"Stand in formation. We are no longer within the safe spaces of the fort. Whatever you see and experience on the Plains today will remain with you for your lifetime, however short it may be," said Nova.
"Well that was rather ominous," said a first year student.
"He ain't wrong though," responded another. There were lots of such conversations happening among the students of all years. Normally, they would have been told to remain silent, but Nova couldn't bare to do it. He didn't know what would happen in the near future to them, so he let them be. His eyes constantly wandered towards a particular student who shared a past with this very battlefield. The concerned student too, unlike his usual self, was a little tense.
As the murmurs died down, Nova continued. "Now I would like to call Ulysses Corvus, the Captain of the Rethmar Front, one of the 7 New Suns, to address you all. Ulysses walked up to the front of the students amidst the applause. As he reached thef ront, he just stood there for a moment absolutely silent. After a moment of silence which felt like an eternity, he spoke. "What a travesty!" were the first faint words that came out of his mouth. This left everyone confused. Were the students a travesty? Was the situation at the Front worse than assumed? Was the fact that they were having to bring out students aged barely 20 out to the forefront of a war the travesty? Nobody knew what the man meant. But his expression was grim.
"All of you students, hear me loud and clear. Not all of you will survive. There will undeniably be a few casualties, for the situation at the Front has become worse since yesterday night. So I just hope that you all continue to keep the fire in your heart lit. Not for your parents. Not for your teachers. Not for your royalty. No. They are all people who agreed to send you to the very forefront of a war which has traumatised the Kingdom for a long, long time. So keep the fire in your heart lit for yourself and your friends. If you lose your life or your friends, remember those who drove you here. Remember that this is not a forgiving world. I will try my damnedest to get you all back home. But for that I will need you all to know one thing. On those plains, there is no God. Only those creatures and those who suffer due to them. There is no savior, only you."
As he went right back to his regiment leaders to speak to them, murmurs erupted among the students, and even the few professors who had come with them. Nova just stood there in silence, weighing his successor's words. He wasn't wrong, for Rethmar was in fact such a place. He also wasn't wrong to criticize the higher ups for this decision. Nova, even with all his powers and fame, was never able to openly criticize the decisions of the higher ups in such a way. This made him envious of the blonde haired man named Ulysses.
"Quite a way to make an entrance," said Nirvana. "Anyways, while the situation is most certainly more grave than assumed, we still have the whole Rethmar Force, Order of the Black Whale and Nuve Lune himself here. I doubt anything will happen to us."
"That does make sense, but I still don't quite feel right about this," responded Krai. "I have a feeling something will go wrong."
"Well, if something does go wrong, we just have to tear it apart."
"You ain't wrong about that," responded a man's voice.
"Who- Oh! Its Professor Cain!" It was indeed Professor Cain. He was a young man aged around 26 and was the youngest ever professor of the Gravenloch Academy. He was tall and muscular, with black hair and black eyes. He was given the moniker "Incarnation of the desert" for his incredible weaving skills with the sand and ground threads. "Hey kids!"
"You're barely older than us…"
"Well yeah, but I am a professor," he said while shrugging sarcastically. "Anyways, if something does go wrong, we just have to tear it apart, that's true. But the 'we' over there indicates us elders. You should not risk your lives in unnecessarily dangerous situations."
"Then what is the point of this exam? If we will be kept at a safe distance away from the fights, then why are we even here?"
"I wonder about that too… Anyways, stay safe. I wouldn't want you worrying your parents."
"Fat chance of that happening," Nirvana let out a small chuckle. Cain just sighed and walked away to where the other professors were.
Nova coughed and brought everyone's attention back towards him. "Now everyone take a look at the bulletins to find out which regiments you are assigned to and join them. Do keep in mind these have come directly from the Royal Family and the Academy had no say in this," as he said these words, his voice kept going lower and lower. He briefly glanced at Icarus, who was staring right back at him. He expected him to be angry, but instead Icarus seemed to have a look of pity in his eyes, almost as if he understood. Nova couldn't bare to look at him anymore, so he simply looked away, unaware of another gaze directed towards him.
Icarus was in one of the 2 groups assigned to the Order of the Black Whale, who fought right at the forefront. He walked towards his war camp, and on the way heard lots of students bickering, crying, anxiously chattering away. Where one's assigned camp was stationed could determine one's life and death here. Well, for that, he had definitely drawn the worst lot here. For the first time in years, he felt anxious. Not for his own life, but for those who would be in the same group as him. He knew he had some type of connection to this place. He felt right at home here, even though it should have brought back traumatic memories. The Plains also seemed to reciprocate by springing surprises everytime he came there. The last time he was here, the tragedy took place. Now when he is back, things seem to have gone to shit ever since the night he arrived. So it was clearly a two-sided relationship, but not the kind he wanted.
He finaly reached his war camp, which was pretty far away from the rest of the war camps, as the Order of the Black Whale wasn't actually under Ulysses' regiments, but an independent Order directly under Duke Zol, who was Icarus' maternal uncle. Few knew this, as Icarus' mother had let go of her Zol family name years before marrying Luke Veyn. However, Duke Zol and his children still secretly maintained relations with the Veyns, though Icarus hadn't heard much from them in the last few years.
Inside the camp, he met the students assigned to both the groups. He instantly realised the power level of these groups seemed to be much, much higher than average. Each group had
one third year, one second year and one first year. Icarus' group had him, Leo Vargas, and Reyna Arellano. Leo Vargas was a second year student who had refused his ranking. He was a commoner but he didn't hesitate from giving himself a surname, for that was simply the kind of person he was. He was dark skinned and had black-brown hair and hazel eyes. He was of the same height as Icarus and was similarly built as well. Reyna Arellano was a third year student who had also refused her ranking, and was infamous for her needle which looked like a gladius. She had brown hair and eyes. Even though neither of them had an official rank, Icarus could tell they were both very strong.
In the other group were Orin, Nike and Nirvana, the top ranked students of each year. Nike was the top ranked second year student and one of the most gifted fire thread weavers in the past few decades. She had black hair and red eyed, similar to Selene, but much more fierce. Nirvana Claudi, the top ranked third year, had blonde hair and blue eyes, and was incredibly handsome. All six students greeted each other and immediately joined up with the Order to get their instructions.
Icarus felt this to be some sort of ploy by the Academy. It could not just be a coincidence that the three top ranked students were assigned the same group, and a group of extremely strong individuals who refused the rnakings was assigned under the same order. That just didn't make any sense unless they wanted to find out just how strong those who refused the rankings are. This way, if the actual rankers won, they could entice more students into accepting the rankings, and if they lost, it could act as extra motivation for them to get stronger. A fool-proof plan.