Since Ray and Flora reached the hall quite early, it took a few hours for all students to step into the exam's hall finally. Ray was able to fully regenerate his energy and ease his fatigue with a 2-hour nap.
When he woke up, the place was even more packed, with barely any empty spaces between students. You can see groups scattered here and there talking about different topics and making connections with new people for future benefits. This was a common sight in the high society where relationships are the most essential thing to prosperity.
There were also some nearby students whispered to each other while looking secretly at Flora and Ray. They didn't give it much thought left them to speak freely as they wanted. If they didn't bear any hostile intentions towards them, then there was no need for the duo to care about it; it would be a waste of time.
Finally, after waiting for such a long period. The doors that led inside the hall suddenly closed, and the lights from the chandeliers were turned off, covering the whole place in a veil of darkness that agitated the people present. The whispering became even more audible, but no one freaked out as they guessed that the exam would begin.
And indeed, they were right; in the far front of the hall, a beautiful blue light emerged from the ground and reached the ceiling, creating a pillar of blue light that illuminated its surroundings. This pillar soon started to change and deform, and the floor under it began to open up, creating a whole with a perimeter of a few meters.
As everyone watched the event happen seemingly very swiftly, the silhouette of a man emerged from the hole. He was standing on the now materialised blue pillar.
He wore a very formal black tuxedo that accentuated his imposing aura of dominance. His wavy black hair danced along with his movement but didn't restrain his good looks and sharp red eyes. He didn't show any emotions...none that the people could discern from where they were standing, at least.
As everyone observed the middle-aged man with great interest, he took a deep breath and spoke with a serious and profound voice, "Welcome to the Seven Guardians Magic Academy. It's my honour to stand in front of so many talented children in this historic ³. My name is Winstor Glaren, and I'm the headmaster of this academy." Letting the students soak in the words he said, he continued after a few seconds.
"Today, as many of you should already know, is the day of the exam where we would assess your capabilities in different fields, and according to that, we will allocate you to corresponding classes that will give you the utmost care and attention you need in your five years inside the walls of this academy." His respectful and almost sugar-coated words made many people happy as they thought that their acceptance into this prestigious academy was set in stone, but his following words destroyed their dreams ruthlessly.
"But for now. Some of you here are still 'lacking' the requirements to study here, and as such, you will go through a three-part exam that will filter out those that can't be here." Even though he tried to make it sound as pleasing as possible, it was still enough to make many youngsters gulp down a mouthful of saliva anxiously.
Ray silently observed the man he intended to meet soon with a thoughtful look. He was, as expected, powerful, and his aura alone equalled that of Galdof. Such a person was truly worthy of being called the uncrowned king.
"Now. I will explain the exam to you. As I mentioned before, you will go through 3 different tests; each one of them will evaluate your qualifications and give you a score according to the data amassed from these tests. So, please do your best." After that, he lifted his right hand and snapped his fingers.
Instantly, hundreds of thousands of magic circles engulfed the hall. The magic circles were very bright to the point where the room was fully illuminated again.
Then, they transformed into a bracelet-like objects and started moving towards the students. It didn't take long for one of the?. to reach Ray, who observed it curiously. The bracelet was also blue with a small gem embedded in it that made it look simple yet beautiful. Nothing else could be discerned from its shape, so Ray didn't look at it anymore and waited for Winstor to start explaining.
"This indeed very interesting. What kind of exam will it be?" He muttered as a small ember of excitement ignited in his heart. He didn't really give this test much thought and only concentrated on his goal, but with how things are going, he won't say no to some fun, will he?
"Yeah. Let's do our best and deal with this quickly. I want to rest a little bit." Flora's drowsy look was very cute, and the way she rubbed her eyes lazily made Ray smile warmly.
"Haha. Yeah, I can see you lack some sleep." He said with a small laugh.
"Mm. I will do anything for a good bed and a few hours of a good sleep." She stated as a matter-of-factly.
"Yes, Yes. I know how much you like to laze around." He rolled his eyes exaggeratedly.
"Hey! What do you mean? I'm not lazy!" She punched his left arm adorably while protesting.
She then had an idea and grinned cheekily like a small child who was about to do a prank. She approached Ray and whispered in his ear, "Hmmm, I guess someone needs to get punished for being such a tease." Her lusty voice made Ray shudder and glance at Flora with shock; his lover laughed at his reaction and extended her tongue, "Hahaha. You look quite surprised! That was funny."
"You really got me there." Ray sighed in defeat.
But what he didn't know is that Flora looked down at the ground and muttered under her breath, "Maybe I wasn't joking." Ray didn't hear her, or he would've coughed intensely.
They both then looked back at Winstor, who was about to start explaining the first phase of the exam.
"As you can see. Each one of you has a bracelet that we made, especially for thee first test. Our first test will be a game; each one of you will wear the bracelet and try to protect it from getting stolen by other players while also trying to steal the other bracelet. Every student must get ten bracelets before the timer runs out. Of course, If you don't collect the aforementioned number you will get disqualified. You have 1 hour. But be careful, these bracelets will temporarily restrict your offensive spells, so any lethal magic attacks that could kill your peers are heavily prohibited, anything else is allowed."
He then smiled slightly and opened his arms before shouting loudly, "Let the exam begin!"