CHAPTER 17 - The strange request.

"That was the only person in this gathering of students that gave you a nice vibe? In what manner? Can you explain? I only see him lifting weights with a clear scowl that says do not talk to me." Azyl hastily said to Woulf who had already started walking towards said person.

"Hey don't be judging based on appearances. I have been observing him since start due to his appearance and I am always right about people. You know I was right about you." Zewoulf told him, as they now were already before the hulking person.

Up close, Azyl didn't actually feel that the much intimidated, as the person actually sported a foolish grin on his face as he exercised. That one factor made him seem all more approachable suddenly, but still Azyl waited a step behind his friend.

As he looked at the person, although the student was quite taller than him, he realized that he would only be at most two years older than him. And while the muscles looked scary, his darker color hid his grin.

"And this is my friend Azyl, we are dorm-mates actually."

Suddenly Zewoulf took his name that brought him back from his musings.

"Hello, I am Azyl." He hastily answered while moving his hand forward automatically.

The boy gripped his hand, covered actually and shook them with vigor as he answered, "Hi, I am Nigel. Nice to meet you both."

His smile remained on his face all the while as he continued to shake his hand. Although he didn't apply much strength in it, Azyl still felt his shoulder socket coming loose. The guy had a bigger stature in the end, so even normal actions were a bit much for Azyl, who was used to being lax and avoid any manual work. A frail body like his was like a twig in storm when he shook hands with Nigel.

Once that was done, Zewoulf immediately got to the main topic of why they had come his way.

"So were hoping that you would tell us a little about what we might face tomorrow or any other related clue if you can."

"Sure, thats really simple. It isn't really a secret or something that shouldn't be disclosed. In fact I also need to talk to you guys a little, so lets first find a place to sit and exchange information." He answered enthusiastically.

Both of them got a little confused when he said about needing to talk to them about something as well, but they felt a little relieved at his easygoing nature so agreed to let him lead the way.

Soon they entered the Dining hall and after picking up their breakfast from the counter, they sat at an empty table. Nigel had filled up his plate with servings that would fill three people, but the other two felt nothing wrong with that.

"Hm, so you must be the sloth that people keep speaking about? The number one lazy student of our academy." Nigel suddenly spoke, laughing a little at the strange title.

Azyl did not expect this to come up, but as he was aware of this he could not help feel a little sheepish. But he also noticed that Nigel meant nothing bad so he laughed it off and answered,

"Yes and my friend is the number one hardworking student, the complete opposite of me." He laughed. It was true though as thats how Woulf was.

"Yeah, even though its not as widespread, people know about him as well. As new students, its not easy to gain a reputation around, that too among the senior students as well. It doesn't matter whether it is good or bad." Nigel commented.

"Okay now let me tell you a little about what you can expect tomorrow for your initiation exam."

"One thing you need to be aware is that, what I tell is not guaranteed and final as the real initiation exam changes every year. The academy is only twelve years old in terms of teaching Element cultivation, so they keep innovating in terms of testing and finding talented people. They will devise a lot more tests and this will keep up in the coming years as well."

"So the only reliable fact that I can give you is that there are three stages to the initiation test. And the first two stages are going to be testing your latent potential, but the technology for it isn't accurate always and the results from that only contribute like twenty percent to your result. The main test that changes every year is gonna be a more practical task. You will be given a task to perform, and while performing that you are observed to mark you. They see how you put to practice what you have learnt in the past two weeks and what you can do on your own."

"Basically your own learning and adapting capabilities. Because no matter how talented you may be, unless you have a brain that can think fast and act, talent won't save your from danger. As for the first two tests, it should be related to your elemental affinity and prana level if I remember right."

Nigel calmly told them all that he knew about the initiation test. Azyl was surprised at the thorough way he listed out everything. But once he learned of the clear details of the test, he relaxed a little. Although it wasn't going to be easy in any way, he felt there was a slightly better chance than before for him. At least he thought that there was no way for him to get expelled in this scenario. According to what Zewoulf had told him yesterday evening, he was better than most other in regards to prana level.

The elemental affinity was something that was up to luck and not everyone that was tested got to awaken it. So it was not like if you did not awaken any elemental affinity that you could not get a chance in the Elemental cultivation. Nigel did not continue to explain why that was so, instead he then looked at them both after he was done explaining and paused for a second.

"So now let me also explain what I need to talk to you about."

"First of all you should know that the senior students that are going to participate in this are not all the ones aiming to get into the Elemental class. In fact once you get started with your classes in earnest, you will start to understand that Elemental class isn't the only way to be strong or improve yourself. All the three main classes are equal in individual strength aspect in this academy. Its just the resources that are allotted to element class are more. But that aside, the main reason for the seniors participating in this along with you juniors is that we gain extra credits if we perform well. And one way to do better in this exam is to team up with the juniors to complete the task given out to us."

"Don't be mistaken that teaming up means we will help each other complete our tasks. No, instead the teaming up is to perform better or rather outperform than what is expected by us. Its a way that is now commonly utilised and also accepted by the academy. But we can only team up with one junior, so I would like you to choose among yourself as I don't want to do that."

Nigel finished his explanation. He was almost done with his breakfast, while Azyl and Zewoulf had long completed.

The sudden request that he put before them was surprising, but Azyl felt a little strange.