Once the group regained their eyesight, they saw four pillars at the ends of their small round circle of land with only a cave entrance that they walked through. At the center was a desk with a man who sat in a bent posture,slanted eyes that were half open. His carrot coloured hair was roughly tousled, curling slightly at his nape, bound in a small ponytail. A transparent tear hung to his eyelashes as his mouth wide open and peacefully sleeping.
The group walks towards him and Xuan Li taps his shoulder "Excuse me, are you dead? Do we need to call an ambulance?"
Flav,enveloping his hand in QI, smacked the back of Xuan Li's head.
"OW!" li grunted in pain.
"You idiot! You don't just tap an examiner and ask if he is dead!" Flav proceeded to give Li a lecture.
Hearing the loud commotion, the man woke up with a yawn. Seeing the party, he paused and said "wait...did you guys finish the labyrinth?"
The group nodded.
*clank*
The pen the man was holding fell.
"Impossible. You only took eight hours!"
'Eh?' The group collectively thought. They felt they were there for days and weeks but it was actually only eight hours?
"Does time work differently in that Labyrinth?" Flav asked.
"Of course not. Using arrays or runes to create a different flow of time in an area is near impossible. Instead the labyrinth uses illusions where the participants think they are spending a long time."
The group nodded collectively.
"You four broke the record. The last record was one day and four hours." The man explained.
The group looked at Xuan Li giving a knowing expression. Without him, they would have had to either fight those guardians or try to escape them another way which would have taken time. Doing either action would have caused them to rest even to restore their strength. Since Xuan Li was taking all the trials with ease, they never had to use much of their strengths to begin with. Though they knew it was what he wanted, they still felt bad about relying on him so much. In fact, only now did they realise how reliant they were on him and their experience was simple compared to the other participants.
Only the baby panther didn't feel bad like the other two. He has travelled with Xuan Li for awhile now and knows his behaviour. Plus, he doesn't even care for the Academy, he's just going because of Xuan Li and if he could get there through the easy way, he would take it.
After a sigh, the man introduced himself, "My name is Carter. I am your examiner for this trial." He looked towards the group with a serious expression.
"What is the next trail?" The three asked with caution.
.
"Tell me your name, magic or cultivation rank...." Carter's voice became calm and collected again and asked the group for their simple details.
"That's it?" Flav asked.
"Yep. You guys have already passed two trials. This is the easy bit and after that you'll have one more test depending on your details."
"Ok. My name's Flav, Qi, manifestation cultivator, age 21..." Falv walked towards Carter and told him his details.
Carter's eyes glowed orange and then he nodded "Wow. You're talented, already on the fourth stage of cultivation at your age. Your age fits the Academy criteria, you're under 25."
Next, Iris walked towards Carter "My name is Irisine, tier 3 mage, age 19…" she started listing her basic details.
When she finished, a woman looking in her 60's appeared from thin air next to Carter. She wore a witch hat and her face was slightly wrinkled but had a gentle look to them. Though she looks old, you could still tell she was a great beauty during her younger days. She eyed Iris and nodded.
Carter gave a nod to her and said "Impressive, a tier 3 mage too? This group seems to be full of talents."
"She teleported…" Iris had a respectable look towards the old woman.
"Hello, my name is Sapphire. I am also an examiner like Carter that deals with anything relating to mages." She gave a gentle smile with her deep blue eyes glistening in the sun.
"Your speciality is space magic?" Iris asks.
"Yes, it's one of my specialties." Sapphire replies.
Iris nodded and joined Flav at the side.
The baby panther was next and he jumped up to the table "Do I have to do this? They counted me as a participant."
"Yes, you do count. If you were a magic beast that couldn't communicate, the group would be counted as a three. Some participants who have tamed beasts or have the skills to tame beasts would sometimes bring a few and participate as one person to get through easier." Carter paused.
"However, you're able to communicate meaning you're a high level beast. Hence, you're counted as a participant. Now if you enter the Academy, we don't expect you to have lessons like humans. You'll only participate in some classes that are only open for magic beasts and most of the time you'll just be with your owner." He continued his explanation.
The panther nodded and hoped of the table. For a brief moment, he transformed to his adult form and released his aura. That brief moment caused the runes around the four pillars to flicken and Xuan Li was paralyed on the spot while Iris was panting heavily. Only Flav and the two instructors were fine but surprised.
"Tier...4. You're the first tier 4 magic beast in the whole Academy to join with an owner." Carter said with surprise in his voice.
"Who is your owner? Flav? Iris?" He asked.
Back to his baby form, he jumped on the table "Let's get this straight. No one owns me! I am just following the mortal over there!" The baby panther pointed at Xuan Li.
Sapphire and Carter looked towards him too. "I see. Alright, your next." Carter said. The panther hopped off the table and joined the other two.
Xaun Li walked towards Carter.
'This group is full of talent with even a tier 4 beast following them. Earlier it seemed they were following this guys lead. Is he a peak tier 4? Maybe even 5? Please be a cultivator if that's the case' Carter thought expectantly under his calm demeanour.
"My name is Xuan Li, I have no cultivation or magic circle thing. I am 18…" Xaun Li gave his basic details while lying about his place of birth and just said the Wyde continent.
*Clunk*
Carter's pen dropped.
"You're not a cultivator or mage? Seriously?" He asked again to confirm.
Xuan Li nodded.
Both Sapphire and Carter's eyes glowed as they examined Xuan Li from head to toe. In the end, he was telling the truth.
'How did he get this talented group with no power! Is it because of the panther? I guess if you had a powerful beast by your side, even with no power you could get by easily.' Carter thought.
"I see…" He brought out a white crystal cube.
"Place your hand on this. This will determine your potential. If you pass the minimum criteria, you'll be able to continue. You see, though you don't cultivate or use magic, the body is always absorbing QI from the world. This will determine how much you have inside your body without cultivating and the more you have the better. It means your body is very compatible with Qi and is able to absorb it smoothly."
Xuan Li nodded and placed his hand over the cube.
A bright golden light flashed from the cube with a faint score of 0.99.
'My god! This guy is so close to becoming a tier 1 cultivator! The Qi is so pure as well! He just needs a cultivation art and he'll break through.' Carter thought while squinting his eyes from the bright light.
Xuan Li took his hand off, completely oblivious to the phenomenon he caused as the first mortal to naturally be at the bottleneck towards the first stage of a cultivator, the strong body stage.
"You have great potential as a cultivator! Alright, you're going to be under the culti-" Before Carter could finish his sentence, Sapphire interrupted him.
"Hold on. We have to test his magic capabilities as well." She flicked her wrist and a transparent orb appeared.
"This orb is the core of a variant Cameleon beast that uses elemental power based on its surroundings. Its core can be used to find the highest element affinity in a person and determine its quality by how bright it shines. Place your hand on the orb," She gently spoke to Xaun Li.
"Oh come on Sapphire! He has a 0.99 natural score! He is meant to be a cultivator." Carter tried to argue with her.
"So? He might have a higher magic ability." She refuted.
Li placed his hand on the orb and it glowed red! But then it glowed blue and then brown and then white! The colours kept ultinating.
"Oh my gosh, he has a perfect affinity towards the four basic elements! Young man, you must become a mage." Sapphire deep blue eyes sparkled as she teleported to Li and held his hands.
"No! He has to become a cultivator!" Carter butted in.
"Oh please, with the right circles, he has the potential to reach the elemental breaker stage!" Sapphire explained to Carter.
The two examiners continued to have their raging argument while Flav had a wide smile 'He has amazing potential! Man, if he started cultivation from young, he would have been my level or surpassed me!'
'Four perfect element affinity! Without any practice training! He's a monster. If he becomes a mage, he might surpass me.' She thought with a frown.