It was September 1st. At 54 Aram Street stood a large building made of huge black volcanic stone. It was the beautiful old building of the Academy of Detectives. Hundreds of students had gathered in its hall, waiting for the initiation ceremony.

“Good afternoon, dear students!” a voice suddenly rang out.

A black-haired man of about thirty stood in a black uniform on the second floor of the academy.

“I’m glad to welcome you to the Academy of Detectives. There’s a lot of work ahead of us today.”

“A lot of work?” went up from the crowd of students.

“Isn’t there a solemn ceremony today?”

“Or at least a little celebration in honor of our admission?”

The students were clearly unhappy.

“Oh my god, it’s the same every year,” Chief William grumbled to himself.

“I want to remind you that you’re all here for a reason. Fate has decided that your future is firmly bound to the police. And from today on, your whole life is devoted to riddles and to the truth. No one will pity you; you have to do it yourself. Hundreds of situations will confront you in which you’ll feel broken and defeated, in which you won’t find a way out, in which you’ll have to make a serious choice. But you must understand that serving people is hard. That is why we begin the training on the very first day.”

Some were inspired by the detective’s words. They saw themselves in his speech. But others, on the contrary, grumbled.

“Be prepared - you may not be going home today, ahahaha,” the chief laughed.

“What does he mean? We won’t be back?” The murmuring started up again in the crowd.

“Or maybe you won’t come back at all. Ever,” William said with a smile.

“He’s crazy,” said one of the students.

“I like that,” Reia whispered, and smiled too.

“In today’s festive program,” William continued, “there are four tests. You’ll have an intellectual test, which you’ll take solo; team murder investigations; two-on-two battles; and a surprise.”

“A surprise? What’s that?” David whispered.

“Sounds tempting,” Ksyu answered quietly.

“Oh, and I forgot to mention: no one will leave this building until everyone has passed the fourth stage. Good luck,” William said, when suddenly…

All the doors of the academy slammed shut, and the lights went out. The students began to panic.

“What is it? What’s happening?” came from every direction. “Is it really September 1st? Is this a trap?”

After a couple of seconds, the lights came back on.

“Sorry,” William said, embarrassed. “I turned off all the lights by accident.”

“How funny he is,” Reia said. She clearly liked Chief William.

The rest of the students clearly did not share her feelings. They thought that one of the teachers, or maybe the head of the Academy himself, was mocking them. And in principle, they were right.

A new figure appeared on the second floor. He was about the same height and age as Chief William.

“Hello, everyone!” he said cheerfully. “Before you’re divided into classes, I’ll be looking after you. My name is Felix. That’s how you can address me. No ‘mister,’ no ‘chief,’ none of that. Just Felix,” said the blond man with long hair.

The girls on the ground floor were pleasantly surprised by their new teacher. Chief William’s trick was forgiven. But the boys clearly didn’t feel the same way.

“I’m going to ask you to pair up, and then to pick two more people. Why? You’ll have to figure that out yourselves. After all, you’re our future detectives. You have one minute for all of it,” Felix said with a smile.

“What do you mean, one minute?” someone said loudly.

Everyone began rushing around, looking for familiar faces.

“What’s your active superpower?” someone asked Aram.

Aram turned his head, and there was Reia.

“Chains,” Aram answered.

“And your passive one?”

“It won’t help in any way until someone dies,” Aram replied with a grin.

“Understood. I’m Reia. My active superpower is darkness. I think that’s enough for a start.”

“My name is Aram.”

“Cool name. Like the academy’s street,” Reia said. “Okay! All that’s left is to pick our opponents.”

A brown-haired boy burst through the crowd of students, holding a girl by the hand.

“Hey, you!” he shouted from afar. “Don’t you dare choose your opponents, got it? I’m your opponent. Me!”

A flushed Ksyu trailed behind David. She was clearly enjoying herself.

“I knew it,” she chuckled.

“Who’s this?” Reia asked.

“You!” Aram swung around. “This is war! I’ll kill you!”

“I asked a question!” Reia shouted, and kicked Aram in the side.

“Ow, that hurts! Are you crazy? I’m your ally,” Aram cried.

Reia said nothing and stood with her arms folded.

“My name is David, and I’m going to kick this fool’s ass!” David said.

“I’m Ksyu.” Ksyu held out her hand. “Honestly, I don’t really care.”

“I see, the boys are just messing around,” Reia said. “My name is Reia. Let’s stick together; that already makes four of us. And I think time’s up.”

“Stop!” Felix shouted. “Time’s up. If you haven’t chosen anyone, then you’ll fight the people standing nearest you. And now we’re off to the arena.”

The floor beneath the students’ feet began to glow, and all of them vanished.

“They’re so… you know, green,” William said.

“Anyway, I’m sure it’ll be fun to watch them.”

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