Chapter 10 - Exam Begins!
'This is really amazing. How I wish I could sense Astra Mystralis and enter into harmony with it, I will surely do a million and twelve hugely amazing things with it.' Maxmillan said within himself and heaved a deep sigh.
'Well, I am here now for the exam. Let me see the kind of fate that is waiting for me at the Floating Lotus Academy." He said further and deeply exhaled .
Then he began to look around for where he would take a carriage that would convey him to the Floating Lotus Academy.
Without needing to ask anyone, since he simply followed the kids that got into carriages that would convey them to the Floating Lotus Academy, he got into one which drove off after it was filled with passengers.
As the carriage moved on the way at a high speed, along with many others that could number in the hundreds, Maxmillan was able to take in more sights of wondrous and marvelous things in the city.
'This is one hell of a grand city.' Maxmillan said within himself and shook his head.
Then he looked around him within the carriage and saw that some kids seated beside him were really anxious about the admissive exam. He could see them shaking with looks that could be interpreted as anxiousness, boldly written all over their faces.
He would have loved to give them words of encouragement, but he had his own issue to think about. And that was the issue of what he would face and endure if his scheme of taking the admissive magical exam fails. So, he couldn't spare any encouraging words for anyone other than himself.
After driving for more than forty-five minutes, the carriage eventually arrived at the massive golden gate of the Floating Lotus Academy, which was wide open to allow the passages of commercial carriages into the academy's massive parking ground.
As soon as the carriage parked at a spot, Maxmillan and the others in the carriage immediately got down and paid the driver for the trip.
Then they looked at the imposing prestigious academy that stood like a sky-piercing otherworldly tower far in front of them. It was so colossal in size that it seemed to occupy a land space that will contain numerous mountain ranges, about a dozen mountain ranges and still have more land space that can be occupied by numerous other structures.
'My gosh! How mightily sized.' Maxmillan said within himself as he walked towards the building that seemed like the deific cosmic abode of a giant god. It was impressively beautiful that everyone looking at it couldn't help but be bedazzled by the majesty that endlessly radiated from it.
'I wonder how much was spent in building this academy. Isn't this too massive? Or some primordial colossal beings live within some halls in the academy?' Maxmillan asked within himself as he walked towards the building that exuded incomparable grandness and splendor.
Moments after he arrived before a really large assembly of kids that greatly aspired to become proud students of the academy, a few middle-aged people walked out through a large golden door to appear before the massive gathering.
"As you all know, today is the day fixed for the academy's hundredth and third admissive exam. So, hope we are fully prepared?!" A middle-aged man who seemed much more older than the others that walked by his side, calmly asked with a voice that mysteriously rang loudly in the ears of the thousands of people gathered before him.
"Yes!!" Everyone answered in unison.
"Good!" The middle-aged man said.
He then spoke further, "Well, I don't want to waste anyone's time. So, let's get started with the exams. And yes, anyone that's capable of impressing the exam judges with their Astra Mystralis attunement prowess, will be given an elder medallion that will allow them to enter into libraries that others won't have the privilege to enter."
"If you want to know what is in this particular library, you should do your best to amaze the judges who can't wait to be dazzled by your exceptionally honed ability in manipulating Astra Mystralis, and the manifestation of myriad effects that will fully blow their minds!" The middle-aged man said calmly, but his voice rang loudly again in the listening ears of the thousands of people assembled before him.
"Start the exam." He suddenly said.
The instant he mentioned that, millions of motes of golden light suddenly surfaced in the air, before attracting to one another and fused to form a large, hard-light square-shaped platform that floated many feet above the ground and gave off a luminous golden brilliance that dyed the ground in its bright golden hue. Then projecting from the platform to the ground, were more than sixty ladders also formed from hard-light which also emitted beautiful golden luminance.
"Now that we have our exam platform, I want each and everyone of us to climb the platform to show the judges that we are fully capable of becoming reliable and indispensable students of the academy. And please, one after the other. No disorderliness. Or I would cancel the exam with immediate effect. Yes, I have the power to do so." The middle-aged man said and warned with a stern look appearing in his face.
Immediately he said that, sixty people that were at the forefront of the assembly, immediately ran forward towards the ladders to climb up and appear on the platform.
While some who felt that the exam had started already, ignored the ladders which they perceived were placed there to test their prowess and immediately casted spells on their limbs to increase their jumping power.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!...
They leapt onto the platform and immediately chose a spot where they began to exhibit marveling magical feats. While those that climbed up the ladders to appear on the platform, immediately chose their own spots on the platform and began to seriously display their skills. While the parents who watched their kids perform, cheered for them happily and excitedly.
Maxmillan who watched as they displayed brilliant feats of magic, couldn't help but develop a bleak feeling in his heart. But he didn't allow this feeling to shatter the resolve and conviction in his heart.
Since they got up there to perform, he would also get up there to do his and hope for fate to be his mount to great glory, or be the fiend that would ruin his life.
After about six hundred and eighty-nine students had performed, where only a hundred and twelve were selected to become students of the Floating Lotus Academy, Maxmillan finally made up his mind to climb up the ladder to appear on the platform and perform.