The Void Wolf

Back in the capital, the academy was rife with activity. It had been a week and a half since Clark, Amy, and the villagers joined and now everyone was more or less settled. The first week was pretty simple, a few basic assignments and light physical activity. The newcomers were surprised as they didn't think the capital Academy would be so easy. Unfortunately, the introduction week was meant to be easy. The following week was a nightmare for the inexperienced youths who were from small towns and villages, even those from larger towns and cities were caught off guard.

The assignments raised in difficulty but were still somewhat manageable. The "light physical activity" became full on sparring sessions paired with rigorous training, it made many wonder what would the elite training courses be like.

Currently, the new students were in the middle of a sparring session overseen by an instructor who had an intimidating build: a bald head, a neat beard, and a large stature towering over all of the students. The students surrounded a large wooden stage, measuring 25 to 30 feet wide and about five feet off the ground, outside the academy building. There were stands for spectators surrounding the stage, the school would host tournaments to rank students. Almost all the older students were spectating the new students, it was something they did every year to prepare for possible competition or to look for talents to recruit into their families.

"Clark and Aldis You're up next up!" The instructor bellowed.

Clark reluctantly made his way to the stage. On each side, there was a bin of weapons the students could choose, from swords to bows and even whips. Clark hesitated as he began staring at a sword, while his opponent was already standing on the stage wielding a sword. The weapons were dull to prevent any fatal injuries, but it didn't matter to Clark as it still made him feel sick. What no one knew, including Clark, was that he was showing symptoms of war sickness. Something that very few knew about and even if Clark was to understand it, no one else would believe him due to the simple fact of him never participating in a war or a battle. The traumatizing events from his childhood seemed to have developed into a phobia of fighting.

"Clark! Pick a weapon or I'll kick your ass myself!" The instructor roared.

Some students wanted to laugh but managed not to because this instructor was well-known for his temper, even kids of prestigious families wouldn't be spared from his anger.

Clark closed his eyes and took a deep breath before grabbing the sword and making his way onto the stage. His opponent, Aldis, was around the same age as him, with dark purple hair and a handsome face, which reminded Clark of Captain Avery, the only difference was his plain brown eyes.

Clark couldn’t help himself and spoke up. "Do you know Captain Avery?"

Aldis raised his eyebrows slightly as he looked at Clark. "Captain Avery is my sister." He responded plainly while taking a fighting stance, different from the Academy's style of swordsmanship.

What Aldis practiced was the Thynne family style of swordsmanship, which was available for all members of the family, while more powerful styles were only available for those with the Valkyrie bloodline. Those in the main family still had to achieve at least the Adept level of swordsmanship.

Many people wondered why the Thynne family had such weird restrictions on their family members. There was essentially no one who knew of the Valkyrie bloodline the Thynne family had, it was an unspoken rule of the Thynne’s to never talk about family affairs and the elders of the Thynne family didn't appear in public very often, so the noble families were clueless. Even the King himself had no idea that such a powerful family was within his borders.

"Start!" The instructor signaled for the fight to begin.

Aldis immediately ran towards Clark while holding his sword overhead and swung downwards.

"Ah!"Clark made a feeble attempt to block using the sword.

Clark’s had a loose grip caused the sword to be knocked away. Seizing the opportunity, Aldis spun around and sent a roundhouse kick towards Clark's chest causing him to fall off the stage and into the dirt.

"Clark! That was horrible, we'll have to double the training for everyone if you perform like that again!" The instructor yelled.

The new students who came in with Clark grimaced at the thought. Clark could feel hostile gazes sticking to his back. "Next!"

The instructor pointed to a random student as Aldis took his stance once again.

........................................

Aldis defeated nineteen opponents before stepping down. Even though he should've been proud or even arrogant, Aldis looked unsatisfied. He took his place with the rest of the students, without speaking a word to anyone.

The instructor nodded toward Aldis. "I expected as much from a Thynne, although it isn't anywhere near your sister's record it's still great." He complimented.

"Thank you," Aldis responded emotionlessly. In truth, Aldis wanted to become an outstanding warrior close to the level of the Valkyries. He probably was one of the only males in the family who wanted to do so as those with Valkyrie bloodlines generally were the only warriors. Anyone who knew of Avery would always compare him to her whenever he displayed his skills. Instead of growing bitter or angry he saw it as an obstacle he needed to overcome. Of course, he meant the Avery from a few years ago compared to the Avery now. There was no doubt in his mind that she was stronger than before.

Avery, easily defeated the first, second, and a little over half of the third year students in her class during her first evaluation week, 135 opponents in total, because of her performance she was invited to the elite courses but turned it down without hesitation.

"Amy!" The instructor resumed his aggressive tone and shouted.

Amy grabbed a blunt short spear and made her way onto the stage. Although she was a little nervous, her eyes flashed with determination. Her opponent, a heavy-set student, was already on the stage, holding a large shield and sword.

"Start!" Amy rushed out, rotating the spear as she closed the distance.

"Shouldn't she wait for him to attack since she has the advantage of distance?"

"How is she gonna get past that shield?"

"Is everyone from a village this inexperienced?"

"She's too impatient."

The crowd of older students clamored as they watched Amy's unorthodox approach. As Amy got closer the heavy-set student readied his shield, blocking off most of his body except his head and the arm wielding the sword.

Amy stopped rotating the spear and sent a thrust towards the heavy student using her Spear Dance skill. She felt as if her arms were moving on their own as she thrust the spear three times.

First the spear hit his sword wielding hand causing him to drop the sword, then it hit his exposed shoulder the impact caused him to stagger leaving his chest exposed, and finally, the last hit was directly in the middle of his chest knocking him down. Amy rotated the spear once more before pointing it at his throat.

"It's over! Next!"

The instructor was surprised at Amy's unusual use of the short spear offensively rather than countering when facing an opponent with a shield and her control over the weapons skill.

Amy rotated her spear and waited for the next opponent.

................................

Amy defeated a total of seven opponents before stepping down. Although it wasn't too eye-catching when compared to Aldis and insignificant when compared to Captain Avery, it still was an above average score.

The day finished out with a few more surprising results, some demi-humans such as elves, dark elves, and beast people got above average scores, but it wasn't surprising given their innate talents.  After the rankings were decided students would get more attention and resources based on their score. Recovery potions, personal instruction from experts, and better living quarters were all some of the perks that could be expected. Aldis Thynne ended up as number one for his class while Amy was number eight and Clark ended up dead last.

Clark sat alone at a table inside the cafeteria area, due to everyone avoiding him like he was cursed. Amy carried her food tray towards Clark and sat down next to him. Clark had a tray of bland porridge, unseasoned meat, two slices of bread, and a cup of water. Amy, on the other hand, had a steak, a fragrant vegetable soup, fresh bread rolls, and a cup of fruit juice. The difference in treatment was obvious, only the top ten from each class got to enjoy luxuries.

"Haah..."  Clark sighed, feeling dejected.

"You should eat Clark, you'll be sore tomorrow," Amy said as she began eating.

Clark watched her for a while then spoke. "Is it good?"

"Yeah, it's great. I'd give you some but it's against the rules you know." Amy said before she continued eating.

"Would you mind if I sat here?" All of a sudden a voice came from behind Clark and Amy. The dark purple haired youth named Aldis stood behind them.

"S-Sure thing." Clark stammered a little.

Aldis sat in front of Clark and Amy and took a few bites of his food before speaking. "So you've met my sister?" he asked.

"Wait, what?" Amy spoke in a confused tone.

"Oh, Captain Avery, yeah she escorted us to the Capital," Clark explained.

Amy's eyes showed realization as she put two and two together.

"I see." Aldis ate some more as they went back to silence. "I heard she ran into some trouble on the way."Aldis spoke up once again.

"Yeah, we were attacked by assassins on the way back. Luckily Captain Avery already was prepared and we had Ira to help." Amy responded.

"Ira?" Aldis asked.

"A friend of ours and Captain Avery. He's kind of...strange...but he's really strong." Clark said while Amy nodded along.

"How do you know they're friends, my sister and this 'Ira'?" Aldis inquired.

"Well she even said it herself, and they were pretty close during the whole trip," Clark said nonchalantly.

"How strong is-" Aldis tried to ask but Amy already began describing Ira.

"He's really strong, he killed close to two hundred bandits when they attacked our village...And even though he was hurt, he doesn't stay wounded for long, even large wound heal within a couple of hours for him." She finished speaking, but a look of admiration remained on her face.

"I see..." Aldis went into thought.

"I would like to meet him someday." He said.

"Well he should be visiting soon, maybe you'll get to see him then," Amy said, a hopeful look in her eyes.

"How much do you wanna bet he'll be with Captain Avery?" Clark tacked on jokingly.

"They are oddly similar, so it wouldn't surprise me," Amy responded, before eating her soup.

Aldis made a faint smile as his eyes flashed with anticipation.