Victoria strode back to the podium with graceful and purposeful movements. She faced her colleagues, with a voice as calm as the still air before the storm had their course forms returned to her. "Fill out and submit your forms, and the moment we're done, let's change into the academy training suit and move down to the Mana and Aura assimilation chamber.".
Mark rose to his feet, something unsaid weighing heavy in the movement. "Why don't we talk about that while moving?" he said in a very quiet echo of something heavy, burdened, which seemed to fall from him and which he could not quite place. His fist was silently clenched, the sadness barely masked by a casual tone.
They all submitted their forms, except for Xena, who was still not considered a student to Principal Logan. They all donned ash-colored, second-skin suits, round-necked, with blue stripes running like veins through seams-starkly simple and betraying the intensity of the academy's standards.
Drake and Mark were standing, fully dressed, waiting for Xena. The silence was alive with anticipation. Then, a few minutes later, a soft voice filtered through the air to break the stillness. "I hope I am not late." Light, yet grave, her tone made their heads turn towards her.
They turned, and there stood Xena, a vision in that grayish-ash suit, so breathtakingly beautiful that the world around them seemed to blur. Drake's heart raced, pounding inside his chest to the frantic rhythm of some wild drum.
Heat flooded his face, his words tumbling out before he could catch them. "No, no, it's not that. It's just that you look different than usual," he stuttered, looking wide with wonder and admiration.
Swallowing hard, he tried to regain composure, but a slight tremble in his voice lingered, "The other students are already on their way toward the chamber building; let's catch up to their pace." And so he set off walking, each step sounding louder than the last.
Xena sprang forward with a fluid quickness, grasping Drake's arm and yanking him into her chest. The heat of her grasp sent a shiver through his skin, and for one moment, all else fell away into silence.
As they neared the chamber that would assimilate Mana and Aura, Mark's voice cut the stillness. "Hey, buddy, about what you asked in the hall." he began, an edge of sadness mingling with the will to do something. Six months earlier, there had been an event at The Diamond Mage Academy that forever changed its course of history.
Each student was given a task during the promotion test of senior students, simple as it was until they became prey for the Crimson Rot, the malicious that lurked within the academy, waiting to get them. Only 10 of the 42 students survived, and among the casualties was Mike, Mark's twin brother, whose bravery had kept him at the village he was responsible for defending, even as it became the epicenter of disaster.
Drake listened intently, taking the weight of Mark's words, and cut in softly. "My sincerest condolences, but let me get something straight-if Mike is your twin brother, then that means you guys are of the same age? Why didn't you join him at that time?" The question hung there, a fragile thing.
Mark's eyes grew darker now, his voice a little quieter, lacing the hint of sadness so much deeper than the feeling of loss. "That's because we had different beliefs about strength." His voice cracked slightly, though he tried to maintain his composure
. "He believed that by coming here, he could get his goal, while I believed that by honing my strength using our family techniques, I could attain mine."
"Then why the change of heart?" Drake asked, his curiosity genuine, but his tone soft as a result of the sorrow in Mark's words.
Mark's eyes rose. His shoulders tensed as though the weight of his decision pulled him down. "I decided to continue his ambition." His words, though full of purpose, were laced with something else, regret, perhaps? "I never knew him, but I'm sure he would have preferred you to achieve yours instead of bearing his burden." Drake's voice gentled, but the words emerged more like a plea than an advice.
Mark sighed; his breath escaped the way a balloon deflates. "We both shared the same goal, to be the greatest war mage. The only difference is the path we took to get there. So now, I carry both my goal and his." The last words were weighted, carrying in them a feel of speaking not just to Drake, but to the universe itself.
They continued talking as they joined the other students, seeing in the distance the Mana and Aura absorption chamber. A skyscraper stood before them, silent and massive, waiting to tackle them.
The chamber was divided into three rooms, which were: the Assimilation Vacuum chamber, which contained 50 of the most specialized suites for mana absorption; the Mana and Aura Check-In Room, which would assess their capacity in terms of a mana pool and aura core; and the Enchanting Chamber, where mage students would practice their spells and hone their magical abilities.
In the Mana and Aura Check-In room, the air hummed as if a thousand unseen voices whispered in the charged atmosphere. The students gathered round Professor Leo, who stood at the heart, his eyes unflinching but cool. At very center of the room stood an altar in the shape of a stone circle, carved with sigils and standing tall to 5.9 meters, unyielding to show testament of discipline to the academy.
"Let's commence today's lesson," Professor Leo called, his voice cutting through the murmurs like a knife through silk. The noise receded, fading into a profound silence, leaving only the anticipation hanging in the air, thick as fog.
"Today, I will guide you about Mana core capacity and Mana rings before the assessment," Professor Leo said continuously, his voice steadfast, though there was undeniable gravity to his words. We know very well that the maximum mana ring a mage can conjure around his heart is up to nine rings.
For these rings to stabilize, just like the planets orbiting the sun, an increased rate is needed, and for that, specific levels of mana pool capacity are needed. If the mana pool capacity is low, adding more rings around the heart will make the extra ring a burden; thus, the mana pool collapses or worse, the explosion of the heart itself, either in battle or in the process of ring creation.
The eyes of Professor Leo clouded momentarily, his gaze narrowing. "This test, in the past, was always done towards the end of training. However, two classes of students before yours made it considerably farther and found their hearts explode at the end of the training.
So, in response, the academy altered the school program to do this test twice, once at the start and then again towards the end. It allows us to understand, in a thorough manner, the state of your mana pool before it becomes dangerous for you."
His arms crossed behind him, the weight of his experience etched in every line of his bearing. "There are four stages for the mana pool, which are also used in the mage's ranking system. Mages from the first circle to the fourth circles are called Mage Apprentices and hold between 1,500 to 5,000 units of mana.
Mages from the fifth and sixth circles are known as Mage Experts, with 5,000 to 12,000 units of mana. The Mage Master stage, which includes the seventh and eighth circles, holds between 12,000 to 30,000 units of mana.
Finally, the Archmage, the ninth circle mage, boasts 30,000 to 100,000 units of mana." Professor Leo's voice had deepened with each stage, as if the weight of the information were bearing down upon them.
"Then, let us proceed with the assessment," he said, his words the breaking of fragile glass that surrounded him, leaving nothing but the sound of their collective anticipation.