Tap, tap, tap.
A boy was striking his foot against the floor, each thrum a hinge more violent than the last.
His sleeves hung so loose, they flapped with every twitch of his arms--like the fabric was three times too wide. His chest and stomach were the same way, barely visible beneath his shirt that stretched down to the midsection of his thigh.
Despite this, he figured that his most prominent feature was his dirty blonde hair--carrying with it a warmth like the sun, or so he told himself.
"Mm..." He hummed under his breath, his gaze locked on the silent door in front of him.
Above it was a hanging myriad of crystalline fragments, each piece a small portion of a larger projection.
The projection portrayed a large arena, two small dots located in its center.
Honing in on his vision, Revian took notice of two girls with swords standing ten feet apart from each other, the ragged, uneven movements of their chests insinuating that they were both out of breath.
"Look at this, the two are at a complete standstill!" The projection yelled, its sound coming from a weirdly protruding yellow horn at the side of the room. "Who will come out on top, Isadora or Valerica!?"
The roaring of a crowd could be heard, Revian's attention now shifting to the stadium full of people on the sides of the arena.
The seats for the crowd built off of one another in steps like a ladder to the heavens, towering far enough to block the view of the sun from where the projection's image originated.
Suddenly, one of the girls adjusted their stance, the sword in their hand that was crookedly sticking out in front of her gaining composure of its own as she tilted it to its side, the numerous openings she had all diminishing in an instant.
"Hm, she's good." Revian added, raising one eyebrow as he crossed his arms.
With blistering speed, she jutted forward towards her opponent who only just tightened their stance to combat her assault.
However, it was too little too late, and the fight was over just like that.
With one resolved swipe, the girl's wooden blade smacked against her opponent's with such force that she was propelled twenty feet backwards, falling off the solid platform and freefalling into a pit of water below.
The crowd erupted into a fit of glory, yelling 'Isa... dora!' with such volume that Revian nearly covered his ears from the audio horn.
Crrrkkk!
The door's hinge began to turn, the friction resounding a quieted shrill that forced Revian's attention back toward the front of the room.
A plain-looking man poked out from behind the door, not bothering to step foot inside the same space as Revian.
"Y-You're up, Silent Knight..."
Revian propped himself up from the bench he'd rested on, patting off the dust from his pants as he turned towards the man.
As he stepped forward to meet him, however, the door slammed shut, the sound of frantic footsteps causing Revian's eyebrows to draw inward.
"What was that guy's problem?" He asked, eventually turning his head away in dismissal--unwilling to venture further in the fear that he'd confirm the rising suspicion that he'd had for months now.
Revian exited the room, making his way through a narrow passageway with little caverns that had benches and old-timey sickbays stained with the scent of blood and sweat.
He stayed unbothered by the filth, however, and continued his march until light peeked out from the ends of the hallway, the same arena he'd been watching now standing right in front of him.
Harrowing bellows assailed his eardrums, the crowd's attention ignited by his appearance.
He made no attempt to wave or play into the glory, however, and simply made his approach towards the center of the arena, eyeing the opposing hallway.
Moments later, a second person walked out, their left hand reaching towards their other arm as they awkwardly trekked to the center.
The crowd's loud howling diminished in sound at the arrival of the second boy, the humiliation burrowing into his body in the form of a reserved posture even more than earlier.
"Well, folks, I know it's been a long day, but I'm sure that I speak for everyone here when I say that this fight right here is what's kept us here." The announcer yelled, his voice reverberating from somewhere above the arena.
After a slight pause, he continued his monologue, a projection far bigger than the one in the room materializing overhead.
"To the left here is Revian Corvus, better known as the Silent Knight, his movements quick but his words little. He is moving onto his third year, top of his class in both rune-weaving and swordsmanship."
The crowd roared with passion, some small cups and plates even being thrown up into the air from the violent waving of their hands.
"And to the right is Malric Solmar, third in line to the Solmar heritage. A third year just like Revian, he ranks number nine in elemental harmonics, a genius for sure!"
The crowd's roar continued, although not nearly as bright as it'd been for Revian. The items stopped hailing from their seats, and there were some who hadn't yelled at all.
There was a long pause as the crowd's screams slowly settled, Revian peering into the sky as a bright light the length of his arm began to settle to the floor.
Quickly grabbing it, the light dissipated to reveal a wooden blade, its make far denser due to the magical runes equipped on the hilt.
Revian stepped back, urging Malric to do the same, but as Malric was busy finding the proper grip for his blade, Revian had already adopted his go-to form, his left arm stretching out in front of him as if he were holding some type of shield while his right arm--the one holding the sword--hung just over his shoulder, the tip of the blade pointed directly at his opponent.
"Well then, on the sound of the trumpet, this match will begin!" The announcer yelled, a yellow trumpet hovering just above the two.
Hrrnnnn!
Without a single moment of hesitation, Revian began his approach to Malric , his legs folding and unfurling with such haste that for a second, Malric's gaze was still locked on where Revian had been prior.
Revian was dashing in a zig-zag motion, the defense of his left hand and the attack of his right concealed within the spontaneity of his movements.
Once the two were within a meter of each other, Malric stuck out his blade to impact against Revian's chest with a jab, but Revian had already seen through this in his stance and staggered movements, spinning around the blade while diverting it with his left arm, uncontrollably pulling Malric forward.
Malric now open with no hope of defense, Revian retaliated with his own attack, jutting his sword forward with twice the kinetic energy as Malric's.
This, coupled with Malric getting pulled toward Revian's blade, caused a crrrkkkkk to emit from his ribcage that even the crowd could hear.
And with that, the fight was over, Malric laying flat on the platform with no visible animation in his limbs.
The crowd was silent for a deafeningly slow few seconds, the blades in their hands dissipating into the atmosphere as Revian simply stood there, unmoving.
And then it exploded. The floor and water shook as the crowd erupted, the chaos in the stands developing into full-blown people and chairs flying off into the air and people crashing against the barrier protecting the crowd from falling into the water.
Some drops of water from the ravine fifty feet below jumped up to contact Revian, his hard expression softening.
"Revian is the winner!" The announcer howled as Revian turned back to exit into the hallway he came from.
---
"Hey, I saw that class duel of yours. I've got to say, that might have been your best one yet!"
The one speaking was a boy of relatively average stature, standing at around 5'8'' with dark brown hair. He was carrying a backpack with him, pacing next to Revian with his arm stretched out to cover Revian's left shoulder.
Revian thought that his voice was a mixture of admiration and unwavering pestilence--like someone who just never knew when to stop talking.
"I mean, the way you just spun around Malric's blade like that was amazing. There's no way you won't be placed in Class A after that performance."
His right hand waved in the air as he looked up with stars in his eyes, a large building just a few hundred feet ahead of the two.
No words escaped Revian's mouth, his gait still even and his expression unbothered.
"You know, I just have a feeling that you and I will both receive the best magic there is. After all, it's said that the gods give the best magic only to those who are worthy, and who's more worthy than the two of us in this entire school?"
Again, Revian didn't speak, but his lips barely quivered, the words caught at the tip of his tongue as if he weren't sure to utter them.
"You don't have to cling onto me so tightly." Revian muttered very bluntly, raising his left hand to remove the boy's grip on his shoulder without looking at him.
The boy was taken aback at his response, his steps stalled for a few moments before he hurriedly caught up.
"Hey, Revi, it's me--Veyric Astavan. You know, your roommate? You shouldn't act so cold; whether you like it or not, we're locked at the hip, and it'll stay that way as long as we're both in class A."
Revian closed his eyes, not bothering to turn back towards Veyric to meet his gaze.
"Ah... so that's your name." He quietly mused, raising his finger up as if to point towards the imaginary lightbulb that'd just appeared in his mind.
"You've said my name before! That wasn't funny--at least, not if you meant it."
Revian chuckled a bit, looking to the side as though to ignore the pain in Veyric's voice.
Veyric waited for a response, but as Revian silently continued his approach to the building ahead of them, full with lines of students waiting along its doors, he couldn't help but speak once more.
"Jerk." He whispered under his breath, trying his best to forget what Revian just said. "Anyway, do you know what magic you want? I've heard horror stories about gifted students at the top of their class who, after gaining mediocre magic, quickly fell to the bottom. You've prayed to the gods for good magic, right?"
The corners of Revian's lips trembled for a split second, giving Veyric just enough information for his response.
"I knew it! You're scared you might get something like slight chill or paperweight, is that right?"
Revian's eyes shot back at Veyric, his glare prompting Veyric's limbs to stiffen in fear.
"Just let it go already, okay? It's not any of your business." He said, his teeth grit in indignation.
Veyric could only nervously chortle at his retort, his cheeks raised in a half-smile.
"Touchy much? Did you bite a lemon on the way here?"
Revian bore no mind to his words, instead just looking up and down at the building which was right in front of them.
Eventually, they reached the tall tower where everyone was bundled up, its outer framework a large spiral that etched its way into a double helix. There were a number of glass doors, small golden encasings sitting just next to the handles that would receive thin paper strips handed out to attendees of the university once they were assigned a class, granting different entries to different personnel.
It was almost like a gradient of people as the further right one got, the shorter the lines got.
At the Class F line, there was a line that expanded further out than Revian could see from his position. In contrast, at the door just a few dozen feet from where he stood, the Class A line didn't even reach the door, the people waiting all fitting inside the building.
Revian went up and pulled his ID card from his pocket, placing it in the encasing. After a few moments, a click could be heard in the door's interior as the knob shook for a single instant.
As he went to open the door, Veyric traced behind him as tightly as he could, but Revian made sure to quickly shut the door behind him, its hinges again locked by whatever machinations ran it.
"Hey, come on, man!" Veyric yelled, although most of its meaning was lost to the sound-blocking glass separating the two.
Revian didn't bother to wait for him to open the door, instead making his way towards the door that lead to the main hall.
There were people lined up to his left, all waiting for admission through the main passageway by three mediators at the end of the room, but he cared little, for the Class A line was nonexistent, his classmates all having already made their way inside.
Revian passed them with little more than a glance. The other students glanced back with a mix of admiration and trepidation—some out of envy, others out of awe. None dared speak to him. His presence alone was enough to disrupt conversation.
The hall beyond was vast.
Marbled floors shimmered with magical light, and an arched ceiling bore thousands of floating runes, each glowing faintly as if whispering to one another in a language only the worthy could hear. Along the walls stood towering statues of legendary mages--figures carved so finely, they seemed ready to walk off their pedestals. Every step echoed.
Revian stopped before a pedestal on a raised dais at the room's center, its base engraved with the phrase:
"To be Chosen is to be Judged."
A figure in silver ceremonial robes stepped forward, face obscured by a porcelain mask painted with runes.
"Revian Corvus," the figure intoned, voice calm and sharp. "Approach."
Revian did so. The figure raised one arm, and from above descended a single glimmering shard of crystal, spinning slowly as it hovered in front of him. The room dimmed. Even the whispers from the floating runes above had ceased.
"Place your hand upon the shard, and may the gods be just."
Revian exhaled quietly and stepped forward.
His fingers closed around the crystal.
For a moment--nothing.
Then the entire hall flared with light. The shard's interior bloomed with golden cracks that crawled over its surface like lightning frozen in time.
Revian flinched.
Flames? No. Not flames--sigils. Thousands of them, pouring out of the shard in a storm of gold and silver. The shard shot upward, embedding itself into the dome of the hall where it pulsed like a second sun.
All sound had stopped.
Then the masked figure spoke again, barely above a whisper.
"…An unbound type…"
Gasps rippled through the hall. Even the statues seemed to react, the faint hum of magic vibrating the floor.
"What does that mean?" someone muttered in the distance.
The robed figure lowered their head slightly. "You have been gifted a magic without anchor, one that does not align with any element or discipline known to man. Its name will be discovered only through mastery."
Revian stared blankly, his heart still. Unbound?
The silence that followed was suffocating.
"Dismissed," the figure finally said.
Revian turned without a word and walked from the dais. He didn't glance back.