The sun was rising on The Western Continent and people were gathering their youngest generation to represent them in the entrance exam for Pantheon. Every year Pantheon would send the Ark to each continent to pick up the new candidates from the continents capital. Western Continents capital was called Siege of Newara. It wasn't as big as the other four capitals, but it was probably the most safe one. For many wars it stood when the others fell. The royal bloodline in the Newara was specialized in defensive magic which was the main reason for their indestructible walls and defense formations. Never had it seen a force that it couldn't handle. Within a thousand kilometers there was no bigger city, so many smaller towns near it were dependent on it's trade and prosperity. 

Seventy kilometers north from Siege of Newara was a small village of Unoda, which was part of Newara. It was a peaceful small village which main income was growing Minor ranked magical plants and herbs. There weren't any big time Magicians in the village, even the town-head was only a Journeyman Magician specialized in agriculture of magical plants. When he was young he had studied in a small time magic school and after graduating with passable grades he had formed this town. There were only a handful of families living in the town, taking care of the plants and trading them for food and resources.

A skinny boy roughly in the age of 14 was packing his bag in one of the houses. The room he was in was filled with books, notes and was a complete mess. It was something you would see in a crazy researchers office. But this boy only had a thirst for knowledge, when he saw a new book he would read it. When there was a lesson he could learn he quietly observed and took notes. He was a smartest person in the town, maybe even smarter than people in most of the small villages near Newara.

The hardest decision the boy now faced was which books he would stuff in his bag since it had limited space. Bags with magical space that are bigger on the inside, were way too expensive for small time villages and could only be seen with wealthier people and good families. One would have to spend at least 50% of the whole villages annual income to get one, so it was obvious that the nearest place where you could find one would be at the Siege.

But the boys room was like a library, and he could fit only five books. It was hard to know which books would benefit him the most since he pretty much remembers everything he reads, but to study the book more and more could grant him some insight. So he ended up taking "Plants: Threat or Possibility?" which had pictures and properties of wild plants, "Minor Elemental Control" was a thick book about first steps of elemental control with magic, "Properties of Mana" was the the biggest book he had but it was the most informative about all things Mana, "Survival with Magic" was a book about surviving with the help of Magic, and the last book was "Affairs of a Demihuman" a popular romance/drama book, and that one he picked because he was only halfway through and he could not wait to finish it.

He stuffed some potions and pills to the side pockets, and filled the rest of the bag with clothes, put the bag in his back and took a deep breath. He walked out of his room and looked back at the mess. He sighed deeply and closed the door. This would be the last time in a long time that he would see that beautiful mess of books and notes. It was rather heartbreaking for him. I'm such a geek, he thought to himself.

After walking down the staircase he came in the kitchen, where his mom was making food. Something smelled delicious.

"Ah Batsu! Just wait a second I'll make you a lunch to go! It's almost finished!" she said.

"But mom! I'm in a hurry!"

"Okay okay! Here you go!" she said and started stuffing rice and meat in the small bag.

"It may be a little messy when you open it but it will still taste good! I was all morning in the garden so I was a bit late with your food. Sorry, sweetie." 

"Thats okay." Batsu said as he tied the bag of food on his waist and smiled at his mom. His mom was an avarage looking woman with long brown hair. Her skirt had many stains and dirt from the garden. He would really miss her, but man shows no weakness. "I'm going now! Byee." He tried to bid farewell but he could feel his lower lip quivering. This was the first time he would leave his family for a long time.

"Come back when you're a great wizard , okay sweetie? And say bye to your father and sister! I will make dinner for them, but.. come.. *sniff*... here.." she said eyes watering as she took his son in her embrace what might be one of the last times. It was not uncommon for young generations to never return after being admitted in to a major schools. And the school where Batsu was going, was the biggest, Pantheons school of magic.

"I will , I will!" Batsu grunted as he struggled free from his moms embrace and swiped the oncoming tear from his eye. He walk to the door and as he was about to open it a small girl slammed it open.

"BATSUU!!--  Oh! You were here already. I was about to come and get you down!" she asked while looking up at her brother.  

"Yes I'm here. You don't have to yell, you little monster!" Batsu laughed.

"Well duh! I wouldn't have yelled if I knew ye were already down here!" she said and kicked Batsu's leg.

"Shit! You punk!" he said and grabbed his sister and lift the tiny being in the air and hugged her. "I will miss you Lora." 

"I will miss you too" she sniveled and blew his nose on Batsu's shirt on the shoulder.

"Gross!" he said and dropped Lora on her butt on the floor. "Is dad on the fields?".

"Yeah. He's out back... Bring me something cool when you come back" Lora said with a frown as she rubbed her aching buttocks.

"I will if you take care of mom!" he laughed as he walked out. As he came out on the porch he stretched and shouted towards the field.

"Dad! I'm leaving now!"

"Wait wait waaaaait!" his dad shouted from the backyard and ran to the porch. "I got something for you!" he said and took a pendant off his neck. "This is something that has been in our family for ages. And since you're the first one to actually have brains enough to tryout for a bigger school, you should take it." and he put the pendant in Batsus hand. Batsu took the pendant and looked at it for a while. It was a golden circle with a four-leaf clover in the middle. "For a good luck!" dad laughed.

"Thanks... I know it means a lot to you.. I'll take care of it!" he said and put it around his neck.

"Be careful. We don't know what kind of place Pantheon is. There are people who have entered, but were never seen. We don't know if they are still learning the ways of magic there or if they are long gone." his dad said with a serious face.

"I will." Batsu nodded and gave his old man a hug and patted his back. "I'll bring you some great seeds and saplings back from the school if I get the chance!"

Dad smiled and gave him a nudge. "Off you go! Old man Revera is waiting for you over there! So you better hurry!" he pointed at the horse carriage.

Batsu ran towards the carriage waving back at his family. When he came to the cart he hopped inside and opened the front window where he could see Reveras gray hair and bit of the horse. "Let's go old man!"

"As ye wish lad!" the he said and smilingly nodded and made a clicking noise with his tongue and the horses started running forward. The scenery changed from the fields to a forest and from forest to wide plains.

After many hours of travelling, in the back of the carriage, Batsu slammed his book closed and wiped snot from his nose. Who would have guessed that the Demihuman character in the book would die in the end. That was just too sad and cruel. He shoved the book back in his bag. I wonder if this is the end of this book series, he thought. But his thought were interrupted by the yell from outside the carriage. 

"We are arriving to Siege of Newara! Take all yer stuff with ya lad! I don't want no trash here in me carriage!"

"Gotcha! Thanks for the ride!"

"Heheh. Yer family gave me a good bit o' herbs so pleasure is mine! Yer quite a lucky kiddo! I wish ye luck on yer exams and whatnot!"

"Thanks old man! Bye!!" Batsu grinned and hopped off the carriage.

"Who's old ye runt! I'm still at the prime of my life!" the old man laughed and clicked his tongue. The horses started moving again, so he turned the cart around and it started moving back to the way they came from.

Batsu turned around and took a look at the city. The Siege of Newara was indeed worthy of its fame. The walls were at least a hundred meters tall. Every brick in the wall fortified with defensive magic. One would have to be insane to try and take over the Siege. He had been here a couple times, but the city was as mighty as ever. Even the gates Batsu was going to enter from looked more and more monstrous with every step he took towards them. There was a huge moat around the city.  You could barely see the bottom, and the little bit you could see, were thousands of spikes on the bottom. Batsu shivered as he thought what would happen if one was unfortunate enough to fall in.

There were only three bridges where you could get inside the city across the moat. Flying in was impossible because of the magical barriers. Every now and then there would be birds or flying predators that would be unlucky enough to get zapped by the barrier and instantly being disintegrated into nothingness. 

The bridge Batsu was walking on was quite empty. Since in the north there were only small towns hardly no one used this bridge. There were few people riding horses out towards north rather hurriedly,  so he moved to the side and let them pass beside him.

After a while he finally arrived to the gates where he was stopped by the guard.

"Purpose of visiting?" the guard asked.

"I'm here for the Ark of Pantheon!" Batsu said proudly. The guard leered at him and chuckled.

"You think a runt like you with such a poor Mana can get in. You're just courting death!"

Batsu was a rather smart fellow so he didn't really like being looked down upon. But there was really nothing he could do about it here.

"Hmph! Can I get in now!" he asked as he frowned.

"Yeah yeah, what ever tickles your fancy.." guard said mockingly and stepped aside. "You might wanna hurry tho, the Ark is already at the plaza. I don't know how long it will stay there for."

"Wh- wh- WHAT!?" Batsu shouted, stumbled forward and started running like his life depended on it. He could not be late today or he would have to wait another year. And the sooner he got there, the sooner he would gain a rank of a Mage.

"What a dork" the guard snorter and resumed position.

Batsu ran as fast as he could towards the plaza. The streets were flooding people. Many families had come and escorted their children to the Ark. He could see the Ark from here. He had often in the past come here to look at the people who left for the Pantheon, but now it would be him that would enter on the majestic vehicle. However there were hundreds if not thousands of people between him and the Ark. He ran in to the crowd and started zig-zagging through.

"Excuse me! Sorry. Sorry. Coming through! I need to get the Ark. Sorry. Sorry!" Batsu kept pushing through people towards plaza. It was like an endless sea of people. No matter how much he kept pushing through it seemed like there was no end, and the crowd get getting tighter and tighter. Suddenly he tripped on someones foot and stumbled. He fell forward face first on the ground, but he had reached the end of the crowd and there was nothing to stop his fall.

"Watch it kid!" grunted an old man in the front row.

"My bad!" said Batsu as he got up and continued running towards the Ark. You could see Ark clearly from here. After he escaped the mass of people the huge ship floated in front of him. On every corner of a ship there was a mage. They were dressed in the robes of pantheon. They were from the Inner Circle, where you could get after take a different exam, and proving yourself in Pantheon. Most of the Inner Circle were Expert ranked mages, which was no minor feat.

Every year the continent who got the highest Annual Magic Average Score (AMAS) would get experts from their continent to fly the Ark, which was a great honor that everyone aspired for, However the Middle Continent had taken the best scores ten years in a row, This year was no different. People from even farther away would often come to see the Ark, and this years AMAS winners.

Batsu noticed that one of the members from Inner Circle was not much older than himself. What kind of background did she have? And if she had no background, only one word could describe her, a monster. She had a proud look on her face. She didn't even put the people from the Western Continent in her eyes. How could they amount to her. 

"Name?" woman asked another boy a small distance away. They boy mumbled something to the woman, Batsu couldn't really hear what he said but the woman then pointed towards a magical formation on the ground "Enter the circle!" she said and started chanting a spell. The boy who had entered the circle suddenly disappeared in a flash of light. "Are there any more people who are applying for Pantheon?" 

Batsu raised his hand and kept running towards the lady. "I am! Sorry I'm late!"

"You barely made it. But if you were late, you would surely know! As we would no longer be here. Whats your name?" she asked indifferently and took out his notepad and quill.

"My name is Batsu ma'am!" 

"Enter the circle and prepare to be teleported to inside the Ark!" she said as she wrote his name down and once again stated chanting. Batsu started feeling as if the air around him started fluctuating. Suddenly he felt a yank upwards. But before it started it was already over and he was inside the Ark. The woman followed soon after.

"Welcome all! We are now departing from Newara! We will arrive to Pantheon within 8 hours! You are free to walk around the ship or just stay here." when she finished talking the Ark started shaking as it took into the sky.

Far away in the Pantheon the Northern Continent had just finished their exams. A bearded old man with a blue and golden robe stood on top of the Pantheon's School of Magic at the highest tower looking towards west while stroking his beard. The man frowned and started walking down through the air as if there were actual stairs below his feet. The new batch of candidates would arrive shortly. There was still lot to do.