Are they going to say anything?

The professors all stared at Adion, trying to see if he was serious. He had just boldly claimed to be the strongest student by far, after all.

“A bold statement,” Lukas said calmly, “Why would you say that?”

“I am Gifted,” Adion said, “And my Gift is very powerful in a one-on-one fight.”

“You’re Gifted?” Lukas asked, surprised.

“Mm,” Adion nodded.

Lukas smiled widely at the news. Haul and Alamani were both leaning forward in interest.

“What a pleasant surprise,” Lukas said, “We haven’t had a Gifted join the Academy from this batch yet. And there was no one last year. What is your Gift?”

“I can stop things, basically,” Adion said, trying to avoid using the word ‘space’ in his explanation.

“Stop things?” Haul questioned.

“I can show you,” Adion said, “Why don’t you throw something at me?”

Haul immediately picked up a thick book and threw it toward Adion. The book didn’t make it far though, as Adion froze it in space in the middle of the air.

“Very interesting,” Haul said with a smile.

“I haven’t seen a Gift like this before,” Alamani muttered.

“Gifts are basically all unique and differ greatly from what we think magic can do,” Lukas said, staring at the book still in mid-air.

“How long can you keep it like that?” Haul asked.

“Since this is a non-living entity, I can basically hold it still forever,” Adion said.

“You…” Lukas took his eyes from the book to look at Adion, “You can stop people from moving too?”

“Mm,” Adion nodded, “But the stronger the Will, the harder it is. I couldn’t hold you still for even a second.”

“Try to stop me,” Haul said excitedly. He grabbed a cane and started limping toward Adion.

He’s injured? Shouldn’t he take a healing pill and rest?

Adion didn’t think too long about it and grabbed hold of the space surrounding Haul and froze it. Haul came to a halt, but only for a split second before he broke free and started moving again.

“Interesting,” Haul said, a smile on his lips.

“How was it?” Lukas asked.

“I was stopped,” Haul said, “I could easily break free. But still, you managed to stop me.”

“That…” Lukas looked down at his desk in deep thought.

“How are you against Bronze mages?” Haul asked.

“It differs depending on the Will of the mage,” Adion said, “But I would bet all my belongings on there not being a Bronze mage alive that I couldn’t stop long enough for me to pierce with a sword.”

“Hehe,” Haul chuckled. He then turned to the doors of the auditorium and started limping away. “Sora! Get in here!” Haul yelled.

The doors opened, and the girl who had let Adion in looked inside. She looked at Haul with confusion.

“What’s the matter, professor Haul?” The girl named Sora asked. Adion spotted another boy out in the hallway, probably waiting for his turn to enter. He was looking at the situation curiously.

“We need your help with something,” Haul said, “Get in. And close the door behind you.”

Sora did as asked and hesitantly walked toward the area where Adion was standing.

Haul limped to his desk again and began instructing. “Attack that boy,” Haul said.

“What?” Sora asked, looking at Adion hesitantly.

“Haul, you have to explain the situation properly,” Lukas sighed. He then turned to Sora, “This is Adion. He has a Gift that we need to test, so please fight him for us. We will make sure to put a stop to it before any injuries.”

“You’ll get 10 credits for the effort,” Haul said, “100 credits if you win.”

That got Sora’s attention.

“I understand,” Sora nodded seriously. She unsheathed her sword and turned to face Adion.

She’s a peak Bronze mage. But it shouldn’t be a problem.

“Start!” Haul announced.

Sora immediately conjured a fire, but Adion knew he wouldn’t be short on time against a Bronze mage, so he froze Sora stiff before she could do anything with the fire.

I can hold her still without a problem. Probably ten seconds if I really push myself.

Adion unsheathed his sword and walked up leisurely to Sora. Her eyes were darting around frantically as Adion placed the sword against her neck.

“Is it my win?” Adion asked, turning to look at the professors.

Lukas and Alamani had their mouths open, not a word coming out.

Haul was the only one grinning, “You win.”

Adion put away his sword and let go of Sora. The girl slowly started moving her body again, looking at Adion curiously.

I thought she’d be more scared.

“Well,” Haul said, “Thank you, Sora, you can leave.”

“What was that?” Sora asked Adion.

“I’ll take 10 credits for that,” Haul said, “And 10 more for every time you annoy me.”

Sora immediately turned and ran out of the hall.

Credits seem pretty important.

“Will we even be able to put him in the tournament?” Alamani asked Lukas.

“That…” Lukas hesitated. He looked up at Adion, “How can your Gift be so powerful?”

“I don’t think it is more powerful than other Gifts,” Adion said, “As far as I know, Gifts are all incredibly useful in a specific area. My Gift is just really good against people my own strength. But should I meet a Diamond mage, wouldn’t the Gift of flight be a lot more powerful than mine?”

“I suppose you have a point,” Lukas said and slowly nodded, “It does complicate the tournament somewhat, though.”

“How boring can you be?” Haul muttered, “We have the most interesting Gift in at least a decade, and you worry about how the tournament will function.”

“You’re right,” Lukas sighed, “This is a great thing. Don’t get me wrong, Adion. But I am the dean, and I have a lot of things to consider.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Why don’t you just give him rank 1 and have the others compete for rank 2?” Alamani asked. “If anyone complains, they can just casually defeat a peak Bronze mage without breaking a sweat.”

“It would set a precedent that I’m not so sure about,” Lukas said, “And there would be no end to the complaints.”

“Excuse me, Dean Lukas,” Adion said, “Why exactly can’t I fight in the tournament?”

“It would be irresponsible of me to put someone so powerful against the other students,” Lukas replied, “If something were to happen, I would be responsible.”

“I’m not planning on killing anyone,” Adion said, “I can just defeat them like I defeated Sora.”

Lukas sat quietly for a while, thinking it over.

“Very well,” Lukas said, “I hope you hold to that. I will make sure everyone knows the risk of going against you. Hopefully, just one fight is enough to discourage everyone.”

I didn’t really think about it, but I’m going to look pretty cool, aren’t I?

“Elder Kilth is going to be really excited when he hears about this,” Alamani said with a smirk. “How did you awaken your Gift, Adion?”

“Do I have to say?” Adion asked. He had thought of a story already, but there was no point in letting people dig around too much.

“No,” Lukas said before Alamani could say anything else. “But anything you can share will be appreciated. A lot of professors will surely approach you about the subject. I would share as much as I could if I were you. You can earn a lot of credits.”

That might complicate things.

“I’ll think it over,” Adion said.

“Mm,” Lukas nodded, “Well, that is all for another day. We need to move on with the admissions.”

“Someone interesting finally shows up, and you want to send him away,” Haul muttered.

“We can’t forget about our responsibilities just because of a Gifted,” Lukas said, “You’ll have five years to learn more about him.”

“Make sure you pick ‘Inexplicable Magic’ when choosing your classes, kid,” Haul said to Adion, “I’ll come to find you if you don’t.”

“Er,” Adion hesitated, “Sure.”

I suppose it can’t hurt to give that a try. It sounds interesting, at least.

“I have your information written here,” Lukas said, stretching out a paper for Adion to grab, “You are obviously placed in the diamond class, the top of it. Your exact rank will be determined after the tournament.”

“Thank you, Dean Lukas,” Adion said, grabbing the paper.

“Take that downstairs. There are people there who will register you and give you your Academy badge. You should’ve spotted the area on the way in.” Lukas said.

“Mm,” Adion nodded. He had indeed noticed a large reception area where they handed out Academy badges on his way there.

“You didn’t even bring money for admission with you, did you?” Haul asked with a small grin.

“There is no admission fee for diamond class, right?” Adion asked.

“Hehe,” Haul chuckled, “Cocky and backing it up, 10 credits. And another 100 credits for being so interesting. Don’t disappoint me going forward, kid.”

“Right,” Adion said hesitantly, “Thank you, professor Haul.”

Is it enough to just say my change in credits out loud? Should I be writing it down somewhere?

“You can make your way now,” Lukas said, “Welcome to Cyalis Academy.”

“Thank you,” Adion said with a smile. “Er, about my brother and sister?”

“Oh, of course,” Lukas said and then started writing down something on a piece of paper. “Take this with you as well and show it when you turn in your information. Someone will take you to their residences.”

“Thank you,” Adion said, excited about meeting his siblings soon.

As Adion left and entered the hallway, he noticed several pairs of eyes on him. Sora was there along with the boy he had spotted earlier. There was also an elven girl there now, looking Adion up and down.

“Um,” Adion looked around, “I’m done now.”

“What did you do?” Sora asked.

“I used my Gift,” Adion said, “It stops things.”

“Things?” Sora questioned.

“And people,” Adion added.

“How can a Gift be so powerful? How did you get it?” Sora asked.

“I’d prefer to keep that private,” Adion said.

Sora looked at Adion unhappily for a moment before turning to the other boy in the hallway. “Aren’t you going to go in?”

“Oh, right,” The boy nodded, “I’m Relmon, by the way, Relmon Zemer. Branch family.”

Adion was a little surprised as Relmon stretched out his hand in greeting.

“Right,” Adion shook Relmon’s hand, “Adion Remori.”

“I haven’t heard of the Remori-” Relmon began but was interrupted by Sora.

“Are you seriously keeping the professors waiting for small talk?”

“Sorry,” Relmon said, a little embarrassed, and hurried inside the auditorium.

I’m afraid he might lose some credits to Haul for that.

“That human was from the Zemer family?” Sora questioned as Relmon walked away.

What’s the Zemer family? I could probably use a crash course in the different families.

“You said your name was Adion?” The elven girl grabbed Adion’s attention and asked with a smile. “I’m Felicia Quath. It's a pleasure to meet you.”

“You too,” Adion said.

Is everyone so friendly here? I’m not going to have time for any studies if I have to greet every person I meet.

“I heard a little what happened. Could you show me too, do you think?” Felicia asked.

“Show what exactly?” Adion asked.

“Your Gift. Can you stop me like you stopped Sora?” Felicia asked.

She’s already started talking about it? Will this become a common occurrence?

“I suppose,” Adion said, not finding a reason to refuse.

“Go ahead,” Felicia said, standing at the ready in front of Adion.

Adion froze the space around her, and he noticed how Sora was examining the situation with an intense gaze.

After a few seconds, Adion let go, not seeing a reason to hold on any longer.

“Amazing,” Felicia muttered, “I couldn’t move at all. How could anyone beat you?”

“Well, I’m the wrong person to ask, I think,” Adion said.

“Haha,” Felicia laughed softly, “I guess you’re right.”

“Well, nice meeting you both,” Adion said, wanting to get moving, “I need to head downstairs to get my Academy badge.”

“Oh,” Felicia said, looking a little disappointed, “See you later, Adion.”

Is my Gift really that interesting? I guess this is a great place to build connections, so getting to know a Gifted is something a lot of people would be interested in.

That might get annoying.

Adion headed to the big reception area, where he got lined up after some other students who had held their admissions elsewhere. It didn’t take long before he was at the front of the line and passed over the paper with his information.

“It will take a few minutes to get your badge ready,” The man behind the counter said, “You can wait with the other students over there.” The man pointed out an area a little further away where groups of newly admitted students stood talking to each other.

“I have this as well,” Adion said, handing over the note Lukas had handed him with instructions to take him to his siblings.

“Alright,” The man said with a nod after reading through the note, “I’ll make sure your guide gets this. After taking you all to your dorms, he will take you where you need to go.”

“Thank you,” Adion said. He headed to the area where the other students were waiting. Adion thought about going up to join in on the conversations, but he decided not to in the end. His thoughts were filled with his family members. Everything else had to wait.

After a few minutes, Adion’s name was called out, and he approached a desk where he was handed his Academy badge. It was similar to the one he got from the Outskirts Guild, a metal plate slightly bigger than a playing card.

Does it have runes in it?

“That will identify you in the Academy,” The man behind the counter said, “Don’t lose it.”

“Right,” Adion nodded, “Thank you.”

“You can go wait again,” The man said, “When there are enough of you with badges, someone will guide you to where you’ll be staying.”

“Alright,” Adion said, pocketing his Academy badge.

How long will it take until we have enough people to move?

Adion made his way back to where he was supposed to be waiting with the other students. Looking through the crowd, he spotted a girl that he thought he recognized.

Where have I seen her before?

But before Adion could think further on the topic, a voice he hadn’t heard in a very long time cut through the air.

“Adion!?”