Chapter 44: The Crown

The sun had not properly risen when Sigurd returned to the northern clearing, yet thousands of applicants were already gathered beneath the shadow of Westphalia.

Beyond them, parents, servants, soldiers and residents of Helheim City crowded the designated viewing areas.

Only Ottilie and Hartwin had accompanied Sigurd again. Neither would be permitted beyond the clearing once the examination began.

After confirming his identification token for the third time, Ottilie adjusted the collar of his dark training coat and said, "Seven days is a long time, Young Master. Please remember that surviving the examination is more important than proving anything unnecessary."

Sigurd replied, "You say that as though I’m planning to fight Westphalia itself."

Ottilie finally released Sigurd’s collar and answered, "With you, I prefer not to make assumptions."

The five other Main Line children were easy to find now that he knew their faces. Cassian stood with his hands behind his back, already looking toward the platform. Isolde was speaking quietly with Helena while Konrad appeared remarkably cheerful for someone awake before sunrise.

Matthias had brought his sword. Before any could approach, a man stepped onto the elevated platform and the instructors ordered everyone silent.

Sigurd recognized him from registration. The man appeared somewhere in his fifties, with close-cropped grey hair, a weathered face and three scars crossing his left hand.

He stopped at the platform’s center and surveyed the thousands of children before introducing himself in a voice amplified by Vis. "My name is Senior Instructor Dietrich Falk. Those fortunate enough to pass will see considerably more of me during your years at Helheim. Those who fail may remember my name on the journey home."

Nervous laughter moved through the applicants, but Dietrich’s expression remained unchanged. "Your entrance examination begins today and ends seven days from now. You will be transported into the Grauwald Range, one of the hundreds of mountain ranges that collectively form Westphalia. Grauwald has served as Helheim’s entrance examination ground since the academy’s earliest years. Its boundaries are monitored and its beast population regularly controlled. Before the adults behind those barriers begin panicking, there are no known Demonic Beasts above Common Rank within the examination territory."

Dietrich waited for the noise to settle before continuing. "Controlled does not mean safe. Grauwald contains Ferocious Beasts and Common Rank Demonic Beasts. They will not care that you are ten years old, whose child you are or how important your family believes itself to be. If you behave stupidly, they will eat you with complete impartiality."

Dietrich gestured toward them and explained, "Designated Ferocious Beasts throughout Grauwald have been fitted with examination markers. Every marker you recover is worth one point. A Demonic Core taken from a Common Rank Demonic Beast is worth ten. You require a minimum of twenty points to satisfy the examination’s point requirement."

Dietrich allowed the murmuring for several seconds before raising one hand. "Applicants may cooperate. You may form groups, exchange information, hunt together and divide your gains however you choose. You may also fight other applicants. Examination markers and Demonic Cores may be traded, surrendered, stolen or taken after defeating their owner. Helheim will not rescue you because someone stronger took your points. Protecting what you earn is part of this examination."

Dietrich’s gaze hardened as he continued, "There is one absolute restriction. Intentionally killing another applicant is forbidden. Accidents will be investigated. Deliberate murder means immediate elimination and consequences extending beyond Helheim. If an opponent clearly surrenders, continuing with the intention of inflicting severe injury will also be judged accordingly. We train warriors here, not idiots who mistake murdering allies for strength."

Dietrich pointed toward it and said, "Every applicant receives one emergency signal. Activate it and an instructor will come for you. Requesting rescue means immediate elimination. If an instructor is forced to intervene because you are unconscious or otherwise incapable of requesting help, you are also eliminated. Hidden instructors will operate throughout Grauwald, but they are observers, not bodyguards. Finally, every applicant must reach the designated extraction grounds before sunset on the seventh day. Twenty points mean nothing if you miss the deadline."

Dietrich added, "Survive seven days. Acquire at least twenty points. Return before the deadline. Accomplish those three things and you will have satisfied the public requirements for admission."

Sigurd caught the wording immediately. Public requirements.

Dietrich’s mouth curved faintly. "Now we discuss why those of you already calculating the easiest route to twenty points should reconsider your ambitions. Every successful applicant will receive an entrance ranking. Points will form the primary basis of that ranking, while your conduct and performance throughout Grauwald will be recorded for Helheim’s review. More importantly, the applicant who finishes first receives the right to choose among Helheim’s Five Holds before placement begins."

Sigurd saw reactions ripple through the children who understood what that meant. Cassian’s posture remained unchanged, but the casual calm disappeared from his face. Isolde narrowed her eyes slightly, already appearing to calculate possibilities.

Konrad noticed both reactions and smiled as though someone had just made the week considerably more entertaining.

Matthias remained unmoved. Helena looked from one cousin to another, recognized the developing atmosphere and released a quiet sigh that suggested she could already imagine how unbearable the next seven days were going to become.

Dietrich wasn’t finished. "First choice of Hold is valuable. It is not, however, the reward that has caused generations of first-years to nearly tear one another apart."

"Helheim has eight academic years," Dietrich continued. "Each year possesses one residence reserved exclusively for the student standing at the summit of that year. That residence, and the student who holds it, are known by a single name: the Crown."

Cassian’s eyes sharpened. Konrad’s smile widened. Even Isolde stopped whatever calculation had occupied her and focused entirely on Dietrich.

"The First-Year Crown Residence is not a dormitory," Dietrich explained. "It is a private estate. Its resident receives a personal residence, servants assigned by Helheim, gardens, a lake, bathing facilities and privileges unavailable to ordinary students."

Sigurd felt almost nothing.

He had grown up on Sylvia’s estate. Another mansion was hardly compelling.

Then Dietrich continued, "The Crown Residence also possesses a private cultivation chamber constructed over one of Helheim’s concentrated Vis channels."

Sigurd’s attention sharpened.

Beside the neighboring block, Matthias’s head lifted.

Dietrich noticed the shift spreading through the applicants and almost smiled. "Its resident receives personal access to that chamber within academy regulations. The estate also contains a private training hall, reinforced sparring grounds, weapon-testing facilities and training formations that ordinary first-year students must reserve through shared academy facilities."

A private cultivation chamber meant no waiting. A private training hall meant no scheduling around hundreds of students. Reinforced sparring grounds meant he could experiment without constantly considering whether the environment could survive what he was doing.

The mansion could collapse into the lake for all he cared.

Those facilities alone transformed the Crown from an ornamental title into something genuinely useful.

He remembered Hartwin’s description of ordinary student housing: shared rooms, shared facilities and schedules built around hundreds of other students. None of those things had bothered Sigurd when he’d first heard them.

He had spent enough of his previous life sleeping in places considerably worse than a student dormitory. Convenience was different. Five years under Osric had taught him how valuable uninterrupted training time could become, especially when a single insight might demand hours of repetition before it settled into instinct.

A facility he could enter whenever he wished wasn’t luxury. It was an advantage, and Sigurd had never developed the habit of voluntarily surrendering useful advantages to someone else needlessly.

Matthias was staring at the platform with noticeably greater interest. Konrad glanced toward him and laughed under his breath. Helena caught the exchange and sighed again, while Isolde’s eyes moved among her five cousins as though mentally recalculating every expectation she’d brought into the examination. Cassian eventually looked toward Sigurd.

Their eyes met across the applicants.

Neither smiled.

There was no hostility in Cassian’s expression, but there didn’t need to be. Sigurd understood the look perfectly.

So did Cassian.

For the first time, Sigurd became conscious that the Crown wasn’t merely something he would be contesting against strangers. Five other children carried the name Di Grandel here, and none had come to Helheim intending to stand beneath the others.

Beyond them, the wider generation was reacting as well. Tristan watched the platform in composed silence. Astrid wore an eager smile. Alaric had straightened as though someone had personally challenged him. Farther away, Odin remained calm, but his molten-gold eyes had fixed completely upon Dietrich.

Senior Instructor Dietrich surveyed the thousands of newly competitive faces before him and finally smiled. "Twenty points will get you through Helheim’s door. What you choose to do after reaching twenty is entirely your decision."

Sigurd looked past him toward Grauwald and slowly rolled his shoulders.

First place had suddenly become considerably more interesting.