Behind the academy complex, thousands of aspirants from different backgrounds gathered. This was the academy's testing grounds.
The sun had barely crossed noon's scorching angle when the first trial began.
The venue where the tests took place itself resembled a military fortress more than an examination center.
Towering stone walls surrounded dozens of testing arenas, training fields, and obstacle courses.
At the highest platform overlooking everything sat ten individuals.
The judges.
Representatives of the kingdom's Top Ten Academies.
Each possessed qualities that immediately set them apart from an average person.
Some had a refined scholarly aura, while others seemed to have outlived countless battlefields.
A few sat silently, their mere presence enough to make instructors nervous.
These were people capable of deciding futures.
Every year, countless talents entered the examinations.
Only a handful earned the right to enter the capital's Top Ten.
