[OP: ]
As soon as anyone boarded the airship of the academy, they were immediately requested to go inside the ship.
When others inquired about the reason from higher-ups, it was coldly explained that the airship would take off quickly due to the tight schedule, making it challenging for many of them to even stand properly on the deck.
All of the people, understanding the difficulties of the employees, did as they were directed and went straight to their rooms or were looking around inside the marvelous ship that had fascinating things all around them.
There was good food in the vast dining rooms, and places to take a good look outside, the rooms everyone got were all the same but they were good enough from even the young noble's point of view.
Eon and others went to their rooms for now while Rein was in Eon's room when the airship took off.
The engine of the enormous airship roared to life and the lower part even trembled at the tremendous force but those inside didn't feel anything because of the 'good' materials used in the making of the aircraft.
The airship slowly started to ascend into the air, but the passengers weren't affected by gravity as they would be in a conventional vehicle. The magic's technological prowess was astounding.
As the ship ascended higher and higher, Eon and Rein, Carla and Zoe, Alf and Chry, all looked out the windows in awe at the world below them. The ground grew smaller and smaller until it was nothing more than a distant blur.
The sky stretched out before them, vast and endless, and the ones feeling this exhilarating moment felt a sense of freedom like birds that they had never experienced before.
Then, all of a sudden, the ship picked up speed, sending the passengers into an adrenaline rush as they watched the view disappear at an even faster rate.
The airship continued to gain speed, and soon they were flying through the clouds.
As the airship slowed down after reaching the highest point of their journey, the thing that made Eon doubt the entire setting came to pass…
Those looking out of their windows could see one or two but Eon, looking at the whole of the surrounding high sky with his third eye as if the eye of a god, could clearly see the eight airships almost perfectly identical to their ship slowly coming together.
He knew just from this much that this whole scenario, from the tickets to their separate rooms, the hurried flight, to the cautious employees on the ship, all held a purpose.
It wasn't pleasant but as he watched from above, the ships began to move as one, and even their sails with different color insignias waved in perfect synchronization.
The speechless passengers, who had no idea what was going on, felt a sense of awe and wonder as they watched the ships dance through the sky, their movements truly graceful and fluid. But just like Eon, a few other people on these ships also figured out something wasn't right.
From their perspective, their ship was suddenly operating with other ships, and the confusion and shock would be the same for the others.
In their eyes, as they looked out of their windows, the other ships were the ones meeting up with their ships.
It was strange and only Eon knew the truth of how all these ships were working impeccably with each other. One naturally couldn't figure out what was going on until they had some ability to see from above, like Eon or some amazing flying familiars.
But few actually had anything like that, so things boiled down to 'something was wrong'.
And all who thought that way were right as when all the young adults going to the academy for the entrance exam on these nine ships in total heard the same announcement from a familiar voice, their excited hearts sank, and myriad emotions painted their beings.
[ "Hohoho! Welcome, young and passionate people! Thanks for showing interest in joining us in this great 3693rd entrance exam~! You might think this is sudden or you have no preparation and even want to curse at me but, the entrance exam you all were looking forward to nevertheless will start in a bit so be prepared~! Hahaha!" ]
That was the voice of the person known as the (Perfect being), the headmaster of the great academy of hope, and most, if not all, of them were familiar with his voice.
He was called a perfect being, but still, those who had ever attended the academy or even had some relation with it were all familiar with his crazy nature.
Some knew of this, so this announcement reminded them of that fact, but others who only thought of the headmaster as the greatest archmage of the world all had weird expressions when they heard his last happy and excited laugh.
It was weird for some, but Eon, as he set in his room with Rein, knew full well this was his natural behavior.
In these last years, he had known a lot more about this character named Aldrich Merlin.
They were close already, so he wasn't shocked at all.
He had recognized the ongoing scenario and the people on the ships were going to be thrown into some illusionary space where they will be judged by the expert councils observing every aspect of every examinee.
It was a fact that anyone could join the grand academy of hope if they were qualified. And that was the reason this ticket process only needed the presence of the one wanting to join the academy and their IDs.
They even gave the tickets if the reason for someone not having an ID sounded conversing enough, so it all came back to their strength, wisdom, and desire to actually join this institute.
And the academy also only needed those who at least had the desire to study in this institute for any reason they have.
The goal of the academy was to create capable people who knew about their talent, the world, and about the society they live in.
The academy was there to create people who would be helpful to the whole world in some way, be it by accomplishing great achievements or by serving healthy food to the common people.
The test, regardless of the test location, was always focused on finding the ones who had something the academy can polish or the ones who can bring some change to the academy, their nations, or the world.
There sure were rankings in the entrance exam, but it was the secondary thing that counted on unique bases and points of view of the different people in the grading panels.
It was easy, though. Most of the people who at least were strong and almost all who could even use the most basic of magic passed the test.
It was only normal that Carla, Alf, and Chry would have their names in higher rankings whatever the judging criteria might be, but for Eon and Rein, there was something more concerning to look forward to.
[ "Hehe. Hello, new batch of hand-picked elites~. I believe at least some of you might have heard about me from the 'rumors' but for those who don't know, I'm your awesome and legen—dary student council president~!
I know a bit about you all and am dying to meet you, but for now, the vice president will give you your very first assignment~! Do well everyone. We all are watching~~!" ]
Yeah, they had heard about him from the rumors. But the rumors described him as a calm, collected, individual whose origin, though unknown, he was said to have a unique grace to everything he did.
Rumors… yeah. They were unreliable.
The voice and speech they heard just now from their legen—dary student council precedent was definitely not something that rumors described.
"I like that tone. He seems fun."
"Right~? The way he said legendary was even more fun. Haha! I will call him legen—dary president~."
But Rein and Eon had a higher opinion of this cool-sounding guy than that plain-ass person from the rumors.
[ "You dumbass. Did you leave your brain at the dorm before coming here or did dogs eat it? Bastard.
They are people headmaster Merlin chose, so they will at least be good enough to pull their weight.
The ones from our batch were all a mess at the start, don't you remember?
Those fuckers almost ruined the whole entrance exam last time.
The hell I suffered to clean you all's mess still haunts me. Ugh!
Fuck.
Listen newbies…" ]
"She's good," Eon mumbled with a smile as if he found it funny, but Rein had a different opinion than him.
"No! I don't like her! She sounds upright!"
She was angry, but only on the surface.
Both of them knew they had to do well in this thing.
It was only natural that the two of them would perform as good as they can to get the rewards. After all, if there was one of the greatest advantages of being a student council member, then it was surely the reward one gets after any of their assignments.
And, the whole great academy of hope worked only on global currencies like the adventurer association's [M] points, natural resources, and the maginet's wisdom coin <W>, so the rewards they get for even the smallest of the tasks were stunning.
The two were unique, and this was their first assignment, so they were excited.
And their excitement hiked up when they saw the unexpected landmass in the sky…
"Headmaster Merlin. He is phenomenal."
The location for their entrance exam this time was a small floating island entirely made with magic, something probably only their crazy headmaster could pull off...
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