There was both this feeling of anticipation and nervousness filled the room.
Some mages sat forward eagerly, while others seemed to brace themselves for disappointment.
"Unfortunately, this list contains only thirty names," Grand Magus Thamoryn announced.
The room became tense. Their class had at least fifty people, and out of those fifty, only thirty had scored enough points.
A part of the very requirements needed to become an Initiate-ranked mage.
The Grand Magus then confirmed their fears, "Unfortunately, only the names on this list will be able to participate in the next stage of the Initiate Rank exams happening tomorrow."
Murmurs spread between the mages until Thamoryn stamped her staff on the ground. "Quiet!" she commanded, and they all stopped talking.
She continued, "The missions were given to you with the intent that your experiences against monsters would help you devise the most suitable spells for future encounters."
After a brief pause, she added, "From what I understand from the instructor, most of you went to the training room to practice, with some developing very powerful spells."
Her gaze moved around the room as she spoke, then her face broke into a smile when she found Aiden’s eyes.
Then she quickly turned away to continue speaking.
Other mages turned back to see who the Grand Magus had smiled at, which quickly became uncomfortable for Aiden as he turned his face away.
He immediately understood that the Grand Magus had been told about his fire magic technique incident at the training hall.
Thamoryn removed the ribbon from the scroll and straightened it out so she could start calling the names and their points. "I’ll call the names, guilds, and their points in order from highest to lowest," she said.
After another brief pause, she began: "Ambrose of The Fractured Stars, one hundred points; Aiden of Ravens Grave, ninety-five points; Kayden of Ravens Grave, ninety points; Laela of Ravens Grave, eighty-nine points; Amelia of The Fractured Stars, eighty-five points; Arianna of Ravens Grave, eighty points..."
She continued on and on until the last name: "...Oliver of The Fractured Stars, fifteen points."
Aiden had a contemplative expression on his face. "Hmm... Oliver, son of Garant? * he thought to himself.
He had a recollection from the day Alaric had taken him to Garant’s Shop. And how it ended with Garant asking him to look out for his son, Oliver.
His eyes looked around the class for moment, in a bid to see if he could identify Oliver by any chance.
Thamoryn rolled the scroll back up and tied it as before. "The merit stars accrued from the mission’s difficulty and your performances have been added to your guild’s overall stars," she announced.
"There won’t be stars awarded to you personally until you start completing guild tasks as Initiates."
She added, "For those of you who failed to make the list, another opportunity to earn points will be communicated to you right after the Initiate Rank Exams. Thank you."
Then she made her way out of the class through her usual entrance.
A lot of chatter immediately ensued in the classroom. Some were terribly sad they hadn’t made it to the first stage, while others had excited faces. People also started talking among themselves, asking who this Ambrose was.
Those who could identify him started pointing in his direction. One of them said, "Although Lady Amelia tried to help, that guy could have easily cleared that C-rank dungeon alone. The rest of us weren’t needed."
Ambrose sat in a corner looking rather unbothered by the announcement. A moment later, he stood from his position and walked out of the classroom, attracting further stares as people slowly started identifying who he was.
Aiden didn’t mind his score either. He seemed very satisfied with it, as did the rest of his teammates, with the exception of Kayden.
If humans truly reached a boiling point based on how angry they were, Kayden would have been releasing steam in large amounts through his ears.
First, he wasn’t at the top of the class.
Second, his worst enemy was directly above him.
Then, to make it worse, someone he didn’t think was worthy of his attention was sitting at the very top of the list.
Kayden banged the table in annoyance, stood up, and left the class in a fit of rage. The rest of the class turned toward him in surprise and simply watched as he walked away.
Arianna pulled her face down in shame and slammed her palm against her forehead, feeling very embarrassed.
From his corner, Aiden chuckled for a moment on seeing Kayden react that way and leaving afterwards , "How typical."
...
Eventually people dispersed from class, and when it was time to eat, the mages gathered at the dining hall; all except Kayden, who was currently at the Training Hall.
Today the mages didn’t have food kept on tables waiting for them.
Instead, there were kitchen servants with food pots lined up in front of the dining area, and hungry students had to go to them for servings.
Soon after Aiden had gotten his plate of food, he walked over to a corner, took a seat, and prepared to eat.
Arianna also took a plate of food, then turned to look for a place to sit. She spotted Aiden and walked toward his corner, then sat beside him.
Laela, who had been about to do the same thing, saw Arianna go sit with Aiden instead. She simply turned her head away and decided to sit somewhere else; the elf didn’t want to feel like she was being a bother.
Aiden adjusted slightly to the side to give Arianna room. Without looking at her or stopping his meal, he asked, "I assume you came here looking to scheme something new?"
Arianna smiled and took a sip from her cup. "No. I came here to talk about you instead."
"About me?" Aiden asked to make sure he’d heard correctly, before taking some water from his cup.
"Yes. Don’t you think it’s wise to want to know your allies?" Arianna said.
"We are allies with parts of an agreement to fulfill," Aiden replied, putting another spoonful of food in his mouth. "Being friends is a different thing altogether, but sure, go on."