The next morning, Rami prepared to head towards the inner district, where the School of Superhumans was located. He had spent the previous day exploring the vast capital city, getting familiar with its layout. The capital had been divided into four major districts, each with its distinctive character.
1. The Central District: Home to the royal family and the most important noble families. This district was the epitome of elegance and influence.
2. The Inner District: The residence of nobles, wealthy merchants, and School professors, featuring luxurious buildings and high-quality services.
3. The Outer District: Where common folk, such as merchants, artisans, and laborers, lived. It had daily commercial activities but was less affluent.
4. The Outskirts: Poor neighborhoods housing peasants, impoverished workers, and the homeless, often suffering from a lack of services.
Rami decided to head straight to the Inner District, where the School he sought to enroll in was located. Upon reaching the gate, a stern voice interrupted him.
"Stop, boy."
Rami looked at the guard, Puzzled, but noticed another guard pulling the person who had spoken away. The other guard said, "It's nothing, sir. He was talking to someone else."
Rami ignored the incident and continued walking. Once he passed through the gate, he immediately sensed the luxury of the area—the roads and services were of a much higher standard, and the jewelry stores far outclassed what he had seen in the Outer District.
He continued walking until he spotted a phone shop that displayed devices behind shiny glass. He paused for a moment, inspecting the gadgets from outside, but decided to return later after dealing with the School.
After a few more minutes, Rami finally arrived at the School of Superhumans. At the gate, two guards stopped him, having noticed that he wasn't wearing the School's. uniform.
"What do you want?" the guard asked.
"I want to enroll in the School," Rami replied calmly, trying to appear confident.
The guard hesitated briefly before saying, "I'm sorry, sir, but enrollment ended a month ago. If you want to enroll, you'll have to wait until next year."
Rami froze in place. "Why do the heroes in stories always show up just in time for registration, and I arrive a month later?"
He had no choice but to act. He decided to feign anger.
"How dare an ordinary school reject me, Rami!" he shouted dramatically.
The guard looked uneasy, quickly reassessing the situation, thinking that Rami might be the son of an influential figure. "I apologize, sir. I didn't know. What's your full name? I'll inform the dean."
"How dare you ask for my family name?" Rami snapped, pretending to be outraged. "You're not worthy of knowing it."
While he maintained his angry facade, internally, Rami was anxious, worried that his lie might be discovered. Suddenly, a voice came from behind.
"My apologies for the inconvenience, young sir. Please, come in."
The speaker was one of the School's teachers. "My name is Mo Shen, the deputy head of the school. May I have the honor of knowing your full name, sir?"
Rami felt a wave of panic. He hadn't expected to deal with the deputy head of the School. He quickly thought to himself, "What am I doing? I could have waited another year, but now I'm in too deep."
After a brief pause, Rami spoke in a haughty tone, "You're just a deputy. Perhaps if the headmaster himself were here, things would be different."
Mo Shen tried to keep his composure, but Rami noticed a slight tension in his voice. It was clear that Mo Shen took his words seriously.
"If the School isn't accepting students, I'll be on my way. It seems I've wasted my time here," Rami said dismissively as he turned to leave.
But then he heard Mo Shen's voice: "Wait, sir! I apologize for the misunderstanding. You can enroll in the School, of course. It would be a great honor to have someone like you."
Rami cursed inwardly, even though the trick had worked. He was tempted to leave now, but doing so would only raise suspicions. It wasn't wise to back out now.
Reluctantly, he followed Mo Shen toward the School's gates. Once inside, he noticed students wearing uniforms in various colors, their ages ranging from nine to fifteen years. As they walked, Mo Shen began explaining:
"This School dates back to the founding days of the Kingdom of Andorra. It is where all the kingdom's exceptional talents are trained. Each year, only five students are chosen to attend the Global School."
"Only five?" Rami asked, trying to sound knowledgeable, even though he had never heard of the Global School before.
Mo Shen calmly responded, "It seems the young sir is not from this kingdom. You may not know that there are five seats reserved for the Kingdom of Eilandor. My advice to you is to control your temper. This is not your kingdom."
Rami exhaled in relief. It was better for him to be perceived as a noble from another kingdom, as this lowered the chances of his true identity being exposed.
Mo Shen persisted in a measured tone, "Now, we need to conduct some basic tests before assigning you to a class."
"Tests?" Rami asked nervously.
"Just routine procedures, like verifying whether you're a sorcerer or a warrior. Some people foolishly pretend to be sorcerers to lower their tuition fees."
"Do the tuition fees differ?" Rami asked with apparent interest.
"Yes, sorcerers have more power, but they are much rarer than warriors. For every four warriors that awaken, only one sorcerer does."
"That makes sense," Rami said, trying to sound knowledgeable, even though he had never heard this information before.
Internally, Rami felt a surge of joy upon learning that sorcerers had lower tuition fees.
Here is the translation:
Mo Shen escorted Rami to a room in the middle of the school. From a shelf, Mo Shen retrieved a ledger and a pen.
"I'll register your name as 'Rami' only. Does that suffice?" Mo Shen asked.
"Yes, that's fine," Rami replied nonchalantly, although his curiosity was growing.
After noticing Rami's interest, Mo Shen explained, "You're probably wondering why we use pen and paper instead of digital devices."
"Yes, I did notice that," Rami replied, though in reality, he had no idea what "digital devices" even were.
"There's a risk of data theft by hackers, so we prefer using paper to keep the information secure."
Rami thought back to his days as a programmer: "It seems even in this magical world, they can't escape hackers."
Mo Shen suddenly asked, "Are you a sorcerer or a warrior?"
"I am, of course, a sorcerer," Rami replied confidently.
Mo Shen smiled. "As I expected."
He then brought out a transparent crystal and gestured for Rami to come closer. "Although I trust you wouldn't lie about being a sorcerer, this crystal reveals magical affinities. Before you speak, I know your family must already be aware of your affinity, but this crystal is special. It can reveal all of your affinities. If should you have more than one"
Mo Shen continued proudly, "This is a treasure obtained by the first king of Eilandor during one of his adventures. The royal family gifted it to the School so we could better assess students."
Rami gazed at the crystal with curiosity, but internally, he was confused. "I don't even know what a 'magical affinity' is."
"Place your hand on the crystal, and it will work automatically," Mo Shen instructed.
Rami placed his hand on the crystal, and the room filled with a blinding light that illuminated every corner. As the light gradually faded, the result became clear before them, leaving a tense silence hanging in the air.