Mariana: "Before continuing your training, you must discover two essential things."
She raised two fingers.
Mariana: "Your elemental affinity... and your class."
Minerva felt her heart clench slightly.
Mariana: "Fire, Water, Wind and Earth."
"Each of you possesses a natural affinity."
"Some already know it."
"Others are still unaware of it."
She placed a hand on the hilt of her sword.
Mariana: "Without knowing your element, you will only waste your potential."
"And here, wasted potential has no place."
She paused, letting her words sink in.
Mariana: "As for your class... it will determine the path you will follow."
"Knight, Valkyrie, Scout, Support Swordsman, etc."
Galgados crossed his arms, observing the students.
Mariana: "The training you receive will depend entirely on these two factors."
"The wrong training on the wrong student breaks bodies... and minds."
She then looked slowly at the group, not missing a single person.
Mariana: "That's why, before going any further, you will move on to the next step."
...
A heavy silence fell.
Mariana: "The revelation."
A few students swallowed hard.
Mariana: "At the end of this trial, you will know who you truly are... and what the Academy expects of you."
Minerva gently gripped the hilt of her sword.
She didn't know it yet, but this step would change her life forever.
The 150 students set off after Mariana.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap
The group gradually left the training ground and entered the streets of the Academy.
The cobblestones, still marked by the dust and sweat of the previous run, echoed under the tired but determined steps of the new students.
Mariana walked in the lead, her calm and steady pace naturally setting the rhythm.
Galgados brought up the rear, arms crossed, silently observing the students as they passed through the large inner gates of the grounds.
Minerva walked beside Roy, his sword still attached to his belt.
Her legs were heavy, but pain no longer occupied her mind.
She recognized this street.
Every building, every turn, every cobblestone seemed strangely familiar.
This was it.
It was exactly along this path that she had run, her heart pounding, her lungs burning, when she had surged toward the trial grounds.
At that moment, she had seen nothing but the ground before her, focused solely on her breathing and on not stopping.
Now, everything seemed different.
The stone walls appeared higher. The banners hanging from the facades, which she hadn't even noticed before, fluttered gently in the breeze.
The windows, behind which older students could perhaps be glimpsed, lent the street an almost solemn atmosphere.
Minerva slowed slightly, letting her eyes take in her surroundings.
Minerva: "I ran here without even looking."
She realized that in just a few hours, her relationship with the Academy had changed.
What had been merely an obstacle to overcome had become a place where she would live, train, and fight for years.
For four years.
Before them, a massive building gradually took shape.
Circular.
Imposing.
Its white stone walls rose high into the sky, forming a perfectly symmetrical structure.
Wide arches opened onto the interior, revealing tiered seating and a vast central area.
The arena.
Minerva felt a slight tension return to her chest.
This was where it would all continue.
Here she would discover her elemental affinity.
Here she would learn which class she would be assigned.
She took a deep breath.
This street she had run across was only the beginning.
As they passed through the heavy stone gates, the 150 candidates were enveloped by the immensity of the arena.
The circular building rose like an ancient colossus, its white stone tiers ascending in concentric tiers to a circular opening at the summit, letting in the light of the sky.
Minerva: "Wow."
The arena floor was engraved with ancient runes, arranged in perfect circles, as if the place itself still breathed the magic accumulated over the centuries.
A collective murmur rippled through the group.
Student: "It's... immense..."
Someone breathed from behind Minerva.
Student: "It looks like a place of judgment."
Another voice replied, more nervous.
Author's Note: From now on, I'm changing the names from candidate to student since they have officially passed the test.
Minerva felt a shiver run down her spine.
She had run through these streets a few minutes earlier, her heart pounding and her lungs burning.
Now, she stood here, sword in hand, facing a test far more intimate than the last.
Before them, Mariana Tery stood straight, calm, almost motionless.
Her presence commanded silence without her needing to speak.
Her long, slightly wavy hair seemed to float as if carried by an invisible current, and the air around her felt fresher, denser.
At her To the right stood an enormous purple crystal ball, nearly two meters high.
Its surface wasn't perfectly smooth:
Luminous swirls slowly rotated within it, like a stormy sky trapped in the glass.
Bzzzzzz
At times, flashes of light streaked across its core, making the air around it vibrate.
Some students instinctively took a step back.
Roy: "Is this... what's going to analyze us?"
Roy murmured, leaning slightly toward Minerva.
Minerva: "It looks more like it's observing us."
She replied in a low voice, unable to tear her gaze away from the crystal.
Mariana took a step forward.
The mere sound of her boots on the stone echoed throughout the arena, and immediately, silence fell.
Mariana: "You have all passed the selection test."
Her voice was clear, calm, but Each word seemed to carry immense weight.
Mariana: "Which means you've proven one thing:
"You're willing to risk your future to move forward."
She slowly turned her head toward the crystal ball and placed a hand against its surface.
At the point of contact, the violet light pulsed more intensely.
Mariana: "But entering the Academy isn't enough."
"To progress, each of you must understand 'who you are.'"
She turned back to the group.
Mariana: "Your potential."
"Your element."
"And what the world has decided to give you... or take away."
A shiver ran through the ranks.
Mariana: "This sphere is an ancient artifact."
"It doesn't lie."
"It doesn't judge."
"It reveals."
A student timidly raised his hand.
Student: "Madame Tery..." "
Mariana: "Speak."
Student: "And if... we don't like what she reveals?"
Mariana met his gaze, not harshly, but without the slightest hint of indulgence.
Mariana: "Then you'll have to learn to live with it."
A heavy silence fell over the arena.
Mariana: "When your name is called, you will step forward alone."
"You will place your hand on the crystal."
"It will reveal your rank, your elemental affinity... and if applicable, a blessing or a curse."
She paused.
Miriana: "From this moment on, your training at the Academy will truly begin."
Minerva instinctively gripped the hilt of her sword.
Her heart was beating faster than during the race.
Roy took a deep breath.
Roy: "Whatever happens... we've come this far."
He murmured.
Minerva: "Yes."
Minerva replied. *We won't back down now.*
Mariana raised her hand.
Minerva: "Never."
Mariana allowed the crystal's light to stabilize before speaking again, aware that many minds were still reeling from the tension.
Mariana: "Before we begin, I'm going to brief you on how a person's abilities are defined."
"Without this, the crystal's revelations would be meaningless."
She gestured with her hand, and the runes etched into the arena floor glowed faintly.
Mariana: "Every fighter is defined by three foundations."
"None is absolute, none entirely determines your worth."
She raised a finger.
Mariana: "Rank."
"It represents your potential for rapid learning."
"High, Medium, or Low."
"This rank measures neither your courage, nor your intelligence, nor your future."
"A lower rank can progress through determination, just as a higher rank can stagnate through laziness."
A second finger was raised.
Mariana: "Elemental Affinity."
"Every being is linked to an element: Water, Fire, Earth, or Wind."
"This affinity influences how you fight, think, and even experience the world."
"It doesn't confine you to a single style, but it guides your natural strength."
She paused briefly before raising her third finger.
Mariana: "Finally… Blessings and Curses.
"Some people receive a gift, others a hindrance, and many... nothing at all."
"In the world of knights, a curse isn't always a weakness."
"It can become a weapon, a protection, or a necessary trial to reach your true potential."
Her gaze swept over the one hundred and fifty faces.
Mariana: "Remember this":
"The crystal won't tell you who you will become."
"It will only tell you where you start."
Silence fell again, even heavier than before. Minerva sensed that this simple paragraph had just drawn the invisible line between childhood dreams... and the ruthless reality of future knights and Valkyries.
Minerva: "This is getting more interesting than I expected."
Next to Mariana was a table on which lay a wooden board with a list of names.
The names of the 150 people who had succeeded.
And she pronounced the first name:
Mariana: "Frederic Hydra!"
Chapter 8: The powers of the knights
Teh End