Chapter 16: Academy Entrance Examination. Part One

Reporting to the Guild Master was a little intimidating, but the Dthic party with Korr's help thought that it went over well.

The dark arcane forces they had fought in the woods would be dealt with by people more qualified and they should just focus on the upcoming entrance examination for getting into the academy and doing more quests.

The goblin extermination quest was much more than they had expected, but they handled it and now just needed to turn in the quest to the reception desk.

They left the Guild Master's office and walked down towards the reception desk. Alicia was there already semi-informed about everything that happened.

"Oh, I'm so sorry you all had to go through that! I can't imagine what it was like, but also congratulations!! For this quest completion party Dthic has been judged to have gone above and beyond and will be awarded an extra ten gold coins to the thirty silver you were supposed to get for the quest, and the guild master has decided to increase your ranks from E to D! It has only been around two days since your last rank up, and yet here you are again." - Alicia

They once again hand over their metal adventurer's tags over to Alicia who puts them into something under the desk, After a few moments and some noises and she lifts them back out to them now sporting a bright and shiny bronze look and the letter D quite prominently on the front with their name.

With only a few days to go until the party went to the academy, they decided to do a bunch of quests inside the castle walls to keep busy, get more achievements on their record, silver to line their pockets, and to just help out the people.

A good morning upstairs in the Fire Boar Tavern and Inn as Coal wakes up fully awake and ready to head to the academy.

Looking around, he sees that Gwen and Gary are already up and preparing for the day. As he gets dressed, he can't help but feel a sense of excitement mixed with nerves - this is the day they have been working towards for weeks.

As Coal makes his way towards the door, Muddy materializes into a small dirt turtle and sits on his head. As he walks, Coal can feel the weight of Muddy on his head and smiles at the thought of having such a loyal companion.

As they approached the castle gates, Coal, Gwen, and Gary couldn't help but feel grateful for the friends they had made during their time in the castle.

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Korr in particular had been invaluable in their development over this short timespan, and they made sure to bid him a heartfelt goodbye before leaving.

As they walked through the gates and onto the road toward the academy, they were filled with a mix of excitement and anticipation, eager to see what the future held for them as official academy students.

After an hour of walking and they were met with the view of a beautiful academy.

Large stone and wooden buildings sat on the hill. Students could be seen training with people doing strength exercises to dragons seemingly made of flames flying in the sky.

Gwen burst ahead of them looking as if she was gliding across the ground. In a way she was, the earth beneath her feet smoothed with her affinity, and the wind behind her back pushed with a great force. "Haha, try and keep up!"

A smile burst onto Coal's face and he pulled his spiritual energy towards his feet and a large earth pillar jutted underneath him sending him forward into the air towards the academy.

More spiritual energy surged towards his feet in the air and blasts of fire from his feet continued to propel him forward as he slowly descended and repeated the pattern.

As Coal and Gwen raced towards the academy, they could hear Gary's heavy footsteps behind them.

Gary, their tank with affinities in earth and metal, struggled to keep up with their speed but used all his spiritual energy to greatly reinforce his body and catch up.

Despite this, he still couldn't match their agility. As they approached the entrance of the academy, they slowed down to wait for Gary, eager to enter the academy together as a team.

Coal and his companions finally arrived at the entrance of the academy, where they were met with a large crowd of people.

A sea of faces of all races and backgrounds filled the area, all eager to take the academy's entrance exam.

As Coal and his friends made their way through the crowd, he couldn't help but notice the nervousness on some of the other students' faces.

He knew that feeling all too well - the fear of failure, the anxiety of the unknown.

But he had learned to push past those feelings, to focus on his own goals, and not let the doubts of others affect him.

As they reached the front of the line, Coal took a deep breath and prepared himself for the entrance exam.

A loud sound akin to thunder echoed through the academy as an old man with white hair appeared on stage, commanding the attention of all present.

The headmaster introduced himself with a solemn yet kind demeanor, and began to explain the rules and requirements for the entrance exam.

There would be three stages, the first would test everyone's affinities and ensure everyone had a basic amount of energy to enroll, the second test would test their current knowledge and depth in their element, and the final test would see in what direction the students should specialize.

The Dthic party was nervous but excited as they approached the first stage of the entrance exam. Coal led them forward with confidence, his dual affinities in earth and fire giving him a natural advantage.

As they approached the testing area, they could hear the sound of crackling energy in the air, and see the glow of elemental energy emanating from the students around them.

Taking a deep breath, Coal and his companions stepped forward to begin the first stage of the exam, eager to prove their worth and take their first steps toward mastering their abilities at the academy.