By the time the test was completed, Mother Grace stepped forward with a smile on her face. "Congratulations everyone. You are all very talented and have a bright future ahead of you. It is with great happiness that I tell you that every one of you will be admitted into the Imperial Academy. However, there will be some differences between you all. You will be split into three classes, from Class A to Class C, depending on your talents." She dutifully explained to the children.
Of course, it was not a surprise to her that they had all qualified for admission. They had already filtered through the applicants, and while there were some who managed to get by through their connections, they did not disappoint.
One such person was the boy that possessed a talent for Dark Magic, Kai Vargan. Mother Grace smiled at the children, but out of the corner of her eye, she focused on Kai. The boy bore a blank look on his face while the other exceptional boy, Lance, spoke to him.
Mother Grace felt a bit bad for him. His talent for Dark Magic would see to it that he would be a social outcast, isolated from most circles of society for something he was born with. She told herself that she would do her best to avoid him straying away from the light, but there was only so much she could do. Already, she could see a few children that were born of a noble standing giving him the stink eye.
'I will find out more on his background.' She told herself and turned away. She faced a mage who stood a few feet behind her with a sheet of paper. He had been noting down the talents and potentials of the children while splitting them up into their various classes.
"We will start with Class C." She announced, then began calling out names. There were forty two students in Class C, and she was quick with them. The class mostly consisted of those with bottom tier talent. The majority of children with talent at the peak of the Sky tier. If they worked hard enough, they would be able to reach the Master tier, but after that, they would not grow further unless a miracle intervened.
Then Mother Grace began listing out the students that would go into Class B. They were a pretty talented bunch and consisted of those who had talent at the peak of Master tier and would grow to the Grandmaster tier in the future. There were thirty eight students in the class.
"And now, last but not least, Class A!" Mother Grace announced. She did not really need to call out the names as everyone knew that those who had not yet been called would be going to that class.
"Kai Vargan." She called the first name on the list, then raised her head to smile reassuringly at Kai before proceeding. Kai could feel a few dirty glances thrown his way. For a child, he felt he had a certain level of maturity, and was sad to see how others his age had been corrupted by their parents' bias. But he did not feel too surprised. Perhaps the reason why he felt a sense of detachment from other people around him was because he had spent his life so far isolated form society.
"Lance McCoy, Elizabeth Frost, Jacob Blue..." One by one, names rolled off her tongue until she had called all twenty of the Class A students. Strangely enough, all of them had Lord tier talent. Among them all, Kai and Lancer had the highest talent in the group, but despite that, the looks they got varied greatly. Kai got the looks of distaste, while Lance was shot fawning looks. Someone with the talent of Light magic was a friend of all.
"Alright." Mother Grace clapped her hands when she was done calling the names. "Welcome to the Imperial Academy, everyone. First day of school starts next week. On the way out, you will be handed your schedules for your classes." She explained, and soon Kai found himself walking at the back of the students. Lance walked beside him with a curious expression on his face. A few other children tried inviting him to their circles, but he politely turned them down and continued walking with his friend.
"Don't bother yourself with them if they don't want to accept you. That is something father always told me. So I won't bother myself with them if they don't want to accept my best friend." Lance proudly told Kai with a smile on his face. A contagious smile that Kai could not help getting infected with as well.
Together, the two walked to the dock of Henan city. After an hour or so, they arrived in the busy compound of the warehouse where the workers immediately noticed the two boys. Of course, they knew Lance, as he was the son of their boss, but the recently came to know Kai thanks to Roland. They also knew that the two boys had gone to take the enrollment test of the academy.
"Oi, how was the test, young lads?" The burly man that had the voice of a train's horn asked loudly.
"It went well, Uncle Ron." Lance smiled.
"Kid, I told you already. Call me Ron, I don't want no Uncle title. I'm not that old yet!" Ron complained as he continued with his work. "Good job, by the way. Make us proud." He grinned before walking away with a handful of crates.
Kai and Lance continued walking until they entered the main building of the warehouse. The moment they did, a wonderful aroma stabbed into their nostrils, drawing sighs from them.
"Your older sister's cooking is so good!" Kai complimented.
"Hehe, thanks." Lance laughed. He too, was looking forward to eating some tasty food. The two boys quickly ran up the stairs and into the small kitchen on the warehouse.
The McCoy family did not live there, but as they could not go all the way back home just to ear lunch, there was a small portion of the building that served as a small home where they cooked and rested.