In the northwestern area of Launtel was ten acres of land owned by the Windel Academy. The land included area within the city and area in the wilderness. Within the city safe zone was the main campus, which included academic buildings and dormitories.

The gated archway of the Academy were raised up by 77 steps and heavily secured by magical barriers and guards. It stood before a large ceremonial courtyard that could comfortably accommodate 30,000 spectators. On a typical day, the courtyard was regularly used by merchants and vendors. However, weeks before the start of a new semester, the courtyard was used as the exam location.

"Is everything prepared for the examination week?" inquired Vice Dean Araba, a stern man wearing a black robe, skimming through a pile of paperwork.

The three department heads appointed by the Academic, Cultivation and Magic Branch made their report and proposals before the Vice Dean of Examination Division. To create a fair environment, the exams were different every year. The Windel Academy accepted students from seven to thirty years of age.

"We are expecting another record number of applicants this year," said Department Head Ren, a soft spoken elderly man from the Academic Branch. "Likely over 15,000, from all over the continent."

Vice Dean Araba nodded. "Is 6 days going to be enough to test everyone?"

The department heads nodded.

"Most applicants are from the age of seven to nine. There are very few who are older, so the range of exams won't be too wide."

"All right, we will proceed with the plan," Vice Dean Araba nodded. "Is there anyone in particular we need to make accommodations for?"

Aside from creating exams, the Examination Division was also in charge of accommodating special enrollment applicants. Although the Academy was a separate entity from the Empires, they still had to maintain a good relationship with the Kelseran Empire, its neighboring empires and the royalties.

"The 2nd prince, Taishen, of the Totuman Empire and the Kelseran Empire sent the 7th Princess, Reina," said Department Head Grist, a relaxed middle age man with thick mustache. "There are four other princes and princesses. We have allowed them to have one servant and two additional bodyguards."

Vice Dean Araba nodded. "Lady Tessa, is there any particular students your branch is considering?"

"We have our eyes on a couple," remarked an elderly lady of high bearing.

Tight-lipped as usual, Vice Dean Araba thought.

Taking the proposals, Vice Dean Araba set the logistics for the examination. Pre-registration had started a month ago and they were still receiving more applicants. The first day of the exam was the last day of registration.

A week later, the courtyard was all set up for the exam.

According to the registration clerk, Nico was arranged to start the test on day 2 based on the token number. Token number 1 to 5,500 had to report on day 1, token number 5,501 to 11,000 on day 2, and token number 11,000 to 15,987 on day 4. Nico token number was 8425, so he arrived on day 2.

Nico walked to the back of a line, one out of more than 150 lines, near the right side of the courtyard. They were divided up by age group. Nico was one of the older applicants and therefore, placed toward the right. There were around 100 students his age, and only a dozen who looked older.

Nico was too far in the back of the line to see what was going on in front, but he noticed many professors standing atop the ceremonial steps to watch the results. The majority of the professors wore purple robes. The Spirit Orb test was the most basic test, but it was the most important one. Many professors used the result as the basis for taking in students.

"The Spirit Orb measures a person Spiritual Root, meridian, and aura," a voice explained. "The spiritual root determines the person overall strength. The number of meridians determines the speed of the person's cultivation. The number of auras determines the speed of a person's magic. As you approach the Spirit Orb, simply place your hand over the orb."

The students slowly shuffled up the lines to take the test.

"Water root 2, meridian 1, aura 1," said a proctor examining a water droplet and numbers emerging from the orb. "Average."

The applicants with below average grades paled and lowered their heads in shame. Average grades were not acceptable, and the applicants were required to turn in their numbered tokens.

"Knife root 2, meridian 2, aura 1," said a proctor. "Hm.. You have a good chance at cultivation."

"Sparrow root 2, meridian 1, aura 2. Good as a magician."

"Wind root 3, meridian 1, aura 2. Very good."

"Pole root 3, meridian 2, aura 2. Great."

For the majority of the day, the test was uneventful.

"Today isn't as good as yesterday," remarked one of the professors. "Prince Taishen has the Azure Lightning root 5, meridian 2, and aura 2 with an excellent grade."

"Theo of the Deraon Clan has the Pinnacle Sword root level 3, meridian 4, and aura 1 with also an excellent grade. That is a bit more focused and useful," commented a professor from the Cultivation Branch.

"Alina of the Iced Palace may be the most talented," said a professor from the Magic Branch. "Crystal Snow root level 4, meridian 1, aura 4, an excellent grade."

"That is to be expected, most of the royalties and clan members were tested on the first day."

Most, but not all. When a little girl with purple eyes and yellow dress approached the spirit orb, many professors unconsciously followed their eyes. Princess Reina was said to be a talented child since birth. As everyone turned their attention to the little seven years old girl, she looked unafraid of the attention.

The girl placed her hands over the orb, and waited. Golden rays of light and blazing fire appeared with 6, 3, and 4.

"Sunlight Fire 6, meridian 3 and aura 4, genius," said the proctor.

All the professors grasped in unison. That was a crazy amount of number for a seven years old child. It was going to be a war between the professors to take her in as their students.

Nico watched as the line shortened. There were very few unexpected results. When there was, he could hear the excitement from the professors and spectators.

At first, very few people paid attention to the young 13-years old boy named Vincent, except for some of the young girls fawning from the sideline. Judging from his attire, the boy was a hunter and grew up from a poor family. There wasn't much expectation for the boy. However, as the Spirit Orb reacted to his touch, an image of shining white tiger appeared.

The proctor inspected the image. He was shocked to see a legendary white tiger from legend.

"Heavenly white tiger 6, meridian 3, aura 3, ace," said the proctor.

Although it wasn't a genius level like Princess Reina, many professors were more impressed by Vincent. Princess Reina and many clan members grew up in a good environment and possessed many resources. Vincent had very little, but he was still capable of an excellent score. None of the professors could have imagined what sort of powerhouse Vincent could become with proper guidance and resources.

"There's going to be another war," commented the professor. "A heavenly white tiger is a top tier spirit root from the Kanon Clan. Is the boy related to them somehow?"

The professors were unsure, but his name was on top of their recruitment list.

Then it was finally Nico's turn.

Nico pulled up his status box to compare it with the Spirit Orb.

Status:

Manaroot: Chaos 6

Mananode: 1

Manaspirit: Midnight Koi 29

Strength: 42

FP: 23/23

Defense: 30

Speed: 30

Magic: 36

Mp: 72/72

Resistance: 32

Casting: 24

Nico placed his hands over the spirit orb and watched the smoke swirled inside. Too bad it wasn't night time, Nico wanted to see the mechanism behind the spirit orb.

The spirit orb blacked out.

Damn, it's a blackout, thought the proctor.

Proctors had to memorize thousands of possible spiritual roots that had manifested throughout human civilization. Blackouts were one of the toughest to identify. It was difficult to distinguish darkness, shadows, dark oceans, and space. With shadows, there were slight movement, dark oceans had ripples, and space had tiny speckles of light, so it wasn't likely to be those. It could be a chaotic root if the levels are high.

The numbers appeared in glowing light against the dark background. The proctor was relieved to see a high number.

"Chaotic root 6, meridian 1, aura 1, good," said the proctor.

A few professors from the Cultivation Branch glanced over at Nico.

"Professor Clemson, it's a Chaotic spiritual root, his meridian and aura are both low, but it could be compensated for," observed Professor Quin.

"Chaotic roots are not unusual, but we are missing damage dealers on our team," remarked Professor Clemson. "Keep an eye out for him during the Boulder of Bastiles test."

There was a sub-warrior class that revolved around the chaotic spiritual roots called the berserkers.

After the test, Nico returned to the inn. On the 4th day, Nico and all the applicants with the numbered tokens returned to the plaza. Only 2,160 students remained after the 3-days Spirit Orb test. Nico noticed Yuri waiting in the far left. From what he had heard from Easton, Yuri made it through with a Hound root 1, meridian 2 and aura 2 and a good grade.

Nico was standing in a row with seven other boys and one girl, ranging from 12-15. Their row was the shortest and they were a good head taller than everyone else taking the test.

"Man, I can't believe I have made this far," said a 15-years old boy. He was very skinny, but his posture was sturdy. "Xavier is the name."

Everyone in the row introduced themselves-- Marcus, Vincent, Datan, Rory, Garret, Jack, and Anya.

Vincent and Jack wore ordinary linen clothes and were likely from lower class families. Everyone else dressed well, most likely children of low ranking officials and upper class families. Nico himself was wearing a nice navy cotton tunic that resembled a t-shirt, but it could easily be mistaken as lower class garment. Since they were all older than 12, they all had working experience.

"I work as a clerk for my grandfather, he is the town judge," said Anya, an out-spoken and tall girl. She gazed curiously at Vincent, who was tall, fit and very attractive for a boy of 13. "What do you do?"

"I'm an apprentice blacksmith," Vincent replied.

"No wonder you look so fit," Jack remarked, he was of medium height and while not as fit as Vincent, was toned. "I work in a ranch."

"Whoa, Jack, you work on a farm too?" Asked Nico.

"A ranch, it's slightly different from a farm," said Jack. "I take care of horses."

After some discussion, one of the boys remembered something and gawked at Vincent.

"Ah, I remember you! You're the ace from day four," said Datan, the slightly talkative boy pointing at Vincent.

Vincent shrugged awkwardly. Everyone stared at Vincent in amazement, they had all heard rumors about the ace from day four.

Nico laughed and patted Datan on the back. "Does a prosecutor's son have a habit of pointing?" asked Nico. "He's not on trial or anything."

Datan realized his social gaffe and cleared his throat.

"Uh... So what is the next test going to be?" asked Datan.

"Most likely a physical test," said Xavier, from a family of scholars. "Do you see the giant boulders near the ceremonial stairs? They are the Boulder of Bastiles, commonly used to test physical strength."

When everyone was in their correct rows, a voice explained the test, it was similar to Xavier's explanation.

The proctor called the first in line, Rory, up first and told him to punch the boulder as hard as possible. They each have three tries and the highest result would be recorded.

They were told that it wouldn't hurt, but Rory still hesitated to hit the boulder with his full strength. He didn't want to bust his knuckles, so his first punch was weak. His fist lightly pounded into the boulder and left a dent. The dent disappeared as soon as he pulled back his punch.

It was like an illusion.

A number appeared on the boulder, 31.

Rory tried harder on the second try, 45.

On the last try, he got 59, which was the average for his age.

Xavier was up next.

His attacks were embarrassing, as bad as the younger children. His best was 53.

Jack took position when it was his turn. His stance wasn't traditional, but it looked natural and practiced. He did surprisingly well with 126, matching a lot of the excellent grade kids.

Many professors watched as Vincent approached the Boulder of Bastiles. He positioned himself in front of the boulder. Nico observed that his stance was slightly awkward. He was untrained, but his posture was similar to a street brawler.

His first punch landed, 190.

His second punch, 251.

"What's the highest recorded punch for the Boulder of Bastiles during an exam?" asked Department Head Grist.

"635," said the assistant. "But the applicant at that time was 22 years old, and a very experienced warrior. For his age group, 328."

Vincent summoned all his strength for the last punch. His left foot stepped forward, and he prepared enough momentum to strike. He pounded into the boulder.

Boom!

A new number appeared.

333.

"That boy is already utilizing spirit force," Department Head Grist noted. "It won't be long before he becomes a cultivator."

"Yes, but Lady Tessa and the Magic Branch are also eyeing him," said the assistant.

"We can let them have Princess Reina, but we can't let them take this boy," said Department Head Grist.

Datan was up next, but Vincent was a tough act to follow. He managed to get 61.

The proctor called Nico up to the boulder. Nico approached the boulder and positioned his body to prepare a jab. He inhaled and then jabbed at the boulder, 156.

Well, that wasn't too bad, he thought.

Nico returned to his punch stance and punched again.

155.

"Okay, I think I got the hang of it," Nico said to the proctor, who stared blankly back at Nico in response.

Nico stretched his neck and cracked his knuckles. He returned to the punch stance, but this time, he concentrated.