Cyrus fumed all the way to the location of the exam, and he kept wishing he could strangle killian. He never liked him because he was always good at everything, and he was happy when he suddenly fell ill many years ago. He was happier when his mother told him he had died two days ago and he was still in shock right now that Killian was still alive.
He glanced at Killian, hating how unbothered and relaxed he appeared. After looking away, he forced himself to relax too, reminding himself he had no reason to panic. He trained hard for this exam, he worked tirelessly for over two years in perpetuation for this very day, so he was certain he would pass the exam.
Unlike Killian who'd undoubtedly fail.
That brought a grin to his face and he relaxed further.
As the carriage slowed to a stop at their destination, Zade grew nervous but he still kept his face perfectly blank, giving nothing away.
"Don't dare tell anyone that we're brothers today, I'm certain most people already forgot of your existence so we'd hopefully not be linked together." Cyrus warned darkly as he glared at Zade.
"Wouldn't dream of doing that. Not everyone wants to be linked to bullies anyway." Zade responded haugily.
He didn't see Cyrus' hand moving till the very last moment, and if he hadn't quickly lurched backward, the burst of flame that shot from Cyrus' palm would have burnt his face.
Shit. He completely forgot about that.
Cyrus' magic. He could control fire and like every other kid with unawakened paths, his magic was still grade 3 and the burst of flame had been small
Didn't mean it wouldn't have hurt if it had touched his face.
Cyrus leaned forward, a dark look in his eyes as he warned Zade to stay away from him for his own good, just as the carriage rider began to warn them agy fighting.
Cyrus alighted first and quickly walked off to join his friends, while Zade waited to control his emotions and put his thoughts under wraps.
Reminding himself it was gonna be fine, and that he had the advantage of reading the novel.
As he alighted the carriage, the rider wished him good luck before trotting away. Zade remained in the same position before starting to move in the direction every other kid present was also walking towards. By nighttime, everyone leaving this gate would have either gotten a path they'd walk in, or the complete opposite.
Zade was excited.
The kids around him were excited as well. They were in groups, laughing and talking amongst themselves.
At the bottom of the large mountain, every kid waited together in a large pile. Zade leaned against a tree, waiting for the coordinators of this exam to show up.
A kid suddenly pointed towards him and the boys around said kid turned to focus on Zade as well, and Zade groaned as they approached him. He instantly recognized the bunch: they were bullies of Killian, who happens to be Cyrus' friend group as well.
"Didn't you advise your dear brother to sit this exam out? He's just gonna fail woefully, especially since he has no magic." Terry, one of the kids in the friend group said to Cyrus who scoffed in disgust.
"For the record, he's not my brother. He was adopted, but now we're not even registered in this exam with the same surname. So, don't link us together anymore."
They were surprised, but quickly recovered.
"So you were really adopted? It makes sense why you have no magic." Ego said this time and Zade sighed and pushed away from the tree, having had enough.
"Welcome to the annual path finder exam!"
Everyone instantly stood straighter and completely focused on the middle aged man floating in the air, right over a ball of cloud. He had a staff in one hand, and it was clear that he was a mage. At B rank, he's undoubtedly a powerful being. His wind magic is at level 1 as well, enhancing his mage abilities further.
"I'll go over the rules once. Every one of you is expected to go up the mountain, into the cave, then follow your heart. The obstacles you'll face are low level ones which your grade 3 magic and willpower should be able to handle. Don't be greedy, you're to take only one thing."
He paused and everyone listened attentively.
"After you pick the object your heart has led you to, you'll be pulled into an illusion zone, where you'll have to prove yourself worthy of whatever you selected. After successfully getting the object, the final step is exiting the cave and coming down the mountain without dropping whatever you picked. If you drop it, it means you're undeserving of it, which means you've failed."
"When coming down the mountain, you'll encounter more hardship compared to climbing up the mountain, that's to prove you're deserving of a spot in Greenville Allstars academy. Go all out, our healers are on standby for any injuries you might sustain."
Zade felt excitement kick up within him.
"Now, start!"
After that, the man disappeared into thin air, and every kid instantly began to run in the direction of the mountain that loomed at the end of this road.
Once at the foot of the mountain, Zade watched as kids with earth magic began to make stairs out of the mountain, then they began to race up the mountain without hesitation. Some of their friends went up with them at once, including Cyrus.
Kids with water magic couldn't do anything with theirs because there was no water in sight, and their grade 3 magic wasn't advanced enough to pull water out from thin air or grasses yet. Those with air magic couldn't do much because their grade 3 magic wasn't strong enough to properly levitate them in the air. Those with fire magic couldn't do anything either.
Some of the kids quickly tried running up the stairs the kids with earth magic already made. Once those ones noticed, they made the stairs disappear with a flick of their fingers.
Zade knew he wouldn't have any magic to rely on, so he knew he'd be unable to climb up the mountain without the help of anything.
He pulled out his knife from the sheath and began to climb up the mountain with it.
As soon as people noticed what he was doing, they hurriedly began to mimic him.
Zade began to feel good about being the starter of this style, but that feeling disappeared when the kids quickly surpassed him despite him starting first. He realized it was because he was so weak, thanks to this useless body.
He was breathing and sweating hard, and his hands felt like they might fall off without barely getting anywhere, and he felt mortified that some of the kids who climbed up with knives after him, already got to the top of the mountain while he was barely halfway.
He glanced behind him and was bummed to see that he was the only one yet to get to the top yet. His vigor flattened and for a moment, he wondered if he'd really be able to do this. His uncle had been right, this body needed actual rest and preparation before embarking on this exam, but now it was too late to turn back.
As he resumed climbing up, a whoosh sound came from his left side. As he glanced sideways, his eyes bulged from his sockets as he saw a girl standing on what looked like a floating plank, that was moving upward like it was a lift. This girl clearly had earth magic, and as he took a closer look at her, he almost fell down the mountain on recognizing her.
She was one of the female leads of this story.
What. The. Fuck.
She stopped beside him and slowly regarded him with her large blue eyes, and Zade felt self conscious because he was sweating, dirty and breathing hard, while she looked extremely collected, her silver, long hair blowing behind her angelic looking face.
"Want a ride?" She unexpectedly offered, and Zade was frozen in shock.
She just spoke to him. A mere useless, side character. In the novel, the female leads and this character never had any interaction
Zade managed to find his words, and he responded with a polite yes.
She grinned at him and asked him to hop on, then she rambled off about how she ran late and almost missed the exam. Meanwhile Zade was still awestruck. In this novel, this girl was a literal prodigy— that's already obvious by how she could create a levitating plank with her grade 3 magic, when 99% of grade 3 earth magic users couldn't.
Once at the top of the mountain, Zade thanked her and she nodded before starting to walk right into the cave without glancing backward. A few kids instantly flocked up to her, asking her why she helped a loser up the mountain, but she ignored them.
Zade let out a deep exhale, then he flexed his arms and nodded to himself as he neared the entrance of the glowing cave.
As he stepped into the cave, he stood at the entrance and let his eyes fall close, then he let his mind become empty and soundless so he'd be able to follow his heart without troubles.