A/N: Read Author's Note. New discord link for art update in the comment section.
*
With a blur, it didn't take long for Michael to arrive at his keep.
The exam Michael was part of was the unified entrance trial of the ten First-Rank Awakener Academies.
Each had sent representatives to observe.
On paper, each academy admitted only a hundred students per year. But that number was not a guarantee—it was simply the maximum they were willing to take. There had been years entire academies refused new blood altogether, and others where they accepted barely a handful.
This round, all ten academies had extended invitations to two hundred applicants each. Two hundred from one academy, multiplied across ten… two thousand participants thrown into the Land of Origin.
Each academy dispatched a teacher to shadow their applicants, silently watching every clash and every choice. These observers were there to judge. To see who among their candidates might be worth their time and resources.
