"My name is Zelore, and this is the last stage of this exam" Zelore explained
"For this final trial, all you have to do is destroy this crystal orb and you pass, you're allowed to use whatever spell in your arsenal to achieve this objective. If you can't destroy it, you know the drill you will be kicked out. Now one at the time come up and prove your magic" Zelore explained
"This time I'll go first" Ken spoke
Ken walked up and stood 10 meters in front of the orb thinking about what sort of spell he should use.
"Oh, I got it"
Ken stood sideways and pointed His left hand towards the orb. Without any incantations, a blazing ball of fire appeared in front of Ken's hand. Slowly circling the ball of fire like a ring, were 3 small sparks.
"This should do the trick"
Ken fired the spell, launching it towards the crystal. In no time the ball of fire hit the orb causing an explosion that engulfed the whole orb like it was nothing, this explosion triggered one of the sparks to also explode and when it did it was as big as the first explosion, then the second spark exploded causing a second explosion then the third spark exploded causing a third explosion, all explosions happened consecutively as one explosion triggered the other, it was like fireworks.
"Exploding Flare" Tai mumbled to himself
After the explosion and all the smoke cleared out the orb was completely shattered into a million pieces like broken glass, leaving a crater in the ground.
"That was an impressive spell young man, and you did so without an incantation. You pass" Zelore praised Ken
Zelore waved his right hand and the orb Ken had just destroyed rematerialized back to perfect condition as if it wasn't destroyed a few seconds ago.
"Now, head that way to where you will meet others that have completed the exam," Zelore said before pointing to a building nearby
"Great job Ken, see you when I see you" Tai called out
"Yea! Hope to see you around" Ken replied
Ken walked into the building that Zelore pointed to, and once he entered, he was met with a handful of examinees that had passed. Everyone was socializing with each other and eating since there were tables of food everywhere.
"Might as well get some shut-eye while I wait"
Ken looked for a quiet spot and rested before closing his eyes
4 hours Later.
"Hey, wake up kid," a woman said as she tapped Ken on the shoulder
"Hm...what's happening?" Ken asked as he slowly got up while rubbing his eyes
"It's the welcoming assembly, so get up and get ready to introduce yourself, all the other people that passed the exam already introduced themselves. Since you were sleeping when that happened you have to wait until Headmaster Zelfora gives his speech before you can introduce yourself" the lady explained
"Oh, okay that sounds fair I'll wait" Ken replied as he slowly walked near the stage while rubbing my eyes
In front of the stage, there were a large number of students who were already enrolled in the academy and the ones that passed the exam were standing behind me on stage. Most of them were whispering among each other all waiting for the so-called grandmaster to arrive and give his speech, and it wasn't long before he did. The Headmaster was a tall old man, with an incredibly toned and muscular physique. He had yellow hair and wore a mage's robe.
The grandmaster stood in front of a stand and faced everyone. Everyone went dead silent, ready to listen.
"...So scary…" one of the examinees mumbled
"He looks much bigger in person…" another examinee spoke
"He must be a powerful mage, just looking at him, gives me an intense feeling," Ken thought to himself
"Welcome First Year's, to your first year in Elenora's Academy of Magicka, I'm headmaster Zelfora, principal of this prestigious Academy" Zelfora introduced himself, with his voice echoing throughout the space as if he was talking through a microphone
"Glad to see so many new faces as well as old faces. At this Academy, you will be pushed to your limits, and then using your own magic/will, you will have to break that limit and go beyond to find your true self, your golden path in life. Looking around and I see potential in all of you to be great wizards. If you truly just believe in yourself and cast away all doubt in your heart, I believe you will make it! I can't wait to see what this year brings for our Academy!!" The Headmaster announced with pride and joy before everyone started cheering as loud as they could.
"I'm all fired up now!" Ken spoke with a grin, filled with excitement
The Headmaster then walked off stage, and the girl that had woken Ken up, walked on stage then asked everyone to be quiet and settle down, but everyone was too hyped to listen so she kept repeating herself until everyone eventually settled down and went quiet.
She then announced, "everyone here is the final student that passed this year's exams. Those people that pass the exam this year please meet me backstage after the assembly"
"Alright Kid, your up"
Ken made his way up to the stage and stood in front of thousands of students all just looking at him. Looking into the crowd Ken sees Hanako looking at him with a smile, seeing her put a smile on his face. But Ken had absolutely no idea what to say to the crowd.
"Oh shit, guess I'll just wing it…"
"Umm...my name is Ken Granfold," Ken introduced himself, before looking around the crowd. "I guess that's not enough, okay" Ken mumbled to himself before taking a deep breath and finally speaking once again
"I'm honored to be a part of this academy, but I will not lose to any of you cannon fodder" As Ken said this, some people started to get irritated and angry, altho that's understandable.
"So if you think you're more than cannon fodder, come and show me the true essence of your magic! Or I will leave you behind!".
With a facepalm, Tai sighed "Man, that kid really has no filters"
Almost everyone started shouting at Ken, they were shouting stuff like "who do you think you are!!", "cocky bastard", "the only person that's gonna be left behind is you", "you jackass" and other insults. Ken faced the crowd, unbothered by the barrage of insults flying at him
Rubbing the back of his head, Ken softly said "Sorry Grandma, but Grandpa did say not to hold back and show them my magic"
Ken placed both his hands in his pocket as he looked at everyone. Taking a deep breath, Ken slowly exhaled and released an intense wave of his mana. His mana release had so much pressure that it rendered a large majority of the students unconscious.
Only a handful of students were just barely able to stay conscious and another handful of students were unphased, and of course, the teachers were un-phased. All of a sudden all the insults had gone silent. It seems like the insults came from those that fell unconscious. Ken looked over at Hanako and was glad to see she was conscious
Looking behind him, Ken saw Tai and some other examinees still standing.
"It was getting too noisy," Ken said
Looking around once more at those that were still conscious, Ken canceled His mana release. "Apart from joining this Academy to make lots of friends, I joined this Academy to test my magic. I want to know how strong I can become and how far my magic can go! So for all those that are still conscious, let this be my way of challenging all of you! Show me what your magic is capable of!" Ken announced out loud to everyone that could hear Him. "See you all at graduation," Ken continued to say with a straight face before leaving
"This year, first-year students sure are gonna be a noisy bunch" The Headmaster chuckled to himself as he stroked his beard