THE AURELIAN CHRONICLES SHARDS OF DAWN

Chapter 3 Ignis Academy and High Class Racism

Arthur slowly opened his eyes. The metallic stench of blood and the putrid smell of rotting flesh were completely gone now. An incredibly strong herbal scent instantly filled his lungs as he took a breath. He was lying on an iron bed with a fairly hard, thin mattress.

Arthur reflexively felt his stomach. His school shirt, once soaked in blood, was gone. His clothes had been changed into a set of coarse, dull gray linen shirt and pants. The fatal tear from the shadow monster's claws had closed up tightly.

The only thing left was a long pink scar that felt incredibly itchy and throbbed softly under his skin.

That damn neon blue screen popped up again, floating right above his face.

[HP Status 85 out of 100.]

[Low Tier Healing Magic Effect Received. Infection Cleared.] [Good Morning, Loser. You survived your first death.]

Arthur rubbed his face roughly and swatted the empty air to dismiss the screen.

"You are finally awake." Lyra's voice came from the bed to his right.

The girl was sitting cross legged while chewing on a piece of hard wheat bread. Her school uniform had also been replaced with the same rough linen clothes for women. Her black hair was tied up carelessly. "I thought you were actually going to die last night. Your breathing stopped for a second when that midget weasel carried us through the gates."

"Where the hell am I, wtf," Arthur's voice sounded incredibly raspy. He sat up slowly on the edge of the iron bed. His back muscles still felt extremely stiff.

Before Lyra could answer, a chubby boy walked into the room. The kid was carrying a wooden tray holding two medium sized clay bowls. He looked surprised to see Arthur sitting upright. The boy had messy curly brown hair, chubby

reddish cheeks, and a very anxious look in his eyes, as if he was terrified of his own shadow.

"Oh, thank goodness you are awake." The chubby boy placed the tray on a small table right between Arthur and Lyra's beds. "My name is Finn. The dorm head told me to bring the morning food rations for you two."

Arthur stared at Finn with a highly intimidating, suspicious glare. "Who are you. Is this a hospital."

"This is the medical ward of Ignis Academy," Finn answered nervously. His hands wrung the edge of his own shirt restlessly. "You guys are new students, right. You are both human species. Exactly like me."

"What part of Earth are we in, damn it. I want to go home." Arthur massaged his throbbing head. "Mr. Higgins must have called the cops by now because we disappeared from the library."

"Earth." Finn furrowed his thick eyebrows in confusion. "I do not know what kingdom Earth is. We are in Eldoria. This world is called Eldoria. Ignis Academy is at the peak of the northern mountains of this continent."

Lyra glared at Arthur, then tossed the rest of her hard bread onto the boy's lap. "I told you. We are literally in another world, Arthur. That damn filing cabinet at our school is a real portal. That drunk midget weasel was not lying about monsters and this academy."

Arthur fell silent for a long time. Reality hit him incredibly hard. No more boring history exams. No more punishments from Mr. Higgins. He was trapped in the middle of nowhere with psychopathic shadow monsters and a blue screen that kept mocking him.

"Eat your porridge first," Finn coaxed quietly. "You guys must be starving. I will show you the way to the main hall later. New students have to report immediately."

Arthur looked into the clay bowl. It only contained pale, flavorless wheat porridge and a little bit of water. But his stomach growled loudly, demanding energy intake. He devoured the bland porridge in seconds.

Thirty minutes later, Arthur and Lyra were guided by Finn down the academy hallways. Along the cold and damp stone corridors, Arthur kept a wary eye on his surroundings. This fortress was absolutely massive, dark, and severely lacking

in sunlight. Neon blue fire torches lined the walls to provide illumination.

When they arrived at the main academy canteen, the sight before him instantly made Arthur feel sick to his stomach.

The giant canteen was divided into two tiers that contrasted sharply, like heaven and earth. On the upper balcony area, brilliantly lit by light magic, sat dozens of students with pointy ears. They wore elegant, fine silk uniforms. On their tables were roasted meats, fresh fruits, and sweet drinks in luxurious

crystal glasses.

On the bottom floor, which was dim and smelled like stale sweat, hundreds of human students were crammed onto fragile long wooden benches. They were only eating the exact same pale wheat porridge as Arthur's breakfast earlier.

"Just sit here," Finn whispered in a panic. He forcefully pulled Arthur's arm toward an empty, corner wooden table under the shadow of the balcony. "Keep your heads down. Do not ever dare to look at the students sitting up there."

"Why, wtf." Arthur yanked his hand away and sat down roughly. "We are all students here, right. Why the different treatment."

"They are pureblood noble Elves," Finn replied quietly with a trembling voice.

"They fund and control this academy. In this world, humans are just considered street trash or frontline soldiers meant to die first as monster bait."

Suddenly, a leftover roasted meat bone dropped from above and landed right in Finn's bowl of porridge. The hot broth splashed onto the chubby boy's face. Finn winced slightly while lowering his head deep.

From the upper balcony, the condescending laughter of a few Elf students could be heard.

"Oops. Sorry, little monkey, my hand was a bit slippery this morning." A blonde haired Elf leaned over the balcony railing and mocked Finn with a wide grin.

Arthur slammed the table hard. His anger instantly boiled over. He had just survived a painful death last night, and now he had to witness this disgusting behavior. Lyra immediately grabbed Arthur's arm tightly so he wouldn't do anything stupid.

Right as Arthur got ready to stand up and retaliate to the insult, another Elf student walked casually past the blonde guy's table on the upper balcony. This Elf student had long silver hair tied neatly at the nape of his neck. His face had sharp angles and was incredibly handsome, but his expression looked completely bored with life.

The silver haired Elf picked up a silver plate still piled high with good food belonging to the blonde guy. Without showing any emotion whatsoever, he dropped the plate onto the balcony floor, smashing it to pieces and dirtying the blonde guy's shoes.

"What the hell are you doing, Kaelen," the blonde guy yelled, his face turning red with anger. He immediately stood up in a challenging stance.

"My hand was slippery too," the Elf named Kaelen answered in a cold and highly arrogant voice. "The sound of you two laughing hurts my ears so bad. The trash from the human race down there actually has better, quieter table manners than you."

The blonde guy gnashed his teeth but didn't dare to attack back. Kaelen glared down at the bottom floor. His eyes accidentally locked with Arthur's for two tense seconds. Kaelen's gaze was filled with deep seated disgust. Not hatred

towards humans, but disgust towards his own kind acting so arrogant. Kaelen then walked away, leaving the minor commotion on the balcony without looking back.

"That is Prince Kaelen," Finn whispered, trembling in fear as he wiped the leftover porridge off his face using his sleeve. "He is the direct nephew of the highest military General of the Elf race. Do not ever pick a fight with him if you still want to live."

Before Arthur could respond to Finn's story, two guards in thick silver armor approached their dirty table. The guards carried spears tipped with blue fire.

"Human student named Arthur. The Headmaster summons you right now." The guards did not take no for an answer. They immediately grabbed Arthur's collar by force to make him stand up.

Lyra tried to hold the guard's hand back, but Arthur gave a nod, signaling for the girl to stay quiet and stay with Finn.

Arthur was dragged up dozens of spiral stairs that felt endless, heading towards the peak of the main fortress tower. He was panting heavily. The guards shoved his back, forcing him into a circular office filled with ancient bookshelves. A

giant map of the continent was laid out in the center of a stone table. Behind a massive mahogany desk at the end of the room sat the tall man in the red velvet robe who had welcomed Arthur at the gate last night.

Headmaster Alaric.

The man looked absolutely nothing like the friendly, wise grandpas in bedtime storybooks. Alaric's face was stern. His skin was covered in horrifying sword scars. His eyes glared at Arthur as sharply as a hunting eagle ready to tear its prey alive.

"Sit in that chair, Arthur Pendelton." Alaric's voice was heavy and filled every corner of the room.

Arthur refused to sit. He remained standing tall, puffing out his chest to challenge the man's gaze. "You knew my name from the start. That means you know how to send me and Lyra back to Earth, right. Send me back right now, wtf."

Alaric smiled faintly. A smile that deeply degraded human dignity. The man stood up from his chair and walked slowly toward Arthur.

"I do not care what shithole you came from, Arthur. Earth or any other rotten place is none of my concern," Alaric said sharply. "The only thing I care about is what is currently attached to your fragile body."

Alaric's right hand suddenly moved as fast as lightning, gripping Arthur's right wrist. His strength was absolutely insane, nearly crushing the bones in Arthur's hand. Alaric forcefully flipped Arthur's palm facing upward.

Instantly, a bizarre scar shaped like a crystal shard on Arthur's palm glowed incredibly bright. The light was a blinding, pure gold color. The skin on his palm felt extremely hot, like it was being pressed against iron fresh out of a furnace. Arthur winced, holding back the excruciating pain. He tried to pull his

hand back, but the grip of Alaric's fingers was as hard as a steel vice.

"My guess was right," Alaric muttered, his eyes gleaming with cunning delight as he saw the golden light. "You are an Anomaly. A filthy container holding the power of the Shard of Dawn."

"Let go of my hand, asshole," Arthur growled angrily. He kicked Alaric's shin, but the man's leg didn't budge a single inch.

Alaric let go of Arthur's hand with a rough shove, sending the boy stumbling two steps backward and crashing into a bookshelf.

"You are very weak, Arthur. Too pathetic to look at." Alaric brushed invisible dust off his red robe. "You do not possess a magic core. You do not have basic combat skills. Yet you dare to swear in my face. In this world of Eldoria, weak, loud mouthed creatures like you are only fit to be livestock feed for monsters."

Alaric walked casually back to his desk. "Listen closely, boy. You are not a prophesied hero. You are merely a storage vessel that accidentally bonded with our sacred artifact. Since your body is already here, I am going to squeeze

every drop of potential out of you and put it to use."

"I am not your damn toy pawn," Arthur growled. His palm was still throbbing with heat.

"You are indeed my pawn starting this very second," Alaric replied in a freezing tone. "Starting today, you will be thrown directly into the advanced combat class without any basic training. If you can survive in there, you earn the right to get food and information from me. If you are killed in the arena, I

will simply chop off your right hand and take the artifact back from your corpse."

"What combat class, wtf. The torn wound on my stomach hasn't even fully healed yet."

"That is absolutely none of my business." Alaric gave a slow snap of his fingers.

The two armored guards waiting outside immediately barged in and dragged Arthur out of the room by his arms without any mercy. They forced him down hundreds of stairs toward the academy's basement, where the air felt scorching hot. A strong smell of sulfur made Arthur cough hard.

The guards kicked Arthur's back from behind, sending him falling face first through a thick iron door. The door was instantly slammed shut and double locked from the outside with a terrifying clash of metal.

Arthur slowly got up, brushing off his knees. He was now standing on an expanse of coarse, reddish sand. Surrounding him was a massive circular combat arena, enclosed by iron bars as thick as a human thigh. In the upper stands above the

cage, hundreds of students, including Kaelen, stared down at him with various sharp gazes.

The blue system screen suddenly burst to life right in front of Arthur's eyes.

[New Quest: Execution Class.]

[Objective: Survive inside the arena for five minutes.]

[Critical Warning: Death is highly likely to occur in this place.]

The sound of screeching metal chains echoed deafeningly from the other side of the arena. A giant barred door was slowly lifted from the dirt floor. A pair of yellow reptilian eyes glowed brightly from the darkness of the tunnel behind those bars. That deadly stare was followed by the sound of heavy footsteps that made the entire expanse of sand beneath Arthur's feet shake violently.