Reverse Chronicles

Xanvaldrea: Sarcen's Crown

Xanvaldrea is a picturesque city in the middle of the meadows. A giant river named, Aymes, flows through the city. The southern road goes along this river. The river is very wide that the six carriages of our company is still short compared to its width. It has multiple suspended bridges that allows passage from the eastern side to the western side and vice versa. The river flows beautifully, unlike the Dragon rivers, which formed a lot of oxbows, Aymes flowed straight and true. It does not have mirror-like silence, but its sound serenely reflects Sarcen’s crown.

On the meadows, knights trained. A general who stood atop an elevated platform gives signals to the Knight battalion, telling them to make the formation that he indicates. The knights scramble every time the general would signal a new formation. Some stumbled and slipped, others were in line.

Going further on the road, mages are testing out some sort of rod on a barren land in the middle of the field. They cast a spell together and the rod activated shooting out sparks of lightning across the barren land. Some strikes are able to surpass the barren portion setting the green grass ablaze. However, the mages at present doused the fires as soon as they burned.

The entire company suddenly stops. I look out from the window and see Zenneif flying outside. He talks to his footman before summersaulting to the mages in the field. He tests the rod and casts a spell. Instead of firing lightning bolts indiscriminately, the rod fired one continuous bolt to a target in front it. He waves our company and we resume to the capital, leaving him behind.

From afar, the capital looks like a crown. A high walled city with buildings and structures inside, which are higher than the walls that protected them. Facing the southern road is a double gate, one made of steel that resembles a large-seamed fence in front of the other, which is a wooden plank. The city gates open, when we passed a giant tree as high as the city walls.

I could not keep my amazement when we arrived in the city. The scene is straight out of a classical painting hung on the Louvre. Every building shout “exquisite architecture.” I open the untitled book that Wisterion gave me and turned to the chapter about the capital.

“That’s the clock tower!” I exclaim. It resembles Britain’s Big Ben, but its design and architecture is somewhat different. The book says that the clock tower is named, Madeleine, after the imperial clock maker of the same name, who lived in the house where the tower was built.

On the next street is the Arch of Glory, which, on its walls, tells the story of the establishment of the Sarcen empire. Six kingdoms once stood on the empire that is now Sarcen. They were Kealyne, Lharbian, Orquiz, Tissalt, Sarcen, and Atharia. A certain period in Sarcen’s bloody history is the Rouge Wars, the six kingdoms fought for dominion over the region. Tissalt was the first to fall to the powerful Sarcen army. Kealyn and Lharbian decide to unite against Sarcen. Sarcen fought the two in a decisive battle on the Sleeping Dragon plains, which led to more glory. Orquiz was then annexed, and Atharia’s king surrendered to Sarcen. The Arch of Glory was built to commemorate Sarcen’s victory.

Xanvaldrea palace comes directly out of fairy tales. Its beautiful towers and its golden spirals correctly describe the name Xanvaldrea, which means ‘brilliant shine’.

The entire company enters the gates of a villa. The footmen began unloading everything on the carriage. I was about to help when Wisterion calls me.

“Now that we are at the capital, you can now properly train as my Squire,” he says. “However, I will not be training you. Instead, you will go to the Academy.” He gives me a necklace with the symbol on his armor as its pendant. “Show this to the headmaster. He should welcome you with open arms.” He calls the one of the footmen to get me to the Academy.

The Academy is directly on the other side of the city. Unlike the classical painting architecture of the southern side, gothic buildings predominantly make up the northern side. According to the book, the gothic architecture is rooted from the Atharian architectural style. Their love for learning made them ministers of education, improving conditions across the empire.

“We’re here!” the footman shouts.

I carry the chest containing all of my belongings out of the carriage. The Academy has wide grounds where students practiced magic and their weapon skills. On its backdrop is an L-shaped building that looks like a proper boarding school. There is a gate, but there are no guards.

Well that’s a first.

As I came in, the students shifted their gazes toward me. There were no cold glares, but being the main attention was embarrassing. I run inside the building, where a man on full armor stops me. He was tall and gigantic. He has minimal facial hair and his eyes are brown like the earth.

“Where are you going, lad?” he asks.

“I’m here to train as a Squire,” I answer.

“A Squire? For whom?”

“For Master Wisterion van Kealyn,” I reply. The man laughs at my reply. He slaps the tabletop beside him as his cackle fills the entire room.

“Don’t make improper jokes now, lad.” The man’s tone became stern. “We don’t tolerate lies here.”

“It’s true!” I get the necklace from my pocket and show him the pendant. He becomes silent as his gaze focused on the pendant with the sword and flower symbol.

“Impossible!” He grabs me by my arm and escorts me to the second floor. He takes me to a room with double doors. Inside is a great library that contained a lot of books and tomes.

“Where is Lynde?” the man asks the girl on the librarian’s desk.

“Professor Lynde is out in the field testing the new weapon sent by the king,” the girl replies.

“Being the emperor's errand girl, eh?” He looks at me, switching his gaze from me to the girl and back. “Mathilde, you know how to Appraise, correct?”

“I know the spell, yes,” the girl answers.

“Good, Appraise this boy.”

“Okay, well, if I may…” she looks at me directly. Our gaze was unbroken for ten seconds, until he gasps.

“What did you find out?” the man asks.

“His real name is Alyssa,” Mathilde blushes. “I think it’s cute!”

“What else have you found out aside from his name? Does he have any connection with Wisterion van Kealyn?”

“As a matter of fact, he does. But that’s boring, his name is Alyssa, do you get it?”

“I can’t believe it! That man has finally found a Squire,” he looks at me intently. His gaze is serious, but it was passionate. “Mathilde, quickly, take him to his quarters.”

“Where is that?” Mathilde asks.

“The largest room on the third floor,” the man replies.

“What? But nobody is supposed to use that room.”

“Well, he is now. Go!”

Mathilde takes me outside the library. We exit the current building and move to the adjacent one. A lot of students flocked its hallways. They all look at me as I pass by. We climb up a flight of stairs until we reach the third floor, which is in my count the fourth floor. When we reached the third floor, every student in the area gasps. Mathilde walks me to the room directly across the room and when she gave me the key. Whispers and gossips begin circulating among the crowd of students who followed us.

“I received order from the headmaster,” Mathilde announces. “Beginning today, Alyssa will be the occupant of room 305.” The crowd’s murmurs and whispers louden as Mathilde finishes her announcement. “That should do it, better get settled in.” She opens the door and lets me in.

“You will receive your schedule shortly,” Mathilde tells me. She was about to leave, when suddenly she notices the open window. “That window, it has great view of the school. Anyway, welcome to the Academy!” she closes the door behind her.

I began arranging my things. Thankfully, the room has a lot of accoutrements that made keeping my stuff easy. I hang the bow and the spool of thread on the wall. I kept the sword and my books on my bedside. There is another door beside the window. I checked it out to see a bathroom complete with everything I need.

My life in the Academy starts now!