They talked loudly, some bursting into sharp laughter, others calling out across tables as if this were some kind of festival instead of an entrance trial.

  Was it normal for an opening session like this to be so noisy?

  Most of them were still very young, ten or eleven years old. But there were also those who looked much older, perhaps seventeen or even eighteen.

  As Toby moved past several tables in search of an empty seat, he began to notice what truly set them apart.

  Many of the younger applicants wore matching emblems pinned to their uniforms. The same crest repeated within each small group. It was likely their family insignia, their clan symbol, or some other mark of affiliation.

  Every time Toby spotted an empty chair and attempted to sit down, someone would stop him. A foot would casually block the seat. A hand would shove the chair aside. Or someone would simply shout at him.

  “Get lost, you broke idiot. No one wants you here.”

  The voice came from a short, chubby boy with a round face and a sneer twisted across his lips.

  Broke? Idiot?

  Toby wore no emblem other than the Eclipsion crest stitched onto his chest. Perhaps that alone made him look unaffiliated, unbacked, easy to dismiss. Not that they were entirely wrong about the money part. He truly did not have wealth behind him.

  He simply kept walking, ignoring the insults thrown his way. He had enough mental maturity not to be shaken by childish taunts.

  And yet…

  With hundreds of tables filling the hall, why had he not found a single place where he was allowed to sit?

  Each round table held four to seven people, as there were seven chairs provided. But it was clear that anyone outside their circle was not welcome.

  “So many applicants…” he muttered quietly. “How many will actually pass?”

  These applicants had not come from Eclipsion alone. They had traveled from cities across the Kingdom of Silvermoon.

  Some had even traveled from smaller neighboring kingdoms, hoping to earn a place here.

  That was why the number was overwhelming.

  If Toby had to estimate, there were at least one thousand applicants gathered in this single hall alone.

  Yeah. The number was completely insane.

  Toby paused when he spotted a table that was occupied by only two people.

  Before he could move, someone suddenly shoved him from the side. Two taller boys pushed past him without hesitation.

  “Move, idiot. Stop blocking the way.”

  The other one jabbed his elbow into Toby’s shoulder, forcing him to stumble forward a step.

  Damn it. These stupid brats.

  After steadying himself and finding a safer place to stand, he glanced back at the table he had noticed earlier.

  Two people sat there.

  Both girls.

  One had short, straight silver hair cut neatly above her shoulders. Her eyes were sharp, almost piercing, and her posture was upright as if she was constantly on guard.

  The other…

  Wait.

  This one looked more like a doll than a real person.

  She had blonde hair that fell softly past her shoulders. What made her stand out was her face, delicate and almost too perfect, paired with eyes that looked strangely flat. Empty. As if nothing reflected within them.

  “Wait. Do not tell me… Is she…”

  “Hey, you!” the silver-haired girl suddenly called out. “You pervert, why are you staring over here?”

  “Pervert? No!” Toby shot back immediately.

  The blonde girl seemed slightly startled, but she did not turn toward him. She did not react at all, in fact. She just remained still.

  Was his suspicion correct?

  Toby stepped closer to the table. He noticed that neither of them wore any emblem other than the standard Eclipsion crest, just like him.

  This seat should be safe.

  “Can I sit here?” he asked.

  “You have not answered my question,” the silver-haired girl replied. “Why were you staring at my friend like that?”

  “No, sorry. I was just looking for a place to sit. I thought maybe I could sit here.”

  “Then just sit. There are plenty of chairs. No one owns them,” she said. “Sit wherever you want.”

  Toby gave a small smile and nodded.

  He pulled out the chair and sat down across from the two girls.

  The silver-haired girl turned her head away again. Meanwhile, the blonde girl continued staring in the same direction as before, her posture perfectly still.

  Toby looked away as well, trying not to draw more attention.

  Then suddenly, the blonde girl turned toward him.

  Her pale eyes, though unfocused, aligned directly with his position. They did not seem to look at him in the normal sense, yet it felt as if they pierced straight through him.

  Then she smiled.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Toby flinched a little in surprise.

  “Hi. My name is Cassandra. You can call me Cassie,” she said gently. “Rank-2 Guardian. What is your name?”

  No way… Rank-2 Guardian?

  “I’m Toby. Rank-1 Apprentice.”

  “Hi, Toby. Did you come here alone too?” she asked.

  “Yes, I did. It’s nice to meet both of you.”

  Cassie smiled again and lightly took the hand of the girl beside her, as if steadying herself.

  The silver-haired girl finally turned her gaze toward him.

  “I’m Valeria. Call me Vale,” she said firmly. “Rank-2 Guardian.”

  Then she leaned slightly toward Cassie and muttered, though loud enough for Toby to hear, “I told you not to be too friendly with strangers. He could be a pervert. I told you this kid was staring at you weirdly.”

  Cassie let out a soft laugh. “Toby said he was just looking for a seat. Maybe he was simply trying to figure out if he could join us.”

  Toby nodded quickly in agreement.

  Vale clicked her tongue and looked away again, clearly unconvinced. She did not seem the type to trust easily.

  Valeria and Cassandra.

  Neither of them displayed any clear family emblem, just like him.

  But they clearly knew each other well. The way Cassandra held Valeria’s hand so naturally, and the way Valeria stayed alert as if guarding her, it did not feel like a casual friendship.

  Were they from the same family? Or bound by something else?

  Cassandra was still facing him. Not directly focused, but angled toward him with that same distant gaze.

  Toby glanced to his side, then back at her, trying to figure out why she continued to “look” in his direction.

  Then Cassie tilted her head slightly and spoke in a calm, gentle voice.

  “You are wondering about my eyes, right?”

  Toby froze for a second.

  “I was born without sight,” she said. “I cannot see the way most people do.”

  So his guess was right.

  “I am sorry. I did not mean to stare,” Toby said quickly. But how did she even realize he had been paying attention to her?

  Vale turned toward him again, arms crossed tightly over her chest in a defensive posture. “Pervert, do not even think about getting close to her,” she warned.

  Cassie let out another soft laugh.

  “Vale is adorable, isn’t she?” she said. “We only just met, and she’s already trying so hard to protect me.”

  Vale immediately turned to her. “The only people who approach you usually have bad intentions, Cassie,” she said firmly. “As long as I’m here, I’ll protect you. So don’t worry.”

  They only just met?

  Do not tell me… Cassie came here alone?

  “So the three of us all came here by ourselves,” Toby said casually.

  “You are digging too much into our business, Toby,” Vale replied flatly.

  Suddenly, someone stopped beside their table.

  “Well, look who we have here.”

  Toby turned and saw a boy who looked around their age. He wore the same academy uniform, yet his looked far more pristine, perfectly pressed without a single crease. His white hair was parted neatly down the middle, and behind him stood two other boys of similar age.

  “There is a pretty girl sitting at this table,” the white haired boy said, glancing at Cassie. “And she is stuck with a loser.”

  At that, Toby was about to stand.

  But Vale was already on her feet.

  “Watch your mouth, you spoiled brat,” she snapped. “Do not talk nonsense at our table.”

  The boy blinked, clearly not used to being talked back to. One of his companions stepped forward immediately.

  “No, stay back,” the white haired boy said, lifting a hand before looking at Vale again. “Hey, you loud girl. Do not speak carelessly in front of me. Do you even know who I am?”

  “I do not care who you are. If you dare to cause trouble here, I will make you regret it. I will make sure you fail the trial before it even starts.”

  One of his companions suddenly dashed forward.

  “Tsk.” Toby moved instinctively to intervene, but he was a fraction too slow.

  The boy’s fist shot toward Vale’s face.

  But Vale reacted faster.

  She ducked smoothly, then drove her own punch straight into his jaw.

  A sharp crack echoed through the hall as the attendant was sent flying backward, crashing into a table behind them. Chairs scraped loudly as other applicants jumped to their feet in shock.

  “You!” the white haired boy shouted, pointing at Vale. “How dare you!”

  “What?” Vale shot back. “Bring the rest of your dogs. I will beat them one by one!”

  At that moment, Cassie’s hand gently reached for Vale’s sleeve.

  “Vale… let it go,” she said. “This is not worth it. We are here for the trial, remember?”

  At the same time, Toby caught a whisper from the remaining companion behind the white haired boy.

  “Young master… that girl is blind.”

  “What?” the boy blurted out. “Blind? How can a blind girl even take the entrance trial?”

  This had gone too far.

  Toby stood up at last.

  But once again, Vale was faster.

  In a single motion, she stepped onto her chair and leaped onto the table.

  “No way. This girl is insane.”

  She launched forward and threw a sharp kick toward the remaining boy. He barely managed to block it with both arms crossed in front of his face. The impact rang out loudly, forcing him to slide backward several steps.

  Vale’s leg did not stop there.

  Her extended kick continued forward, stopping just inches from the white haired boy’s face. The sole of her shoe hovered beside his cheek, close enough that he could probably feel the wind from it.

  “Leave. Now,” Vale said firmly.

  By this point, hundreds of eyes in the hall were locked onto them. The earlier noise had completely died down.

  “You!” The white-haired boy stumbled back. “You’re going to regret this! My family controls half the trade routes in the northern district! If I say a single word, you won’t even be allowed to stay in this city!”

  “Then go cry to your parents,” Vale replied. “Run home.”

  More and more applicants were standing now, whispering among themselves. The attention of the entire hall had shifted toward their table.

  And like it or not, Toby was now directly involved in this mess.

  Then suddenly, a voice rang out from the far side of the room.

  “You are all quite energetic. Starting fights before the real trial even begins, huh?!”

  The voice was calm, but it echoed through the entire hall as if amplified by invisible force.

  Toby felt a slight tremor in his chest.

  He turned toward the source of the voice.

  There was a woman with long black hair braided neatly down her back. She looked young, perhaps in her early twenties.

  She wore a pristine white uniform coat tailored perfectly to her frame.

  Then Toby realized.

  She was not standing on the ground.

  She was descending from above.

  Her body floated downward slowly, as if suspended by invisible strings. There were no visible wings, no activated card hovering around her.

  She came to a stop upon a transparent platform suspended several meters above the floor, elevated higher than everyone else.

  “My name is Instructor Lyriana,” the woman said calmly. “Rank-8 Sage.”

  The entire hall froze.

  Rank-8.

  Even Toby felt his breath hitch.

  A Rank-8 had appeared this early? And she was only an instructor? That meant the higher authorities of this academy were even more terrifying.

  Lyriana’s sharp eyes swept across the room.

  “The test begins now.”

  It happened instantly. In less than a heartbeat, the entire interior vanished.

  A violent gust of wind roared past Toby’s ears.

  His stomach dropped.

  His heart felt as if it had been yanked out of his chest.

  Then. His body plunged downward.

  The sky exploded into view above him.

  No.

  Below him.

  They were no longer inside the building.

  They were falling.

  Hundreds of applicants plummeted through the open sky at terrifying speed, clouds tearing past as the endless blue stretched in every direction.

  They were in free fall.