August 3rd, 1513; 07:00 hrs;
The day of the final phase of the entrance exam was here.
Outside the Academy gate, candidates were excited, going inside one by one.
Today, however, there were significantly fewer candidates, as nearly everyone had failed their first-phase exams.
But even out of those select few, only 400 would get a seat inside the academy's combat course.
Even in those 400 seats in combat, 200 were for warriors and 200 were for sorcerers.
There were also theory courses and support courses, but they had already finished conducting their exams.
Only the combat courses were left to admit.
Lucien's motorcade attracted a lot of attention again, but getting out, he stormed inside the massive arch-like gate, paying them no attention at all.
The instructions in the mail mentioned to enter the same auditorium they were in yesterday.
But today, there'd be every candidate present in there, even the high-profile ones who entered on July 31st.
He'd finally be able to see everyone attending.
Lucien walked inside, feeling the fresh breeze of the morning and the sweet waft of nature in this huge green campus.
It was relaxing, but the path was short.
He reached the auditorium, which was decorated today, and even had two bellhops welcoming everybody with grace.
The sweet, calming scent inside, along with the warm lighting of the hall, made it feel cozy.
But the tension among the hundreds of people present there was palpable.
He looked around, only to witness a diverse group of people: nervous, confident, calm, some on the verge of losing it, and others who had completely given up.
The pressure on nearly every student was at an all-time high, since this was their chance to prove themselves.
Their last chance.
They were so nervous that he was easily able to sneak inside and sit in the 5th row from the front.
"Yo!" Almost immediately, a bright voice entered his ears, making him turn to his right.
A guy with long, fiery red hair and amber eyes looked at him with great enthusiasm.
Almost too much enthusiasm for Lucien.
"Hello!" Lucien replied for the sake of being polite.
"Wow! You actually replied, unlike that grumpy fella on the other side." His voice was enthusiastic, as if he were happy just talking to him.
Lucien moved his head, looking over the guy's other shoulder.
"There's no one on your other side." Lucien stared at him, his brows creased.
"Huh?" He looked on the other side, and the black-haired guy wasn't there anymore. "What? He was just here, though."
He was flabbergasted. "Maybe the fear of the exam made me schizophrenic?"
But he recovered just as fast, shrugging his shoulders, "Anyways," He turned back to Lucien. "My name is William Wilson. Nice to meet you."
"My name's Lucien." They both got into a handshake, "Nice to meet you, too."
"Woah!" William gasped again, "Your name matches that of the second prince's, you know that?"
'He doesn't know me?' Lucien looked in his eyes and found no lies at all.
William was being honest.
"I get that a lot." He decided to play along, "I am sick of it, though."
"Shush!" William immediately interrupted him, "Be quiet. I heard he is here today as well."
"You would get decapitated for treason if he hears you." William finished.
"He will decapitate me for just that?" Lucien widened his eyes, having fun in this little play-along. "Isn't that cruel?"
William shrugged, whispering, "I don't know, man, I saw this in those movies."
"Hmm…" Lucien bobbed his head. "This is indeed scary. Do you know what he looks like?"
William shook his head in denial, "I don't really care about politics. I just know what the King looks like. The rest aren't important."
Lucien replied, "Same. Hope we never cross paths with him."
"Touch wood, man," William said, touching his chair's underside.
"Anyways, any girl that caught your eye?" William had a silly grin plastered over his face as his eyes slowly scanned the hall. "Hehe."
Suddenly, the black-haired, golden-eyed girl passed through his mind, "Actually, yes, I am interested in one of them."
"Really?" Almost as if he had found a treasure, William's eyes gained a new life, "Which one–"
"Attention, Candidates." Interrupting their conversation was a loud, husky voice that reverberated throughout the auditorium.
Both their attention was grabbed by the voice, as they found the source of the voice to be the silver-haired man on the dais in front of the auditorium.
"I know him–" William wanted to say something, but was silenced instantly.
"Shh!" Lucien said, "Focus on his speech for now."
"I would now announce the final phase of the academy entrance exam for warriors, and I would not repeat it."
The room was frozen as Arthur spoke on the stage.
"You all would be left in the academy's forest, and the exam would last for 3 hours.
"Everyone would be provided a bell, which would be tied to their waist and would start with 100 points.
"Every time your bell chimes, you lose one point."
This statement took everyone by storm, but they soon fell silent under the weight of the heavy pressure emitted by Arthur.
"But, any time you kill a spirit beast in the Recruit realm, you would gain 10 points—50 points for a beast in the Adept realm.
"You can also steal, or take someone else's bell, too. In that case, all the points of the bell owners would be transferred to you.
"Killing or severely injuring anyone is strictly forbidden, and if found guilty would be apprehended and thrown into prison like any other criminal.
"You can instead take their bells, and they would be eliminated automatically if they don't have any bells by the end of the test.
"And finally, if you feel like your life is in danger, just crush the bell, and someone will save you in under a second."
He stopped his explanation, letting everyone digest his words.
The entire auditorium was loud with chattering, people discussing the exams and ways to pass them.
Some even started to form teams, since Arthur didn't mention anything against it, but most of them didn't, since they were wary of each other.
"Hey, Lucien," William called immediately, "Do you want to team up?"
Lucien stared at him for a solid minute, analyzing him from head to toe, before finally saying, "Well… I don't see why not."
William felt strong, strong enough not to drag him down, so Lucien had nothing to lose in this.
William's eyes gleamed as he shook hands with Lucien, but they were interrupted yet again.
"As for the final phase for sorcerers, it would be held right after the warriors', so be prepared. That's all."
Saying this, Arthur turned around, taking a look at everyone in the auditorium.
'Show me more of your legacy, Prince.'