After every student took their seat, the knight began to explain. "This crystal here will release pulses of mana in a moment. You all have noticed the piece of parchment in front of you. It is a magic parchment, it records different values regarding your body. Close your eyes and try to empty your thoughts. The more you concentrate, the more accurate results you will have. If everyone is ready then we will begin......NOW! "
Every student closed their eyes in meditation. Max also closed his eyes and began to concentrate on his breathing. Forgetting everything else, only breathing in....breathing out. After what felt like 10 minutes, the knight's voice rang again, "Okay, it's done. Please check the parchment and then turn it over to the counter on my right before you exit. The classes you can apply to will be decided based on these results. The list of your classes will be sent by tomorrow morning. After submitting your parchment, please exit on my left. There are no more activities for today. You are free to tour the academy or go home."
Max heard the people around him (nobles) speak in excited voices to each other. Something along the lines of "Hey, my strength is 20, it synergises nicely with my earth attribute", or "Hey I have greater fire affinity with mage potential, just you wait, I'll be the greatest pyromancer, haha"..... Max looked at his own parchment
Name Maximillian Radcliffe Age 14 Gender Male Race Human Physical Attributes :- Strength 30 Dexterity 50 Endurance 50 Vitality 30 Mana Capacity 100 Affinities :- Fire none Water none Wind none Earth none Light none Darkness none Ice none Lightning none Space none Potential Calculation Warrior Potential Abnormal Mage Potential Adept Affinity Inept Final Verdict >> [IRREGULAR]
Max's jaw dropped......WHAT THE LIVING FUCK!!!!!!
The results were beyond his comprehension. Was there a mistake somewhere? He was not too surprised by his physical stats. He had been training since five, and there are geniuses every year with abnormal warrior potential. What blew his mind was the contradiction between his mage potential and affinity. He had crazy mana reserves, 10 times that of an average human. He also had "Adept" mage potential- the third greatest after "God" and "Dragon", which were too rare anyways. Whereas his affinities were beyond "TRASH", more like it broke beyond the level of trash and become something "UNIQUE" because he had never heard any person without a single affinity. Most had poor affinities to most attributes but he had NONE..... This was unprecedented.
Max had no idea how the academy was going to react. Students slowly started leaving, while Max kept sitting in a daze. Soon all students left, except 4 students- Max, a couple of girls and another boy. The other three were stopped by the faculty. When the teachers were going to speak with them, one of them noticed Max still in his seat. Frowning, the man called out to him, "Hey, stop dreaming! Come hand your parchment and leave." Max slowly stood and came to the front walking like a zombie. Everybody else in the room thought that Max had got terrible results and was shocked out his wits. The girl with red hair snorted in contempt. Max handed his paper to the teacher who called out to him and said, "Read this please!"
The teacher felt a little pity and patted Max on the shoulder as he glanced through his parchment. First, his eyebrows arched up in surprise, but a moment later his eyes opened so wide that it seemed that his eyeballs would fall out. Others got curious by his reaction. The knight who was in charge of the procedure asked him to hand the parchment as other teachers took a peek. Loud gasps of surprise sounded as every teacher looked at Max as if he was a monster. "How can this be! It's impossible! ", cried out a man in spectacles and traditional mage robes. He was the head of the magic department. "We need to report this to headmaster", said the knight in a stoic voice but his eyes were dripping with incredulity. The four students were quickly herded to the headmaster's office.
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Headmaster Marvin was sitting behind his oak desk when the group came in. He first looked over the parchments of the other three. "Hoho, we are blessed with some very extraordinary talents this year. First of all, Princess Reina - I had heard that you are the only person who has been able to wield the ancestral sword Fang in the last 5 generations but I didn't expect your strength to be so monstrous. 50 points of strength along with perfect fire affinity which is known for its destructiveness, it is no doubt that you have a very bright future ahead of you." The red-haired beauty bowed her head, and said, " Thank you for the compliment, headmaster Marvin. I will try my utmost to answer your expectations". Marvin beamed her a smile. Then he turned to the gold-haired girl, "Miss Helen Keller, the daughter of the head of Mage regiment Ross Keller. I was in the same regiment as him years ago. To think that his daughter is the first 'Dragon' mage potential in a hundred years, that lucky bastard! Even I am jealous of your talent". Helen blushed and bowed her head in gratitude.
"Onto the next one then, Master Fred..... you seem to be an all-round genius eh? 30s in all physical attributes with the rare fire and lightning perfect affinity. Also adept in magic potential... I heard that you were an orphan before you were adopted by commoner parents. Looks like you can really find diamonds in the rough." The boy he spoke about had brown hair, average face and toned body. But Max felt something wrong with his eyes. His eyes were not what you'd expect on a 14-year-old's face. It was a deep abyss, filled with darkness as if he had experienced some very traumatic events in his life. The headmaster also seemed to have noticed it as he held his gaze for 5 seconds before Fred gave a deep bow to him. Marvin sighed and moved on.
"Last but not least, let's see what we got here......huh......WHAT!?" Marvin almost screamed as he went through Max's parchment. "Let's see... Maximillian Radcliffe, the third son of Earl Radcliffe. Your House is not famous for producing warriors or mages. Even so... 30 points of strength and vitality, 50 in dexterity and endurance. Your warrior potential is the best I have seen in the past decade." "What!?" princess Reina was shocked to find someone with so high dexterity and endurance. She began boring holes in Max through her stare but Max ignored it. He knew that the worst had yet to come. "But that's not the most remarkable point", Marvin continued, "blessed with TEN times the mana pool of normal humans with adept mage potential, you should be the cause of envy for every mage born in the last century ". This made Helen and even Fred gasp in surprise. Every person in the room had their attention fixed on Max which made him uncomfortable. "But what is wrong with your affinities. THIS IS UNPRECEDENTED....", Marvin was starting to get agitated. "I have seen people with poor affinities to all attributes but NONE?! Is it even possible?"
Fred and Reina gasped at this while Helen seemed to sigh in relief. Marvin began pacing around in the room seemingly making a decision. "I need to investigate this... I need more information. Master Radcliffe, could please cooperate with me in some experiments in the coming few days?... I promise you no harm will come to you." Max pondered for a while before nodding. He might as well take the chance. While he wanted to become Dark Knight, magic is not something he could ignore.
"Thank you for your consideration... okay...calm down...", Marvin steadied his breath. "Now with that out of the way, let's make some arrangements for our geniuses. Fred and Helen, I want you to work with Mr Lucius (head of the magic department) here to improve your magic. Ah, but you cannot skip your other classes.... agreed?" Both Fred and Helen were ecstatic and bowed to both Marvin and Lucius before leaving with Lucius. "Princess Reina and Master Radcliffe, my daughter will be joining us this year. She is taking a break from her work. You must know her, Miriam is my and this country's pride, the Sword Saint, the Scarlet Swordswoman. She has not taken any squires yet. I want both of you to apprentice under her. Any objections?" Both Max and Reina couldn't believe their ears. The Scarlet Swordswoman was one of the top geniuses of their kingdom. At the mere age of 18, she managed to single-handedly put down a rebellion attempt earning herself the moniker. At 20, she became undefeated in the whole kingdom. To apprentice under her would be any knight's dream. They immediately accepted.
That night as Max lay on his bed, he thought back on his eventful day. He was both apprehensive and excited for the future that awaited him...