Mabel looked away, guilt flickering on her face. “Honestly, I think they’ve already done that.”

Arnos sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, let’s just hope for the best.” He then started walking toward the group of students heading to the training ground, with Mabel walking beside him.

After a moment of silence, Arnos glanced over at her. “By the way, why are we even checking our mana capacity? Does it actually matter?”

Mabel gave him a tired look. “What kind of school do you think this is?”

“A school for mages?” Arnos replied, raising an eyebrow.

“Exactly.”

“I get that mana levels are important,” Arnos continued, “but are they seriously going to split us into ranks or give special treatment based on the results? Like, Class A, Class B, and so on?”

Mabel blinked, looking like she hadn’t thought about it that way. Before she could answer, a tall boy with brown hair and green eyes casually joined their conversation. He also had a green gemstone as insignia in his uniform.

“They do it to separate talents,” the boy said with a friendly tone. “Prodigies, the average ones, and... well, the less gifted. Each group gets treated differently. The top students Class A and B get better teachers, equipment, and dorms.”

Mabel tilted her head, curious. “Makes sense, I guess. But who might you be sir?”

Arnos eyed the boy’s insignia, quickly pegging him as a noble. Definitely a noble, he thought. But why is he acting so polite? Aren’t nobles supposed to be all stuck-up, like the princess?

The boy smiled warmly. “I’m Marcus Leville, from House Leville. But just ‘Marcus’ is fine.”

Arnos nodded. “Marcus, huh? Well, I’m Arnos. No family name, so it’s just Arnos for you.”

Mabel leaned closer to Arnos and whispered, “He’s from a Duke’s family.”

Arnos blinked, his stomach sinking. “Wait... what?” His voice was louder than he intended. “Oh no! I’m so sorry... I didn’t mean to address you so casually by your name.” He quickly bowed his head in apology. “Please forgive me, Mr Leville.”

Marcus grinned. “Relax most Nobles don’t go around executing people for stuff like that.”

Arnos reflected on the weight of the word "most" in that sentence and mentally vowed never to address a noble by their first name.

Mabel raised an eyebrow. “So, Leville, what are you doing hanging out with commoners like us? Don’t you have fancy noble friends to talk to?”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Marcus smirked. “Your entrance earlier caught my attention. It was... hard to miss.”

Arnos and Mabel exchanged awkward looks, clearly embarrassed.

“Yeah, great entrance...” Arnos muttered under his breath.

Marcus's tone shifted, becoming more serious. "Not everyone here is a bully or stuck-up. Give it some time, and people will start to figure out who you really are. But," he said with a casual shrug, "from what I’ve seen, maybe 20%... no, actually closer to 40% will hate you no matter what you do."

Arnos let out a small chuckle, thinking to himself that Marcus’s uncertainty somehow made the whole thing even more unsettling. “I guess that’s not too bad,” he said aloud.

Mabel sighed. “I was already preparing to be a loner.” She imagined herself eating lunch alone in a corner, sitting far away from other students, and avoiding group activities. The mental image made her groan softly. “Being a loner sounds so depressing...”

Their conversation trailed off as they arrived at the entrance to Celera Magic Institute’s training grounds. The place was massive a large circular field surrounded by rows of seats that rose up like an arena. It felt like the kind of place meant for epic magical battles.

Arnos glanced around, then turned to Marcus. “Wait... this is the training arena?”

Marcus laughed. “Yeah, it is. I get why you’re confused, though.” He gestured at the arena. “This is one of the indoor training grounds. They use it for student battles, group contests, mage duels, and stuff like that. There are also three outdoor training areas for bigger spells. Makes sense now?”

Arnos nodded. “Actually, yeah, it does.” He looked over at Mabel and noticed students were being split by gender for testing. “Looks like they’re testing boys and girls separately. I’ll catch up with you later?”

Mabel waved. “sure bye”

As Marcus and Arnos moved closer to the testing area, they saw a few students left in line. One of the instructors was explaining how the crystal worked. “You don’t need to channel mana into it. The crystal automatically draws it out and changes color based on your strength.”

A board next to the crystal displayed the rankings:

- White - E rank

- Blue - D rank

- Green - C rank

- Yellow - B rank

- Orange - A rank

- Red - S rank

- Black - SS rank

Marcus turned to Arnos with a confident smile. “Looks like it’s our turn now. I’ll go first.”

“Be my guest,” Arnos replied, stepping aside.

Marcus approached the crystal and placed his hand on it. Almost instantly, it glowed a vibrant orange. Gasps and murmurs rippled through the crowd as students stopped to watch.

“I knew Sir Leville would get something high!” a girl exclaimed.

"A rank! That’s no surprise for someone like him,” another added, sounding impressed.

Arnos couldn’t help but admire the result. A rank mana level... That’s insane. Even among adventurers, that’s rare. But considering his noble background, it makes sense.

Marcus felt satisfied with the result. Getting an A rank was definitely something to be proud of a solid starting point. With enough training, he was confident he could push even higher. Stepping away from the crystal, Marcus turned to Arnos with a small smile. "Your turn now," he said.

Arnos nodded and stepped toward the crystal. There were still a few students lingering nearby, so he paused, waiting to see if anyone else would go ahead. However, no one stepped forward.

“Hey, you!” the instructors standing next to the crystal called out to Arnos. He was a tall man in plain black clothes, His sharp black eyes gave him a rather commanding presence.

Arnos took note of the instructor’s plain attire and quickly concluded that there wasn’t a strict uniform code for them unless, of course, they suddenly decided to implement one tomorrow.

“Yes, sir!” Arnos said, stepping forward.

Taking a deep breath, he placed his hand on the crystal. It felt oddly sticky against his palm, and he closed his eyes, letting his mana flow naturally. He felt the crystal pulling it in, an unfamiliar sensation that made his heart race.