"Is that kid been serious?"
"He wants to work with Zack? How arrogant!"
"Yes, Zack only chooses those he want. No one has the right to tell him what to do."
Ignoring what the people were mumbling around him, Ember pressed further.
"Zack, I'm willing to work with you! Just let me tag along into the capital and I'm all yours!" He yelled, stunning the crowd once more.
"Is that kid been serious? What's with him?"
"Must be one of these village kids, he looks new to me."
Finally, Zack stopped on his tracks and turned around. He glanced at Ember, his eyes peircing into the latter's soul.
"You want to work with me?" He asked Ember.
"Yes, if that would be possible," Ember replied.
"Hmmm. I have enough strong abled men, of what help can you be to me?" The man asked.
"I may be small but trust me, I am stronger than these men," Ember replied boldly.
"What's with you, little brat!" One of Zack's men grunted. "How dare you insult us in the presence of our boss?"
"I didn't mean to get you guys upset but I am plainly saying the truth," Ember replied and turned to Zack. "Sir, I really want to get into the capital. After I get things done, I can come work for you," he said to the man.
"What if you run away?" Zack intentionally asked him.
"It's not like I can hide from you," Ember replied and the man smirked.
'This kid...' He thought.
"Very well then. Come with us," he said and the crowd was astounded.
"What just happened?"
"Zack accepted the kid?"
"That has never happened!"
Even the men with Zack weren't happy about their boss's decision.
"Boss, are you sure we need him?" The one more angry than the rest asked.
"We do," Zack replied.
"Yes! Thank you, sir!" Ember said happily and joined them.
When they got to the owner of the portal, Zack glanced at one of his men and the man threw the portal owner a pouch. The man opened it and discovered it was filled with shining gold coins.
"To the capital!" Zack said and the man quickly nodded and let them enter the portal one after the other.
Ember the moment he stepped into the portal opened his eyes and saw himself in a new environment. The air was different and it was a lot quieter than the town he had just left.
"Is this the capital?" He asked.
"Yes," Zack replied and then turned to face him. "I don't know what you want to do here and I don't want to know, just make sure you come find me when you are done."
"Not to worry, I'll come find you but where do I go?" Ember replied.
"Tell them you are looking for the dark wings' base," Zack replied. After glancing at Ember one last time, he turned and left with his men.
"I'll definitely come!" Ember yelled as he watched Zack and his men leave. Afterwards, it suddenly clicked on him that he didn't really know the place where the exams would be taking place. "Well, I guess I'll have to ask around," he concluded and started off.
After strolling for a while, he got to where people were gathered and decided to ask for direction.
"Excuse me, do you know where the exams is taking place?"
"It's over there!" The woman replied, pointing at the opposite direction.
Ember turned his head and saw a large tall building opposite him. A crowd was gathered there.
"Thank you," he said to the woman and headed towards the place.
When he got to the place, he looked around and saw that they were all kids like him, he joined them but stood alone. After some time, a man came out to address them.
"Welcome, every one of you to the capital of Emerald City. You are here for the entrance exams I presume, my name is Tim and I am the host for today's activities. Well, let's get started but before that, you will be addressed via the number on your palms..." As he said this, numbers appeared on the palms of all the kids standing there.
"Mine is 146," Ember mumbled as he stared at the number on his palm. 'How did he do it though?' he thought and gazed at the man in admiration.
"For today's exams..." The man continued. "There are three phases; two will be evaluated base on your magic abilities while the last one which is the third one will be evaluated base on your raw strength. For the first phase, every one of you is expected to create a ball of magic depending on your elemens. Note; the ball should be as huge as your magic level, and don't worry about the damages it would cause because I am here to clean up the mess for you, hahahah..." The man laughed said and began to laugh.
"Just that? This is as simple as eating!" One of the kids exclaimed in excitement.
"Yes!" Another exclaimed.
"You have thirty minutes to carry out your first assignment and your time starts now!" The man announced and all the kids began casting their magics.
Everyone out there was busy except for Ember who kept looking around, while he admired other kids' magics, it pained him that he didn't have any. As much as he didn't want to feel disheartened, his awkward situation left him no choice.
Even after thirty minutes was gone, he was the only one with nothing before him while the other kids had their balls of magic floating right before them.
"Who is that kid?" A kid asked the moment he noticed Ember and the rest turned to his direction.
"Does he not have magic?" Another kid asked.
"If he doesn't have magic then why come here in the first place?"
"Or does he think he's here for fun? Tsk!"
Ember tried as much as he can to maintain a good composure, he did not let their words get to him that much and even though he was disheartened, he did not let it be obvious to anyone.
"And that's the end of the first phase, now, we move on to the next!" The host announced, and once again, everyone's attention went back to him, causing Ember to sigh in relief. "For the second phase..." The host said and waved his hand in the air. Small glowing beasts appeared in the sky and began to descend, one beast each for the kids. "You must defeat these first level magic beasts and you have thirty minutes to do that! Your time starts now!"
Everyone once again went back to work except Ember. Some defeated the magic beasts like they were nothing while some had difficult times dealing with them but they were far better than him who did nothing but stare at the magic beast.
The magic beast waited for Ember to attack it but he did nothing, naturally, it began to attack him with series of fire balls based on its elemental magic.
"Damn it!" Ember cursed as he was assaulted with multiple flame balls. Once again, the other kids' attentions were drawn to him again and they began to laugh at him. He tried to dodge the attacks but some of the flames hit him causing his clothes to catch fire.
"Ahhh!" He yelled frantically while running around. No one made a move to help him but when he thought he was going to end up like that, someone used his magic and dispelled the flames.
Turning around, he saw a boy with orange hair. The boy looked handsome and had a long silver earring on his left ear, he was richly dressed and there was a calm expression on his face.
"Th-thank you," Ember said to him.
"You are so pathetic," the boy scoffed and turned away.