"Boy, you can stop staring at yourself now, we're going to be late. Don't tell me you're going to become a self-obsessed narcissist overnight." Blossom pinched her boyfriend, who had been checking himself out for the past few days.
She had to admit that he was right to admire himself, as she could barely keep her eyes off of him herself. From his 6'4ft stature to his bright blue eyes and chiseled jawline. He was the most beautiful boy she had ever seen. Seeing all the girls and even a few guys throwing glances his way made her feel pretty good.
Whenever they stared for too long, she would immediately pull him close and steal a kiss. Marking her territory and letting the others know who he belonged to.
"Pssh, like you haven't been checking yourself out, just as much as I am," Xeik said as he took a palm-full of her full bottom. He wasn't the only one who had come into their mature bodies. Blossom turned into a curvaceous beauty with everything in the right place.
The couple had been basking in each other's newfound sex appeal for days. Only taking a break because today was the day of their second assessment.
All of a sudden, two people appeared on stage from the shadows. Everyone on the assessment platform was taken aback. No one sensed the presence of these two coming and even with the standing before them, their auras were nonexistent. This meant these two were so powerful that they surpassed their senses, which seemed impossible, seeing as they had never seen these two before. Everyone that powerful was famous, even if it was only inside Stardust Province.
The only exception was if they were part of an elite squad of the army or a member of someone's personal strike team. This realization brought both fear and astonishment on the youngster's faces. For some, it was their first time meeting mages this powerful.
In a shuffle. Everyone quickly got into formation and gave a powerful and resounding greeting to the two ladies, along with a sincere mage salute. Of the two ladies, one was tall and fat and looked intimidating. The other was short and skinny, looking like a little girl not much past puberty.
The short girl stepped forth, "I am Krisan Marcel, I am the leader of the Falling Stardust Shadow Corp, this lady to my right is Miss Lee, grand mage and second platoon leader of the Shadow Corp and we will be your instructors for the day."
The mention of the Shadow Corp led to shocked gasps. Everyone knew of the Shadow Corp and the work they do. It was the most powerful and advanced scouting organization on the continent. Every Shadow Mage among the crowd wished to join their ranks.
"The purpose of this assessment is to both test and strengthen your perception. In the shadow world behind me, it's pitch black and unless you are a flame or light mage, no light you produce will be able to pierce the darkness. Even for those mages, the amount of mana they would need to light a one-meter radius will drain them of mana within three days," Krisan continued.
The crowd hung onto her every word, especially those who were challenging this stage for the first time. Their first instructor, Choir, was famously light on the details, so this was their first real information about what was expected of them.
"So, basically, for the next ten days, forget about using any of your five senses and rely solely on your 6th sense, Perception. You will rely solely on your perception skills to find your way through the shadow world and bring back a black flame fox from the center of the biome. Fail to do so and, you know, but unlike the first assessment, you can try taking this trail again next month." With this, Krisan disappeared and the forcefield to the shadow world opened up.
Thousands of mages flitted off at once, charging endlessly inside the shadow world. The crowd was oozing with fervor and determination as they fearlessly charged towards this milestone on the way to their ambitions.
An enormous crowd gathered inside a massive and extravagant plaza decorated with mana pillars. Which were pillars made from bricks that, instead of absorbing mana, expel concentrated mana absorbed by the mana towers it connected them to. These were created for the outdoors so the mana outside would be just as potent as inside, and also to bleed off the excess mana, making the pools overflow.
Because of this long stretch of peace, the mana absorbed by the mana towers became so much that they could not build mana pools large enough or fast enough to store all of it. Thus, these mana pillars were erected all over the Stardust Province for everyone to enjoy and to keep the excess mana in circulation rather than let it go to waste. This increased the speed of cultivation. Not only that, the quality of mana improved, as this mana was several times more concentrated than the mana outside the forcefield.
Other provinces came up with creative ways to ease this problem and others simply gave up and released it back outside the forcefield. A merchant guild actually created mini mana pools in the form of barrels and bottles. Bought the excess mana from provinces and sold them to households and guilds as training resources.
All this had nothing to do with the fervent reaction of the crowd. It was Xasha and the other council members, standing on a pedestal in the center of the plaza. All of them dressed in their ceremonial gown and a young man with lighting sparking in his blue hair, half-kneeling before them.
Xasha presented Alexi with a spear. Its body was black but had small bolts of lightning running along its length. There were two blades on each end, one-two sided and the other one-sided and curved like a knife. On both ends, there were also two energy cores, one green and the other blue.
This was the perfect weapon for Alexi, as he also used both wind and lightning. He had two energy cores, one in his forehead and another in his abdomen. He gained the second energy core as part of his transformation. Storm Dragons of the past never had two energy cores, and the lightning and rain they produced was a talent. Another thing about the weapon was the glowing glyphs on its body, the glyphs were not etched in the metal but were orbiting a few millimeters above the surface.
The weapon caught the crowd's attention. They knew this was an elite mana weapon only granted to those of exceptional strength and talent. This was because controlling an elite mana weapon was something only the strongest and most determined mages could accomplish. After handing off the weapon, everyone stepped back and looked at Alexi, who slowly rose to a stance.
He concentrated his mana essence and wrote his imprint in mid-air, then he forced it inside the energy core. With swift action, he sliced his pinky on the blade then dripped two drops of his blood, concentrated with mana and intent. Upon merging with the energy core, the blood merged with his imprint, forming a profound connection between himself and the weapon.
As if coming to life, the weapon vibrated, then floated from Alexi's hand. A loud explosion was heard, and two massive shadows appeared above the plaza. A Supreme Wind Spirit King stood with folded arms as its green eyes stared intently at Alexi. Its corporal body looked like the extravagant cloak of an emperor with runes, symbols, and jewelry. There was even a crest on his sleeve. The crown on its head was a jewel and each gem on its surface was packed with concentrated mana, no different from the mana crystals in an energy sea. There were 98 of these green gems in total, all more powerful than the last.
The other shadow was not to be outdone, while its size was much smaller, it was a Queen Lighting Sprite. Its entire body was covered in lightning and her aura made every person present feel restraining fear. The pressure brought by the two energy beast's appearance in the world made everyone feel like they were being crushed under a mountain.
Alexi stared intently at these two with determined eyes and actually flew up to meet them. First, he appeared in front of the wind spirit. To everyone's surprise, he grabbed the king's crown and smashed his forehead against the king's while staring unblinkingly into its eyes, growling like a dragon intimidating trespassers in its territory. The wind spirit caved and submitted to him without a fuss. The sprite queen saw everything and, as if in a panic, lunged at Alexi with a punch.
Alexi grabbed her hand with his lightning-covered hand. The two lightings clashed and sparks covered the sky. He stared into her eyes all while growling under his breath. The prideful sprite queen refused to submit even after she got overpowered by Alexi's lightning. Eventually, her strength ran out and, with a reluctant glare, was sucked back inside the spear in his grip. The spear shone with a powerful light that broke through the sky and its aura changed to match those of the remnant spirits inside.
Alexi returned to the pedestal, and half knelt again as if nothing happened. Xasha walked over to him with a congratulatory smile and handed him a title plate with his name on the front and the words Stardust Council on the back. He placed his imprint on the plate, then hung it from his waist for all to see.
Xasha then turned to the crowd and declared, "People of the Stardust Province, help me welcome the newest member of the esteemed Stardust Council, My own son, Alexi Von Creig!" Cheers and applause broke out and the sound could be heard for miles. The other council members all came forth to congratulate Alexi and presented him with a customary gift. The celebration had just begun as the people of Stardust Province would use any excuse to throw a party. Food and rum rivers flowed long into the night.
The Von Crieg family all sat in the moon garden of their courtyard. A long dinner table filled with food was between them, as everyone was stuffing their faces with delicacies. Alexi sat at the head of the table as the guest of honor. For the entire night, his family showered him with love and praise. A grin never left his face. The food that filled the table was now empty and the smiling faces were all now laced with regret as they rubbed their exposed bellies and groaned in discomfort.
"To Alexi!" Xasha shouted as he downed the last of his wine.
"To Alexi!" everyone else repeated in a voice that sounded like they were all close to death's door, but no one else drank.