Alaric’s heart skipped a bit and his face turned a shade paler. He might not have panicked when he saw the bronze orbs descend but never, in his wildest imagination, could he have predicted this outcome.

As the situation currently stood, the bronze swarm of appraising orbs had claimed more than half the gathering of Aspirants to come to the Tower.

This didn’t make sense at all. The number of powerful guardians on the Valerian continent was small but even then, he’d never imagined the D-class guardians would be this many.

There were five classes, yet more than half the aspirants had already fallen into the lowest class.

Goosebumps spread all over Alaric’s arms as the pressure and tension in the room went higher than it had been before.

In a place like this, having high expectations for one’s appraisal was one of the worst things if the results didn’t turn out the way they wanted them. The Aspirants in D-class were so many that he was left shaken.

[Couldn’t you tell from the number of bronze orbs present?] Alia scoffed.

Alaric looked up at the orbs with a dark expression, seeing their numbers in a different light. Deep down, he'd known the reason for the unfair distribution of orbs but nothing could have prepared him for this. A little part of him had still hoped the results wouldn't turn out quite so dire.

Now, that part of him was snuffed out, leaving him with a bitter taste in his mouth. Most of the aspirants were indeed part of D-class which meant the chances of him and his friends being a class higher than C-class had just dropped considerably as well.

On the bright side, neither Darla nor Finn had received D-class appraisals, which was already an incredible feat in and of itself. It meant the only three children from the Five Hills to come to the Appraisal Ceremony had managed to make it past D-class.

Alaric’s hopes didn’t go too high though.

The boy who’d screamed his lungs out only to get himself thrown in chains had been a trained noble. Being a noble, it was obvious he’d been trained by a powerful Slayer and if someone of his skill could get an appraisal as bad as that, then their odds were starting to look pretty slim.

Alaric turned to his friends, “You guys okay?”

Finn and Darla nodded feverishly but it was clear to see that they harboured the same fear. Finn wiped a smidgen of blood off his hand and looked back up at the Head Seeker. The Appraisal Ceremony was only getting started.

“The minimum requirement for getting into the Guardian Academy without taking a test is B-class. Let’s just hope we get that and above,” Alaric tried.

“Yeah… No pressure,” Finn squeaked. His eyes turned red and shut them to try and calm his rising nerves.

This attempt was rendered useless when the red orbs flickered to life, capturing the attention of the aspirants.

What made the Aspirants turn pale and feverish, however, was the sheer number of red orbs that were glowing. As it so happened the number of aspirants that were in C-class… were many… much more than they should have been.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. At this rate, no one will make it to A-class,” Finn breathed out.

Frightened murmurs filled the room. Tension turned to panic as aspirants began inching away from the orbs like the plague. Alaric was not sure what ran through their heads as they did. The magic imbuing the orbs was nothing to scoff at.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Even if they managed to run away from the glowing little buzzers, they would simply follow them regardless of where they went. A red orb came flying towards Alaric and stopped in front of him…

The boy smiled and tilted his head… When the orb didn’t respond to this motion, he stepped out of the way and watched it continue on its way.

“You’re confident in your abilities, huh!” Aiden scoffed.

Alaric shook his head, “I’m just ready for whatever I get.”

The blonde boy scowled and then looked away from him. Darla came close to Alaric and held his hand. The girl’s hand was cold to the touch and there was a slight shiver going through her.

Nodding reassuringly, Alaric squeezed her hand in response. At this point, they had witnessed a few aspirants take to their heels with red orbs chasing after them like little fiery comets.

One boy even dashed straight for the exit only to get launched back by a shimmering translucent magic barrier. Before he could get up, the red orb had caught up to him.

The reaction was even worse than that of the aspirants who had received bronze orbs.

Perhaps because a red orb was just one class lower than a silver one which was B-class, the minimum requirement for joining the Guardian Academy.

Getting a red orb was like reaching the finish line and being told you were running the wrong race.

Panic turned to tears and more golden chains sprung up to grab the aspirants that acted too erratically to be trusted. The most aggressive ones were chained and tossed to the other side, leaving an even staggeringly small group behind.

The first two classes had been sorted out. Now only three remained. Considering there hadn’t been an S-class in a long time, it could only stand to reason that there would not be one today as well.

Everyone left would either get an A-class or B-class ranking. These classes were high enough to give one a chance to become a noble should their contributions to the continent of Valeria prove valuable enough.

This was mostly possible through working as a member of the Elite Guard and subjugating a certain number of demons. Awards were given to outstanding members of the Elite Guard and in some cases, noble titles.

Alaric let out a shaky breath. He’d gone through the roughest part of the test. His friends had survived too.

Finn fell to his hands and knees with a thud. Beads of sweat covered his brow, “This is not what I bargained for.”

Darla chuckled, “I thought you really wanted a kitten for a guardian.”

“Not funny, Darla,” the sandy-haired boy huffed.

“You should be proud, Finn. There is nothing that says we were meant to be appraised above C-class. To have all three aspirants from the Five Hills appraised this way is a miracle. I’m sure Sister Marla is waiting to comfort whoever comes with either D or C-class orbs,” Alaric smiled.

The room went silent once again and this time, several silver orbs lit up. The silver orbs threatened to be more than the number of remaining aspirants at first glance which didn’t help the nerves of the remaining children.

The ones who’d already been appraised and had regained their composure turned to see who would get appraised in B-class. Alaric caught a glimpse of silver hair in the corner of his eye, ‘So the noble is still a mystery. I wonder what… Oh, never mind.’

As it so happened, Alaric’s question was answered right before he could formulate it. A silver orb was floating right above the head of the opulently-dressed silver-haired noble.

Her face remained expressionless as she stared at it, however, considering the time with which she spend staring at it, Alaric guessed she didn’t like this appraisal.

To his surprise, he caught her tilting her head to see if the orb would follow. She didn’t go as far as to try to run away from it as it was clear the little critter would follow her.

‘Was she watching me?’ he wondered.

[Probably.]

“Congratulations, Miss Vermillion. You’re Class B,” Elder Gregory’s voice rumbled.

“Hmph,” Vermillion snorted and strolled towards the group that had been appraised. Her mood was sour but she managed to compose herself.

“Umm, Alaric!” a voice interrupted him.

The dark-haired boy turned in time to witness a glowing silver orb floating above his friend’s head. Finn had been appraised, “That’s awesome. Keep your charm on you and stay where we can see you. We must not get separated. Also, congrats.”

“You and Darla will do better. You still haven’t been appraised,” Finn chuckled, “I was hoping I’d show you up, Darla.”

“Your fight was memorable. As a reward, I’ll stop making calling your guardian a cute kitten,” Darla replied with a small smile.

“That’s just one of the many things you’ve called my guardian,” Finn’s shoulders dropped.

“Is it?” the girl smirked, “I can’t seem to remember.”

The sandy-haired boy sighed and narrowed his eyes at the girl. If only looks could kill. Seeing as time was of the essence, he left with a tired wave.

As Aiden silently walked past Alaric, the ‘prodigy of the Five Hills’ raised his voice, “Congratulations, Aiden. I guess I’ll be seeing you at the Academy… if you have the guts to choose it, that is.”