The War Of Crystaliam Book One: Preparing for Battle

Chapter 4: Crystaliam School for Talented Warriors PT. 2

Being admitted into Crystaliam School for Talented Warriors (or CSTW) is a high honor and was one of the few ways to get into the upcoming war. To get into the war, you have to be among the best warriors in CSTW or the top ten of everyone in three other chosen schools.

Today was the day of their very first class. They were all packed and ready to go, said their goodbyes, and met up outside the school, bags and all. "Showing up late could cause immediate removal," that's the rumor the students whispered. It could be false but CSTW is very strict, so there's a large percent chance of it being true and they weren't willing to risk anything.

After meeting up at the entrance, conversing with the normal banter, they enter the large building. The entrance room was fairly simple. A mix of blue and white tiles and a desk with a lady behind it was all that was significant in this room.

The desk was only a check-in desk to ensure you are meant to be in here. All you would do is give your first and last name to the lady and she would type your name into the computer. If you came up, you could pass. If you didn't, you would be escorted out by security.

Luckily, each of the friends came up and they were permitted to proceed into the extravagant and ornate sword fighting school. For a school focused on war training, the attention to detail was beyond parallel. The alluring painted blue lines that decorated the collosal room were too much to take in.

"Woah!" Ashlie marvels at the walls around her. She runs to the center of the room and twirls. She stakes in all the sights from where she was standing, as far as the eye could see.

From one of the hallways a girl growls, "I can't believe you got us lost on the first day! You're so lucky we got here early!" She scolds.

A boy's voice responds, "It's not my fault! They didn't send us a map like they said they would!" Ashlie turns to the right hallway and sees two people around her age. The girl had light brown hair with purple ends and the boy had all black hair. They make it back to the main room and see Ashlie.

The girl walks up to Ashlie hastily and faces her. It's evident she was trying to hide it, but a bit of frustration was still resident in her expression.

"Hello, ms," She spoke sweetly, "Do you happen have a map around the school. My brother over there thought he could get around this maze without it one and we've been lost for hours." From behind her, her brother runs up from the hallway they came.

"That's an over-exaggeration!" He exclaims.

"Most of it was true!" She fires back, "You did get us lost."

"I didn't see you trying to help!" He shoots.

"Calm down, y'all," Ashlie speaks up, "Look, me and my friends have have maps. Y'all can come with us if you want."

"Okay, I'm fine with that," The girl answers, "My name is Bri by the way, and this is my brother, Dawn." Dawn shyly waves.

Turns out Bri wasn't exactly exaggerating when she said this school was a maze. It took them at least 30 minutes to find the auditorium. There was millions, maybe billions of people so willing to dedicate their lives to defending their empires honor. But to think only a couple thousand will be chosen is a bit saddening. An even more bitter thought than that, what these children have gotten themselves into. Even if they did technically sign up, only a select few fully and truly comprehend what they have signed up for.

The children sat near each other and waited. The seats rapidly began to fill. Soon enough the seats were full and the program started. A red haired lady stood in front of the podium and spoke into the microphone.

She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Settle down, warriors," The crowd quiets, "You are required to be here for one reason only: you have surpassed any normal person in your skill set and have been chosen to attend the most prestigious training school in all of the empire. Even then, only the best of the best will be sent of to battle, so if you really have something to fight for, work hard to fight for it."

"Now, onto the reason you are here here," She continues and the crowd laughs a bit, "You are here because you have no idea how the classes work here." A couple hundred kids laugh at the bluntness of her wording, Ashlie being included. "This will function as your introduction to the rigorous school system. Don't think this will be anything less than harsh, and those who aren't prepared will not make it." She looks back and a few people who look like they are around her age step out. She starts up again, "First, we will be introducing you all to the teachers you will be learning from."

A buff man with black hair takes the red haired lady's place. He looks a few years older than her. "I am Mr. Reinhardt," He started. His voice sounded gruff and scratchy like it hurt his throat and just hearing it makes you want to clear your throat. "I will be teaching a class for the tanks; I teach the class full of the students willing to stand on the front lines and attack with all their might." Over a thousand people cheered, presumably those who wanted to be tanks.

The next teacher was a tan woman with black glasses and black hair. Her voice was as clear and confident as it could be. "I am Mrs. Syrnia and I will be teaching sorcery along with my comrade, Mr. Frosk." A man with snow white hair waved behind her. The crowd 'oohed and 'aahed' at the thought of sorcery and magic.

The introduction lasted a while and once it was over the students were allowed to decide their schedule. It was entirely free besides the fact that the classes had to start at sharply 6:00AM and end at 12:00PM. You are allowed access to two break periods, but one is mandatory. Each period will last an hour each. They weren't kidding when they said the school would be tough. Another was that every student had to take at least one of each class and a lunch: one sorcery, one tank, one base defence, one archery, and one normal sword fighting class. That leaves the order of classes and a few extra classes for you to decide; there really isn't that much freedom but this school is the best in the land for a reason and it isn't flexibility.

For the other half of the day, you are free to do whatever the school offers. There's snack stands and in the back of the school there's a sparring ground to practice. They've also set up benches to sit and chat near.

Bri chose to fill the empty spaces with more sorcery.

Uni and Dawn took more base defence classes.

Nick filled his with tank classes. So did Cory for one, but the rest where archery.

Jon and Shelby chose to stick to classic sword fighting, though Shelby picked up some base defence as well.

Tommy took some tank and some archery, but he also took and extracurricular class titled 'TNT workshops.'

Finally, Ashlie and Jessica ended up broadening their horizons much more than the others and took a few more of each class.