The Legendary Map - Maker

Once again, the sun emerged east and signs of life surged through London's streets. At the port, some government sh.i.p.s were beginning their trip, as Merlin's dad, James, commanded the sailors. They headed south, going to an isolated island nearby to check some suspicious actions.

Merlin observed the parting sh.i.p.s, as he headed to the Militar District. The Royal Naval School was a military education institution, located next to the Dock District.

Besides the enormous school building, there were large dormitories; Battle Simulation Grounds; Battle Simulation Lakes; Naval Workshops and lots of other structures.

Upon entering the school, all students would choose one of the Three Great Areas: Commander School; Navigation School and Engineer School.

A few minutes later, Merlin arrived at the school entrance. There, lots of young brats like him waited to enter as they chatted between them. Some were sons of nobles; Major servants and Normal Servants.

As so, each social class grouped up, excluding and bullying others. Though Merlin's father was a Major Servant, he hated to hang out with such people. Looking around for a while, he looked curiously to a specific kid.

'That fellow looks interesting.' Merlin thought as he got close to the kid.

"Good morning! Are you entering them Royal Naval School today?"

"Yeah, I was the 'lucky' one to pass the test." The kid responded in a humble tone. Upon looking his wasted clothes, it was easy to tell he was descendant of a Lesser Servant family. Probably, he passed the Geral Entrance Test, in which only the first place have the opportunity to study at the Royal Naval School.

"Cool, nice to meet you! My name's Merlin, what's yours?"

"You can call me Nicholas!" He said as they shook hands.

"By the way, what area you pretend to enter?"

"Well, I want to enter the Engineer School."

"Good! I'm going to join the Navigation School, but what about we be friends?"

"It's alright for me!"

As they were chatting, a tall blond kid walked in their direction.

"Merlin! That map of yours helped me a lot yesterday! But how are you? Prepared for school?"

"Oh... hi Leonard! Yeah, kind of I think. Here, let me present Nicholas to you! He wants to join the Engineer School, what about inviting him to our faction?"

Leonard looked at Nicholas for a while, then gave a smile. One had to know that Leonard's mom used to be a commoner too, and he hated when people treated her badly because of that.

"Sure that he can!! I was thinking..."

However, as Leonard was about to finish speaking, the giant wooden door was suddenly opened, as a tall and mighty man walked out. He was a mid-aged man, with dark hairs and a severe expression.

"Good day students!! For your information, I'm General Black and the director of the Royal Naval School."

Then he gave a murderous gaze at the crowd, as he spoke the next sentence:

"And all of you shall know that from now on your not a noble's son or a prince anymore, but a measly marine cadet; do you understand!!?"

Everybody was at a loss in what to respond, but shortly after, the man shouted again:

"Now you respond 'YES, SIR', do you understand!!?"

"YES, SIR!!!" Everyone shouted with extreme respect and fear.

"Good! Now let's enter!"

Hence, all the kids followed General Black into the building. Inside, there was a big central yard, filled with identical uniforms. Around the yard, three gates were opened, with other men similar to General Black standing beside them.

"Okay cadets, now you shall pick up a suitable uniform and head to your chosen school where you shall pass through some tests!" General Black exclaimed, pointing to the yard in front.

Immediately, all the youngsters dashed forward, looking for a fitting uniform. Merlin, Leonard, and Nicholas said their farewells, heading into different gates after picking up the uniform.

Merlin headed to the Navigation School gate. From the three gates, Merlin's one was the least crowded. This because in society, Commander and Engineer posts were more valued that Navigator and Cartographer posts.

To Merlin, this did not mind, since he was here to change the world's opinion about cartography. After everyone chose their school and picked up their uniforms, the man at the Navigation Gate spoke:

"Good day students, you can call me Mr. Willion! By the way, I'll the first year professor, so I hope we can work well."

"For today, we won't use the uniform, but tests will start immediately. The Navigation Shcool's selection process is divided into two parts: Battle Trial and the Theoretical Trial since our school doesn't need weak and stupid people! "

As Mr. Willion explained, the group made a little tour through the Navigation Pavilion. At the center yard, there was a giant stone Sun Watch. Around it was lots of classrooms, libraries, training grounds, workshops, and stores.

Merlin's group had about 20 members, mostly kids from Major and Normal families. Further on, they arrived at a huge training ground.

"Okay, kids! Now let's start the Battle Trial. Each one of you will have a fight, the winner will continue the test, and the loser will be immediately expelled!" Mr. Willion said in a serious manner.

Under such conditions, everyone that was previously friendly had bloodl.u.s.t expressions on their faces. So, Mr. Willion started dividing the duos for the fights.

Merlin ended up with a tall and robust guy as his opponent but remained calm.

'Looks like teacher doesn't like me very much...' Merlin thought in a sarcastic manner.

A few moments later, Mr. WIllion gave the sign to start.

"I hope we have a..." Merlin did not even finish his sentence when the robust kid dashed in his direction, showing off a boxing pose.

"Ahhh... forget it!" Merlin said out loud.

When the kid was about to launch a hook at his left, Merlin suddenly dodged to the left in a fluid reaction. Before the kid noticed, Merlin's elbow hit his c.h.e.s.t hard.

Stepping back a few steps, breathing difficult, the kid even tried to give a rapid jab but was received with a knee attack at his abdomen and another elbow attack at his throat.

As Merlin knocked the kid unconscious, Mr. Willion observed the fight with curious eyes. The fighting-style Merlin just performed was very peculiar. It resembled some oriental styles, rarely seen in these lands.

Such martial art was passed to Merlin by his father. James said that it was a special fight-type from his mother's family, but he never talked about the origin of Merlin's mother.

After some fierce fights, the ten winners were decided. Different from Merlin, that won the battle almost effortlessly, all the other kids had some light injuries and wounds.

"Very well!! Those who failed, exit through the gate."

"And you two, take this unconscious kid too!"

As so, after the loser sadly went back home, Mr. Willion turned back to the remaining youngsters.

"Alright then, now let's go to the library from the next trial."

The library was a huge chamber, filled with countless books and old scrolls. They divided into multiple parts, some related to weather; map creation; political and economic geography; as some travel records left behind by elder adventurers.

"Well guys, now I'll explain the Theoretical Trial. It's very simple: You choose a theme related to Navigation, Cartography or Geography and write a text about it using all your knowledge. After your done, just pass it to me and I'll say if you pass or not."

"Was I clear?" Mr. Willion asked.

"YES, SIR!" The kids said loud.

However, everyone had worried expressions of their faces, except Merlin. He has been reading and studying cartography since seven. He even created his own method, the Triangulation Mapping.

As so, while the other kids were having a difficult time writing some short sentences, Merlin calmly seated there, writing down an impressive text.

He spoke about the story of the cartography methods an techniques, using all he absorbed from the books Old Man sold to him through these years. After detailing everything, Merlin passed the yellowish paper to Mr. Willion.

"You're done already?"

"Yes, Mr. Willion, please read."

Putting on a serious expression, the man began to read the text. To his surprise, he found a decent work, discussing the Ancient Measurement Method; the Eagle Vision Technique; Reflex Division Theory and so on until recent modern techniques.

Though it was not an expert work, the cartography concepts were well explained and comprehended.

"Very well, you passed." Mr. Willion said in a casual tone, as he tossed an emblem to Merlin.

After Merlin finished his test, the rest took some time until everyone finished their texts. However, besides Merlin, only six kids barely passed the test.

As so, the classmates for the next years were decided, as Mr. Willion took them into a more detailed tour through the pavilion.