The day of the aptitude tests had come! The aptitude tests were a widely awaited event in the Imperial Magic Academy. Without going through a test, a student would not be assigned to a class.
There were two possible divisions of Mages. The Combiners, and the Casters. The Combiners combined with the summoned elements in order to directly augment their bodies, while the Casters took direct control of the summoned elements and used to to attack their foes. It was always acknowledged that at range, Casters were superior, while in close quarters, a Combiner would utterly devastate a Caster. That was the Golden Rule in Mage warfare.
The classes of the Imperial Academy were first split into two Divisions. The Combiner and the Caster Divisions. These Divisions were then further broken down into Classes, where talent and potential was taken into account, not that anyone who was on the main campus of the academy was lacking in any of these two, but even still, the main campus had much higher standards than its other branches.
The classes were split into the 'A' and 'B' classes. The geniuses of the generation got to stay in class A, while the average students remained in class B.
The tests that the students would take that day was similar to the entrance test that they took to get into the academy, but this one was more directed at how they would be split up. A lot more supervisors would be present to judge the various aspects of a student.
Leon and Zeke were among the dozens of students that were assigned to the main campus of the academy. They were currently waiting in a large hall for their turn to take the test. The names were called randomly, so no one knew when they could be called in to take the test.
"I'm so nervous..." Zeke rubbed his large hands together and looked around as he waited for his name to be called.
"Heh, calm down. If you are too nervous when you get called for your test, you will probably mess it up. You are aiming for class A, right?" Leon asked.
"Yeah." Zeke replied with a wry smile.
Before Leon could say anything more, the loud speaker cut through his voice, calling Zeke's full name. The Minotaur's eyes widened and Leon sighed deeply.
"Go get 'em, buddy. Remember, don't be nervous. You can do this!" Leon spoke some encouraging words to Zeke and Zeke nodded before turning around and walking across the waiting hall under the sound of the speaker calling out his name again. Leon leaned back against the chair he was seating on and began looking around, trying to find anything that could interest him.
Meanwhile, Zeke had reached the testing hall. It was not exactly how he expected it to be. A large arena with seats set up in a circular order was what he came to face. He appeared at the top of the ascending seats, and the wide arena was placed at the bottom of the circular space.
"Over here!" Someone called out to Zeke from the arena down below.
"Oh!" Zeke saw the person motioning for him to come down to the arena and began making his way down there. When he reached the circular battleground, he noticed that there were about a dozen people speaking to themselves. Only a single person was standing in the center of the arena. It was a middle aged man with a head of brown hair, and bright blue eyes. He smiled at Zeke and introduced himself.
"I am Dreyfus, your tester." He said. As he started speaking, the dozen people around made their way to the stands to sit and watch. They had put aside their conversations. "Those are your judges, and when you fight me, they will decide on your strengths and weaknesses, and be the ones who will assign you class." Dreyfus pointed at the people sitting in the stands.
"Okay. I understand." Zeke nodded and wiped his hands on his palms.
"Good, don't be nervous. Be natural." Dreyfus said, his smile widening.
"Alright." Zeke nodded again.
"Good. Now, start!"
Dreyfus suddenly lunged at Zeke. His body seemed to blur as he moved. Zeke could only barely just follow him, as he was not prepared for the sudden act. His body moved on instinct, and he leaned back, smoothly dodging Dreyfus' attack.
"Oh? That's good." Dreyfus' voice sounded behind Zeke, and the large Minotaur nimbly hopped and turned around, his eyes sharp and focused. It was like his entire mindset had been completely changed. His demeanor, and the vibe he gave off had completely changed.
"Get ready. Here I come again!" Dreyfus announced as he lunged forward again. This time, Zeke could track him with his eyes. He raised up an open palm to catch Dreyfus' incoming fist, but stumbled back over ten meters when the fist connected.
"Haha! Did you think I was just all about speed? I am a dual attributed Combiner!" Dreyfus exclaimed proudly.
'Crap. I guess I'll have to do it.' Zeke gritted his teeth and summoned his power. A silver glow seeped out from underneath his skin and hair, forming a silver corona of light over his body. He raised up his fists and looked straight into Dreyfus' eyes. Dreyfus only grinned before sprinting again, his fists primed with a solid power.
Boom!
This time, Zeke did not fall back. He pushed forward as a silver flame burned in his eyes. Dreyfus stepped back, and Zeke followed. His fists were like a flowing river, and the glow of his body shone like the moon on a dark night.
"Is that...? You are the Holy Child of Magair?" Dreyfus suddenly stopped moving as he stared at Dreyfus with shock and surprise. "Good, good! I am honored to have this opportunity. Fight me with all you have got!" The man yelled before throwing himself at Zeke once again.