It started with a slight chuckle and then proper laughter from Katherine followed.
The other captains and Thamoryn looked at her, wondering where that had come from.
Then she spoke to Aiden, and to their hearing, "None of these people here will admit it, but you scared us for a moment there."
Then she laughed some more.
None of the captains said anything; some even turned their faces away as Katherine had just embarrassed them.
And yes, they were scared, though not for their lives. It was more about how unexpected the spell from Aiden came.
Not one of them would have been able to see that coming.
The sound of Thamoryn clearing her throat made Katherine muffle her chuckles down.
She then spoke to Aiden: "I have never seen such magic power and technique coming from one presumably inexperienced with magic."
She immediately spoke what everyone was thinking.
"Then I remember that at some point in my life, some people thought the same of me too," she added, which made her smile a bit.
This was referring to when she joined the Magic Academy with lots of experience with magic beforehand.
"That spell is downright the most powerful I’ve seen all day. You pass!" she said, commending and passing him at the same time.
Aiden nodded in acknowledgment, then turned to leave.
Morgan, who had returned to the entrance after the fire magic stopped, moved away as if trying to avoid physical contact with Aiden.
Aiden stepped out to see the distressed faces of the other mages who waited outside.
They all looked at him with some form of terror in their eyes as he walked back into their midst.
Except Kayden, however, who only seemed to be gritting his teeth from a corner as Aiden walked by.
He hated this feeling inside that reminded him that his magic power and expertise still paled in comparison to Aiden’s.
Ambrose, on the other hand, had scoffed slightly, though he acknowledged Aiden’s power regardless.
Everyone there had all suffered the effects of his magic power, although nothing compared to the intensity it would have been if they were inside the hall like the captains.
...
Not long after, the mages were all called back in for the final results to be called out.
When they had arrived back at the exam halls, the debris on the ground, the cracks; all of it had been fixed back into place. It looked as if it had suffered no form of damage at all.
That was all Captain Charlotte’s doing.
The Grand Magus walked toward them with a little box and a list in her hand. Then she looked at them and said, "So first of all, everyone here passed. You are all officially Initiates!"
There was jubilation in the voices of a few of them, while some just had happy faces.
Some had no expression at all, as they expected nothing less.
"I must say some of the spells I saw today were very impressive. This current set of mages are really something," she added.
There was a brief pause after which she gestured toward the instructor at the back to come forward.
When Morgan arrived, she placed the box in his palm and opened it.
These were the badges that they would attach to their uniforms to signify they were Initiate-ranked mages.
Thamoryn picked one of these tiny bronze-colored badges and gestured toward them to come one by one and receive the badge.
They would then attach the badges anywhere on their uniforms. This would allow for proper identification moving forward.
After it had been handed out to the last person, she spoke: "And as promised, this display also counted toward your first merit stars as Initiates. So I’ll be listing out your names and star counts."
Most of the mages got anxious at this point, wondering just how many stars they could have possibly gotten.
Thamoryn stretched out the list she held and started calling names one by one according to those with highest star counts.
"Aiden of Ravens Grave, 8 stars; Kayden of Ravens Grave, 6 stars; Laela of Ravens Grave, 6 stars; Ambrose of The Fractured Stars, 5 stars..."
Like that, she kept calling their names and star counts until it was concluded.
Katherine turned her head slowly toward Cassian, who turned to look at her as well.
She smiled and then moved her head away. Cassian shook his head and turned away as well.
They said no words, but she definitely wanted him to realize that the new members of her guild were currently topping out and earning the highest merit stars.
Kayden grumbled as usual, and Aiden was excited. Though not because of the stars per se, but because he loved the frown he knew it would put on his roommate’s face.
"Once you all leave these halls, you are expected to get back to your dorms, pack your items, and head straight to the guild wing. You are no longer Academy mages and should not be in the dormitory any longer," Thamoryn said.
Somehow this made the females happier. They would finally get some real privacy when going to bathe.
The Grand Magus continued, "Most of the guidance to be offered to you in your journey within this Academy will now start coming from your Guild Captains. It is with great honor and pleasure that I can say this and really mean it..."
"Welcome to Oakenheart."
AUTHOR’S NOTES:
Hey guys, with this, our first Mini Arc has finally come to an End.
I want to say thank you all for making it this far.
From tomorrow, 07-09-2025, Guaranteed Release time schedule would be 5PM UTC.
That is not say, there wont be more Chapters released within the same daily timeframe, ofcourse expect more. That’s how it has always been. That’s how it’ll always be.
Please do not forget to vote with tickets, and Powerstones.
If you can, i’m a fan of gifts too. Expect a 3 Chapters Mass Drop Tomorrow. Thank You all