“Next student”, Chloe said as she completed noting down the measurements of the previous student.

The student standing at the front of the line moved forward, standing right in front of her.

"Relax a bit," Chloe said, eyeing the student in front of her.

The boy relaxed his arms, keeping them slightly apart. Arnos noticed how Chloe supposedly lip-synced something and as she did this, a bright, thin rope made of light projected over the student, loosely binding all the places where measurements were required.

“Is she using a light spell,” Arnos mumbled in a whisper, surprised by her choice to use a spell instead of conventional measurement tape. Couldn't she use a simple measuring tape, he questioned, giving a doubtful look to her.

The spell dispersed, and Chloe noted down the measurements in the register. "You can go now," she said to the student, gesturing for him to leave.

It was certainly fast, Arnos exclaimed mentally. Yeah, I take it back, it's certainly more effective, sorry for doubting your expertise miss Chloe, he mentally added in defeat.

In the next five minutes, all the students before Arnos had their measurements taken. It was Arnos's turn.

"Next," Chloe mumbled, writing down the previous student's details. Arnos walked up and stood in front of Miss Chloe, relaxing his body as he saw the previous student do. Chloe looked up at Arnos with her yellow eyes.

"What's your name?" she questioned, turning the page of the register, readying herself to write down the name of the student in front of her.

"It's Arnos ma'am," Arnos answered almost immediately.

"And your family name?" Chloe questioned, looking at Arnos again.

"Actually I don't have a family name, ma'am," Arnos mumbled, looking slightly uneasy.

Chloe looked up at Arnos. "Ah, I am sorry, i had no idea" she said, with a hint of apology in her voice.

"It's not a big deal, ma'am. Don't worry about it," Arnos said in a calm voice, showing that he wasn’t bothered.

Chloe glanced at him and smiled at his response. "Let me just get this over with," she said, before resuming her lip-syncing.

Arnos looked at her attentively. Looking at her lips carefully to guess the word. Is the word she’s saying bind by any chance, Arnos thought to himself.

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His thoughts were interrupted by tiny ropes of light magic snugly binding him. They weren’t tight, they weren’t hurting, they were just loosely tied across his body.

The spell dispersed, and Chloe took the notebook, jotting down the details.

"You may go," she mumbled, giving Arnos a quick glance as she gestured for him to leave with her right hand.

Arnos nodded at this. "Understood, ma'am," he said, taking his leave from the auditorium.

Well, measurements are done. Where will I get my staff and wand, though, Arnos questioned himself. That’s when a soft banging sound caught his attention. Turning his head in the sound’s direction, Arnos began to walk toward the western side of the building.

The sound is surely from that indoor training ground, Arnos thought. As he moved closer to the training ground, he began to see a few students roaming around the entrance and western exit. Looking at their faces, Arnos quickly pegged them as first years.

Looks like I’m in the right place, Arnos mumbled, entering the training ground. Looking around the arena, he noticed that there were seven humanoid stone figures being used as targets by students. Half of the training arena was being used as a target practice area. The circular shape of the arena made it so that the center stone figure was the furthest and hardest to hit.

Arnos noticed Marcus, Emily, and a few other students standing on the right side of the arena, closer to him, with lots of wooden staffs and wands placed on a huge table. Marcus and Emily were looking at each staff, picking and placing them one by one as if checking them while talking to each other.

"They came here first," Arnos mumbled as he walked toward the large table.

Standing in front of the table, Arnos picked up one of the staffs in his hand. It's really heavy, he thought to himself with mild surprise.

Marcus turned his attention to Arnos. "Where were you till now?" he questioned curiously.

Emily, who was previously preoccupied with the staff in her hand, looked at Arnos, not saying anything but simply acknowledging his presence.

"I actually went to get my fitting done earlier," Arnos said, looking at Marcus and Emily.

"Is that so," Marcus said with a nod. "We came here first since someone was more excited about picking a nice staff rather than fitting," Marcus added with a small smirk directed at Emily.

"Isn't that the best thing to do, though? We are going to be mages and haven't come here to play dress up, have we?" Emily said in a slightly pissed tone she then redirected her focus to choosing a staff. Placing the staff she was holding back on the table as she picked another one.

"This one will do," she said in a rather enthusiastic tone, spiraling the staff in a circular motion.

Arnos gulped unconsciously. She definitely is physically strong too, i should remember to not challenge her for arm wrestling, he thought looking at the staff in his right hand, clearly aware of how heavy the staff is as he was holding one.

"I will be going to the target area," Emily said to Marcus with an excited look.

"Understood," Marcus mumbled, giving a quick glance to Emily. Emily walked towards the target arena, standing slightly away from the center target spot, which was currently occupied by another student.

Arnos looked at the target arena himself, his focus shifting to the student in front of Emily. He watched as the tiny fireball cast by the student wasn't even able to reach the target and dispersed mid way, without hitting it.

Aren't nobles supposed to be trained as kids? Arnos questioned himself in his mind, surprisingly disappointed by the show he saw.

I guess I should be focusing on this instead, Arnos thought. Looking at the staff in his hand, he closed his eyes and began to imagine the mana accumulating in front of his right hand as if he were casting a spell. After a moment, he opened his eyes, looking at the staff as he whispered, "Perfect.”