"Each academy is conducting a different series of trials. And each has a different number of spots to offer." Nola kept on explaining the details of the trials. She was very well informed, and as she spoke Maia realised that she had indeed come to the right place. After all, she doubted that many knew what Nola knew. And her expression – genuine or otherwise – suggested that she was curious of Nola's identity. Granted she was a Lesser Celestial, but she must be pretty influential to know so much about the trials.
So basically, Maia understood a few rudimentary things from Nola's explanation. The first had to do with the number of entries. There were two ways to get into a God Academy. One was by a recommendation from a well-known godly figure. This was less common because very few were able to get the attention of a god. The other was by passing the trials.
If one wanted to be tried, they had to register at the academy. Each academy had been registering applicants for the past few weeks, and registrations were meant to last all the way till the end of this month – which was only a week away. So that meant that Maia had less than 5 days to present her information to a God Academy. The forms to be filled weren't overly complicated. The most important detail in that form was the programme of study. One had to choose where their interest lay: body wielding, energy wielding, or following the path of Scholars and Spiritualists. Of course, one could choose more than one, but that would mean that they had to be tested on each of these paths as well.
There were requirements for registering however. Each applicant had to be of the younger generation; they couldn't be older than the age of 30. As for how young they were, it mattered little. As long as one wasn't thirty that was enough. After all, if a young prodigy passed the trials, that would mean that the sky was the limit for such a person. And no God Academy will reject such a genius. Apart from the age restriction, each person had to pay an amount of a hundred gold coins as an entry fee. This amount was nonrefundable, so that meant that if a person failed the test, the God Academies weren't liable to paying them back their money. Apart from these registration requirements, there were no more.
After the registration came the screening process. For a couple of days, each application will be looked through and investigated to discover the truths concerning the information presented by each applicant. This wasn't a very thorough process, as there were outsiders involved. So Maia wasn't worried about them finding out her true identity as an Eternal. Besides, she was going to give them all the information they needed, including her identity as queen. After all, the Eternals had hidden themselves so deeply that none knew that Maia's kingdom belonged to them once upon a time. So she wasn't that worried.
What worried Maia was the next stage; the one that came after the screening. After the screening stage, the skeleton structure of the applicants would be analysed. There were a couple of tools that could do this. It would reveal how much potential a person had for the path of wielding. And it could also tell a person's true age and whether or not they had wielding experience. Some could even accurately measure a person's wielding level and their battle ability based on their bone density and muscle mass. Maia was fine with all this, but the last part of it bothered her. These tools were so accurate that they could confirm a person's race.
"I can hide your race with no issues," Reiki however reassured her that his cloaking ability was stronger than Maia thought it was. When she questioned his prowess, he responded thusly,
"Don't underestimate me, neither should you compare me to those mediocre artefacts."
And so Maia cast her fears and burdens onto Reiki.
This part was arguably the easiest part of the process. After the unworthy had been ruled out and cast aside, the selected would have to go through the trials. Each Academy was proud and didn't tolerate two or three-timers. So they who normally didn't see eye to eye had agreed to hold their trials over the same period of time. This way applicants would be forced to choose only one God Academy to dedicate their time to.
Each Academy had their own ways of conducting the trials, but they were pretty much the same. The difference between them was in terms of execution. For each had their own ways of handling their trials. All had a 7 Stage Trial process which lasted for a period of seven days.
The first trial tested for strength; pure physical strength. The second Trial was also a strength test, but with Edict involved. The third and fourth trials were tests of agility in the same order as tests one and two. So the third was for pure agility, and the fourth for Edict infused agility. The fifth tested stamina without Edict and the 6th, stamina with Edict. As for the last test, it was regarded as the most important. It was the test for intelligence. It tested a person's battle awareness, and general ability to understand and comprehend skill books and manuals. If one exceled in all 6 yet failed in the 7th, they wouldn't make it through. However, if one failed any of the other six and exceled in the others – intelligence included – they may pass depending on their overall score. That was how important the last test was. And the reason it was last was because the examiners hoped to place a toll on the minds of applicants due to continuous days of testing. That way they would be able to pick out those who worked best under stressful and unconducive conditions.
However, it was important to note that the tests weren't the same for each applicant. The above process was for energy and body wielders only. Spiritualists and Scholars had their own trials. As a rarer breed of wielders, they had to be tested differently. The most important thing for both was intelligence. So the first trial was general for the two. Each applicant was shown an image painted by a Painting Grandmaster and infused with mysteries. However, within those mysteries were flaws intentionally dawn up by the Grandmaster. Each applicant was allowed to observe the painting for three hours for any abnormalities. Afterwards, they were given a set of three skill books, also riddled with flaws, to study over a course of six days.
The second tests were different for both. Since Spiritualists also had need of a Soul-based bloodline, their bloodline types were tested, and their bloodline densities confirmed. This was perhaps the easiest part of the test, yet the hardest. For unlike with the first test, this test depended entirely on one's genetic makeup; not their own skill.
For Scholars, there was no need to check the bloodline because that was of no importance. However, because Scholars had to be sharper than Spiritualists, their second test was a test of senses. They were put in conditions where each of their senses were tested, in order to assess their compatibility with the path they had chosen. Also, based on the fact that Scholars were usually energy wielders, they had to pass the trials for energy wielders first – with the exception of the intelligence test – before they took the second part of their trials. And that meant that they had less time to study the skill books. So one could say Scholars had it tougher than the others. And this gave an insight into how difficult it was to follow two paths instead of just choosing one.
Each Academy had a quota. God King was accepting a hundred students. Of this number 80 were for energy and body wielders, and 20 for spiritualists and scholars. Emperor Academy was no different. They had just about the same quota. However, unlike the two ancient academies, King's Crown was accepting about 150 pupils – 120 energy and body wielders, and 30 spiritualists and scholars. Of course this meant that more people fancied their chances with King's Crown than they did with God King's and Emperor Academy. But, the true geniuses – those who had absolute faith in themselves – would rather try their hands on the trials of God King and Emperor Academy. After all, those two had a reputation King's Crown just couldn't match up to. At least, they couldn't do so yet. Each Academy had two of the energy and body wielding quotas filled, so really the others were fighting for a bit less than usual. Also, if one pursued more than one path and passed the trials for each one, they filled the quotas for those paths. For instance, if a person applied for Energy Wielding and Scholar Wielding, and passed the tests for both, he or she would occupy a quota for Energy Wielding and a quota for Scholar Wielding as well. Adding to the fact that there were bound to be one or two recommendations, the competition for the remaining spots was fierce.
"So, what are you going in for?" Nola asked Maia after providing her with all the information she had. Now came the chance to sate her curiosity. She had indulged in wine. Now it was time to indulge in some gossip.
"Energy Wielding," Maia answered. She had already known what she was coming to do long before she set off.
It was her master's recommendation, and it was the only path she knew. The power her link to the Supreme had granted her was not largely related to the other paths. It had only blessed her with talent in Energy Wielding. But boy was that talent immense. Maia had no doubts that she could pass the tests. Her life experiences were much similar to that of Celestials. For she had been fighting her whole life. But unlike most Celestials, especially those of the Noble Classes, she didn't have parents or guardians by her side. And her master never stayed for more than a few hours. However, there was something she didn't tell Nola. Her master had also asked her to apply to be a Scholar. By his words it was a real shame that one as bright as Maia wanted to waste her intelligence by only following the path of Energy Wielding. And this meant that if her registration process was accepted without any major glitches, she would be part of the few who had to undergo a more strenuous testing sequence.
"I see," Nola nodded, her eyes flashing brightly as she looked at Maia closely. Maia spent a while in the bar, speaking to Nola and the rest of her team about trivialities. It was deep into the night when she bid them farewell and left.
"Follow her," Nola secretly ordered one of her men, who nodded his head and disappeared round another exit.
"What a tasty prey," Nola's eyes flashed with a bit of greed before she quickly hid her intentions when she saw Maia turn to wave goodbye.