Behind Hollow Eyes

Magic Knight Entrance Exam

Months Earlier

It was the Clover Kingdom's day to have their magic knights entrance exam.

It drew many young mages from far and wide. Most were children of noble families, but some young commoners who put forth their hopes to join the Magic Knights for a better life. 

From the brush of the forest that surrounded the capital, a figure emgered.

With hands dangling before them, they dragged along their body with tired, yet silent footsteps. The only noise they made was a low whistle that rustled through the multitude of black feathers that made up the cape and headdress. Most notably was the strange animal skull that sat ontop of the head, obscuring their features.

They were indefinitely, a terrifying sight but it didn't stop them as they shuffled to a trading cart that had passed by. Gripping onto the lower rung of the cart, they swung their body to grip onto the bottom section to hide. Knowing full well that the guards of the city wouldn't let the figure in looking the way they did, they figured they could hitch a ride.

The cart pulled forward, and they waited some time before letting go after they noticed the stone roads of the city passing before them. As the cart continued on, they got up from the ground to look around. It was a small dark road so nobody noticed the strange figure's presence. It wasn't until they tried to leave did the immediate attention of people snap into their direction.

Seeing this, they decided to hide into alleyways and using the back streets to get to where they wanted to go.

Eventually they made their way to a colisuem. Watching, they observed how people stood in line and handed their grimoire to an attendant to be checked in.

Following up the last person, their appearance startled the attendant.

Taken back by the figure's appearance, they only drew their eyes away when a grimoire was placed before them. It was such a contrast to the grimy hand that set it down.

The grimoire was clean of any markings that would have shown on its fair surface. As the color was pearlescent and the texture quite smooth, it seemed a miracle the dirty hand didn't leave marks. Other than the remarkable color, it was plain. This was strange as most grimoires had a design upon their covers special clovers for those who obtained their grimoire in the Clover Kingdom.

"Name?" The attendant questioned after scanning to find it was indeed a grimoire. There was a short silence.

"Sirius," a voice croaked from under the skull.

Wanting to have nothing more to do with the figure, a number of 211 was quickly pushed towards them along with their grimoire back.

The figure shuffled away to the waiting area. Immediately whispers started as many of the noble and even common individuals expressed disdain for new arrival.

"Gross! What is that thing?"

"How could they allow someone who looks like that to partake in the Magic Knights entrance exam?"

Their focus shifting from a boy struggling within the hands of a captain to the strange individual.

Even underneath the flock of feathers, there was a visible slack of their shoulders as they shuffled to a far end.

As the rest of the captains emerged, the young boy was also given a chance to look at the newcomer.

His eyes sparkled as his thoughts reflected on how cool he thought the skull mask looked.

Sensing this, the figure looked at him with curiosity, red flashing behind the empty eye sockets. This startled the ash-blond and he quickly turned away.