In the large auditorium located in the Academy, over a hundred new mage recruits find their seats under the brightly lit room.
Once they are mostly settled in, a short but still intimidating soldier marches onto the elevated podium and stops to face them with his hands behind his back.
At the base of the podium, a couple more soldiers stand guard while the man on the podium addresses the crowd; his loud commanding voice echoes throughout the auditorium, with his scarred face adding to his intimidating presence.
"Good day, Recruits. I am Colonel Johan, the overseer of this academy. On behalf of the Royal Army, welcome to this country's military arms."
Most of the recruits let out a shout of pride while Johan begins to stroll on the podium as he speaks further.
"As you all know, the South-Land's entire military force is divided into two factions. The Royal Army, stationed throughout the country, the land's first line soldiers... And us, the Royal Magic Knights."
He suddenly stops with the listening recruits now to his left side. "But despite being an integral part of this country's military power, there are several soldiers in the Army who look down on the knights."
He closes his eyes, his head held low. " They see it as a group of arrogant, outcast mages who only climb the military ranks based on power instead of decades of loyal service. In other words...
This faction is a disgrace to hard-working soldiers."
Johan then turns his body a little, with half of his face sneering at them. "And as someone who was originally in the army, I completely agree."
Hidden within the crowd, Dom clenches his fists with a glare fixed on Johan, but someone else was the first to speak out of his mind.
"Bullshit!" One of the older recruits shouted, getting everyone's attention. "I've applied for this academy every year for the last 10 years and got rejected each time. I went through hell and back to make myself stronger until I finally got accepted! How exactly is that disgraceful?!"
"Yeah!" Another teen said as he jumped to his feet. "The Knights saved my entire village from wild beasts! Where was the army when my sister almost died, huh?!"
These two comments ignited the spark, and within seconds, the hall was full of uncontrolled noise, as more people voiced out their emotions.
"Hey! Be quiet!" One of the soldiers standing below the podium shouted, but the triggered recruits didn't even notice his presence.
Johan completely turns to the rioting recruits and closes his eyes. In that moment, Dom, along with a few other recruits like Roger and the serious teen from earlier, all flinch from the now eerie sensation given off by Johan's body.
This sensation intensifies as Johan suddenly opens his eyes, releasing a wave of green mana that instantly fills the room.
The first rioter groans loudly as he clutches his now aching head.
Dom holds his head too, his mind focused on the powerful headache suddenly attacking him. The sensation was similar to hot iron claws trying to claw through his brain.
"A mind spell?" The serious teen grumbled as he opened an eye to find every single recruit in the same situation.
A brief moment later, Johan stops his spell, releasing the recruits from the intense pain.
"I don't remember giving any of you permission to speak." Johan calmly said, his voice now carrying an intimidating tone, and the room went completely silent.
Dom rubs his temple while he stares at Johan.
Johan gives them a minute to recover before resuming his speech; "It's true that in the Knights, power is what determines your rank. A recruit like you could become the equivalent of a General in a year if you are powerful enough."
The recruits then notice the smirk on Johan's face.
"But what they fail to remember, initially... is that power was the reason why the royal knights were created in the first place," Johan said as he moved towards the massive portrait of a certain mage group painted on the wall behind the podium.
He stops and takes a moment to stare at the beautifully painted image of those 8 powerful mages.
"Even among the Great Monarchs, the original magic knights, the only one who ever served in the Army was General Anthony. The rest were a group of untrained commoners, nobles, and former criminals."
Dom's smile widens as his eyes remain fixed on the portrait of the younger Anthony, just as Johan turns back to them.
"The Knights were created to do the jobs the Army can't. Operations too small to mobilize an army squad or too dangerous to risk the lives of weak soldiers."
Johan turns his gaze to the first rioter.
"And that's why the entrance exams here were so difficult."
The rioter frowns while Johan turns to the others.
"In the knights, results are our main aim. Because of that, what we need isn't years of dedicated service... what we need is the power to be able to complete any and every operation given to us, regardless of the risk."
Slowly, the standing rioters sit back down, their expressions now filled with embarrassment and regret.
Johan scratches his hair with his eyes now closed as he goes on, "An average person has an E or D class magic. An average army soldier is either a D or C-class mage. The higher-ranked officers have higher classes, but they are still only a small number of them."
He opens his eyes with a smirk. "Meanwhile, an average knight has a class of at least B. Which means," He turns to look at them, sideways. "We have proportionally more powerful mages compared to the entire army."
The first rioter flinched once he heard Johan's words.
"The only reason any of you are here is because we saw the potential that you can reach the minimum class. Some of you already do."
Johan's expression suddenly hardens.
"For the next 3 years, our sessions would not just be focused on your training as a military officer... it'll also focus on training your magic until you become another powerful monster just like the Monarchs."
Johan stops for a moment. He lets the message sink in while gauging the recruit's expressions. Once he is satisfied with their attention, he speaks again;
"If you get that, then I have a few more things to say." He said as he placed his hands on his hips.
"First, once you step out of here, don't listen to the army. They're just jealous that despite 500 years of serving, it only took the first knights a few months to bring the war to an end."
"Yeah!" A recruit shouted, raising some cheers from the recruits.
"Second, even though power is our major focus, it's not our only focus. Your training here will give you the basic knowledge and skills of an average army soldier."
He folds his arms with a nod.
"We'll also look at your conduct, talent, and of course, your feats. Like it or not, a soldier is still a trained warrior who fights for his country. The royal knights are not an exception."
A couple more cheers spill out, raising the morale of the room.
"Finally..." Johan said, cutting through the cheers as they noticed the once again cold expression on his scary face. "You must always remember that being a knight means that you will have it hardest compared to the army."
The young recruits share a confused stare, their mumbles replacing the happy cheers.
"I hate sugarcoating things, so I'll just say it now," Johan said, once again commanding the room.
"Despite the love and attention they give us, in the eyes of the Capital, we're just weapons they use to achieve their objectives." Johan's expression darkens. "Which means that even though we're soldiers, we're also escorts, bodyguards, heroes, and sometimes... executioners."
Some of the recruits shift nervously, but Dom narrows his eyes. His mind immediately goes back to Anthony killing Elon all those years ago. Even though Elon was a monster who deserved it, Dom could still remember the tiny pity he had, unlike Anthony's completely unremorseful expression.
Johan's next words draw Dom out of his thoughts.
"Not only will you be sent on some of the most dangerous missions in history, but you can also be asked to do something that is completely against normal laws or your beliefs for the sake of maintaining peace."
Johan used air quotes to emphasize his words.
"Some of those missions are so classified that simply breaking that confidentiality will not only strip you of your knight status but can also make you a wanted criminal."
The serious teen closes his eyes in thought while Dom clenches his fists with a hardened expression on his face.
"That's why we'll also try to simulate such situations in our training to prepare you for what's to come," Johan said as he walked closer to the recruits, his eyes still gauging their expressions.
"From my years of experience since this academy was first established, I can estimate that out of the 153 of you recruits here today, fewer than 30 of you will graduate. The others will either drop out from the pressure or die in the process."
The silence that followed Johan's words is devastatingly palpable. It is so quiet that even a cricket would hesitate to make a sound.
Johan looks at the recruits, noting the depressed/terrified looks on most of their faces. "Consider this your final warning to leave if you don't have the balls for this." He said before quietly walking away.
Johan's departing boots are the only things heard in the still, silent room.
"What kind of speech is that?" A soldier stationed near the podium suddenly grumbled, his expression frustrated.
But the other soldiers just smile once Johan stops at the edge of the podium to give the recruits one last stare.
"But for those of you that choose to stay..." He gives them a smirk. "... the pay is worth the effort. So try not to die until you at least enjoy it."
With that, Johan leaves the podium with the hall still very quiet.
The annoyed soldier clicks his tongue. "I knew I should have given the speech myself. All Colonel Johan does is scare our recruits away." A snicker then draws his attention to a soldier laughing. "What?" He asked, angrily.
The smiling soldier shakes his head. "You're new here, so you don't know how things work." He said with a gesture at the recruits. "Most of them just see the Magic Knights as a quick way to get fame and fortune. They don't know how hard a knight actually has it."
"If we soften our approach, we'll be able to create more knights, but eventually, most of them will break under pressure." Another soldier said.
"And once that happens, not only will you end up with defective knights..." Johan said as he approached them with a hand in his jacket. "... you might end up with a broken, deranged mage like the Mage Cannibal."
"Sir." The soldiers collectively said with a salute.
"At ease," Johan said as he pulled out a cigarette pack from his jacket while they lowered their hands. He then turns to one of the female soldiers. "Sergeant Sandra."
The officer nods and walks up to the podium to continue the ceremony.
"If I may, Colonel?" The rookie officer asked Johan, who shrugged as he lit his stick. "I get why you're doing this, but isn't there a more efficient way?"
Johan lets out a puff of smoke. "You're the new trainer sent by the Council, right? Let me guess, they told you to find a way to produce more knights for them, huh?"
The rookie flinches at Johan's accurate deduction.
Johan scoffs. "Well, you better tell those selfish bastards to give up because I won't change how I do things." He said with an annoyed look on his face.
"But look at them. The training hasn't even started, and they're already scared." The officer said, pointing at the visibly concerned recruits.
Johan gives the rookie a hard stare. "Unlike the Army, the Knights value quality over quantity. If I start watering down my methods, we'll only end up with more liabilities. And when that liability causes them trouble, the Council itself will be the first to blame me."
He lets out another smoke cloud that causes the rookie to cough.
"Besides..." Johan said with a smirk. "... you're only looking at the weak candidates. The next generation of monsters is already cooking."
With that, Johan walks away, leaving the rookie still confused while the more experienced officers smile.
Even the Sergeant now standing on the podium notices these unique recruits while she reads out the proceedings.
Despite most recruits being concerned or already depressed, a couple of them hold an even more determined expression on their faces.
This, of course, included Dom, who holds an excited grin on his face.
About 30 minutes later, the proceedings ended, and before the recruits were even taken on a tour of the academy, a couple had already dropped out.
Later that night, after receiving their dinner, the remaining recruits moved to the first-year dormitory, where their luggage was already placed in their allocated rooms.
Dom frowns as he stares at the piece of paper in his hand while moving through the semi-busy dorm hallway.
He stops and compares the number on the paper to the one on the door in front of him.
With a sigh, he places a hand on the handle.
"Please give me a fun partner." He mumbled as he opened the door, his smile still hopeful... only to come face to face with a familiar, serious teen making his bed.
The two share a sudden conflicted look before Dom slaps his forehead again.