Vidra slowly opened his eyes. He was on his bed, in the same room they used with Uros. The old examiner responsible for the entrance exam greeted him from the side, grabbing his attention.
"Welcome back, student Vidra. You fell unconscious at the end of the third test. Do not worry, you passed the entrance exam. You reached the tenth step. Making you the only one besides the current headmaster who reached it during their first year."
"Earning first place in two categories is impressive. Makes one wonder whether you can ace all parts of the entrance exam."
Vidra looked at the old man in front of him. There was a notification written with transparent letters in front of his eyes.
[Progression: 5%]
His trait evolved, but Vidra had no clue what caused it. The mark on his hand grew in size ever since the trait name changed from Elven Spark to Elven Fire. Now, he could produce fire and make a small fireball if he focused on it.
Trait holders had to find out how they could evolve their traits. Every trait was unique, and all of them had different triggers. Vidra tried to stand up, but his body protested, turning the process rather slow.
"You don't have to force yourself. I checked your health earlier, and your trait overused your body. It must hurt to even walk right now, but you still have some time left until the entrance ceremony."
"I asked your roommate to wake you up in case you won't wake up by yourself in time."
Vidra nodded and turned his back on the old man.
MEANWHILE, CAPITAL OF EBERHART KINGDOM:
The scribes released the first news regarding the entrance exam. The entrance exam of the famous Eberhart Academy garnered attention not just within the capital, but all across the world.
Thus, the newspaper sold out like a limited edition candy. The new students who managed to pass the entrance exam all bought one in hopes they could read about themselves. Lune was no different. She secretly loved to read about herself.
[A New Age]
Today marks the end of the hundredth entrance exam of the Eberhart Academy, and a total of a hundred new students passed! Is it a coincidence? We wouldn't know, but one thing is for sure!
Two trait holders in the same year: Vidra, whose identity a complete mystery, and Lune who is said to be the disciple of the White Witch, Arcine - The son of Duke Ingram, Uros the legendary genius, and many other talents we never heard about!
The Eberhart Academy officially entered its glory days!
[A Lovers' Quarrel?]
The entrance exam just started, and we already have a star pair? Lune, the disciple of the White Witch, seemed to be close to the mysterious dark horse, Vidra. The young boy openly admitted his crush!
...
Lune crumpled the newspaper in her hands. The girls who walked around her seemed interested in whatever happened, but no matter how they asked. Lune just ignored them.
'I don't even know who that narcissist Elf is, but they're already selling us like a package.'
A FEW HOURS LATER, BOY'S DORMITORY:
Vidra woke up feeling better. The unusual exhaustion disappeared after a few hours of sleep. He stood up to stretch a little when he heard the sound of trumpets coming from the main building of the academy.
"The entrance ceremony?"
Vidra rushed across the academy, straight towards the castle, just to see students pouring out of the main gate. The entrance ceremony ended just as he got there. Vidra quickly found Uros amongst the hundred new classmates and rushed to him.
"Weren't you supposed to wake me up?"
Uros turned towards Vidra. His eyes were dead.
"Man, I don't care. I don't even remember. Leave me alone."
Vidra gave up. He knew that Uros remembered perfectly. The boy just didn't care at all.
"Where are we going?"
"Classroom."
Vidra joined his new class and followed them into their new classroom. It was inside a simple building, similar to the dormitory. Everyone found a seat, and settled down as they waited for their teacher.
Soon, a tall man walked into the room. His black hair was combed back into a small ponytail. The glasses granted him the aura of an intellectual professor, if not for the cigarette dangling from his mouth.
The man took his seat in the middle of the podium. He took the cigarette out after one last puff to greet his new class. The dark circles under his eyes, paired with the brown long coat, reminded the students of Vidra, as he was equally carefree.
"Greetings, my name is Mort. They assigned me to look over this class as of today. I'll be honest with everyone. I don't care about any of you at all. I will appoint a class president, and their job will be to take care of everything regarding the class. Now, who will assume this role?"
...
"No one? It comes with benefits you might not want to miss."
Lune raised her hand reluctantly, still not sure about her choice.
"Good, the young lady who just raised her hand. From today onwards, you will be the class president. Report to me every morning. Your next class is Magical Combat Practice (MCP) with another teacher. It was good to see you all."
The man took his cigarette and stood up. He walked out of the classroom as if he had never visited the students in the first place. The students just sat there, confused. This was their first day as students, and many of them didn't know if what happened just now was normal or not.
"Is it okay for him to leave us just like this? We don't even know where the next class is supposed to be."
The class was in turmoil. Lune looked at Vidra and Uros to see their reaction. Vidra played with his eraser, and Uros seemed to be asleep. Arcine approached her.
"What should we do?"
"For now, we will have to find the location of our next class. I will go and ask someone. The others wait here until I return."