“You’re a Silver mage?” The judge asked in surprise after checking that Sell was free from injuries.

“Yeah,” Adion nodded, turning to the judge.

“How?” The judge asked.

“Just like everyone else who has managed to become a Silver mage,” Adion said.

“But…” The judge seemed to be at a loss for words.

“This will probably cause quite a commotion,” Sell said, “Are you sure about this, Adion?”

“It will be fine,” Adion said with a smile.

It’s a choice I can’t take back, but I’m really glad I did it. This feels great.

He had thought about revealing his Silver strength before, but he didn’t really have any good reason to, except that it would be nice not to have as many secrets to keep hold of. And the reason he had always hidden his strength was that he was afraid it would bring him too much attention.

But now he was at the Academy, and he had just become a Noble, so he would be pretty safe from any families or organizations with nefarious intentions. With his Gift and his status as the strongest mage in his year, he would have a lot of attention anyway, Silver mage or not.

The only downside was that he would inadvertently reveal his strong aura control by revealing his strength, as not even the Diamond professors had noticed anything during his admission. That was not a small downside, so Adion had opted to be safe rather than sorry.

But that had all changed with his fight with Sell. Adion had felt bad about it ever since the thought of fighting her had occurred, but he couldn’t figure out why. It was only after talking with Sell that he realized that the reason he felt bad about it was that he would be fighting her while hiding his strength.

Adion knew he was stronger than Sell, and he was very comfortable fighting her and winning. It was even a great pride to defeat someone like her.

But it wouldn’t feel good doing so while pretending to be weak. It would make Adion look like someone who only won using his Gift, a cheap trick. And it would make Sell look like someone who lost to a weaker mage. Adion didn’t like that at all.

Even if no one knew his and Sell’s relationship, Adion wanted to show everyone, most of all himself and Sell, why he deserved to be with her. It was because, as amazing as she was, Adion wouldn’t lose to her.

I can’t focus on silly things that don’t matter. I need to keep getting stronger, or Sell will surpass me before I know it.

“You really are a Silver mage,” Dean Lukas's voice reached Adion from behind. He turned around to see Dean Lukas standing there with a complicated expression. Around him were various professors and other faculty members.

“Come with me for a moment,” Dean Lukas said, “We need to talk.”

“Alright,” Adion nodded. He turned to Sell and said, “If you want, you can go to Aiden and Ailera. I’ll meet up with you later.”

“Okay,” Sell nodded.

Adion started walking away with Dean Lukas and the other professors.

“How are you a Silver mage already?” A professor who only looked to be in her early thirties asked while they were walking.

“I guess I meditate faster than other people,” Adion shrugged. His only theory was that he could advance so much faster because there was always plenty of space mana around, as well as his Authority. But he didn’t actually know for certain.

“How didn’t anyone notice?” An old professor with a white beard asked.

“I don’t know,” Dean Lukas muttered.

“He managed to fool the professors during his admission?” Someone Adion didn’t see asked.

“I’ll talk with Adion in private and answer all your questions later,” Dean Lukas said sternly as he looked around. “Please be a little patient.”

“Please let me join, Dean Lukas,” The old professor asked, “I have a lot of questions.”

“We all do,” Another professor said, “Dean Lukas, wouldn’t it be better for all of us to be present? That way, we won’t miss asking anything important.”

“You can ask Adion whatever you want,” Dean Lukas said as they arrived in front of a door in the wall of the arena. “But only after I’m finished with him.”

Dean Lukas opened the door and ushered Adion inside.

“Up the stairs,” Dean Lukas instructed.

Adion obliged and followed Dean Lukas upstairs. At the top of the stairs, there were three doors, one of which Dean Lukas opened. Behind the door was a small and messy office. Dean Lukas gestured for Adion to take a seat by a circular table with a bunch of papers strewn about on top of it.

Adion took a seat as Dean Lukas stood staring deeply at Adion.

“Am I in trouble, Dean Lukas?” Adion carefully asked.

“Hmm,” Dean Lukas mused to himself, taking a seat opposite Adion. “No, you’re not in trouble. Why did you hide that you were a Silver mage from me?”

“I hid it from almost everyone,” Adion responded.

“Why?” Dean Lukas pressed.

“Well, I was just used to it, I guess,” Adion said, “I advanced to the Bronze stage when I was 14, and I was far away from my family. I didn’t want to bring too much attention to myself. Who knows what kind of ideas someone with power would have about me?”

“I guess I can see that,” Dean Lukas slowly nodded. “How can you hide your aura so well? Not even I noticed anything during your admission.”

I better not mention the Merillian Soul Peaches. The dean could very well know about the theft from the Derolm family.

“I practiced a lot,” Adion simply responded.

“A lot of people practice a lot. That doesn’t explain it,” Dean Lukas said while shaking his head, still looking deeply at Adion.

“Like I said, I have had to hide my strength for years,” Adion said, “All day long, never letting down my guard. The other aspects of my aura are not near that level. I don’t have a particular good aura sense either; I just focused on that one aspect. And I doubt I could have hidden my strength if someone of your ability was actually looking. But I’ve noticed that people rarely suspect someone like me of hiding my strength.”

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Dean Lukas leaned back in his chair and finally took his eyes off Adion, staring up at the ceiling in contemplation.

“Why are you treating this so seriously?” Adion broke the silence with a question, “I thought the Academy would be glad to have someone talented?”

“It is a good thing,” Dean Lukas nodded, looking at Adion again. “It is a very good thing. I just can’t help but be slightly irritated at being deceived.”

“It was never my attention-” Adion began defending himself but was interrupted by the dean.

“I understand the situation. Still, it’s not a good feeling,” Dean Lukas said.

“Right,” Adion nodded.

“A Gifted and also a Silver mage…” Dean Lukas mused to himself. “You are quite interesting. Do you know how many Silver mages the Academy has accepted through the years?”

“I imagine it must be very few,” Adion said.

“It’s never happened,” Dean Lukas said, “Only twice has someone managed to reach peak Bronze before their admission. The first one to do so was Termeth Hesfym, and the second one was me.”

Termeth Hesfym…Guess he is pretty talented. But not more so than me.

“Just how did you manage to reach Silver at such a young age?” Dean Lukas asked.

“I really don’t know what to answer,” Adion said sincerely, “People always ask me that when they find out. I just meditate a lot. I have practiced mana control since I was very little, spending as much of the day as possible working to improve. I also have a strong Will, so I haven’t been stuck at a bottleneck so far.”

“So you’re just freakishly talented? That’s it?” Dean Lukas questioned, “I suppose there always will be outliers even among outliers. But I just remembered, you were sparkless, correct?”

Of course, he would have heard about it.

“That’s right,” Adion nodded.

“How did you create your core without a spark,” Dean Lukas asked.

“Hasn’t it been done before?” Adion asked.

“I have read of people achieving it,” Dean Lukas nodded, “It has long been a curiosity after all. But it takes a long time. Every sparkless that tried was a full-grown adult by the time they succeeded. So how could you do it so young?”

“Again,” Adion said, “I practiced a lot. Every single day for as long as I remember.”

“Hmm,” Dean Lukas put his chin in his hand, seemingly thinking things through.

This way of questioning led Sell to discover my space core. But she had information Dean Lukas doesn’t have. Is there a way to mislead him?

“I have heard that forming a core as a sparkless is considered very difficult, so I have one strange theory,” Adion said.

“What is it?” Dean Lukas asked.

“Well, I seemed to have formed my core at almost the exact time when the Fire Phoenix returned. Perhaps that made it easier for me?” Adion speculated.

“Could it have become easier to form a fire core since the Fire Phoenix returned?” Dean Lukas asked himself with raised eyebrows. “Fire has become slightly easier to control. But perhaps there is even more to it. I had never considered that.”

Seems like it worked to grab his attention.

“That is a very interesting theory,” Dean Lukas said with a small smile, “Perhaps it’s worth testing it. We could invest some effort into teaching a few sparkless children to form their cores. If the ones who form fire cores show significantly better results, there must be something to it.”

Did this get out of hand? Well, it will take a long time to see any results. And it will be a good thing if more sparkless children get the chance to become mages.

“I’ll talk to the Headmaster about it,” Dean Lukas said decidedly, “Anyway, with this revelation, I’m sure the complaints of seeding you straight to the final will quiet down. I hope you like attention, Adion, because it won’t be long before the entire Academy knows that you are a Silver mage.”

“It’s fine,” Adion said, “I was already known to be Gifted, and it wasn’t so bad.”

“Hahaha!” Dean Lukas laughed loudly, “We get a Gifted every other year or so. It’s nothing too unusual. But there has never been a Silver mage as young as you. I’m afraid you will have far more people approaching you.”

“That…” Adion was at a loss. If other students were constantly approaching him with questions, his life would become really bothersome.

“Don’t worry too much about it,” Dean Lukas said, “I’m sure things will quiet down with time.”

“Right,” Adion nodded.

“Well, I believe that is enough for now,” Dean Lukas said, standing up from his seat, “I’ll keep the professors outside from bothering you for the moment as thanks for answering my questions.”

“Thank you, Dean Lukas,” Adion said, also getting up.

Maybe I can just ignore it if people come up to me. It would be rude, but I can’t be bothered answering the same questions over and over again.

As Adion and Dean Lukas reached the door leading outside, Adion got an idea.

“Dean Lukas,” Adion said, “What is the Academy’s policy on using magic on other students that doesn’t bring them harm?”

“It is forbidden of course,” Dean Lukas said, “Far too many loopholes. Why do you- Oh. You want to use your Gift to keep people away?”

“That was my thought,” Adion nodded.

“...I’ll give you a pass for the day,” Dean Lukas said with a slight smile.

“Thank you,” Adion said.

Dean Lukas opened the door and took control of the professors outside before they could bother Adion. Fortunately, Dean Lukas seemed to hold some authority so they all listened and followed him inside.

Adion made his way to the hall where he had been waiting for his fight earlier. There were still people around, most of them students from the diamond class.

“There he is,” Adion heard someone say.

“He really is a Silver mage.”

“How!?”

“Is he really 17? Has someone checked?”

Adion ignored the voices and tried to make it out without being held back. He was supposed to meet his brother and sister by their spot. Hopefully, Sell would also be there.

“Adion,” Relmon’s voice cut through the noise, and Adion turned to see his acquaintance approaching along with a few other students.

“What’s going on? Since when are you a Silver mage?” Relmon asked, looking Adion up and down as if he didn’t recognize him.

“Since about a year,” Adion said while continuing to walk.

“I can’t believe it,” Relmon muttered, “Has that ever been done before?”

“Apparently not,” Adion answered, “How did everyone find out? I thought you wouldn’t be able to feel my aura from the audience.”

Adion knew it would be known soon enough. But if the whole Academy found out at once, his day would be really tiring.

“It caused quite a commotion among the professors,” Relmon answered, “I don’t think anyone in the audience noticed anything. But with the dean and professors appearing, I’m sure there are a lot of discussions going on.”

“I bet no one will be able to guess the actual cause, though,” A short elven man among the group walking with Relmon said with a laugh.

At least I’ll be able to walk unimpeded for a while.

“Well, I have to meet up with my brother and sister,” Adion said, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Oh…Alright. Congratulations on becoming rank 1, by the way,” Relmon said, slowing down to let Adion leave.

“Thanks,” Adion said, waving goodbye.

Maybe I’ll just spend the coming days training together with Sell. I’ll start receiving plenty of credits, after all.