Sacred Fire United Nation

'He's here! He's finally here!' Grassley looked at the president of the Sacred Fire United Nation and smiled so widely his cheeks nearly disappeared from his little round face.

A few other hundred student recruits for the Sacred Fire Academy stood next to him with their parents behind them.

All of the students had already fallen onto their knees in reverence, including Grassley, while their parents behind them saluted with a trace of trepidation in each of their eyes. However, the black haired man all of them were staring at seemed to have a bright smile on his face. His age seemed no older than eighteen, and some might say he could be considered the most handsome man on the planet.

He had come to the Sacred Fire Academy today to watch this year's entry examination for the future's up and coming cultivators. He looked at two rows of hundreds of young students, split between boys and girls, and then looked at Grassley for a quick second.

That one stare caused all the boys around Grassley to suddenly turn towards him with awe and wonder. What exactly could the great founder have seen in Grassley to cause him to stare?

Grassley trembled in fear before noticing that the man had seemed to disappear and reappeared right in front of him. He felt his hair raised, and instantly wanted to jump back before feeling the kind lady pretending to be his mother pushing her hand against his back. He instantly calmed, and looked up at the founder of the nation with terror in his eyes.

"Grassley, you might be the most handsome child I've ever seen," The Sacred Nation Founder, Marcin, one of the strongest elementalist cultivators in the Sacred Fire Nation, smiled at the young boy and touched his small countenance. "You're my favorite for scoring first in this competition. If you disappoint me, I might have to kill you."

"He won't disappoint you sir," Madeline, Grassley's fake-mother, bowed her head and pushed Grassley's to the floor. "He's a very strong child. He'll at least get the highest strength during the boulder exam."

"Well then, he won't have to die," Marcin gently brushed Grassley's black-greenish hair and put his hand on his shoulder. "Now, since your mother offered, why don't we have you test your strength before all these other children. I'm jealous of how handsome you are. It's rare I feel such reverence for a child."

"Yes-yes sir," Grassley gulped and rushed up to a series of boulders on the stage.

Three challenges had been provided for today, a boulder challenge, an elementalist challenge, and a sprint challenge.

In front of Grassley, five different boulders of various sizes ranging from 100 kilograms to 500 kilograms had been placed on the tiled stage. Grassley gulped, and looked down at his mother, Madeleine's hands, and went over to the 400 kilogram rock.

"Stop!" Marchin pointed at the 100 kilogram rock. "Start at the smallest rock and work your way up to the largest rock! It be a shame if you hurt that pretty face of yours." Marchin gently jumped into the air and landed by Grassley before walking him over to the hundred kilogram stone. "Here, show all the beautiful girls how strong you are, will you?"

"Okay," Grassley gulped and heard his father's words in his head. 'Grassley, you must at all cost never reveal your real strength. There is a chance the enemy will be informed of you, even before you arrive, so you must fail when they think you'll succeed. Succeed only when they least expect it."

Grassley leaned over and grabbed the 100 kilogram boulder and gently tried to hoist it over his head before a pressure traveled through his body and caused his knees to buckle.

A second later, he tumbled over and fell onto the floor, dropping the boulder towards his own foot.

Swoosh!

A gentle breeze pushed the boulder of the stage and caused it to land against the foliage drawing in the distance. The countless students began to laugh at how pitiful Grassley performed before Marchin himself let out a chuckle.

"You know kid. I thought since you were so handsome, you might be a very special visitor I expected. However, it turns out, you're just another spoiled brat. Now, go back to your mother and forgive her for embarrassing your family. I expect when we let you into the program you'll earn her honor back, right?"

"Yes, I'm sorry for disappointing you!" Grassley bowed before he felt a gentle hand touch on his head. Marchin pointed him back over to his spot before smiling and somehow tossing the boulder back onto the stage.

He stood in front of a podium, with his hands crossed, looking up at the stars twinkling in the sky. In the Sacred Fire Universe Nation, only a few planets allowed the stars to be seen even in the daylight due to the gases in the atmosphere, and even fewer of these had enough oxygen to be sustainable for life. However, on Planet Premair, even in the darkest hours or brightest days, the sun always shimmered in the distance. Marchin pointed up into the clouds and smiled while grabbing the microphone and hosting it into the air.

"You are all from the wealthiest families in the Sacred Fire United Nation! Each and everyone of you may someday own a star system!" Marchin proudly took a deep breath and closed his eyes with a wistful expression on his face. "However, today, each of you are nothing more than pebbles in the universe! I expect the 100 of you that qualify to be monsters of our prodigious institution realize the magnitude of this day! You'll be given some of the best resources while thousands of other students starve and wish to be in your shoes! Do you want to matter in this universe! Then you must be like Grassley here! Fail over and over and over again until you reach the highest precipice in the universe! Now go! Lay claim to the universe, and make us look good while doing it!"

Marchin pointed at the flag emblem of the school which had three lightning bolts being held by a small child. He proudly stared at it for a few seconds, and then returned his gaze to the audience. "Now go! Compete for the meager resources that are available at this school and don't waste my time! If any of you fail, your families will personally be drained of all their resources! Grassley here made me realize that we weren't selective enough with the families we allowed to reproduce. You can blame Grassley for my decision, but now go! Complete the obstacles and earn my admiration!"

Marchin smiled and snapped his fingers before disappearing from the stage and causing all the students to let out a sigh of relief. Only Grassley, who had just been blamed for hundreds of families potentially being killed, realized that his life had just got thousands of times more difficult.

"Grassley," A grey haired man walked over to him and patted him on the back. "Please return to the line immediately and wait for your turn on the sprint test! Since you went first for the boulder test, you'll be going last for every other obstacle! Do you hear me!" The teacher pushed him over back into the line while all the other students turned to him with such intense rage the ground itself seemed to shake. "Now, each of you go up there one at a time, and show Grassley what real strength is!"