A Kingdom of Corruption and Chaos

We ended up riding in the carriage for the majority of the day before a tall, looming stone castle came into view. It was tucked up into the mountains that bordered the edge of Celestia and Vampirian. The further we climbed up the sloping mountain path, the more I could see just how formidable the castle actually was. It seemed to blend right into the rock face it sat on, as if it had been carved right out of the mountain itself. Tall defensive turrets stood at strategic points all along the tall wall surrounding the outer edge, and as we passed through the gates that two armed guards pushed open for us, I looked out the window, looking up at the sprawling structure. It was massive, easily the largest building I've ever seen. Although the mass of people standing out front of it in the small courtyard had me far more nervous.The carriage stopped, and the officer came over, opening the door for me to climb out. Slowly, I gathered myself, climbing out as I looked over the crowd. They all

I looked the man over once more as he watched the pair of dragons fly off before turning back towards me. "You pulled me up here just to let them bond?" I asked, but something seemed a little different now as he looked me over once more, leaning back against what I could only assume was his desk. This time, those deep emerald eyes seemed to soften slightly as he took me in."Yes, while they like to pride themselves on being easy-going to all the new recruits, this place is anything but. I'm assuming, considering you're currently dressed in clothing more suited to farm work than any type of city attire, that you don't know the first thing about combat in any scenario. Which means I would much rather give them the chance to do what they need to do while you're under my direct supervision. If she leaves you at any other point over the next week, there's a very good chance that you'll both end up dead, and that would be incredibly inconvenient for me." I just gawked at him for a moment, c

Once we found everything, we ended up going back to the mess hall for dinner, sitting as a small group at one of the long bench-style wooden tables that lined the mess hall. It was a simple setup, but it was functional, even if it was a little cramped.After we ate a quick dinner, I split off from the group and went back out into the main hall, heading over to where we had found the gym earlier. Time to see if he's actually going to keep his word. I told Nova as I pushed the heavy wooden door open, only to stop dead in my tracks as I openly gawked at the pair in the center of the mats that covered the majority of the center of the gym. They were locked into what looked like a rather intense sparring session. Both held a single sharp short sword in one hand, but they moved so quickly and smoothly that it was honestly hard to track any actual strikes over the clang of metal on metal. It didn't help that there was also a whole hell of a lot of toned, tanned muscle on display, considering

Lexi was trying to teach me as much as she could, and I was very grateful to her. Luckily, the rest of the class wasn't really paying attention to me, considering Xavier had to break up at least four fights that I saw, and even had to drag someone out of the room, literally kicking and screaming by the back of their uniform. "Well, I think it's safe to say that everyone is officially terrified of him," Lexi whispered as we both stopped to watch Xavier break up yet another fight. Although this time, all he had to do was glare at the one who started it from clear across the room, and they instantly dropped it. "And, you're definitely right, I'm starting to think that the look he gave you when we walked in was downright warm and fuzzy." I just giggled at that as I threw another punch and kick combo at the invisible target in front of me. "Hey, that one was actually good!""Good, isn't even close to good enough. A stiff breeze could knock you over." A low tone chided from directly behind m

That first week flew by as we all fell into something of a comfortable rhythm. However, as the week progressed, the tension between students started escalating. Fights broke out in almost every single class as people fought for rankings. There were a few who tried to fight me for rank, but I just followed what Xavier had told me before. It was better to be one of the lowest-ranking students and still be alive to step into the ring than to be dead. I didn't care that I had dropped several ranks over the week. I was uninjured and still alive to step into the ring today.They called my name as I waited in line with under half the other students now on the other side of the gate of the stone arena. Nova shifted restlessly on my shoulders as I pushed the heavy gate open and walked out onto the hard-packed dirt of the arena. I wasn't really listening as they called the name of my opponent, as I took that moment to look around the space we would be fighting in. The arena was huge; it could e