The 7 days were up, the time that was given to each of the sections, for them to distribute the roles of the fortress commander and the three division leaders, and the distribution of every member on each of the three sections.
Unsurprisingly, it was the start of the 7th month at the academy on this very day; technically, this competition should have started on the very first day of the 6th month. But a month late because of the principal’s absence. While his avatar was indeed here, the principal commanded the vice principal, Selwyn Brown, to delay the actual competition for his arrival.
He wanted to see the whole thing with his own eyes in real time; it was understandable in a way, after all, the valkyrie was here as one of the students at the academy this time. This is something that happens every 500-600 years. To be honest, the records about it were each different, even the royal family doesn’t know the actual timeline, maybe only the Suncrest king does, since he is the only person who knows the summoning ritual and does the summoning. Nothing more is known.
There were 3 flying platforms set up high in the sky surrounding the ground of the fortress game, since at a time, 2 sections will be fighting against each other and the remaining 2 sections each will have one platform to watch the competition from, and in the remaining platform, all the professors, high ranking personnel’s of the academy, the vice principal and the principal will watch from it.
They will also be evaluating every student individually and both sections as a team. But first, it needed to be decided which section would face which section in the first round.
All 4 section of the students meaning complete 1200 were present in the large field, while it is to be noted that, some students do die in the beast forest or get too critically injured, that they cannot continue to walk on the Seeker’s Path for being crippled, or get expelled.
So, some seats become vacant. To fill up those seats, the academy basically pulls in the students who could not get in because their rankings were just a bit above 300, meaning they missed the chance to get into the academy by a hair’s breadth.
They also need to be coming from common backgrounds, so that even if they are brought to the academy, barely anyone would care or notice them. Those individuals are silently brought in to fill 1200 quotas, until the first evaluation of the academy. No more students would be brought in after that.
So, a few faces did pop up in each of the sections over the months. All the professors and other notable persons of the academy were already high in the platform designated for them. The principal had also appeared in his main body just a while ago and took his main seat. Everyone welcomed him back from his mission with open arms.
Axel could, for a moment, feel the heavy gaze of the principal look towards him, but then it vanished in the next moment. Originally, the principal was supposed to come back much later, maybe 3-4 months later, so he was surprised that he was back now. As for how he knew that Alric was back? Because the vice-principal himself subtly hinted that the principal would be present in the competition, everyone is to do their best.
Forger Gareth flew down from the flying platform calmly. He was grinning at the students, Axel smiled unknowingly, it was nice to see the familiar face who was also the examiner back in the masked competition. It seems he is also the main evaluator for this competition, likely.
Gareth clapped with his hand, and every single student stopped chattering and turned their attention towards him. His voice boomed thunderously to every single student.
"Congratulations to all of you for coming this far, just 7 months ago, what were you? Nothing but a normal human, maybe a human with some special qualities, but with tremendous passion and desire, the desire to become something more, something more powerful. A human who can stand for themselves when needed."
He paused for a moment to let his words sink in,
"You are all future leaders of the human society gathered here, the future warriors, the protectors of humanity, the sword and spear that would protect the weak. Don’t forget that. And for that very reason, this competition, the fortress game, is so important."
He paused again, as if deliberating something, deliberating on whether to reveal the truth or not. Eventually, he stated, but with a tone that almost sounded helpless,
"Do you know the real reason why the evaluation is actually conducted ? Why the fortress?"
It almost seemed like a question instead of a statement; the students all furrowed their eyebrows and looked at each other in confusion as the tension continued to mount. Axel sighed. He knew what Gareth was thinking and what he was about to say.
"Because if war by the other races is ever declared upon humanity, it would be like an army cornered into a stone fortress, surrounded by water on all sides, just like the creatures on the water, humanity would also be devoured, the moment it fell into the ocean. Their overwhelming power would decimate humanity; it would not be a battle, it would be a one-sided slaughter." Gareth revealed each word, piercing the false facade of arrogance in all students.
Listening to that statement, all the students felt their hearts grow cold. The promise of the bright future that they were guaranteed for getting into the academy was nothing but a beautifully crafted lie; humanity was perhaps nothing but a house of cards, at the mercy of the powerful races.
The descendants of the royals, nobles, and merchants, or any prestigious organization or families, all felt their sense of superiority vanish. How they were born entitled, their future filled with Luxury, power, and riches, seemed unimportant or even distant.
The truth they were avoiding was put right in front of their faces and shoved right through their ears in a way that they cannot avoid it anymore. The fragile and broken state of humanity, the soft flame of light, that could be extinguished at any moment. They could not lie to themselves anymore.