Chapter 1 : A New Beginning

"Brandon, Brandon, wake up, we are going to be late for our first class" Bruce called as he rushed into the bathroom to get ready,

Brandon lazily dragged himself out of bed, he gazed across the dorm room as a gentle smile appeared on his face, he was finally at the one and only Blue River Academy, the most prestigious and the best school in all of Eleanor. He and his childhood best friend, Bruce Devin both got admitted on scholarships, and coincidentally became dorm mates or so they thought.

Brandon waited for a few minutes before Bruce came out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and one wrapped around his hair causing Brandon to chuckle,

"Don't say it" Bruce warned,

"Don't say what?" Brandon asked feigning innocence,

"Quit playing dumb, you know what I mean" Bruce replied,

"Oh you mean how you keep tying a turban in your hair that makes your head look like a croissant" Brandon teased with a grin,

"Come on man, that was ages ago, stop bringing it up" Bruce whined,

"But if I did that, who would tease you till your face became a tomato" Brandon replied grinning as he quickly slid into the bathroom before Bruce could find something to toss at him.

20 minutes later, they were walking along the hallway going to class while chatting,

"Hey, did you hear what happened to Rick?" Bruce asked,

"You mean Rick Bradson? no, why would I even want to hear anything about him, the guys a jerk" Brandon replied with an annoyed tone

When the school resumed, the freshers were given the first week off to explore and familiarize themselves with the school ground, it was during this period that Brandon and Bruce encountered Rick Bradson, he was a bully who picked on the scholarship students, he would insult their families, try to take their meals and even go as far as try to physically harm them knowing fully well, he wouldn't get punished, not just because his family was one of the schools most influential sponsors but also a noble house, no one from a poor background could go against them even if they had the best lawyers, no one stood up to him, the other nobles turned a blind eye to it, low status students avoided him like a plague, except for one, Brandon, he always stood up to Rick and due to him being amazing at Martial arts from elementary school, he always put Rick on his bottom.

"Not that I care but, what happened to him? Brandon asked,

"He was selected for a Mythic evolution program but there's news that he's no where to be found at the moment " Bruce replied,

"He's probably just hiding in one of his family's numerous properties around the area" Brandon replied with a flat tone,

"He's not, according to my update, his family said he never came home the previous day and no one has checked into any of their properties around the area" Bruce replied,

"So you are saying he's missing?" Brandon asked with a raised brow,

"That makes twelve of them now" Bruce said with a worried expression,

"Don't you think you are jumping to conclusions here, knowing you, it's probably hasn't been more than a day since you found out Rick was missing" Brandon attempted to cheer Bruce up'

"It's been 17 hours to be exact" Bruce announced proudly,

"Wow, you're totally going to awaken as a Techno mage with an affinity for lightning" Brandon said as he raised his hand to give Bruce a high five,

"Yeah, probably but I'm still so curious about what you might awaken as" Bruce replied as his hand met Brandon's,

"If only I knew my parents, I would probably have an idea" Brandon said with a sad sigh,

"Oh, am so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you" Bruce apologized, talking about Brandon's parents have always being a sore wound being poked for him,

"I know, I know" Brandon replied with a slight smile,

"And besides,my parents are your parents too" Bruce said as he out him arm over Brandon's shoulder,

"Thanks bro, we should probably hurry up, if we don't want to be late" Brandon added with a chuckle before running ahead,

"Hey, that's cheating, it's not a race if you run before it starts" Bruce yelled as he ran after Brandon,

By the time they got to their homeroom door, Bruce was slightly out of breath while Brandon was not even slightly affected,

"You have been slacking off, haven't you?" Brandon questioned Bruce,

"Maybe, let's just go in" Bruce said,

They got into the class and were welcomed by the cold stare of their homeroom teacher, Miss. Silver Lychin, she was dressed in her signature white suit and trousers with her blonde hair packed into a pony tail,

"Good morning ma'am, sorry we are almost late" They said unison and were shocked when they heard something like a chuckle from her, she pointed them to their seats while she kept typing on an old rusty typewriter on her desk which she refused to changed for some reason, she was a water mage with an affinity for steam, immediately the the clock struck seven, she placed the typewriter down by her desk and turned to address the students,

"Good morning students, as some of you may know, my name is Miss Silver Lychin, I am your homeroom teacher, you will meet me in this classroom every morning at Seven apart from Sundays and Saturdays, with the exception of this coming Saturday which will be your awakening ceremony, today however will be your evaluation day, you will be given three trials and from its results you will be put into different ranks from S to F, the first trial will be your affinity gauge, the second trial is a physical test which will test your physical fitness while the last trial will test your mental fitness/IQ, instructions regarding each trial will be given to you at the place of the trial, as we all know we are still at war with the dark race, so some of you may be deployed to the Frontline during your 2nd year, so use this period to work hard and push past your limits, the sky is your stepping stone, an official will arrive to take you to the trial ground soon, Good luck my students, may fate smile upon you all" She said fiercely to which she received a standing ovation from the students, they felt hyped and inspired by her speech.

Sure enough, 5 minutes later, a man in military uniform arrived at their homeroom door,

"Alright soldiers, fall into a single file and make your way outside where a military vehicle will be used to transport you to the trial area and don't bother taking anything, everything you need will be provided at the venue, we leave in 3 minutes" The man said with a booming voice,

"I suspect he's an Air mage with affinity for sound" Brandon whispered to Bruce,

"and how do you know that? you might be right about mine but only because you have known for a long time" Bruce stated as he didn't believe Brandon,

"Intuition I guess" Brandon said as he shrugged shoulders.

The students lined up and followed the military officer to the a huge bus painted the Same color as their military uniform, he opened the door and let the students in, when Brandon and Bruce were about to get on he said to Brandon,

"You were right soldier, I am indeed a wind mage with an affinity for sound, your intuition is seems to be accurate, make sure you groom it well"

To which he replied with a nod, the rest of the students boarded the bus and they made their way to the trial grounds, but a few meters away from the school, the AC in the bus began to emit purple gas, which put the students to sleep,

"Don't worry, it's not lethal" Brandon said to Bruce who already had a panicked expression on his face, the gas put everyone to sleep except Brandon who pretended to be alseep,

"Being raised in an orphanage that taught basic and advanced martial arts has it's perks" Brandon chuckled inwardly as he slightly opened his right eye to look out the window, he wanted to know where and how they would get to where they were going.

The journey was a smooth and peaceful one, Brandon would occasionally peep out the window to observe the scenery, it was beautiful, a blue hue seemed to envelope everything outside making him wonder whether they were under water or on another planet.

"it must be an illusion formation, after all i am sure, they wouldn't just leave the base location to be found so easily" Brandon finally concluded.

He looked around at the other students who were sound asleep, once this trial was over, they would be a lot of marginalizing, friendships would be ruined, bullying would begin.

That was how the world Still work, the rich and mighty looked down in the poor and helpless, one would think that with the amount of advancements in the industries, they would have found a solution to world poverty by now but, sadly, that wasn't the case.

Brandon recalled a moment in his past when even a morning meal wasn't certain yet nobles would drive past his first orphanage and just scorn at the sight of the run down orphanage without making attempts to help renovate it.

That was before he left though, he wondered how the kids there would be holding up, if they also made it out or gave into a life of illegitimate income.