3 years

After the news that 5 units got wiped out by a wyvren, the whole kingdom went into an uproar.

Most of the nobles also heard that some sorcerers had died which made them extremely mad. Because sorcery was like noblety, something untouchable.

Most of them didn't want to participate in the war anymore and stopped sending their children .

Fighting at the fronts was something for commoners.

The gap between nobility and commoners grew wider again.

---

It's was finally time. Noah had finally turned 12 years old.

The academy he wanted to attend was the only one in the whole kingdom. Stone ridge academy.

It was called this because it layed right next to the mountains and even a big part of the academy was located inside one of the mountains. But entering the academy would cost a lot of money.

Noah's family didn't have that much money and when his mother got sick most of the saved funds went towards her. Noah obviously wanted his mother to get better again but he also wanted to attend the academy.

So that he could become stronger and avange his father.

Luckily for him he had heard that there were 2 types of ways to enter the academy. One was buying his way in,( as he knew previously) which was really expensive, and only rich people or nobles did this.

The other one was participating in a few test and if you passed 4 out of the 5 tests then you could join the academy.

When you passed 4 out of the 5 tests, the academy would also give you a room and free food.

The test existed out of 5 parts. The first part was a fitness test. The second, combat ability. The third one was a written test. The fourth one was an observation test. And the last test was a group contest.

Noah was sure that the would fail the written test, but he was also getting nervous over the group contest.

Because in the 12 years that he had lived he had never made a friend. And his dad dieing also didn't help at all.

Because when you turn 10 you can also attend a pre - academy school. Which actually prepares you a bit for the academy itself.

There you would learn more about the neighboring kingdoms. Different types of animals / beasts. Which type of powers people could use and ect...

But Noah didn't attend this school as he was fully concentrated on training and helping his mother, and he actually didn't know that this pre - academy existed as his mother or father never talked about it.

When he turned ten years old he had the courage to open his father's dairy, his second gift before he left.

In the dairy there was a breathing technique called lunar breathing.

You could use this technique during the day but it wasn't as good as using it during the night, were the effects would be dubbeled.

Because Noah trained his body every day he had reached his age limit of strength. This happened when he was eleven, he could feel that he couldn't push his body any harder or he would destroy his muscles and bones. (rank 1)

So he started to use the breathing technique, and after a few months he finally had his first interaction with aura.

It felt very weird. It felt like someone was trying to puncture his skin, but by not trying to hurt him. A few weeks later he could feel the aura traveling around in his body, but it felt wild an unstable.

After a few more months he could finally channel aura into an object. But most of the objects that he tried to channel aura in constantly exploded. So he tried out some things.

A few weeks later he had found the middelground the perfect balance for small and big objects. We're the aura wouldn't be too wild or too lax.

And one week before his 12th birthday he had fully masterd aura control for enhancing objects.

He had become a rank 2 at the age of eleven. At that moment he felt proud. He felt good about himself.

But then he remembered what was written in the dairy. The technique wasn't the only thing that was in there, his father's idea's, knowledge about this kingdom and people and many other things.

You could feel proud of your achievements but you can't be prideful. Because you're slowly stepping on the path of self-destruction.

An example his dad used was a knight who outshined everyone. He was 18 years old and already a rank 4. Which was something amazing to achieve.

But the knight got way to cocky because of this. He was filled to the brim with pride. And when some old man who was also a rank 4 challenged him, he got extremely mad.

How can someone who has done 80 years over something that he had achieved in 18 years, challenge him?! .

So they fought. And the young knight lost. The man's battle strength/knowledge was way better, he had fought hundreds of battles more than the young knight.

The young knight couldn't accept defeat and even after his loss tried to kill the older knight.

The young knight now layed in some random graveyard.

This was a bit of an extreme example. But Noah still found that these words contained wisdom. Something he didn't really possess.

But the most important thing in the dairy and this was something his dad really emphesised on, was to never trust anyone a hundred procent. You would never know when your friend would turn into your enemy.

That's also one of the reasons why Noah hadn't made any friends yet.

But that didn't matter to him. Tho only thing that was of any importance was his mother and becoming stronger.

And now in a few weeks he would attend the academy. Noah had a conversation with his mother about the academy and leaving.

His mother knew that she couldn't keep him forever but she still felt that it was way to early.

But still they had made prior arrangements. She would go live again with her mother. Noah actually didn't know that he had a grandmother.

But his mother wouldn't tell anything more about it, so Noah didn't keep asking as he respected his mother.

Noah hugged his mother and then embarked on his first journey.