Arthur walked on the bricked road that cut across the farmlands and he couldn't keep his eyes away from the city of Jerano. He was descending a hill so he could see most of the city, despite the high walls that surrounded it.
It was a combination of ancientness and modernity that he had never seen before. Some buildings looked old while others looked like a giant block of metal.
The sky was lined with a shimmering light that surrounded the whole city, a barrier against intruders. In the middle of the city was the College of Jerano, the one that was strictly for awakeners.
"Alexie!" A voice called out from behind him that sounded like it barely escaped from between the sky and earth collide. Arthur looked back and saw that Oliver, huffing, was running his way.
"Congratulations on passing," Arthur said with a smile as Oliver stopped near him, his hands on his knees.
"Damn you, monster. You didn't even break a sweat after that?" Oliver asked with his heavy breathing at intervals. "What's your ranking?"
"Uh," Arthur paused and showed Oliver his bicep. Oliver's eyes turned around as he gaped.
"You… are blessed by the heavens! Let me kowtow to you, brother!"
Arthur had to physically drag Oliver with him before he made an embarrassing scene of them. He learned that even though Oliver finished after him by a few minutes, he was ranked 432. In Arthur's opinion, even that was astonishing. After all, Oliver looked more like a merchant than an awakener.
Most of the people applying to the college were commoners who had fewer resources than their noble peers. This unjust system made the powerful nobles get more powerful at the expense of the commoners.
Sadly, the ruling class passed this off as their duty to get stronger to protect the nation against monsters. There a few genius commoners who were sponsored by guilds or awakeners and managed to break through those social chains.
Half of the flying island was connected to the continent of Anera and the other half was connected to Akrena. Arthur could see many students cutting across the farmlands toward the gates of the city.
With his hand in his pocket, Arthur used the detection rune to check on Ellen. With worry, he saw that she has yet to reach the island.
"Something wrong?" Oliver saw him frowning and asked. Arthur shook his head. "Anyway, I never thought you'd have it in you. You were running on those chains like a mistress running from a wife."
'Same goes to you, only if the mistress was a balloon.' Arthur wished to say but he knew better than to hurt the pride of a noble. His face broke into a smile when he saw a petite figure land on the island.
He didn't know what her number was, but he knew she passed judging from her expression. Arthur sighed in relief as he stopped using his rune and made his way to the city's gates with Oliver.
The paths that came from the farmlands began merging. Before long, all of the paths on the side of Anera merged into one giant path that ended with the giant gate of the city.
The students gathered, each eyeing each other warily. The crowd parted when they saw Arthur's number, who was in the top hundred. Even though it wasn't guaranteed that the top two hundred people were the ones that would be admitted in the end, their chances were higher.
They looked at him as if he was an exotic animal, which he might be. Most of the students in the top hundred were nobles, the cream of the crop of their families, the proud sons and daughters of heaven, and there was also Arthur.
A bastard nobility that had no place in either faction. He was neither a commoner nor a noble. Yet, did Arthur himself care?
'As if,' Arthur smiled as he walked together with Oliver. He would have assumed a timider personality if he was a commoner, but nobles had that air around them.
The entitlement.
The crowd kept growing as the students gathered in front of the gate. There were almost 2000 of them before no more students started appearing.
The collective noise of the crow spread like bees' buzzing, only stopped when a man appeared suddenly on top of the walls. Radiating a heroic presence, the man stood with his hand behind his back.
He had neatly combed hair with a thin mustache. His mouth made a straight line as he surveyed the surrounding with an examining eye. With blue eyes and smooth skin, this man was handsome.
"Welcome, young ones." He wasn't shouting, but his voice was loud. "I'm the principal of Jerano college, Henrick Ozay."
The students stared with reverence at the youngest Astra-Ranker to ever appear. He was a living legend that broke through to the Astra-rank at the age of thirty.
Arthur noticed that while he was talking, an artifact translated his words. So even if there were people who didn't understand his language, the artifact would work to turn the words into something understandable by the listener.
"I congratulate you for passing the first step, you have done well. Sadly, Jerano College only accepts two hundred students per year. Of course, that doesn't include our non-awakeners."
Arthur had read that the city of Jerano had other colleges, also under Jerano. However, those didn't have a curriculum for awakeners, so only those who focused on other fields could attend it.
"Our job is to build a generation that would stand strong against the odds thrown at the human race. Remember, a person is not judged solely by his strength, but his character."
Squinting his eyes, Arthur pondered his words. It was the first time he heard something like this from a person of the older generation. As he knew, the man in front of him was from the Theocracy of Shon. He had never met anyone like that before.
Master Ronin had told him that the Theocracy of Shon was the only place ruled by the common blood, not the seven families. That meant that out of every nation in this world, that nation was the only place that didn't want to kill him.
"Now, follow your seniors and teachers inside the city. The next test will test your adaptability and wits, so make sure to do your bests." Henrick smiled and vanished like smoke.
"Those of top hundred follow me!" A person shouted before another one stepped up. Each one of them took a hundred students with him as they entered the city.
"You'll be on your own now, brother," Oliver said with a painful expression. "Make sure you pass." He patted Arthur on the shoulder.
Arthur looked at him with a confused expression. Why did it sound like he was taking care of Arthur all along? Well, he did allow Arthur to use his jet.
"I wish you luck too, Oliver. Let's pass together." Arthur ignored Oliver's words and replied with a smile.
"And hook up with strong and elegant beauties!"
"Definitely not that, good luck." Arthur walked away after shaking his head. He headed toward the teacher who was a man in his mid-twenties.
Arthur was the last to arrive in the group of the top hundred. He saw one thing in common between all of them and that was that they were scary.
Sparks flew out from their eyes as they looked with hostility at each other. Arthur saw that most of them wore elegant clothes, a sign of them being nobility. However, they had different appearances as each person was from a different nation.
As Arthur was looking around for a person he recognized, he saw a familiar back that he didn't know who it was. It wasn't a student, but rather a senior student wearing the uniform of Jerano college.
The young man turned around and Arthur got to see his face. With a handsome face and arrogance engraved into his feature, the genius berserker stood there proudly.
'Erin Voldor,' Arthur found himself unconsciously clench his fists as his eyes sharpened. He breathed out as he tried to ignore him.
He knew that Erin was a student at Jerano, even before he got into the trial. Last year, it has been major news that he ranked among the top twenty in the exam.
Erin walked past him, not realizing his identity. He was leading a group of students too as they tried to flatter him.
"Is everyone here?" The person that was in charge of them was also a student, a beautiful woman in her early twenties. She had a kind look as she looked around, making sure everyone was there. "I'm your senior, Linda. Please follow me inside."
Linda started walking toward the gate as the students followed her like ducklings. Arthur looked among the crowd until he found the person that carried the number 1 in his group.
A neat looking person who had white hair that rested on his shoulder. His eyebrows and eyelashes were also white as his eyes were scarlet. Arthur had no idea if this was a handsome woman or a pretty man, but this person gave a calming feeling.