The First Stage (85)

Akasan woke up the next day to the sound of a knock on his door.

He got up, still half asleep and opened the door.

It was Mayumi. "Oh... Mayumi. Good morning." Akasan said rubbing his eyes.

"Good morning~" Mayumi blushed. She looked away. "Um... could you at least not answer the door in your underwear?"

Akasan casually looked down. "Ah."

He closed the door for a few seconds and came back with pants on.

Mayumi nodded. "Much better. Montaro wants you. He's in the library."

Minutes later Akasan was in the library.

Montaro walked up to him. "Hey. You ready?"

Akasan raised his eyebrows. "Wait what? You're not gonna teach me some spells first?"

Montaro shook his head. "No. As Magi, we aren't allowed to teach examinees before the Magi Trials. You're on your own."

Akasan nervously swallowed. "I understand. Okay. I'm ready."

Mayumi ran to the stairway banister and called out. "Akasan!! Good luck!!"

Akasan smiled and waved.

Montaro calmly put his hands together. "Transport!"

A green magic circle appeared, and Akasan was gone.

When he came back, Akasan was in the middle of a forest somewhere.

The trees were enormous, bigger and taller than he'd ever seen. Each treetop was at least a hundred meters high, and the trunks were the width of buildings.

There were colorful plants and exotic flowers too.

Even so, Akasan was standing on a concrete platform, one that led up to a gigantic building with two metal doors that were well over fifty feet tall each.

It seemed like he was the first one there, but he noticed a boy sitting by himself under one of the giant trees.

He was pale skinned, with dark green hair and eyes. He had a few freckles on his face, and was also very skinny, Akasan noticed.

A green magic circle appeared close to Akasan, and another boy came out.

He had wild, long red hair and gray eyes. He dressed like a noble, and looked extremely dignified.

Soon after, more and more people began showing up.

Akasan sat on the ground and decided to meditate to calm his mind.

After some minutes he felt a foot push his back.

Akasan looked up. It was a girl. The first thing he noticed was that she was really beautiful. She had yellow eyes and blonde hair. She had a stern look on her face.

"Hello." Akasan said.

The girl frowned. "Don't 'hello' me. What are you here for?"

Akasan looked confused. "The Magi Trials right? Aren't we all here for that?"

The girl's expression didn't budge. "My eyes can measure magical talent. Have you never used magic before?"

Akasan shook his head.

The girl sighed. "Go home now, you won't make it here without magic." She walked away.

Akasan wondered if she was right.

A green magic circle appeared in front of the examinees.

A man walked out of it, followed by two women.

They were all dressed like nobles.

Some of the girls that were examinees started saying things to each other about the man. Like how handsome and amazing he was.

He was relatively young, with dark blue hair and black eyes. Strikingly handsome.

The man put a hand over his chest. "Welcome everyone. My name is Merlin. I am a Magi of the Magic Kingdom. The two behind are also of the same rank. We will be the examiners of this year's Magi Trials."

"Isn't he just wonderful?"

Akasan looked to his right where the blonde girl was. "You mean Merlin? Is he special or something?"

The girl frowned at him. "Seriously? You don't even know who Merlin is? He's the strongest wizard in all of Titania! Our country's hero!"

Akasan looked at Merlin again. "Ehh... he must be strong then."

The girl scoffed. "Stronger than you. Hmph."

Merlin was still talking. "The Magi Trials is composed of four stages. Those who complete all of them have the right to be called Magi. The entire exam lasts for roughly one year, depending on how long it takes you to finish. So far, only three people have won in the last eight years, so you can imagine the difficulty. There are no restrictions whether you work as a team or not. The first stage will begin shortly. You will enter these doors behind me on my mark and the Trials will start. You will survive on your own or with a group as you make your way to the next stage."

Someone raised their hand. Merlin nodded to him.

"How will we know when we're there?"

Merlin smiled. "You'll know."

Akasan looked around him. There were eighteen of them in total.

Merlin continued. "In this first stage, we are restricting you from using any spiritual essence at all. You will be limited to physical strength and magic only."

The two women behind Merlin clapped their hands together and waved them across the examinees.

Everyone received a green mark on their hand.

The doors behind Merlin opened. "Everyone form a line, going from left to right. There's room for everyone."

The examinees formed into a line.

Akasan started stretching. The other kids looked at him funny.

He then jumped in place three times. "Alright! I'm pumped up!"

The blond girl next to him laughed at him. "What are you doing?"

"Hm? I'm stretching."

She put her hands on her hips. "For what? Oh, right, I remember! You don't know how to use magic!" she said loud enough for everyone to hear, including Merlin.

He looked at Akasan. He walked up to him.

Akasan didn't expect this.

Merlin held his hand out expecting a handshake. "You're Akasan correct?"

Akasan shook his hand. "Yeah, how do you know?"

Merlin smiled. "Most of the higher-ups worldwide know who you are by now. I never would have guessed that you'd be taking the Trials."

Merlin then glanced at the green-haired kid. He then walked back to his original position. "I'm expecting great things from both of you."

All of the girls were giving Akasan an annoyed look.

Merlin and the women with him started flying in the air. .

Merlin held his hand up. "On my mark!"

Akasan put his hands on the ground, like a sprinter.

Everyone laughed at him some more.

"Three! Two! One! Begin!"

Akasan darted off, leaving everyone behind as he was the first one through the doors.

Everyone else running was in shock.

The blond girl's eyes widened. "He's fast!" She frowned, clapping her hands together. "Flight!" She rose in the air and darted off as well.

All of the kids used some sort of magic spell to move quicker.

The quiet green-haired kid clapped his hands together. "Magic Art: Speed Enhancement." He started running faster.

The terrain in which they were running through was certainly unorthodox. The walls and floors were olive green, and all of the platforms were made up of small and large cubes that were up to eighty feet tall and wide.

Akasan had an easy time. He was jumping over the cubes and dashing as fast as he could.

The green-haired kid caught up to him, running on his left side.

They were faster than everyone else.

Soon a large beast came out of a path to the right. It was a four-legged creature with an ivory horn and a spiked tail. It was huge. The beast had brown skin, and orange fur in some places, especially its face, which had small eyes and a large nose.

"What is that?!" Akasan said.

The kid next to him answered. "It's a Corlyx, a kind of magic beast. This one's a medium size."

*"Medium size?!"* Akasan thought. *"This thing's enormous!"*

The corlyx bared its fangs and roared. It charged the examinees.

The blonde-haired girl held her hands out. An orange magic circle appeared. "Firebolt!"

A shot of flames came out of the circle and zipped straight between Akasan and the other kid.

It hit the corlyx. It let out a roar.

The fire didn't have much effect on it though.

The girl's eyes widened. "It's resistant to fire?!"

The green-haired kid looked annoyed. "It's a magic beast. Of course it is. It's resistant to most magic spells."

Akasan jumped in the air.

All the kids watched as he brung his heel down on the beast's back.

The corlyx lost its footing, and the surrounding area started shaking.

Everyone was shocked.

The green-haired kid smiled. A golden cross appeared in his hand.

It was large, and he held it upside down like a sword. He swiped it at the corlyx and cut it in half.

The corlyx then vanished into green shards.

Akasan and the other kid looked at each other and gave each other a thumbs up.

"I'm Judah, seventeen."

"Akasan, sixteen."

The other kids started running ahead.

The blond girl stopped. "Hey, Akasan was it? How are you using your essence?"

Akasan looked at her. "Huh? I'm not."

"What?!! You expect me to believe that you're that strong without using any type of energy?!"

Akasan shrugged. "If I was using energy I would be way stronger. I haven't really done anything crazy."

Judah started laughing. "That's hilarious."

The girl pointed at Akasan. "What's your magic aptitude?"

Akasan looked dumbfounded. "My what?"

"Your magic aptitude? You found out right? When you put your hand on the crystal ball and it glows?"

Akasan remembered. "Oh that! I'm a tier ten."

The girl's mouth hung open.

Judah smiled. "Hey! Me too!!"

They fist bumped.

"Nice!!" they said together.

The blond girl crossed her arms. "Honestly, I can't believe that a tier ten was wasted on someone who doesn't even know a single spell." She looked at Akasan. "Here. I'll show you one spell okay?"

Akasan nodded.

She sighed. "Okay. First you clap your hands together like this. This hand sign allows magic to flow freely from one side of your body to the other. I'm sure you'll be able to tell when you're using magic and when you're using energy. Depending on how much mana you draw out will determine what tier spell you use. This is a tier two spell."

She clapped her hands together. "Magic Art: Torch."

She raised her right hand. A magic circle appeared over it, and then fire appeared in her hand. "See? It's just a harmless spell used when you need light."

She started flying again.

"Wait!" Akasan said. "I didn't catch your name."

She blushed a little, frowning and looking away. "That's because I didn't throw it!"

She started flying away. "It's Annya!" she said as she left.

Judah started running. "We should work together, I'll teach you some real spells later, but only if you teach me how to throw kicks like that."

Akasan ran after him. "Yeah, deal!"