Another hour just passed by, and became more nervous. As we spend time wandering around the village, we can see that a lot of people are now gathering at the plaza, even exceeding all the seats provided for spectators.

A variety of people were there like swordsmen, mages, soldiers of the Royal Army seen standing in formations. There's even a few fancy-dressed people in there, which I guess might be either wealthy merchants or nobles.

"Wow, what in the hell brought all these people in here?!" Sebastian exclaimed.

I have a feeling that it might be the assessment. No...it is the assessment. But, why? Normally in other assessments only most of the villagers would be here at best. This is strange. Something big might happen sooner or later. I better keep my wits about me.

As we made our way through the crowd, I finally saw mom and dad. Dad was talking with a middle-aged man, clad in high quality-looking mage equipment and a long, golden staff adorned with different gems. Besides the middle-aged man, I can see several people looking at my dad, mostly ones from the Royal Army. Strange. I can somehow sense hostility in their gaze, maybe even...fear?

Another thing I noticed is that, behind dad was a humongous 2 meter long, black metal sword. The hilt's design, which I could only describe as some kind of ancient beast - maybe even a monster, made it look eerie for some reason. I've never seen that sword in the house before, nor did my dad tell me anything about it.

After a while, the two finally finished talking. It seems that from the conversation, he and the mage must be on good terms. Possibly even friends.

"Hey mom, hey dad!" I greeted them.

"Hey Sion, better get ready soon. You're not nervous are you? " mom said as she smiled at me.

"I'll be fine mom. Oh and dad, what's with the sword?" I asked with a curious look on my face.

"Oh, this?" he pointed at his back "This is just to make me look cool! I don't want to look weak in front of these people after all, hahaha!" He said with a non-chalant attitude.

Knowing my father, I almost believed his nonsensical explanation. But the slight worry on my mom's expression had made me realize that it might just be a facade. Now I'm sure that something must be going on in here that I'm not aware of.

"Dad, will you please-" my words were interrupted by the voice of the mage from earlier.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen. My name is Cedric Exvius. I am sent here by the Insignia Academy to conduct the 216th youth assessment of Tinoa Village." he said with a voice both loud and clear, clearly assisted by magic.

All of a sudden, countless exclamations was heard from the crowd.

"Cedric Exvius, isn't he a Magus?"

"Yeah, didn't you know? He's the only disciple of Dominic Leylin, one of the three Grand Magi of the Thyrian Continent!"

"Why is he here then? Isn't a Mage or an Archmage already enough for an assessment?"

"Silence." Cedric said. And as if his words had power, the chatter stopped immediately.

"We shall now proceed. I would like to call Selena Rivendale. Please come here to receive your assessment."

After a moment of silence, a nervous Selena came out of the crowd. To be honest I really think I wouldn't be any different, with all the people gathered here and even a Magus as the conductor of the assessment

"I will now assess your [Status]. Don't worry lass, this won't hurt a bit." Cedric assured her.

Cedric then raised his staff. Suddenly, a strange, white light enveloped Selena. After a few seconds, the light finally vanished.

"Well then, lass, whenever you want to see your level and your stats from now on, just think or say [Status]." Cedric said. "Go on then lass, try it!"

"Umm okay." Selena replied.

Suddenly, Selena's eyes widened in surprise, as if she could see something we cannot.

"I will now reveal Selena Rivendale's current [Status]" Cedric said as he raised his staff again.

Suddenly, a massive parchment made out of white light containing words and numbers appeared in front of the Magus.

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

Selena Rivendale

Level 1 - Human

Status:

HP:89/89

MP:0/394

Strength:7

Speed:10

Agility:8

Endurance:7

Intelligence:36

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"Hmm, a very high mana capacity. That's quite shocking." said Cedric with a smile on his face.

Once again, the crowd started to chat among themselves. Almost 400 points! That's enough for her to be an Archmage at the very least! I suddenly thought of her smile and the promise we made earlier today. All I need to do now is pass the assessment myself, and we'll be students in the academy together!

"Here you go lass, drink this." Cedric handed then handed her a mana potion. Judging from the container and the liquid inside, it must be a high quality one. Mana potions are even more expensive than Health potions that even the cheapest, most diluted one would cost about 100 Gold in the market. I could practically see every merchant's mouth water among the crowd.

After Selena was done drinking the potion, Cedric stated: "On behalf of the Insignia Academy, I hereby invite you, Selena Rivendale, to enter the academy as a mage." Then he added, "That is, of course, if you would like to lass."

Selena looked at the crowd for a moment, then finally, our eyes met. I smiled at her and nodded. Besides the promise we made with each other, being accepted in the Insignia Academy is one of the greatest achievements a person could achieve, especially small village people like us.

'This is great!' I thought to myself as I fantasize about the things she and I could achieve together in the future.

"Yes, I accept." Selena said, a wide smile on her face.

"Haha well then lass, go and rest for now. We will leave tomorrow morning."

With that, Selena made her way to her parents. The elder of the village, Bart Rivendale and his wife, Hannah Rivendale were very happy, and so are the rest of the villagers. Cheers came from all directions as Selena hugs her mother and father. Several mages, presumably recruiters from other academies looks disappointed of letting a person like Selena go. They didn't dare voice their opinions though, as the Royal Army and even a Magus is currently present among them. They'll have to be either extremely brave or extremely stupid to offend either of the two.

"Well then, ladies and gentlemen let's proceed with the last one, shall we?"

As soon as Cedric said that, a hard and serious atmosphere befell the plaza that even the cheers from before suddenly stopped. I made my way to Cedric and faced the crowd. I can feel my hands shaking from the tension, but I managed to regain my nerves by gritting my teeth a little.

"Ah, you must be Sion, eh? You look just like your father. Well, except for your hair and your eyes of course. You have your mother's eyes." Cedric said as he patted my shoulder.

So he did know my parents. Weird. I need to ask my dad about this later on. I didn't even know he had a friend outside the village, and a Magus at that.

"Well then Sion, let's start now shall we?"

I took a deep breath and nodded. I thought saw him look at dad's direction for a second before lifting his golden staff, just as he did before.

Cedric's staff shone once again, revealing the same white light from before.

After a few seconds, I immediately thought [Status] as Cedric instructed Selena to do earlier.

In a mere split second or less, a white parchment, much smaller from the version made by Cedric's magic from before, manifested in front of me.

Before my other stats, I look hurriedly at my Mana Capacity.

And what I saw was...

... No..

..No!..How could it-?!

..Th-this must be some kind of mistake...right? Right!??

I looked at Cedric, hoping that he'll tell me it was some kind of mistake. Could it be that the spell failed? Y-yeah, maybe that's it. We'll just have to do it again, right?

Then I noticed Cedric's face was dark and muddled as he looked at me, showing his disbelief and genuine concern. As if he cannot believe it too.

Little by little, the reality dawned on me. I won't be able to go with Selena to Insignia, nor will I make my parents proud by being a magic swordsman like my dad.

I just stood there as I kept my head down, trying to hold back my tears.

I stood there, frozen in time as I couldn't bring myself to look at my dad and my mom. Especially to Selena whom I even made a promise to.

'I'm a failure.' I thought to myself over and over. Blood dripping from my hands, nails digging through the skin of my palms as I close my fists tightly shut. This, however, compared to the sheer anguish that I feel right now...is nothing