Zio stared at the middle-aged man in front of him and the man did the same. When the man looked at Zio he was surprised, he could tell that Zio was already at level 10 of the foundation stage and he looked very young from the features on his face.
The man then gave a piece of paper to Zio, Zio looked at the paper and noticed that he had to write down some answers to the questions asked on the paper, but first, he had to write down his name and age on it.
After writing down his age, he looked at the questions on the paper, these questions were neither profound nor tricky, it was just there to test if the person who is trying to enter the academy knows how to read and write, with the man observing everything right in front of him, no one will be able to cheat through and get in.
After Zio was done with the writing, the man asked Zio to show his Religan markings, Asura had warned Zio to not show the circular marking on his back to anyone and only show the one on his arms.
Zio put his arms in front of the man, the middle-aged man then grabs Zio arm and suddenly release a pulse of energy into Zio's body, the man let go of Zio's hand in surprise.
"Your wind energy is very strong"
He said and nodded with a smile, he knew he found a very good candidate for this year for the academy, he was really happy that he got the shift for handling today's student entries.
He then gave a the colorless crystal to Zio, once he placed his hand on top of it, it turned blue proving that he is not older than 18 years of age, the middle-aged man was very happy, a 15-year-old boy who is already at level 10 of the foundation stage is rare, only the top students of the academy were at this level when they were fifteen as well.
The man then gave a wooden card to Zio which had his name and a unique number to it.
"You are eligible for taking the entrance exam, come tomorrow to the academy and provide this card to the guards, they will let you in"
The man informed Zio, Zio nodded and walked out of the line while looking at the card in his hand, he could feel some kind of energy coming from inside the card but he couldn't describe what it was.
"Interesting, the academies have become really advanced, they are now using energy in such a way as well"
Asura's voice was heard inside Zio's head.
"What do you mean by that?" Zio asked.
"They are infusing a special kind of energy into these wooden cards, they do many things, they will self destruct if they are stolen and they also seem to act as some kind of identification for people who are going to take the entrance exam" Asura explained.
"I see" Zio said and put it inside the money pouch for now.
"I think you should buy some gears before you enter the academy or find a place to stay" Asura said.
"What should I buy?"
"Let's see, some new clothes, a good belt to keep things and some pouches"
Zio decided to do that and started to head towards the closest shop that sells these items, Zio had been observing the city on his way to the academy so he tried to remember some important places that will be useful for him such as shops, food stalls, and living settlements.
Zio soon found a store that had a clothing sign hanging outside its door, he entered the store and looked around, he saw many things that grabbed his attention, shiny armors and accessory, beautiful blades and other weapons and many other things.
He then noticed a very short old man at the counter staring at Zio with his eyes that are half-covered with his massive eyebrows.
"Boy, what do you want?" The old man asked.
Zio got curious and approached the counter and looked at the person sitting on a very tall stool on the other side, Zio has never seen such a small person before but he noticed that this old man's arms and legs were as thick as his, this old man was very muscular.
"Have you never seen a Dwarf before?"
The old man asked to which Zio shook his head.
"Hmm, I see, so what do you want?" The Dwarf asked again.
"I don't know, something to wear, a belt and some pouches for it!" Zio said
The Dwarf took a good look at Zio from head to toe, then nodded his head and walked into his storage room and brought out some things from inside, he brought two cotton shirts, two pants, leather armor with metal plates stitched to it, a belt with a lot of pouches attached with it along with holders for swords and daggers, he also brought a pair of hard boots for Zio as well.
Looking at all the fancy stuff in front of him, Zio got excited as it is his first time seeing these things and this was going to be his, he noticed that he didn't ask for the boots but the dwarf still brought it out for him.
"Why don't you try it and see how does it feel?" The Dwarf asked.
Zio nodded and took all the things into the changing room and wore them, from boots to armor, once he was done wearing everything, he looked completely different now, before he looked like just a normal person from a very poor family and now he looks like a warrior from a battle clan.
"Hmm, even though these gears are not that great, it will do for now!" Asura said.
"I think it looks really good as well" The dragon also opened his mouth to complement Zio.
Zio walked out of the changing room while sliding Asura into the sword holder, the Dwarf looked at Zio and suddenly noticed Zio grabbing onto the very black sword, he was surprised by seeing it because he didn't notice it before.
He looked and the sword and no matter how he looked at it, it looked like a normal sword, soon the though about the sword simply disappeared from the dwarf's mind and he forgot about the existence of the sword again.