“My name is Zelore, and this is the last stage of this exam, so just push a little harder, you’re almost at the finishing line.”

“For this final trial, all you have to do is destroy this crystal orb and you pass. You’re allowed to use whatever spell in your arsenal to achieve this objective. If you can't destroy it, you know the drill, you will be kicked out. Now, one at a time come up and prove your magic"

"Since this is the last trial, I'll get it over and done with.” Ken walked up and stood 10 meters in front of the orb, ready to destroy it as he was instructed.

“I probably shouldn't use anything complex, so an Exploding Flare spell should do the trick.”

Raising his hand in the crystal orb direction, a fiery red magic circle formed in front of his palm. Without any incantations, a blazing ball of fire with 3 small sparks circling it, was shot towards the orb like a cannon, the ball of fire hit its target, causing an explosion that engulfed the whole orb like it was nothing.

The explosion triggered one of the sparks to explode and when it did it was as big as the first explosion, then the second spark exploded, then the third spark followed suit causing a third explosion. All explosions happened consecutively as one explosion triggered the other, it was like fireworks.

After the explosion and all the smoke cleared out, the orb was completely shattered into a million pieces, like smashed glass, leaving a crater in the ground.

“That was an impressive spell young man, and you did so without an incantation. You pass” Zelore praised Ken.

Zelore waved his right hand and the orb Ken had just destroyed rematerialized back to perfect condition as if it wasn't in a million pieces a few seconds ago.

“Now, head that way, to where you will meet others that have completed the exam," Zelore instructed, pointing to a building nearby.

“Great job Ken, see you when I see you” Tai called out.

“Yea! Hope to see you around” Ken replied.

The young wizard walked into the building that Zelore pointed to, and once he entered, he was met with a handful of examinees who had completed the entrance exam. Everyone was socializing with each other and eating from the buffet provided to them. Ken however wasn't hungry and wasn't in any rush to start socializing.

“Might as well get some shut-eye while I wait.” He looked for a quiet spot to rest his eyes.

4 hours Later.

"Hey, wake up kid," a woman said as she tapped Ken on the shoulder.

"Hm...what's happening?" Ken asked as he slowly got up while rubbing his eyes

"It's the welcoming assembly, so get up and get ready to introduce yourself, all the other candidates that passed the exam have already introduced themselves, since you were sleeping when that happened you have to wait until Headmaster Zelfora gives his speech before you can go up" the lady explained

"Oh, okay that sounds fair, I'll wait" Ken replied as he slowly walked near the stage while rubbing his eyes.

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

In front of the stage, there were a large number of students who were already enrolled in the academy, watching the assembly. Candidates who passed the exam were standing on the opposite side of the stage, most of them were whispering amongst each other all waiting for the so-called Headmaster to arrive and give his annual speech.

Soon enough, the Headmaster arrived, walking past Ken, and onto the stage where everyone could see him. He was tall, standing well over 6 feet. His dull yellow hair was long hanging down his back. He was an old High Elf with deep blue eyes. His look was completed with a mage's robe that seemed a tad bit too big for him.

The grandmaster stood in front of a stand and faced everyone. Everyone went dead silent, ready to listen.

“He must be a powerful mage, just looking at him gives me an intense feeling,” Ken thought to himself.

"Welcome First Year's, to your first year in Elenora's Academy of Magicka. I'm headmaster Zelfora, principal of this prestigious Academy” Zelfora introduced himself, with his voice echoing throughout the space as if he was talking through a microphone.

“I'm glad to see so many new faces as well as old faces. At this Academy, you will be pushed to your limits, and then using your own magic/will, you will have to break that limit and go beyond to find your true self, your golden path in life”

“Looking around, I see potential in all of you to be great wizards. If you truly just believe in yourself and cast away all doubt in your heart, I believe you will make it! I can't wait to see what this year brings for our Academy!!" The Headmaster announced with pride and joy dominating his voice.

Everyone started cheering as loud as they could, Headmaster Zelfora’s speech was short, but it was enough to get everyone going.

The woman who had woken Ken up, walked on stage asking everyone to be quiet and settle down, but everyone was too hyped to listen so she kept repeating herself until everyone eventually settled down.

She then announced, "Here is the final student that passed this year's exams. Those people that pass the exam this year please meet me backstage after the assembly."

“Alright Kid, you're up.”

Ken made his way up to the stage and stood in front of thousands of students all just looking at him. Scanning the crowd he spotted Hanako looking at him with a smile, seeing a familiar face was reassuring, but Ken had no idea what to say to the crowd, was he meant to just introduce himself?

“Here goes nothing I guess”

"Umm… My name is Ken Granfold, I'm honored to be a part of this academy. My goal is to gain all the knowledge in this academy, as well as to make friends, my Grandmother told me to hold back while I'm here, so I promise to take it easy on all of you for the next three years—”

“Oi, what the hell do you mean by that!?”

“Yeah! Do you think we're second-rate mages!?”

“You cocky bastard!?”

“Come down here and I'll show you what I'm made of, you son of a bitch!”

Ken's speech had caused a bit of a riot in the crowd, first year's who were already enrolled and the first year's who passed the entrance exam, were both rightfully outraged at him. Ken might not have meant for this to happen but what did he expect? He had just undervalued his colleagues. Despite the barrage of insults flying his way Ken’s expression didn't change, he was still very composed.

Rubbing the back of his head, Ken softly said “Well I did say I'll try holding back as Grandma Edna asked, but now I'll resort to Grandpa’s way and show them my magic…”

Taking a deep breath, Ken slowly exhaled, releasing an intense wave of his mana. His mana release had so much pressure that it rendered a large majority of the students unconscious.

Only a handful of students were just barely able to stay conscious and another handful of students were unphased. All the insults had gone silent, it seemed like the insults came from those who couldn't stand up to Ken. Ken looked over at Hanako and was glad to see she was still standing.

“It was getting too noisy.”

Ken canceled his mana release, and with a straight face, his next statement was filled with boldness. “As of this moment I've decided to not hold back, I won't lose to any half-baked magic, and to make things more unfortunate for you all, I'll be the one to graduate in top place.”

Finishing off his speech, he said, "I'll be waiting for those that can keep up at Graduation.” With that, Ken walked off stage.

"First-year students sure are gonna be a noisy bunch this year." The Headmaster chuckled to himself as he stroked his beard.