"Oh Danny, I knew you were going to do well here! I am so sorry Sarah and Barb couldn't come, the store can't be closed for everything. They did send you some gifts with us. I left them with your father... where did he go this time." Danny's mother was looking back down the hall from the doorway to Danny's dorm room.

"Mom, I'm sure he's fine, how’s the store doing? Are your crafts still selling like they used too," Danny asked.

Looking back into the room, his mother replied, "What, oh everything going great, can't get my leather bags made fast enough. I had to take on another apprentice just to keep them from beating down the front door to look for me."

His mother laughed at her own joke.

"Hey son! I see your mother already found you. Where can I set this down," His father said with a groan.

Danny helped his dad put the heavy box on the floor in a corner.

"What is all this stuff," Danny asked.

"Well, we really were not sure what to get you for a present, so I took Sarah shopping and she helped me find a few thing you might need to start that hobby of yours. Did you get a chance to finish the book we bought you last time," his mother asked.

"Yeah mom, I just finished it. I haven't had much time though, our school schedule is pretty hectic," Danny explained.

"Danny, you don't need to work so hard, take it easy every now and then. You are young, enjoy life while you can. If you really like this alchemy stuff then make time to relax and have fun. I don't want you exhausting yourself. We were proud of you before you did all this," Danny's father said with a concerned smile.

Danny looked at his father smiling, "Dad, I'm fine honestly. Thank you both very much for the gift and thank Sarah and Barb too. Now we need to get going or I am going to be late!"

The arena was packed with students and their parents. Danny went down to the ground floor to stand with the other new adepts. He was nervous about getting up in front of the huge crowd and was ready for this to be over with. He wished they would just send someone to his room with his new vests and a nicely worded letter congratulating him on his success. He'd put it on his wall in a nice frame made of some expensive wood from some elven forest. He wondered if the elves would be angry for cutting down tre..."

"Welcome! Today, we all gather here to acknowledge the accomplishments of the worthy students who stand here before us. It is with great struggle and sacrifice we reach out into the world, to grasp that part which we would call our own. Yesterday these individuals reached out and grabbed hold the mantle of adept. Will you all join me in congratulating them," Archwizard Storm said and applauded with the entire arena.

The Archwizard stood on a raised platform before the rows of new adepts. He held up his hands for silence. Once the crowds quieted he continued, "Instructors please come forward and present your pupils with their new vests."

Danny watched as Wizard August emerged from the ground access with the rest of the instructors. Danny hadn't seen him, really, since the dual casting demonstration.

"Congratulations initiate Creek, you have earned this," Wizard August said with a smile.

After Danny took off his brown vest, August handed him a vest of grey on one side and white on the other.

"Thank you, Wizard August," came Danny's short and polite reply.

Ignoring August's presence Danny put on his new vest. Who knew a simple color change in one's wardrobe could so greatly affect your feelings on the world around you.

The Archwizard stepped forward again and said, "Now I would like to recognize those individuals who did exceptionally in the different elemental affinity exams. When I call your name please step forward."

The Archwizard then called on a single adept from the group on the floor for each of the elements fire, water, and life. He gave each of them a pendant with a crystal of their affinity. Like the light crystal, these crystals are rarer still and highly sought after. The fire crystal would warm the caster when the stone was touched. The water crystal would dry the caster when touched. The life crystal would heal any who touched it. Touching the crystals pulls available mana from the wearer. The biggest benefit of the crystals was their extremely efficient use of mana.

"Adept Danny Creek, please step forward," the Archwizard called out.

Like the rest of those called out Danny's instructor came with him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Wizard August put on an award winning smile. Stepping up to the stage, Danny and August walked over to the Archwizard.

Placing a hand on Danny's shoulder, the Archwizard turned in all directions as he addressed the crowd, "It is with great pleasure that I award adept Creek with the award for highest score in the stone exam." Waiting until the crowd quieted down, he held his hand up for silence, "It is also with great pleasure that I award adept Creek with the award for highest score in the air exam." The crowd applauded even louder than before. Once again the Archwizard raised his hands for silence. "Lastly, it is with great pleasure that I acknowledge adept Creek as having been the youngest student to reach adept in two affinities in the school's history." With that the crowd surged to their feet in applause.

Danny was shocked. He thought with Wizard Basalt's comment he might get the top score for the stone exam, but also getting top score in the air exam came out of left field. It was some time before the Archwizard could quiet the audience.

"Adept Creek, please accept this reward," said the Archwizard as he reached out and placed a pendent with three crystals around his neck. "This pendant represents the great accomplishment you have made. The stone crystal will allow you sure footing through swamps, deserts, rivers, and other terrains as long as you store mana in it. The air crystal will keep you cool and dry. Lastly, the mana crystal will store mana when you will it to and give it when it is needed. Congratulations, you have earned these."

Through the roar of the crowd Danny made sure to bow to the Archwizard and thank him for this generous gift. If he heard Danny, that was unclear. Danny bowed to the crowd in thanks for their standing ovation. As Danny turned and head back down to his spot on the floor he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Wizard August waiving to the crowd like a beauty pageant winner.

Danny's parents were thrilled with his awards and couldn't have been more proud of him. Unfortunately they were not allowed to stay on the campus much longer after the ceremony. Before they left the stadium he was given a cloth sack with more vests of the same style he was wearing. He was told to leave his old vests with the dorm wizard. Wizard August made sure to meet his parents and play the role of supportive instructor. Danny didn't care as long as their arrangement benefitted him. August wanted to see Danny the next morning, preferably before class, as they had things to discuss.

He was given a new room on the second floor. This one had a window looking over a garden area between his and the next dorm over. Not all the rooms on the second floor had views like this, or windows at all. He wasn't sure if the room was a result of luck or because of his recent actions but he planned on enjoying it. He made sure to get his hidden money, which he had barely spent, out of the space under the floor in his old room.

He hid the money again in the wall above his desk. His room, with bed, desk, drawers, and chest, was only slightly bigger than his previous one, but now had its own private bathroom. Danny won't mind being able to take baths or use the restroom whenever he wanted, instead of waiting for a shower or stall to free up.

At supper that night, he sat with Peter and David who wouldn't stop asking about the exams or his new pendant. Strangers and a few of his classmates would randomly come up and congratulate him or ask him similar questions about the exam as well. Danny was feeling more and more like hiding in his room till this popularity died down.

"So, how much more powerful does the mana stone make you," asked Peter excitedly.

"I would say that it holds about twice my current mana," Danny sad with a smile.

David looked a little reluctant, but said anyway, "Danny, you just unlocked your mana half a year ago. Your maximum mana will increase as you get older. Right now, your mana is probably at the lowest amount you will ever have it."

Danny suddenly realized that if it hadn't been for the abnormally high mana reserves, from the seven years head start he had on the rest of the boys, he wouldn't have been able to complete either of the challenges as quickly as he had. Danny subconsciously reached up to touch the pendant around his neck. He couldn't help but feel like the pendent around his neck was more a testament to his cheating, than any accomplishment he had made on his own merit. If he truly thought about it, he had even more mana than the students who had been here for years. If someone had a high mana regeneration and flow rate like his classmate Peak, they might have been able to pull of what he had. Then on top of that he already had over twenty years of experience problem solving issues in his old life. Danny was not pleased with himself, but he was also determined to grow stronger. He couldn't dwell on this too long, or it would consume him. David looked worried as he saw the range of emotions playing over Danny's face.

David raised his hands as if he could physically stop the direction Danny's thoughts were heading, saying, "Hey Danny, I'm sorry! I am sure you will get some good use out of it."

"What? Oh no, I was just thinking if I could take the fire adept exam in the spring," Danny said absently.

"You could do that, there are only rules preventing you from taking the same affinity exam more than half a year apart. But wouldn't you want to start working on acquiring your wizard qualification in stone or air first," David asked?

"I haven't asked and no one's ever mentioned what the requirements are to get a wizard qualification," Danny admitted.

"After the adept exam, getting your wizard qualification is like any other profession. You have to do an apprenticeship working under a wizard of the same element. Once you complete a year or two with them, they can recommend you for qualification. The time depends on how well you do. If a wizard promotes too many adepts to wizard that later show incompetence, they are not allowed any further apprentices without intervention by the Archwizard," Peter explained. "My dad has an apprentice right now. Like an apprentice in any other profession, it can slow things down when training them, but in the end their work gets done quicker. With earth wizards this is especially true as it takes so much mana to use the spells."

Danny thought for a second and said, "That makes sense, but up to two years?"

"Danny, we can't all breeze through this stuff like you. Also, some apprenticeships last even longer than that, if the apprentice doesn't perform well," David admonished him.

"Yeah, your right. So what does an air wizard do anyway? Knock over things with wind," Danny asked sarcastically.

"Usually they go into the military branch and are used for their attack spells. Some are hired by major industrial families to help supplement the wind power to their different mills. The wind generated also sends a lot of smells from the populated areas."

Looking deadpanned at the two initiates, Danny asked, "So my choices for air are, making a giant fan spin, or fighting in the army..."

Peter interrupted, with a mouth full of food, saying, "Or swailin!"

Danny looked at Peter for a second before figuring it out, and said, "Or pushing a sail on a ship?"

"Well, you would only need to push it to get away from major storms or pirates," clarified Peter.

Danny looked over at David as if to ask him how did that make it any better. David just smiled and shrugged.