This is the school I've heard so much about… The school only the most talented of students may enter. Somehow, with my current grades and application I had sent, I made it in. I won't mess this up…

Jiang Wei thought to himself deeply as he stepped off the plane and headed towards the school. He couldn't help but stare in awe at the building, it was like a castle separated into three parts. On the right, a red flag stood on the top of the building, in the middle was a blue flag, and to the left was a green flag. Written on them, red said Wu, Blue said Wei, and Green said Shu. Jiang Wei didn't quite understand the names, perhaps they were randomly chosen, but that was the least of his concerns at the time. The stress he felt originally came from his constant fear of disappointing his teacher. After sending the application, he received a letter from the Wei side of the school suggesting he'd learn from them, but he had also received a much more convincing letter from one teacher, this teacher who goes by the name of Zhuge Liang. Jiang Wei didn't know anything about any of the teachers, but somehow he felt the need to know more about this Zhuge Liang guy.

He stopped in front of the doors to the school feeling a little uneasy, being accepted to this school was a real honour for many in all of the land. It was a big step for Jiang Wei, and in the back of his head, he had vowed to do just as well, if not, exceed the teachers expectations.

"Heeeey there!" Came a voice from behind before Jiang Wei was suddenly pulled into a hug by a strong arm, "Ah, you must be a new student also, I'm Sima Zhao, I'm new to." The man smiled cheerfully.

Jiang Wei blinked once staring up at the young man, not being so much of a social butterfly as this guy seemed to be, he felt just a tad nervous.

"Oh, yes I am new here… I'm Jiang Wei." He replied as he took Sima Zhao's arm off him, "You're new too?"

"That's what I said, Yup!" Sima Zhao looked back and called out, "Come on Ling Tong, you lazy plug!" He laughed.

Jiang Wei glanced back to see a young man just taking his sweet time heading towards the school, the man had a more calm smile on his face.

"Yeah yeah, I'm coming" He said as he caught up to his friend, he paused as he studied Jiang Wei head to toe, "Heh, so you're the new green team student, I'm in red, and ironically enough, Sima Zhao is in blue."

"Yup!" Sima Zhao smiled, "This could actually be an awkward friendship, but hey! It works for me."

Jiang Wei, though as small as it was, smiled a somewhat shy smile. The two young men seemed like nice people, easy to get along with.

"We should probably head to class soon, I don't want to be late on my first day" Jiang Wei said.

Sima Zhao chuckled softly and scratched his cheek showing he was a bit nervous about the thought of being late, "Yeah, my father is the main teacher of Wei… and if he doesn't get on my case about my 'shenanigans' my brother will"

Ling Tong nodded in agreement, "Yeah, well we should meet again. Cafeteria at lunch break, alright?"

Jiang Wei nodded, the boys then went separate ways as they headed to their class rooms.

From what Jiang Wei knew, each area was called a 'kingdom'. They only had one class for each kingdom. The gym however, was for special events only.

Jiang Wei, once in front of the classroom door, sighed silently then opened the door enough to peek in. To his relief, no one was there, which meant he wasn't late, he was not familiar with the sound of the bell seeing as each school had a different sound in their 'to class' bells. So he decided to wait until he heard it, to see when the students would come pouring in. He looked over at the board, there it showed him where he and other students were to be seated, Jiang Wei was in the second row to the left, three seats down. He walked over to his seat and sat down, but just as he did the bell rang. The sound of it was calm but attention grabbing, enough to get the attention of the students. He half stared at his desk just waiting for students enter the room, when he heard someone enter the classroom. He did not look up to see who it was though.

"Hey, are you alright?" came a voice from in front of him.

Jiang Wei looked up to see a young man with gentle eyes smiling softly at him.

"Yes… I'm fine, thank you." Jiang Wei replied, a little amazed by how kind this man appeared, it could fool anyone to thinking he was nice, that is, if he was cruel at all, but that was not the case at all.

"Well then, that's a relief." The man placed a hand on his own chest in a proper manner to introduce himself, "I am Zhao Yun, it's a pleasure to meet you mister…" He trailed off, waiting for Jiang Wei to speak next.

"…Jiang Wei" Jiang Wei said a little too shyly.

Zhao Yun's smile turned all the more friendly, "Jiang Wei, so you're the new student for Shu is that correct? Heh, you must be pretty good at whatever it is you do to have gotten here."

Jiang Wei nodded, "I am new here, yes… But I don't believe I'm that good."

"Modest as well I see. Yes, I'm sure you'll do just fine in Shu" Zhao Yun said, but he paused and stared off for a bit in deep thought soon after, "…Strange…" He muttered.

"Strange?" Jiang Wei blinked in confusion.

Zhao Yun looked back at Jiang Wei with a reassuring smile.

"Nothing, It just felt as if I've said that before, to you, somehow"

"That is strange, I guess"

Soon enough, more students poured into the classroom, and took their seats. Zhao Yun waved to Jiang Wei before taking his seat too. Was everyone in this school so friendly? It seemed so unnatural compared to how the rest of the world was, supposedly when looked at with negative eyes.

Jiang Wei tried not to put too much thought into it however, he had to focus on his work, whatever the teacher had in mind for his students.

Just then, the teacher entered the classroom, he stood in front of the class, his eyes scanned the room, studying each face as if he could remember them all easily for a lifetime just by looking at them for this one moment. His eyes then set on Jiang Wei.

"Class…" He finally spoke, "We have a new student" He placed one hand behind his back, and raised the other before giving a gesture with one finger for Jiang Wei to step up in front of the classroom.

Jiang Wei stood and walked to the front of the classroom, then turned to face them all, managing to keep a straight face.

"Introduce yourself…" The teacher said.

Jiang Wei nodded, "I am Jiang Wei… It's a pleasure to meet you all."

The teacher slowly nodded then looked back to the class once again.

"You may take your seat now, Jiang Wei" He said, his tone sounding calm.

"Yes sir" Jiang Wei replied before walking back and taking his seat again.

The teacher, eyes on Jiang Wei once more, spoke, "Seeing as you are new it's only proper that I introduce myself to you in return. I am Zhuge Liang, but in this school, you will not address me as mister. You, like everyone else, will call me Master Zhuge Liang… is that understood, Jiang Wei?"

"Yes, master Zhuge Liang…"

Zhuge Liang nodded before heading to his desk. Jiang Wei felt a little strange having to call someone master, but at the same time he felt it an honour somehow to be this man's student.

Zhuge Liang handed out each student just one sheet of paper, to the students however, one sheet was enough. The paper had only ten questions on it, but all ten of them were quite hard to answer, for them anyway.

Zhuge Liang, once he had finished handing out the sheets, stood in the front of the classroom.

"You may begin…" He said.

This was odd, he hadn't even taught the students anything yet and he expected them all to answer these questions? No, this was a test of intellect, Jiang Wei knew this. So he began his first test.

:::

The minutes flew by quickly as Jiang Wei answered each question, however he found he didn't have to put much effort into this test as he already knew the answers to these questions. It didn't take him long to finish at all.

"Time… Hand in your work" Zhuge Liang said.

Some students groaned not having finished every question in time as they handed their work in.

Zhuge Liang looked over each sheet with the usual un-impressed look on his face. Some may see him as distant and cold, un-approachable… But Jiang Wei, he found the man to be more, mysterious and enchanting. As Zhuge Liang looked over each sheet, he finally made it to Jiang Wei's, where he paused. Eyebrow raised, he set the other ones down and stared at Jiang Wei's paper, then smiled just a little.

"Hmm…" Was all he said before standing and looking at Jiang Wei, still holding his paper, "Are these questions too simple for you Jiang Wei?"

The class gave Jiang Wei either a surprised or awkward glance, curious to know his answer.

Jiang Wei felt the eyes on him, but he looked up at his teacher and answered honestly.

"I… suppose." His modesty got the better of him again, not able to be fully honest with himself.

Zhuge Liang closed his eyes, his smile remained on his face, he opened his eyes again and nodded slowly.

"I understand" He said softly, "Then I will be sure to give you more of a challenge in the next test."