Chapter 1 - The Taron Academy

Authors Notes==========

Yo, as some of you know, I'm sick. Sorry for missing a day D;

Heres to the beginning of book 4!

Edit: I typed Moran and I refuse to change fite me ;-;

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Book 4 – Chapter 1

??? Continent, ??? Year

Caladan Brood looked out on the city of Mora and smiled. The sounds of life spread throughout the city as the morning light blazed into existence. Great large figures could be seen moving along even larger walls, lugging huge blocks of stone and placing them on yet incomplete areas of the giant wall. Smaller figures moved throughout the city proper, the day’s business just beginning.

Caladan turned back to face the emissary he had been talking to, the worry in his heart redoubling. He nodded at the pale-faced man.

The emissary was wearing light leather armor under a large green tabard. He was very pale and looked quite nervous. He kept glancing at Brood as if waiting for him to go berserk.

“Continue.” Caladan’s voice sounded out, creaking against the morning air. Light drifted in through the open window he looked out of. Caladan was standing in a small room at the top of a castle tower. Located in the middle of the town, the King’s Castle stood as a magnificent reminder of who ruled this city. It was a giant edifice, towering walls and majestic buttresses.

“Yes your majesty. As I was saying, this so-called Numbers organization has attacked several large settlements of Titans, killing thousands. Everywhere they strike is a complete slaughter. The only surviving strongholds are Mora and Delanor. Because of the great distance between Mora and any other Titan settlements, information has only managed to reach us now.” The emissary dropped his head downwards, awaiting Brood’s word.

“Why? Do they give any reason at all?” Caladan turned to face the emissary, his eyes perfectly calm. He gave away no indication that he was angered by the death of his brethren.

“No your majesty. There are a few reports from non Titans that they seem to be hunting for something specific. Numbers has been seen attacking the settlements of the other Innate Races as well, wiping them out.” The attacks had happened at seemingly random times, with no explanation give at all.

Caladan turned around then, a tired look in his eyes appearing. The air around him crackled as his aura broke forth.

“It is time I reminded the world what it means to be a Titan King.”

Theldon Continent, The Under Cave, Taron Academy Entrance

Dale looked around in astonishment. Just a moment ago he had been standing in the Noble’s Square in Delica, checking his newly purchased weapons and armor and talking to Jerah. He’d said his goodbyes and broken the tablet and was instantaneously transported. It was the first time he could recall ever being transported so abruptly.

As the motes of light faded around him, Dale saw for the first time the enormous campus that housed the Taron Academy.

Dale was standing about 30 meters in front of a massive gate. The gate connected to an enormous stone wall, easily 20 meters tall, that wrapped around the huge campus. The wall was so long, in fact, that Dale could not see an end to it. Dale could make out several figures walking along the wall, keeping watch.

The gate entrance was a massive arc of stone with two large open doors at the front. It had mysterious symbols covering the metal of the entranceway, giving off a faint blue glow. There was a large crowd milling about in front of the gate, with many young students walking forward through the entrance.

Dale looked around, looking to see if anyone had noticed his entrance. For some reason, however, no one was looking at where he had appeared. Several people walked past him, ignoring him. Everyone seemed focused on walking through the entrance gate. Dale shrugged and joined the crowd, blending in with the many students.

Dale walked through the entrance gate and found himself standing on a large pavilion. Dale could make out roughly a thousand other students besides himself, all looking forward as if waiting for something. Several other people stood around as well, servants and family members. Dale looked past the pavilion, seeing several large buildings in the distance.

Dale observed the people around him while he waited. He saw several different types of people. There were finely dressed Nobles accompanied by several servants and family members. They gave off an austere atmosphere, many of them looking around arrogantly. Next, Dale saw what looked to be many middle class students. They had the feeling of wealth, as if their parents were wealthy merchants or the like, and also had a similar air of arrogance compared to the Nobles. Finally, Dale saw a small number of poorly dressed students. These students looked around nervously, dressed in worn clothes. One thing all of the waiting kids had in common, however, was a fierce look of determination.

After waiting for ten minutes with nothing happening, Dale quickly became bored. He looked around for someone to talk to, eager to do something. The teacher who had given him a recommendation letter hadn’t warned him that he would have to wait for such a long time before he could be tested.

Dale saw one of the poorly dressed kids struggling off on the side of the pavilion. He was holding on to several different large bags, trying to balance them as he stood waiting. Dale walked over, pausing next to the boy.

The boy had fiery red hair and bright green eyes with a face that looked like it was used to smiling. However, a nervous expression was plastered on his face now as he watched Dale approach.

“Need a hand?” Dale smiled at him. The boy looked to be around Dale’s age.

“What? Oh uh sure! Thanks!” The boy’s nervous expression vanished, replaced with a smile. He handed Dale one of the larger bags he was trying to balance, a look of relief spreading across his face as his burden eased.

“What are in these anyway?” Dale said, looking at the bag he was holding curiously. It was much heavier than he expected, easily weighing over a hundred pounds.

“Ah, just my books!” The boy said, nodding as he shifted his arms about, “I love to read and I collect books!”

Dale looked incredulously at him. The bag he was holding weighed easily a hundred pounds, and the boy in front of him was holding four other similar sized bags. Even with his Steel Core level of strength, it would still be annoying to hold so many bags. There must have been hundreds of books there.

The boy continued,

“It’s why I’m here, in fact! The Taron Academy has the best library in the entire Under Cave! It’s my dream to read this entire library and continue my research.” His eyes shined as he spoke.

“And what research is that?” Dale asked, curious.

“Ah, that, uh,” the boy blushed, looking guilty, “Well, I want to be an Arcane Smith! And I want to research the legendary methods of creating Rank 1 weapons and armor! I will be the world’s greatest smith!” He laughed, embarrassed.

“That sounds awesome!” Dale said, staring at the boy, “That’s a really cool goal!”

“You think so? A lot of people criticize me for my dream, saying I should focus on cultivation and gaining strength, not on a petty craft. Especially when I’m so poor. Arcane Smithing is an expensive study, after all.” The boy shrugged again, noncommittally.

“It’s not a petty craft! Anyone that would say something like that is a moran! As for money, well, just be good at what you do and you’ll rake it in.” Dale declared confidently, clapping the boy on the back.

The boy smiled at him, and then said,

“I haven’t introduced myself yet! Ah! My name is Peter, Peter Grimschow!” He tried to stick his hand out to shake Dale’s but immediately stopped, grabbing on to his bags of books before they could fall.

“My name is Dale!” Dale said, returning his greeting, “Dale Wensworth!” He nodded back at Peter, smiling. The boys soon broke into conversation about what they had been up to the past several days. Dale told Peter about his Arts and the battle with the Lizard warriors, while Peter told Dale about his research and how he had been practicing crafting weapons.

Arcane Smiths are the cornerstone of a powerful city. These Arcane craftsmen use Monster Cores combined with the ancient knowledge of Symbol Inscribing to create powerful weapons, tools, and items. The tablet Dale had broken to teleport here was an example of something created by an Arcane Smith. Every Ranked weapon had been created by one of these legendary smiths, renowned for their wisdom or strength.

However, becoming an Arcane Smith was very difficult. Very few Arcane Smiths took apprentices, and even fewer were willing to share their knowledge. The Taron Academy, however, was an exception. There were three main sections to the Taron Academy. Each section taught and guided a different type of study. There was the Arcane Smithery School, a school in the Taron Academy that taught the crafts of Arcane Smithing. Then, there was the Fighter’s School, the second school of the Taron Academy as well as the largest, where students were trained in various Arts and developed their cultivation. Lastly, there was the third and smallest of the schools in the Taron Academy, the Leader’s School. The Leader’s School had the most non cultivators of all three schools, almost all of the students training in law or politics, preparing many to take up positions of leadership in various City-States. After all, while cultivation power and strength was very important, one needed managerial knowledge and capability to rule an enormous City-State with populations exceeding the millions.

Dale planned on entering the Fight’s School to quickly develop his strength in order to return to his home continent as soon as possible. Peter planned on joining the Arcane Smithery School, to train his skills and pursue his dream of creating Rank 1 weapons and armor. Both of them waited eagerly for the entrance exam to begin.

Several more students piled in behind Dale and Peter, swelling the number of student applicants to above 1,200 as time went on. Finally, about 30 minutes after Dale offered to carry one of Peter’s bags of books, a gong sounded out. The giant gate behind Dale slowly closed, cutting off the outside world.

An elderly looking man stepped out on the opposite side of the pavilion, followed by several other middle aged men. The old man had a long white beard and a completely bald head. He had lines covering his face, making him look practically ancient. He was dressed in a long white robe with grey markings covering the edges. He looked at all the young people applying, smiling at them as he stepped forward and spoke,

“I am Vice Principal Derrif, 2nd in command of this Academy, as well as the Chief Smith of the Arcane Smithery School. I’d like to extend a warm welcome to all applicants.” Peter standing next to Dale looked like he was about to faint, staring at the expert smith excitedly. The old man continued speaking,

“As many of you know our school has an entrance exam, specific for each school.” The elderly man gestured at the several men standing behind him.

“These men are all teachers here at our Taron Academy. I expect you to treat them with the utmost respect. They will be performing the exam for each one of you. Please line up to take the exam now. We will move on to the official Acceptance Ceremony for all students that pass the exam.” The teachers behind the Vice Principal all split up and spread out, standing several tens of meters away from each other. The students all stood still for a moment before splitting off into lines. Dale and Peter joined the flow, lining up with one of the long lines.

Dale felt a sense of nostalgia, remembering the long time ago when he and Feng had been in a line to have their innate sense of strength tested. He remembered the dream he had when he was younger; to one day conquer the world. Dale smiled, hoping Feng was doing well. He couldn’t wait to return back to Morn.

The line Dale and Peter were in shortened quickly. Dale couldn’t see what was happening at the front, and had no idea what the exam would be like. He did see, however, tens and tens of students walk past him depressed, rejected from entering the school. Some of them seemed near tears.

Soon it was Dale’s turn. The student in front of him had been an applicant for the Fighter’s Academy like Dale was. Dale had watched in interest as the student took the test, waiting to see what the process would be. However, all he saw was the student concentrate and throw a punch at the teacher’s hand. Dale waited for something else to happen, eager to see what was required. But, that was it. The teacher shook his head and said something to the young cultivator, sending him on his way. The young student left, quickly leaving the testing ground with his face down.

Dale watched him go, nervous, as he walked up for his own testing. He saw several students that had passed forming three different groups past the teachers. Dale could see several strong looking students forming a group for the Fighter School in the middle. He also picked out the Arcane Smithery School on the left side of the pavilion, all the students built with strong arms and keen eyes. Off to the right was a small group of reedy looking students, all passing the exam for the Leader’s School.

The teacher that stood before Dale was a middle aged man wearing a long blue robe. He had a gemstone filled belt locked around his waist and several dark blue earrings in his ears. He had a bored look in his eyes as if he was tired of testing students over and over. He looked at Dale as he stepped forward.

“Welcome to the Taron Academy Entrance Exam. I am Instructor Borimar. What is your name and age?” The teacher said by rote, waiting for Dale to respond.

“I am Dale Wensworth, 11 years old. I uh, I have a letter of recommendation here as well, from David Guile.” Dale handed the letter over to the teacher. The moment the teacher heard the name ‘David Guile’, his eyes had instantly perked up, staring at Dale intensely. The teacher read the letter, his eyes roaming as he looked at the mysterious symbols. The teacher looked back up at Dale, this time with a smile.

“Yes, your letter is indeed authentic. There is no need to be tested, welcome to the Taron Academy!” The blue robed man smiled, handing Dale back the letter of recommendation. The students in line behind him all stared at Dale in shock.

“A simple letter was enough to let him skip the entrance exam?!” They exclaimed in disbelief. The Taron Academy was famous for its extremely high standards to get in. For Dale to be able to get in with a mere letter caused him to become an object of jealousy by all the nervous students that had to take the test.

Yes! Dale thought, elated. I didn’t think it would be that easy to get in! He was incomparably excited about his future training, eager to ask questions of his teachers. Dale reminded himself to thank David as he walked towards where the other Fighter School students were gathering.

However, as Dale started walking towards the Fighter’s group, the teacher stopped him.

“Where are you going? That’s where the Fighter’s School group is.” The teacher gestured at the Fighters, shaking his head.

“You are now a part of the Leader’s School. Your group is over there.” The teacher turned around, going back to test the next student, Peter.

Dale looked at the teacher in shock,

“WHAT?!”

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