They'd stayed for a few months and were finally old enough to take the exams. During this time Zyrtec hadn't seen Jarkko do anything that was particularly dangerous, and in the end decided he was being overly cautious. Currently, Darezen was guiding them through how to participate in the exams. Although, before they even started to leave, Darezen had each of them change their race. The hair color just didn't completely match humans and they'd either be seen as foreign or people would possibly think even worse. Living among normal townspeople was one thing but they were heading into a place that had many mages and warriors. Better be safe than sorry. Zyrtec turned himself into a fox beastkin to match Darezen, Jarkko was an elf, and Nylotte became a wolf beastkin. The walk was rather slow as they kept messing with their new ears and tails. "Can you explain what we have to test again…?" Nylotte had her arms crossed behind her back and her head tilted.
Darezen glanced at her and started counting off his fingers. "Physical tests, which range from running, throwing, to sparring. Magic tests, where they gauge how much mana you have then figure out what elements you can use. And finally written tests where they examine our knowledge. You can get a total of 100 points but need 60 to pass. The first two you can earn 25 points each, up to 50 points total, and the written 50. This way even if you're not that great in either you can still pass...they're more after talent than anything else. It's also possible to earn more than the total points but that would be judged by the ones examining." Jarkko stayed quiet, noting down everything said but refusing to acknowledge it.
Nylotte seemed hesitant. "Uhm...so I just need to be good at fighting and magic, right?" He nodded and she relaxed, taking a moment to stretch.
Zyrtec thought about it, unsure what would happen. 'I still haven't been able to find my mana. I don't even know what got rid of it in the first place…' He stuck close to his friend as they entered a small crowd of kids their age, all lining up to take the exams. One thing they noticed was the fact that not very many people were even trying to attend. 'Are these exams really that hard?' They entered through the high walls surrounding the academy and went into the wide courtyard.
The crowd came to an abrupt halt and an aged man stepped up on a platform in front of them all. He placed his hand over his neck and announced, "Welcome to Aviar Academy! Last year the Capital Aizar collapsed, and we had to refuse entries. Now, all the staff and leaders of Aizar's Academy have arrived here for the time being, and will be participating in teaching you all!" There were cheers from a huge crowd they hadn't noticed behind them, startling the dragons. "Today we will resume the exams, and because of last year's incident, anyone ranging from 14 to 15 years of age can participate." There was another round of cheers and even a few people whistling. The man nodded to a woman who was standing next to him. She stomped her foot on the ground and after some effort, she rose several buildings from the ground that the adults behind them filed into politely. Many were in awe. "Please follow the guidance of the teachers and enter each building. Don't cut off others and keep in mind that your noble status means nothing here. Once your Magic Exam is finished, please return to the courtyard."
He waved as he stepped down and all the people started talking. Darezen checked that the three were still next to him before he continued forward. "That old man has been the headmaster of this academy for many years now and still hasn't messed up."
Nylotte tapped his shoulder. "What would happen if he messed up?"
"Well, a lot of things depending on severity. Most commonly he'd just be replaced." Before he could explain any further everyone was being sorted out into sections and they were all led to one of the buildings. Entering together as one of the first few people, the four of them were making sure not to get separated. The simple building made of compacted dirt didn't even have any windows, and when they stepped inside they were each handed the number 6, placing them in that specific group for the rest of the exams. Darezen ordered them with himself at the front, Nylotte behind him, then Zyrtec, and finally Jarkko. Waiting for about ten minutes, all of them entered with a fifth person. They'd been calling in people in groups of five the entire time, but this still made the three young dragons nervous. If they hadn't changed their appearances like Darezen recommended, it was clear they would've stood out way more. That a single human in the crowd had their hair colors.
Walking in, the room was quite dark. A few people wearing blue robes were standing next to a table that had an orb in the center. The person sitting in the chair waiting had their hood up for some reason and it made it difficult to know anything about them at all. They cleared their throat. "Now, one by one, I want each of you to place your hand on the orb, and don't remove it until I say so. The stranger wasn't near as hesitant as them and immediately stepped forward. When her hand touched the clear glass, it started filling up with a glowing blue substance. "Wonderful amount of mana!" It filled it up just over halfway. "The water element. Alright, the next can step up now." Darezen did so and it did the same, his mana just under the girl they'd just seen. It was glowing a bright gray. "Ah, space magic? That's very rare, and a high level of mana." Following what he'd seen before Darezen stepped away without anything being said.
"That's so cool!" Nylotte dove in after him. Hers only filled up about a quarter of the orb in a green color, but it glowed much brighter than the other two.
"Interesting. Not very much mana but a high density. Wind element." They glanced at her, looking at the wolf ears and tail. "For a beastkin this is very good though." She seemed to pout as she stepped away, putting her head against Darezen's chest with her ears and tail drooping. He consoled her as Jarkko went past Zyrtec. He touched the orb blankly and it filled up a lot more than the others, the glow in between what Nylotte had and what the other two had. The person sitting down flinched when they saw this. "It's been a while since I've seen this much mana." They put down a mark and Jarkko left, allowing Zyrtec to go up.
'Will this be okay? I won't get kicked out for not getting anything, right?' He went up hesitantly, his fox ears pinned back as he touched it. For a moment nothing happened, then it quickly filled up with purple, only stopping once it hit the top. The glow flashed brightly, blinding everyone in the room briefly before it allowed them to see the greenish color inside the glow.
The examiner was completely frozen, immediately writing something down in a hurry. "Unique magic! So bright and so much of it!" They paused and looked at the startled boy. "Do you know what your unique magic is?!" He shook his head and the person sighed. "Alright...we'll have to find that out later. Well your main element is a very strong unique magic and a small amount of wind as your second."
Zyrtec paused. 'So that's why I've never been very good at wind magic?' There was a scoff and he turned to look, pinpointing Jarkko who had turned away. 'No...he didn't, did he?'
They quietly handed a weird looking bracelet to each of them, waiting until they all put theirs on. "Alright, the five of you return to the courtyard and send the next ones in." Darezen had to pull Zyrtec away who was still too stunned to completely process what happened. They hurried over to where they were told to go then stood to wait. 'Other than that…'
Darezen leaned over and whispered, "I thought you said you couldn't feel your mana?"
Zyrtec nodded. "I still can't. Why does it show up in the orb but not when I look for it myself?"
"I'm not sure."
"Hey! Don't keep secrets~!" Nylotte put an arm over each of their shoulders with a grin. Darezen responded by flicking her forehead and they both started arguing quite calmly.
Zyrtec however, was lost in his own thoughts. 'Why?' But thinking about it again, he never actually tried to use his magic. Following this train of thought, he activated his mana like he used to and thought, 'What happened to my mana? What changed it?' It was quiet. He sighed and looked at Darezen, giving up. "Ny--" He jolted when he was interrupted by a detailed explanation rather than one or two words.
It was almost as if a voice was ringing in his head. '(The legacy of Aztoria, the gray wind dragon labeled as a traitor by her tribe. She had arranged it to pass onto you, making it unusable to herself during the battle she lost her life. The moment she died it was transferred into your body.)'
He was frozen in place by this, but before he could ask anything else, his sister grabbed his arm. "Yes~? You were saying my name, right? Why'd you stop, change your mind?"
"Probably realized how irritating you are." She spun on Darezen promptly, but didn't seem to be able to think of a retort.
Zyrtec only had one question for him right now. "How do they know who to give the scores to?"
"Ah, I already applied for all of us using our names. I told the person examining us our names when we were in there, but you might not have heard me. Also, it's recorded in the bracelets. The number it shows will go up based on how well you do as we go."
Nylotte tilted her head like she usually would. "I heard you. Does that mean he was that lost in thought?" She was smirking, but then Darezen patted her head and she froze.
"There, there, loud and crazy girl, your brother is perfectly fine...no need to worry." When she saw his smug face she instantly wanted to punch him. He dodged her fist, then grabbed her wrists with a laugh, talking her down calmly.
Around half an hour passed like this until the headmaster reappeared. "Welcome back from your first test! Moving on…" The woman from before made the buildings disappear and replaced them with targets. "Each group will go up and take turns. Group 1 will start first. Please stand in an orderly line, and when finished allow the next groups to step up."
"We'll be waiting for a while now," Darezen sighed. Nylotte stopped biting his arm to look around curiously and he started rubbing the bite marks while he had the chance.
Jarkko glanced at everyone and crossed his arms, mumbling, "Why do we have to follow human rules?" Zyrtec looked back at him but didn't say anything. What he didn't understand was why his brother had been getting more and more negative, as well as distancing himself continuously as time passed. They stood around as they waited for their turn, then lined up when the sixth group was called up. From what they could see, the participants were asked to fight the moving, human shaped targets. If you landed a hit it would display a number based on how long it took and the power behind the attack. When it was finally their turn, Darezen ended up going first again. They watched closely as he struggled a bit before finally managing to punch it. The target came to a stop and magic particles formed into the number 7. He stared at the number for a moment before he returned to the courtyard.
Jarkko went up next and had a bit of trouble, but hit it faster than Darezen had. The guy writing down the grades nodded. "You got a 10."
Zyrtec started forward. 'I'm not sure about this...it looks like it hits very hard.' He stopped in front of it and waited. When the circle on its chest began to glow he ducked the first swing and slid around to the side, twisting his body and kicking the back of its head. It stopped moving and he cocked his head to the side. 'These things are more like dolls than targets...they always start with the same attack.' He watched as the magic shaped into 19. With his testing done, he started to leave, but paused and turned around to watch Nylotte. She went up full of excitement, and the moment it glowed she punched it with way more strength than necessary. The hit broke the doll's fist and impacted so heavily it was sent flying. When it all became still her stance was wide and balanced, with the top part of her body straight up. 'That's one of her forms...she's gotten stronger.' He had always been the fastest, which was the only reason he had managed to beat his sister so many times. She had great strength, but was just a tad slower.
The number 25 appeared, but then it appeared to glitch and changed to 30. The man off to the side grinned when he saw this and noted it down. "Zyrtec!" Nylotte ran up to him and gave him a hug before beginning to drag him back to the courtyard. "Did you see that?!"
"Yes. You did great."
"Hehehe, you may have won in magic but you lost in combat!"
"Well...it didn't actually count towards magic combat…"
"No, stop trying to win."
"I wasn't. Isn't this our first tie?"
She smiled and did a victorious spin. "It is! That means we need to keep going until we beat each other!"
"A reason to grow stronger?" Darezen was quite amused by the sight of her dragging her brother around while he just went with it. "That sounds great. Well, we were part of the last group, so it won't be much longer until we can go to the final test."
Zyrtec glanced at his brother, who was ignoring them. "Darezen, do you know why he's so upset?"
He looked back at Jarkko before answering. "No clue. Well, actually, it might be because we came here when he didn't want to. He never did agree to going to school." They all glanced at him then went quiet.
"Attention!" Silence fell over the crowd that seemed to have gotten smaller. "It's time for the written exam." There were groans all around, then the ground was changed again to countless desks, teachers going around setting papers down on them. "Go by group once again to find your place."
Zyrtec looked at the bracelet on his left wrist for a moment. It showed the number 47, which meant he had gotten 28 for magic...3 more than the usual total. 'Not as great as what Nylotte got, but that doesn't matter. For now...let's get this over with.' They all got to work as the test began.