Ben wandered around the courtyard of Frozen Hearth's main campus area. Students and the occasional teacher or parent crowded around him, making it hard for him to breathe or even think. He had forgotten just how noisy children were. Beside him, Olivia fingered her rings, which were very sharp and very lethal weapons.

"Hey, we can't kill them!" Ben tried to convey via Telepathy. At times like this, he often cursed his own ineptitude. If only he could use his ability properly, he wouldn't have so many problems. Normal telepathy users could convey thoughts to others at will. But not him.

"We can't kill them," Ben said instead through their mind link. Those didn't require any skill with telepathy, just a strong telepath to create one. Olivia scowled slightly but nodded.

Normal telepathy users could also read unprotected minds at will, instead of dealing with the thoughts around them. They didn't have to listen to everyone around them with every waking moment. But again, not him.

Sure, he understood that maybe normal eleven-year-olds did not bother learning any form of telepathy and couldn't care less about protecting their minds from invasive mind readers. But weren't there older students as well? They should be able to learn the basics. In fact, any normal child should have learned. Still…

"Ah, I'm soooo booooreeeeeed…."

"I want ice cream! Ice cream! Yum yum! And candy! I like candy!"

Were these the thoughts of normal eleven year old children? Ben was eleven. Olivia was eleven. They certainly didn't think about ice cream all day. Did someone accidentally bring their younger sister?

With a slight bit of effort, Ben located the person in question, a pink-haired girl who appeared to be a teenager. With a bit more effort, he learned that she was a girl named Melissa and she was fourteen years old. Wow.

He may have been a bit sheltered from life with the organization, but he really hoped not all teenage students would be that way. If he had to hear any more dumb thoughts, forget orders, he was going to murder them.

Or he could learn to control his ability. At times such as this, he sometimes wished the organization didn't force them to take on more abilities than they could handle. But he understood it was all for the sake of their future. Weaklings didn't survive in the world. Though from what he saw with Melissa, there were a few exceptions.

The thoughts around him suddenly focused on someone and he realized a teacher was making an announcement from a balcony.

"Welcome, new students! Congratulations for making it into Frozen Hearth! You have done well to have come this far."

Loud cheering ensued. At least they were too busy cheering to think stupid thoughts.

"Next, we will be separating you into five different classes that will best suit your needs. As I am sure you all know, we will be doing so via a number of aptitude examinations."

A few groans.

"Now, now, you all know that the other magic schools require this as a preliminary. Everyone here has already been accepted, so there is nothing to worry about, even if you mess up."

A few sighs of relief.

"The most important test will be the magic aptitude exam. This will help both us and you to determine which magic you excel at, and what magic will be easiest for you to learn in the future. This also serves to measure your entire magical potential."

The cheers came back. Apparently everyone was worried they would be kicked out of school. If they had actually read information about the school, they would know better.

"The exams will be done in this building," the teacher said, pointing behind her. "And that is all! Good luck!"

She left, and the students' thoughts went from focused to random again.

"Oh no, an aptitude? What is my aptitude? I need an aptitude… what is it… Do I make something up?"

Ben had no idea who that kid was, but whoever heard of someone over ten years old and not knowing their own aptitude? And no one would "make something up" for their magic aptitude. First, the tests were conducted in a way to prevent that, and second, there was no way to actually fake an aptitude. It didn't make sense, and either way, Ben would know as he had been through a number of those tests.

Most people began crowding toward the building, but Ben would rather wait outside for them all to finish before going inside himself. It was easier cancelling out the thoughts of the other students when they were farther away.

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Olivia just preferred spaces with less people in general, so she waited outside with him. After a few moments of silence, she contacted him through their mind link.

"Any new orders?"

Ben began to shake his head before deciding that would look weird. Instead, he began walking to the line for the aptitude test.

"No. Either way, our orders were clear. Befriend the founder's descendant. Uncover the secrets."

Then report the information to the leader and await further orders. If necessary, they will dispose of the descendant.

"If the descendant has the so-called 'powers,'" Ben said. "It's only a rumor."

The rumor was enough to attract their leader's attention, so it was clearly important. Other children from the same experiment had been sent to a few other top-ranked schools to find the founder's descendant, as the identity of the founder was not entirely clear.

Which was actually pretty stupid. How were they supposed to know if they found the right person? Also, was there something wrong with the 'powers'? What sort of important powers would a school founder have in the first place?

There were many questions, all of which were important and could not be answered. Either way, Ben would follow his orders. Whether or not he could find the answers to his questions, orders were orders.

The line for the magical aptitude test was short enough for him to hear the conversations between the tester and the one being tested.

He heard the thoughts of a boy he recognized, who was now being examined.

"My aptitude… Hmmmm…"

Oh, it was him again. The dumb kid who didn't know what his own aptitude was.

"Aerokinesis sounds cool…"

Ben didn't know who was worse, this kid or the candy girl. Probably the candy girl, as she was more annoying and seemed much dumber.

"But an aptitude?"

"I'm sorry this is taking so long," an examiner said. "But don't worry, it should be over soon."

"What the heck do they mean by aptitude?"

Ben just sighed and tried his best not to smash his head into a wall. The sheer stupidity of some people… Instead of killing his brain, he decided to meditate a little to improve his telepathy.

"Is it just magic that will be easier to learn? In that case…"

Ben couldn't hear the rest, but it was just a sign of his improving telepathy. It was already working!

"Oh, we're getting something!" the examiner from before said. "Let's see… Main power, Aerokinesis."

The examiner went slightly wide-eyed and he rechecked a few times before he said, "No aptitude."

The crowd, or, the students who were left were equally as shocked.

"HUH?"

"Wait, that's a thing?"

"I didn't know it was possible to not have an aptitude…"

"Since you don't have an aptitude in magic, we'll place you in Class 1-B," the examiner said slowly. "Aerokinesis is pretty powerful. Congrats. Uh, next?"

So the kid actually ended up with what he wanted. Very surprising. He didn't have an aptitude, but that could mean either he was proficient in all magic, or he failed at all magic equally besides his main power. If it were the former, there was a chance he was the descendant, though it wouldn't make sense. None of the founders had any ties to Aerokinesis, and although children didn't always have the same abilities as their ancestors, it was quite rare.

Ben tried using his slightly modified telepathy ability to dig into the kid's memories, and found a blank wall. Was the kid trained in hiding his thoughts? But then, why could Ben hear it earlier?

It was most likely that the kid was not an expert in thought-blocking. After all, it was common for inexperienced telepaths to leak thoughts when nervous, experiencing intense emotions, or really just not focusing on the shield. As a learned power sometimes it could be a little difficult. Ben could also understand that, though in his case it was slightly different because he had a modified power. Those were very unpredictable and usually the results of years of research. Just his luck to be a member of a prominent research organization, then.

"Next! You must be Ben Tosell?"

He stepped up to the examiner. As he had been tested many times in the past, Ben knew exactly what his main power and aptitudes were.

"Main power, Guilt Inducement, huh, pretty rare," the examiner said. "Aptitude for Enhancement magic."

"That's cool!"

"Woah, enhancement magic?"

"You would do well as a member of the police force," a nearby adult said thoughtfully. "Guilt Inducement helps with interrogating criminals, and enhancement magic would help on the field."

Good to know, but Ben wasn't interested in joining the police force.

"We'll place you in Class 1-B as well," the examiner said after a moment. "Although you might do well in either Class 1-A because of the enhancement magic, or Class 1-D for support magic, I believe Class 1-B would be better suited for you."

Olivia stepped up to be tested next. As Ben expected, she was placed into Class 1-D. Her Empathy power wasn't exactly the best for battle, and she had a support-type aptitude as well. Though they would do well not to underestimate an angry Olivia.

"Well, that's over, I guess," Ben said. Nothing had really happened, except now they would be separated. With some luck, the founder's descendant ended up in either 1-B or 1-D. Or maybe the descendant ended up with the leader, who definitely made it to Class 1-A. Ben wasn't sure why the leader had to come personally, but finding the founder's descendant must've been very, very important.

And speaking of the leader, she had just contacted him.

"Come on, Olivia. Let's go meet up with the leader," he said, beckoning to her as he began walking away from the test room.