{Sub-Branch, Mage Academy of Efthimia, Kingdom of Solovok}

"Alex Polyxeni. Tier-2 Metal Affinity And Tier-1 Fire Affinity." She muttered as she looked at Alex with narrowed eyes. Alex smiled at her, completely unaffected by her scrutinizing gaze. Just from the mixture of affinities, and even the fact that she kind of recognized his name meant that I didn't have as much info about my supposed best friend as I thought.

'So a bastard? Or a hidden heir to a noble house? Or a hidden orphan?... or a complete and utter coincidence?' I thought. Whatever the reason, though, I need to evaluate Alex again. While I was able to research and gain some good information on the opposite gender, the black hole of information that I'm subjected to because of my glitched system could be troublesome.

'But then again, having half the information is better than having no information. Still, I need to find another way to gain more knowledge and leverage.'

The affinity gathering ceremony started once again, and the rest of our group was quickly parsed through. Other than Alex and me, the other Karolos sister, Tatiana, also had a Tier-2 Water Affinity. Out of the other 4 males that were part of an isolated group, three of them had a basic grade affinity, and the last one had a Tier-1 Fire Affinity.

Agathi didn't even seem to care about anyone else, only giving Tatiana a second glance. After going through the list, she tapped on the Cubix a couple of times before waving at us and gathering everyone's attention.

"You three are done," she simply stated, giving any bursts of outrage and pleading an uninterested glance before she turned to the rest of us. " The rest of you follow me. You will be introduced to the rest of the academy, where you will join one of the five factions. Most of you—" She had to stop as one of the rejects came closer to her, tears in his eyes.

"Please—" The guy didn't even have a chance to say anything more as she simply waved her hand, and a blast of wind blew him and his other two friends back toward the main gates.

"-will join one of the factions that closely resembles their element. Even though you are not strictly advised to do so, you are hereby informed that doing so would be in your best interest. Any questions? No? Follow me?" Agathi finished her little explanation as she turned around and walked over to the glowing door.

"This is a portal. After I touch it, follow along and touch it one by one based on the order of your names that I read." She finished before she placed her palm on the portal. The blue, glowing runes on the gate flashed me for a brief moment, blinding us, and when I looked up, she was gone.

"That's one way to make an exit," Alex grinned as he slapped his hand onto my back. I had to suppress my frown as I gave him a questioning look.

"Well, go on. She specifically mentioned the order. You're up first." Alex pointed at the glowing door with his thumb.

"I know," I said. After giving him a glare, I looked at the glowing runes in apprehension.

'Are they even runes? They might be called something else. I'm in a new world. Making assumptions could be dangerous.' I thought nervously. My legs felt a little weak as I took a few steps toward the gate. When I reached closer, I could tell they were definitely runes; at least, they looked like one from my past life.

Symbols of power that supposedly have a new meaning because mana runs through them. Do you not want to make a bad first impression, both on Agathi and on my fellow cart-mates? I took a final step and gathered whatever courage I had, to place my arm in the exact same place where Agathi did.

'I should upgrade them to batchmates now that we have passed the first test, right?' I thought, feeling a tingling sensation go through me. Resisting the urge to pull my hand, I waited until it suddenly happened.

It was an instant. My center of gravity or even my sense of balance likely didn't have the time to respond as I stood in another place. I can now see the influence of the kingdom's Elf ancestry. The marble of the antechamber was very light green, with darker shades used to create engravings and other decorations.

"Come on, you guys were already late. Too much more, and your whole batch would suffer—" Agathi's voice distracted me from admiring the chamber as she motioned for me to follow.

"Go through the doors. Your name will be called. Go in and simply choose the Earth faction. You'll know which one it is once you walk through those doors." She gave me one last smile before she motioned for me to move.

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I did as I was told. My eyes roamed around the short tunnel connecting the place where I was teleported and arrived in front of a large wooden door. There were engravings on the door again, this time much more elaborate. The door had all five elements, and their champions were depicted as they each fought each other together in what looked like a war.

'Is that a dragon?' I thought. I would have liked to admire the gate for a little more, but it creaked and swirled open. A gust of wind blew into my face, and I lifted my hand to block both the wind and the blinding sun.

"Emilios Charis. Tier-3. Earth." A loud voice boomed throughout the tunnel. It was beautiful and soft, yet commanding and loud. As I got lost in the voice for a moment, a sharp gust of wind puffed against my face. I took that as a cue to walk through the doors. The blinding light made it difficult for me to see, but as I walked out, my eyes quickly adjusted to the sudden change.

"Fuck Yeah-"

"-I won!"

"Fucker!"

I was met by loud jeers and cheers, which was puzzling at first, but as I listened to a couple of voices, I had a vague idea of why everyone was excited.

'They likely bet on who the first one would be,' I concluded as I took in the scene. Before I could observe more, the whole scene somehow went mute. The cheers were gone as my eyes focused on just one figure. In front of me stood a woman dressed in a plain black dress, with a wizard robe and cloak flowing behind her.

She had a stoic expression. Her black eyes pierced through me and glowed slightly. Her voice was a little ethereal, vibrating through the whole place, when she spoke, "Emilios Charis, which faction do you choose?"

Her words were quite clear, and all of a sudden, my focus shifted as her presence dimmed. I looked behind her at the gathered students. The arrangement of their sitting places was in a semicircle around the exit I had just walked through.

My eyes and focus were quickly attracted by the five presences that stood out on the top. They each had a commanding aura about them. Their features were somehow obscured from my eyes, and other than their genders, I couldn't tell anything else, except for her.

...

[Dareia Vaso]

[Tier 2 Earth Mage]

[23]

...

She was both a beauty and a beast. Her aura was feral as my eyes were locked onto her frame, admiring her beauty. Yet when I saw the savage grin on her face, the first instinct I had was to avoid her gaze. I persisted as I took her image in. Her ash-grey skin, her white hair, the tattoos adorning her figure, and the glittering gold chain that snaked around her waist stood out in sharp contrast to her skin.

I blinked as my senses shifted again. The world once again started singing, and I felt like I had snapped back into my body.

"Emilios Charis, to the Gaia Faction!" The elf announced as a few members of the now-identified Gaia faction cheered. They were each sitting at the bottom of a few steps, steps that led to the golden throne upon which the white-haired goddess sat.

I moved, quickly realizing that my part in this show was done. Whatever had happened just now was a little too surreal to me, the way in which they were able to manipulate my senses, gather my attention, and discard it at a moment's notice. I wanted to look back at the woman who spoke my name but decided against it.

"Avra Karolos. Tier-2. Fire..." I heard the loud voice boom once again, and the presence returned, but this time, it wasn't focused on me. I knew what was going to happen, so I didn't look back. Instead, I focused on moving toward my new faction. The last two steps of the Gaia faction were empty, and I quickly took my place as I sat down. I could feel a couple of students pat down my back as a few congratulations were spoken.

"Congrats on being the first one to get sorted-" One of the male students spoke.

"Yeah, since you made quite a lot of us win the bet, you would have a much easier time in the faction." Another added, and I nodded. I sneaked a glance at the topmost crown and locked eyes with Dareia. She looked at me with a hint of amusement on her face before she suddenly frowned and looked toward the center.

"Alex Polyxeni..." There was a pause in her voice. I could see the anticipation burning through the crowd as she spoke the next few words: "Tier-2. Metal. Tier-1. Fire."

Each of her words was met with raised eyebrows as everyone stared at Alex. I, too, followed suit. The grin on my friend's face was washed away as he looked at everyone. His eyes looked at the five thrones one by one before he stopped at the last throne.

"Alex Polyxeni, to the Vulcan Faction." The elf in charge of the ceremony finally decided.

"Fuck really, he chose those guys?" Someone cursed behind me. My eyes were still focused on Alex as he simply walked over to the faction of fire. His figure was welcomed with almost the same enthusiasm as me, which doesn't make sense because no one gained anything from his arrival.

'Or did they? At least I can be sure that Alex isn't an ordinary student. From almost everyone's reaction, his surname must be famous, as must his affinities.'

I took a sigh of relief as I noticed the attention had shifted from me to Alex. Even my own faction was already talking about the fact that his name and the affinities couldn't be a coincidence.

'Nope, don't care. He can be the main character all he wants, but I'm gonna stay away. Learn magic and fuck some girls.' My motto was clear, and I began to look at the other 4 owners of their respective thrones.

My breath hitched as I looked at her. The barbarian beauty was pushed to the back of my mind as I stared at her.

'I'm gonna have so much fun in this world...'