The Slate Of Vale

"That must be the Lady Hara, the wife of Lord Donald." Jeff pointed at the statue of a woman holding a child with one hand and a sword with the other.

"I will be like her someday. Brave. Fearless. Courageous." Pinna said proudly, to the amusement of Matt and Ham.

"What's funny?" she asked.

"Take a good look at that statue and the picture over there. Does any of it shows that Lady Hara was five thousand feet tall?" Ham asked.

"AM NOT FIVE THOUSAND FEET TALL" Pinna defended angrily

"Or does it show that she had eyes so large that it could see through a person soul?" Matt added and he and Ham burst into hot laughter.

"Shut it both of you. We are here." Ema warned.

They had rounded a bend and came into a hallway. Mrs. Jessica knocked twice on one of the metal door and they all walked in. Their steps echoed through the room, which was very large and almost empty. Its wall was covered with artificial flowers, even the lining pillars were covered from top to bottom. The only part without flower was the floor and the open glass windows. At the far end of the room opposite the door, stood a semicircular table, on it sat six people. They were all dressed in White suit, like ancient scholars with expressionless eyes staring intently at the new comers. Two among them were ladies. With the way the hall was arranged, one could guess it, as a place where important meetings were held.

"Welcome to the Heroes academy." The man sitting in the middle said. Mrs. Jessica had left the children standing in the center of the hall, a little pace away from the semicircular table. Jeff stared at the table and recognized the one sitting at the left side. It was the same man from the Heroes city. The one he had admired. The man still had that gentle air about him. What is he doing here or are these, the people who had sent him to organize the competition? Jeff couldn't tell for sure.

The man in the middle, who had spoken earlier, wiped his brow with clean white linen. He appeared to be the oldest in the group, with gray dark hair and clean shaved beard.

"My name is Abel Manim. I'm the principal of this academy. Before we accept you into this institution we would like to run some test."

"Wait, TEST? Like in the lab?" Pinna asked.

"Watch your tongue young lady, you speck only when are spoken to" Abel bellowed.

"Excuse me sir, is that a new rule?" One of the women sitting on the table asked. She had papers scattered in front of her.

"Yes, write it down" Abel replied.

"You will be taken to your dormitories once you pass the test. Any question before we proceed?" Abel asked calmly.

"Yes" Matt's hands went up in the air. "What if we fail the test?"