Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

The Military Academy of Warangal was preparing for its first-ever exam. It was a tense atmosphere among the cadets and teacher alike.

It was the first-ever examination for the cadets in their lives. Even the particularly intelligent cadet like Shyam was nervous and trembling in his boots. The cadets in the special batch and normal batch were briefed about the examination and its pattern.

According to the headmaster of the Academy. The examination paper was explicitly drafted by the emperor and his aide this time around to test the prowess of the cadets enrolled.

There were 4 exams: three of them written tests and one physical prowess. It was the same for the normal batch as well. The contents would be adjusted to their curriculum.

The special batch cadets managed to grasp the fundamentals of education pretty quickly and the instructors and captains were instructed to start the real curriculum in the mid-semester by the upper management.

The special batch's written tests were reading and educational fundamentals, war strategy of the Deccans, and the last test was a personal analysis paper of the recent annexure of the Qutb Sultanate.

The last test content was revealed prior to allow the cadets to research and ask around for more information.

While the normal batch focused more on reading, writing, and the fundamentals of war strategy.

Kartik sighed nervously as he walked to the examination hall.

"Sarvesh... I am so nervous. What should I do?"

No reply.

"Hey, Sarvesh. Why are you not talking?"

Kartik turned to him and Sarvesh was just standing frozen in place as if his brain was short-circuited.

"No good, he froze." Kartik sighed and shook him.

Sarvesh snapped out of it and looked around.

"This is why you dumb guys should study more." Shyam said with a smug voice. He had become much more confident and outspoken as time passed in the academy.

Kartik just looked at him with a stone-faced expression. "Doesn't help your case when your legs are literally shaking."

"Shut up." Shyam yelled at him in a high-pitched voice.

"Did you study for today?" Sarvesh asked.

"Somewhat," Kartik said.

"Anyway, the exam is apparently drafted by the emperor."

"The Emperor... I heard he is our age." Shyam chimed in.

"Our age? Damn So young." Sarvesh exclaimed. "I didn't know that."

"Even his aide is the same age as us."

"What?" Kartik's shoulders slumped.

"Everyone praises the Emperor. I really wonder how he really is." Sarvesh said.

"God knows, apparently nobles like to exaggerate a lot." Shyam mumbled. "We would never know his true face until we meet him."

"I see, but according to the teachers. The current emperor rose from no influence to take the throne." Kartik said. Stay tuned to empire

"Yeah, that's a huge achievement apparently." Sarvesh muttered

Shyam stayed silent as they walked nervously to the examination hall. The exam was supposed to start in an hour. Just as they were close to reaching the hall.

A tall young man stood in their way. He had short hair and a rugged appearance with scars on his arms. He was Shivam from the special batch.

He turned to Shyam and walked up to him.

"I will beat you this time, pipsqueak. The first place is mine." He challenged Shyam right in front of the examination hall.

Shyam looked confused for a second and asked. "Who are you?"

Shivam scoffed. "You can pretend not to know me. Last time I came second but this time. I will defeat you." He patted his chest.

He turned to Kartik and challenged him as well.

"I will take the first place from you too; I am going to be the best cadet in the academy."

Kartik and Sarvesh glanced at each other.

"But who are you?" They both asked in unison.

"These short-term memory guys." Shivam sighed. "I will remind you of my position as you wish."

"I am Shivam, a special batch member and I was 3rd in Physical and 2nd in the intelligence test during the selection."

"Hmm... I see..." Sarvesh muttered.

"Ahahaha, you are already quaking in your boots after listening to my grand achievements."

He was lost in his own thoughts and began to say gibberish, which three of them ignored.

They glanced at each other and whispered.

"Um... What exactly is his problem?" Kartik asked Shyam.

"No idea."

"Is he even okay in his head?" Sarvesh whispered.

"He has no friends as well. Maybe he is lonely." Shyam said.

Kartik heard this and felt a pang of pity. He walked up to Shivam with a pitiful expression and patted his shoulder.

Shivam looked surprised.

"Huh?"

Sarvesh and Shyam followed up with the same expression.

"What the hell are those expressions?" He yelled at them. "Are you looking down on me?"

"Hear this: I shall defeat you both and claim the position of the strongest cadet."

Shivam was highly intelligent, only defeated by Shyam in that field and insanely strong physically but he wasn't first at both.

This made him work harder for that first place. Whenever he saw Kartik and Sarvesh doing 10 of any exercise. He goes out of his way to do twice as much to get ahead.

He also holed up in the library to get that first rank in the exam from Shyam. He mentally considered the trio his rivals and worked towards his goal with great passion.

Shivam wanted the acknowledgement of his efforts and for every cadet to think of him as the strongest one and he put in a lot of hard work for his goal.

But little did Shivam know that there was a cadet ranking list in the academy used by the teachers and instructors alike. This list was the scores and impression of the cadets in all fields of study in the academy.

This list was the main thing that decided the best cadet in the Academy.

And Shivam was first on the list, dubbed as the strongest cadet in the whole academy. He was first by a whopping margin of 40 points.

But for Shivam, he wasn't the strongest until he took 1st place from both Shyam and Kartik.

Thus a rivalry began.