, while the royal employee who had distributed the invitations that morning held a sealed scroll.
The front courtyard was crowded with participants, tense faces and eyes fixed on the stone platform where the committee stood.Everyone expected a long list of names to be announced, for those who had taken the tests that morning numbered in the dozens.
The royal employee slowly raised the sealed scroll and began in a ceremonial voice:"After reviewing the performance of all candidates, the committee has chosen only three names to move on to the next stage of the Royal Academy program…"
A short murmur ran through the rows, as if the word "only" had dropped onto the crowd like a heavy stone.Some exchanged puzzled glances, others gasped in surprise.Even some observers from the capital raised their eyebrows in astonishment—three out of such a huge number?"Impossible… only three?!""Were the standards that harsh?""I heard some participants showed excellent skills!"
In the back rows, some clenched their fists in anger, others lowered their heads in disappointment.One girl who had performed well in the eastern courtyard bit her lip hard, her eyes filling with tears as she whispered: "All this way… just to be eliminated?"
He opened it in a ceremonial tone and announced:"After reviewing the performance of all candidates, the committee has chosen three names to advance to the next stage of the Royal Academy program:First – Neil, from the village of Etragan, for his unique excellence in merging energy elements.Second – Krista Lenz, from the village of Etragan, for her steadiness and balance in offense and defense."
When the employee announced Neil's name, Krista turned quickly toward him, as if certain of his victory, then returned her gaze to the platform holding her breath.When her own name came second, she felt both relief and astonishment at once, but in her mind there was no doubt:
The third name… must be Adam.
Even Neil, fiddling restlessly with his headband, raised his eyes toward the platform expecting to hear: Adam Ethan.He was the only one in the central field, and the committee itself had watched him with unusual focus.
But the employee continued in a steady voice:"And third… Lius Ring, from the village of Evry, for his exceptional performance in tactical tests."
Krista's features froze for seconds, as if she hadn't processed what she heard.Lius?!… She had been sure the third name would be Adam.
But before she turned toward him, she realized something strange… Adam was not standing in his usual spot in the back rows.She looked around quickly, searching for his cold features among the crowd, but there was no trace of him.
Neil noticed it too.He furrowed his brow, letting his gaze sweep the courtyard, then muttered in a low voice barely audible to Krista:"Where is he…?"
He took a step forward, as if to confirm with his own eyes, but the emptiness remained.Adam's disappearance was not normal—he had never before seemed the type to skip hearing the results.
In Neil's mind, questions began piling up:Did he leave before the announcement? Why? Did he know the result in advance? Or had something else happened…?
Krista felt a mysterious chill creep into her limbs, as if Adam's absence was not mere coincidence, but the prelude to something far greater than she could imagine.
After most of the crowd had dispersed, Neil approached Carla Brown, who was reviewing notes in a small notebook.He stood directly before her and asked in a quiet yet sharp voice:"Carla… did you see Adam before the results were announced?"
She slowly lifted her head, giving him a scrutinizing look before replying:"The last time I saw him was at three in the afternoon, right after leaving the central field. Since then… no trace of him."
Neil's expression tightened slightly, as if realizing that Adam's disappearance was not sudden, but planned or linked to something specific.
But before he could ask another question, a strong voice rose from the platform, where the royal delegate stood.He struck his staff on the ground to draw attention, then said with a tone laced with arrogance:"In any case… let it be clear to all, that your selection, you three, is not only proof of your excellence, but also mercy from His Majesty the King. It is rare for the children of remote villages to be admitted into the school where the children of nobles study."
A wave of whispers spread among the crowd; some felt insulted, others shrank in their spots.Neil gave a slight side smile, but in his eyes was a glint of defiance impossible to miss.Krista felt a sting in her chest—she knew these words were only the beginning of a series of scorn they would face within the capital's walls.
Yet the question continued to haunt Neil amid the noise:Where had Adam gone… and why had he vanished at the critical moment?
When Neil and Krista left the hall with teacher Carla Brown, their steps were quick despite the heavy air filled with unanswered questions. The capital's air carried a faint scent of gunpowder, as if the place had seen an invisible battle only hours earlier.
As they passed through the inner courtyard leading to the side corridor, a supervisor dressed in the academy's uniform stopped them—though her appearance was far from the usual discipline. The sleeve of her white robe was torn at the shoulder, dried drops of blood clinging to the fabric, her face pale, and her eyes carrying a mix of exhaustion and fear.
She raised a trembling hand to stop Carla from advancing and whispered in a low but sharp voice:"Carla… you must hear this immediately… what happened in the eastern wing was no accident."
Neil stopped walking, exchanging a quick look with Krista as if both sensed these words carried the key to what was happening. Carla stepped closer, her eyes fixed on the wounds on the supervisor's arm, then asked with a firmness tinged with worry:"Who attacked you? And where are the other supervisors?"
The supervisor swallowed hard, as if struggling to regain her breath before answering, then said in a broken voice:"No… I don't think they were students… They moved as if they knew every corridor in the palace… and their goal was clear… to search for someone in particular."
At that moment, Neil felt a tightness in his chest, his gaze locking with Krista's, who read in his eyes the same suspicion forming in her own mind. But before either could speak, the supervisor continued, lowering her voice even more:"And the strangest thing… the participants' names were changed at the last moment."
Neil and Krista left with teacher Carla Brown to the rear courtyard of the building, where the smell of blood preceded the scene by several steps. The air was saturated with a sharp metallic scent, and broken whispers scattered among the few remaining supervisors and students.
Carla advanced cautiously until she was halted by the sight of one supervisor sitting on the ground, her back against the wall, her clothes stained with blood. Her breathing was heavy, her face pale, and her eyes drifting between consciousness and loss. She slowly lifted her head when she sensed Carla's shadow approaching, and murmured in a hoarse voice:"They… came from where we least expected… four of them… it was over in seconds."
Carla knelt beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder, trying to give her some steadiness. But the next words from the supervisor made her heart sink:"Four supervisors… killed… and two students as well… one of them, that black-haired boy… I think he was one of your students…"
Neil shuddered for a moment, his gaze shifting silently between Carla and Krista, while Carla stared at the supervisor as if trying to deny what she'd heard—but inside, she could not summon the strength to reject the truth.
It wasn't long before a deep voice echoed across the courtyard, coming from a temporary wooden platform set up at the gate. The trip leader, the man tasked with leading this educational convoy, stood there before a magical microphone. His face showed more fatigue than fear, but he lifted his head and said clearly:"In my own name, and as the commander responsible for this journey… I declare that I bear full responsibility for the deaths that occurred today. I know words are not enough, but I will face the consequences of what happened before the king and the council of nobles."
Carla, still kneeling beside the wounded supervisor, lifted her head toward the platform, hearing every word clearly. In his voice was a mix of sincerity and resignation, as if he knew that justifying what had happened was impossible, and that his fate was perhaps already sealed. As for her, she felt an even heavier weight pressing on her heart, realizing that the circle of danger was expanding, and that Adam's disappearance was no longer a passing detail but a key thread in what was unfolding.
They left through the gate, the air thick with the unmistakable scent of rusty iron. Evening had begun to fall, the sky shading toward a heavy darkness, as if it shared the weight of the scene they were about to face.
Their steps were slow, hesitant, until they stopped completely at the edge of the dirt square behind the inn. There, a body lay stretched out on the ground, surrounded by the dim shadows of lantern light. Krista approached, but the moment she caught sight of the features, she froze.
Adam… or what was left of him.His face was so disfigured it was hard to recognize, as if a blind force had torn at him without mercy. Blood stained his cheeks and hair, his hands stiffened in a defensive position, as if his last act had been to block what could not be blocked.
Krista placed a hand over her mouth, her eyes widening as if about to burst. She could not speak, but her broken breaths were enough to betray the shock shaking her heart.
Neil, unusually, remained silent, watching the body with a feigned coldness, while inside him questions fought for dominance: how? when? and why in this way?
Carla closed her eyes for a moment, as if trying to erase the image from her mind, but forced herself to look. There was something about Adam's death that was unnatural… something that suggested this was no ordinary crime.
Carla stepped slowly toward the corpse, her eyes avoiding the bloodstained features. The scene was harsher than she could bear—even her heart, accustomed to seeing losses in training arenas, trembled this time. She slowly raised her hand to cover her mouth, trying to hold back the tremor in her voice, but the words came out fractured, barely above a whisper:"Oh my God… Adam…"
Krista was kneeling beside him, her hands trembling as she tried to touch his shoulder, but fear of the coldness of death stopped her. Tears slid silently down her cheeks before she burst out in a shaking voice:"If only… if only I had understood him before it was too late…"
Neil remained at a distance, standing motionless. His eyes fixed on the body, but his gaze held not only shock, but a mixture of grief and regret, as if something heavy had broken inside him. He clenched his hand tightly, as if trying to grip that feeling so he would not collapse in front of everyone.
The air around them was thick with the scent of blood, and the royal city suddenly seemed less bright… and far colder.