Emil

"My name is mister pewterschmidt and I'll be your examiner for today.

The people behind me are your teachers who'll be judging you today.

You'll be coming up one at a time when your number is called.

Give it your all, good luck."

Mr pewterschmidt announced to the students.

pewterschmidt, it was a funny name and me and probably every other examinee here would be laughing it off if it was said by anyone else, but nobody dared make fun of the examiner.

Even if he was the weakest among the teachers, he was still strong enough to suffocate us all using his pressure alone.

Not to mention the four men behind him.

One of the basic criterias for becoming a teacher here was having a blue stage cultivation. Each of them was enough to level a town by themselves.

Not much passed before the first person was called to the test instruments, under my and everyone else's scrutinizing eyes.

The first testing instrument looked like an ordinary human-sized mirror, nothing conspicuous about it.

The examiner didn't bother explaining its use to us so we were oblivious of its effects.

"Place your hand on it."

One simple instruction.

The boy upstage followed.

A blinding white light flashed through the mirror for a split second.

Strange squiggly text appeared above the mirror a few seconds later.

"Examinee number 1, name, Finnian Rofle, gender, male, age, 13, time of awakening, 4 months ago, cultivation level, peak of the first stage."

The examiner announced.

A few murmurs sounded out but nobody was too shocked.

Mr pewterschmidt ignored our murmurs and continued on with the test.

The next instrument was a strange contraption.

It was a vertical rectangle with transparent walls and the same strange and squiggly texts as earlier carved onto it, just about large enough to accommodate a person.

"Step into the device and circulate your mana.

Nothing harmful takes place, just close your eyes when the light hits you.

Remember to keep circulating your mana from start to finish."

Mr pewterschmidt instructed once again, further piquing our curiosity.

Finnian hesitated for only a second before walking in.

The contraption's door closed behind him and as he started circulating his mana, yet another light, even more blinding than the previous one, this time green, enveloped his entire body.

This must've been why the he was told to close his eyes.

Anyone inside would be blinded.

A few seconds passed before the light stopped and the door opened.

Following Finian's exit, another stream of texts appeared on top of the contraption.

"Knight class, second grade mana pathways and second grade mana core.

The four teachers, alleged judges, behind mr pewterschmidt scribbled down on their tablets as they received the information.

Frankly speaking, none of them looked glad to be there.

It made sense. If what I heard about the special admission tests were true, then this was nothing but a formality.

Not a single person was gonna fail the test here regardless of their talent.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

They could've been here for appearances, they could've been here to check out their new students, or both.

Either way it didn't matter to me. It didn't seem like they were here to make things difficult for us.

One of them was sitting expressionlessly as he scribbled, two of them were bored while the last teacher looked at us with a small grin, which didn't emanate any malicious feelings.

The last instrument was a small orb.

It was the one device which we were all familiar with.

Even i knew what it was. It must've been a mana orb. I'd heard about it before. It told you your element and affinity.

I already knew I was a Knight courtesy of my broken arm and the hole i punched through my room's wall.

But i had no idea about my element yet, so I was excited just looking at the thing.

Any element would be fine, i was more than grateful to get to cultivate at all, let alone study at the royal academy.

Yet I still couldn't stop fantasizing, what if I awoke a rare element like light or darkness?

I shook my head at the thought.

Elements were determined at birth, it wasn't something you could awaken with hard work or luck.

The chances of awakening a rare element like light or darkness were less than one in a million.

I didn't believe I was fortunate enough to possess such talents.

Finnian had walked up to the mana orb by the time these thoughts passed through my head.

"Place your hand on the orb and inject as much as mana as you can into it."

Finnian did as instructed and soon after, the orb started shining in a blue hue.

It was a weak at first but gradually got stronger and stronger and stopped after reaching a certain level.

It looked a deep blue, but not the deepest there was.

"Water element, second grade affinity."

Finnian didn't seem too surprised at the results. He must've conducted this test before.

"You may stand down."

Mr pewterschmidt gestured to Finnian.

Finnian gave a polite bow and walked down from the platform, back to his original spot.

The same process repeated itself as everyone's name was called one by one.

Most of them had second grade talents with some in the third grade.

those in the third grade had at least one second grade talent too.

Not long passed before the last examinee was called up the stage, me.

"Number 50."

Everyone's gaze focused on me the moment I started walking.

I could feel the scorn in their eyes and see mocking grin on their lips.

It didn't take a genius to guess that they were all looking down on me.

So far, 25mages and 24 knights have been called up on the stage. It was clear that I was the last knight, and a sorry one at that with my small and skinny frame, as well as broken arm.

Even if that wasn't the case, the fact that I was a commoner was enough for them to look down on me.

I tried my best to ignore them but their gazes, in addition to the teachers' added on and put me under pressure.

Nevertheless, i braced myself and walked up to the stage.

"Place your hand on the mirror."

A white light flashed through the mirror for a split second before a series of texts appeared above it.

"Examinee number 50, name, Emil Ashdown, Age, 13, time of awakening, a few days ago, cultivation level, none."

*Chuckle*Chuckle*

Inevitably, some laughter rang out in the hall for the first time.

I could more or less guess why. I was the only person with no cultivation, not to mention i just awakened a few days ago.

I was ashamed when the examinees laughed, even more so when one of the teachers, a short and burly man with a large brown beard and mustache chuckled.

The man next to him, who was similarly short and burly but with red eyes and spiky hair, scoffed at him.

"Great, fitting of you to laugh at a student. I expected nothing more."

*SLAM*

"What Did You Say You Porcupine? You Wanna Have A Go At Me!?"

The man with the large beard slammed the table into smithereens in a fit of rage.

"Sure! Bring Your Hairy Ass Over Here Pashmak! Let's Settle This Once And For All, It's Either You Or Me!"

I had no idea what 'Pashmak' meant but the bearded teacher seemed outraged when he was addressed that way.

Me and all the other examinees within the hall receded to the furthest point possible.

It took a good five minutes for the three other teachers to separate the two.

Finally after settling down and changing their seats, the test could continue.

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief, me included. we could live to see the light of tomorrow.

"Step in and circulate your mana, keep your eyes closed when the light hits you."

I did as instructed and walked in.

Mana circulation, something I'd learned on the way here.

I felt the mana pathways within my body travelling from my heart, the source of all my mana, to every inch of my body, and started pumping mana into them.

The green light hit me just as expected. It gave me a weird feeling.

I was fully clothed, but i felt fully naked in front of it.

The light stopped and I stepped out a few seconds later.

"4th grade mana pathways, 4th grade mana core."

*Chuckle*Chuckle*

Once gain, laughter burst out in the hall, only to be shut up within a split second under Mr pewterschmidt's pressure.

I clenched my remaining functioning fist.

'Fuck.'

My talent for magic was trash, the lowest there was.

I didn't expect much to begin with, but i still had some hopes, thinking that maybe a miracle will happen. All wishful thinking.

Defeated, i used every ounce of my strength not to show my disappointment and walked up to the mana orb.

Before Mr pewterschmidt could open his mouth, i placed my hand on it and poured all my mana into it.

My path as a magician was bound to be arduous with my talent, my element didn't matter as much anymore.

The mana orb started emanating a red hue as I poured my mana into it.

'so it's fire element.'

It didn't get to glow much before coming to a stop though, a weak fire element, it was.

'fourth grade affinity, i knew it.'

I lamented in my mind.

The other students didn't laugh but still had grins on their faces.

None of the teachers showed any reactions, but i could tell they weren't too impressed, nor surprised.

Having second or even third grade talents was a rarity, those who had it were monsters originating from a bloodline of magicians.

Disappointed even more, i was ready to remove my hand and walk away when I froze in my tracks, my hair standing on ends and eyes wide in shock.

"What's the matter examinee number 50?"

Mr pewterschmidt asked.

I looked at him, and then the other teachers and students.

They all seemed weirded out by me, questioning looks on their faces.

"Can't..."

I hesitated, but still blurted it out.

"Can't you see this?"

I said, pointing at the mana orb still shining under my hand.