For the first time, these children entered the compounds of Clover Academy. They were excited and jubilant, to say the least. The children followed after the group of Magi obediently. No one dared to act out of line.
The campus was full of greenery. Amidst the various exotic trees and small ponds, one could find stone and wood column buildings with beautiful architecture.
After walking for a few minutes, the group finally stopped at a large clearing where dozens of tents were erected.
The Magi turned around and the old Magus from earlier spoke once again, "This is the first hurdle that you all must pass - the aptitude test!"
Suddenly, there was a clamor amidst the hundreds of children. But the next moment, the old Magus continued speaking. Although his voice was subtle, weirdly enough, every single child could hear him speak as if he were right next to them.
"The minimum requirement we expect from all our students is a C-grade aptitude. Below that, and you will be eliminated. The Clover Academy will not invest time and resources to nurture a Magus that does not have the talent to go far on the path."
All the children were now visibly nervous. After all, they weren't aware of the fact that there would be a cut-off during the aptitude test. All the students present knew that they had a talent for spell-casting, but what grade talent they had, that they didn't know.
Adam was confused about this whole grading thing. Thus, he asked the nearest person about it. "Excuse me, how many aptitude grades are there?"
A fatty wearing a luxurious black silk robe with golden seams who happened to be standing near Adam looked at him weirdly. "You… don't even know this?"
Adam smiled awkwardly, trying to come up with an excuse. But the next moment, the fatty began explaining. "Whatever, I'm guessing it's not common knowledge where you're from."
This guy… Adam was surprised to find an amiable person who didn't judge him based on his appearance. This was a first for him.
The fatty continued, "There are five grades - A, B, C, D, and F. A being the highest and F being the lowest—"
"Wait a minute." Adam interrupted. "What happened to E?"
"Interesting question…" The fatty's eyes twitched and he fell into deep thought. "Forget about it, don't stress the small stuff. As I was saying, A is the highest and F is the lowest.
"Basically, aptitude determines how far a Magus can advance in their paths. Having a higher grade aptitude means a person is more likely to advance through greater ranks."
"I see." Adam nodded in understanding. He then looked at the fatty and stretched out his hand with a smile. "Thanks for explaining. I'm Adam."
The fatty shook Adam's hand. "I'm Edward. By the way, you're not from around here are you?"
"No, I'm from Cormier—" Adam was about to reply but their chat was interrupted by the Magus.
"Now, all of you enter the tents one by one." The Magus instructed.
Edward gave Adam a thumbs up. "See you on the other side."
Adam smiled. "Good luck!"
He saw the fatty strutting away, his tummy jiggling up and down. Adam couldn't help but chuckle and think to himself, I guess not all noble kids are rude and arrogant…
The line slowly moved forward and within a few minutes, Adam was standing at the entrance of a tent. He was waiting for the person before him to finish up with the test.
A few moments later, a deep voice echoed from inside the tent. "Next."
Adam took a deep breath and walked in. The inside of the tent was much larger than it appeared from the outside. A middle-aged man was standing at the center. He too was wearing a dark green cloak with the four-leaf clover crest.
"Stand at the center of this formation for as long as you can," The man spoke flatly while pointing at a diagram on the floor. This diagram was made of all sorts of geometrical shapes that Adam didn't quite understand.
"Alright." Adam nodded and stood at the center of the formation.
The following moment, the man performed some hand gestures and the various lines and geometrical patterns inside the formation lit up with a resplendent orange light.
Adam closed his eyes and stood motionlessly on the formation.
1 minute…
2 minute…
3 minute…
4 minute…
Finally, beads of sweat began forming on Adam's forehead and his body started to tremble. He felt a pressure on his body as well as his mind. However, the pressure on his mind was very mild, almost nonexistent, compared to the one on his body.
He felt as if he was being submerged hundreds of miles underwater and the pressure was threatening to pulverize his body.
Adam gritted his teeth in pain and spoke in agony, "N-No… more!"
The next moment, the light from the formation dissipated. The man had deactivated it. He checked the time and nodded. "Good! B-grade aptitude, although just barely."
"Phew!" Adam breathed a sigh of relief as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. He clenched his fists and muttered inwardly, I passed!
"Now, fill up this form and proceed to the next tent through the back exit." The man's attitude toward Adam was much more friendly now. He handed the youth a paper and showed him the way out.
Adam borrowed a quill from the old Magus and filled up all the relevant information such as full name, date of birth, place of birth, aptitude, etc. After that, he exited the tent and came to another open clearing. He then went toward the nearest tent and waited patiently.
As he looked around, he saw that the children had become much more sparse compared to before. The cut-off is really stringent. I'm afraid half of the children wouldn't make it past the first test.
Indeed, only about 55% of the children would make it past the first test. And this number would only continue to decrease in the following test.
"Come in." The voice of a female came from within the tent. Adam walked in and found that the tent was much smaller compared to the last one. There was a simple wooden table at the center and two chairs.
A young lady with burgundy hair was sitting on one chair and looking at him with a smile. "Hand me your form."
"Ah, yes!" Adam hurriedly gave her the form with both hands and remained standing.
"You may sit." The lady took the form and spoke gently.
As Adam nervously sat on the chair wondering just what this test would be about, the lady spoke in a pleasant manner, "B-grade aptitude? That's splendid, Adam. Now, let us proceed with the analytical test."
The lady snapped her fingers and a beautiful geometrical pattern materialized in mid-air right in front of Adam. However, this pattern was incomplete. It was missing certain lines, angles, and shapes.
"Finish the geometrical model."
"H-How do I finish this?" Adam asked nervously. He was completely clueless.
The lady smirked. "Well, that's what the test is about."