"Sir!" A magus ran up to Mr. Stylianos "Mr. Stylianos?"
"Oh, Sirius" he turned to Sirius "have you handed over the orbs?"
"Yes sir. But…"
"What is it?" Mr. Stylianos raised his brows
"I saw something incredible" Sirius said with a smile
"What exactly?" Mr. Stylianos inquired. He knew about Sirius' ability to determine the levels of humans and beasts by just perceiving their auras.
"I sensed four other auras apart from Orpheus' own. It was the aura of beasts"
"Beats?" Mr. Stylianos was confused "How can humans have the auras of beasts?"
"I don't know sir. But their auras matched that of – what do they call them again? - yeah, demi-human gods"
"What?" color drained from Mr. Stylianos' face "The legendary demi humans that we only see once in a dark moon?"
"Yes sir. If my guess is right, they should be stronger than the demi humans we saw during the separation of Chaos mad Order. They may even be on par with the Olympians. It's just that… something seems to be sealing most of their powers"
"You mean those four I just saw a few hours ago?" Mr. Stylianos said with wide eyes
"There's something more interesting sir" Sirius said
"That's enough already. Do you want to kill me with surprises?"
"But sir, you'll to hear this one" Sirius protested
"Fine what is it?"
"Orpheus is already a low-level intermediate magus"
"The hell!!!" Mr. Stylianos yelled "that means with three additional abilities, he's already a low-level advanced magus. How in fate's name did he pull that off?"
"I don't know" Sirius shrugged "but I hope he's prepared for the trial. Each trial is always tougher than the last"
"Only one way to find out. Let's go give'em a visit" Mr. Stylianos walked away, leaving behind a stunned Sirius
"But sir, there are demi… Shit!" Sirius cursed before running after his instructor
…
"So, these are psychic ability orbs?" Orpheus stared at three pink orbs "I've never seen them up close before"
"Which one of'em is sound" Andrian asked
"Telekinesis should be the one levitating just above the ground" Aella pointed out "Sound should be the one emitting waves constantly while telepathy should be the dormant one"
"Okay. I'll start from telepathy, then telekinesis before sound" Orpheus pricked his thumb and dropped his blood on the dormant orb before he began to absorb the energy
While he was absorbing the energy, the white blade emerged from his shadow and began to glow in a faint white light on all the orbs
"What is happening?' Tana asked
[the blade is strengthening all the elements and at the same time, purifying them]
"Why would the element need purification" Aster inquired
[It's Marios we're dealing with. I guess it's plausible]
"Yeah, he could've put somethin' in'em" Tana nodded
"But I must say though, these weapons are pretty intelligent" Aella said
"The hell was that?" Aster jumped
"Why would he jump like that?" Tana muttered
"The f***!" Tana jumped
"Hahaha. Damn! That expression is priceless" Orpheus exploded into laughter while rolling on the floor
"Really, it's not funny" Tana scowled
"Not cool man. Not cool at all" Aster mumbled
"It's actually funny" Andrian chuckled
"Yeah, it's rare to see you guys jump in fright" Aella giggled
[Seira made you jump to the intermediate telepathy level. Impressive]
"Moving on to telekinesis" Orpheus dropped his blood on the next orb
Just after he started absorbing the energy, he began to levitate above the ground with a force field around him
[Why must his own always be different. Anytime he absorbs an ability, something special must happen]
A while later, Orpheus dropped back to the ground with a smile on his face
"Now, moving on to sound" he approached the last orb
[Wait!!]
*Knock*Knock*
"Who's that?" Andrian whispered
"It smells like the guy from before and the man that officiated your duel" Aella sniffed
"So I guess we can't turn the back. Can we?" Tana asked
"Damn, he knows" Orpheus cursed
[About what?]
"That I'm an intermediate magus and they're demi humans"
[What!]
"What!!" the four beasts yelled
*Knock*Knock*
"Come in" Orpheus gritted his teeth
*Click*
Mr. Stylianos and Sirius walked in with solemn looks on their faces
"Oh hey Orpheus… and hooded demi… sorry, my fellow humans" Mr. Stylianos said, making Sirius to shake his head at his instructor's foolishness
"Why are you here?" Tana asked
"We're here to help with Orpheus trial to ascent into the intermediate level" Sirius said
"What? I thought he was entering the advanced… hmpf" Sirius covered Mr. Stylianos' mouth with his hands
"Don't mind him" he chuckled nervously
"Stop messing around and go straight to the point" Orpheus said
"Sirius, for holding your instructor's mouth, no more training until next week" Mr. Stylianos said after Sirius' hand left his mouth
"Oh c'mon"
"Tell us the truth. Why did you come?" Aella asked
"Ahem" Mr. Stylianos cleared his throat "You see, this young lad here has a special ability to distinguish the levels of magi and beasts by their aura's alone"
"So that's how you knew" Orpheus muttered
"How did you know that I had found out?" Mr. Stylianos asked, confused
"I have the telepathy element or have you forgotten?" Orpheus pointed his head
"Hold on. What you're trying to say is…" Mr. Stylianos asked
"Yeah. I kinda read your thoughts" Orpheus chuckled
"I've always told you sir, increase your mental fortitude" Sirius shook his head
"Why would I have bothered when the telepathy element is not widespread like other elements" Mr. Stylianos protested
"It doesn't matter" Sirius shot back at him
"Now that's settled, what did you say you wanted to prepare me for?" Orpheus inquired
"Huh? You didn't pass through any trial when you were ascending into the intermediate level?" Mr. Stylianos asked
"Which trial?" Orpheus tilted his head in confusion
"Like some kind of elemental trial or something like that" Sirius answered
"If that counts as a trial then, yes" Orpheus' mind flashed back to the intense pain he went through when trying to contract the four demi humans
[That wasn't a trial]
~Then what was it ~
[Just some normal stuff. A trial is much harder and tougher]
"So, how are you supposed to help him?" Tana asked
"For clarification, what element does he have?" Mr. Stylianos asked
"Why should we tell you?" Aster asked
"Relax man. It still wouldn't make a difference since they've already found out" Adrian said
"Fire, wind, dark, telepathy, telekinesis, lightning and light" Aella said
"Did you just say light and dark?" Sirius gasped
"Aella!" Tana yelled in exasperation
"Oops" Aella covered her mouth with her hands
"Just forget about it. What were you saying?" Andrian nudged Mr. Stylianos to continue
~It seems Orpheus is more complex than we thought. First, hiding the fact that he was already an intermediate magus for so long and acquiring demi humans. Now, it's containing contrastive elements in his body ~ Sirius stared at Orpheus, who was looking spaced out
"Since he has lightning, he would need a large open field for the lightning trial" Mr. Stylianos rubbed his lower jaw. "In addition, he has three psychic elements, which means the field has to be away from the masses. I think I can supply that for'im"
"Haa" Orpheus exhaled in frustration "Let's get going then"
[Are you really sure? Remember, if you fail this trial, you will remain an intermediate magus for the rest of your life]
~Relax man. You've told me that over a thousand times ~
[I just want you to be careful]
~I will. ~
"Let's move" Mr. Stylianos left the dorm room along with the rest of them
…
In a large open field in the middle of the nowhere, Orpheus sat at the center of an array with a pink ability orb in his hands
"You can begin now!" Mr. Stylianos yelled from outside the array
"Okay!" Orpheus equipped Cosmos and dropped his blood on the orb before him