The kingdom of Xanthos was located in the east and boarded the Audun Wastelands. The Audun Wastelands were an abandoned kingdom that was overrun with magic beasts a few millennia in the past. Ever since then, Xanthos has been holding a frontline to prevent magic beasts from overrunning the rest of the continent. It is because of this that kids are taught how to fight against the many magic beasts from a young age, and today was the day that Alex and his classmates would take a test to determine if they were strong enough to fight against a beast.

A lot of kids, especially the ones from noble families, had beast gear given to them which increased someone's overall ability. But Alex was unable to get his hands on such equipment, his mom died when Alex was only 8 and shortly after, his dad left and never returned. The government had been sending cheques to Alex so that he could stay afloat.

Alex arrived at his classroom, and a few minutes later Mrs. Bates walked in.

“As I'm sure you know, today we will be testing you on your ability to wield mana and your combat abilities. For those who don’t have their own beast gear, we will be providing some to you.”

Mrs. Bates began calling names one by one and taking them to the separate room to test their mana. After 13 names had been called,

“Alex Gedeon, please come with me,” Mrs. Bates said.

Alex walked with Mrs. Bates into a room filled with training dummies,

“Alright, first I want you to send a mana infused punch towards this training dummy here,” Mrs. Bates said disinterestedly.

Alex approached the training dummy and entered a fighting stance, he began gathering mana at his fist, deciding to keep his black mana a secret. After a few seconds of building up mana, Alex threw a punch at the training dummy. Above the dummy, the number 74 appeared.

The number displayed the intensity of an attack, and was known as the Harbinger Scale:

0 - 25: normal human

26 - 50: Apprentice Soldier

51 - 75: Intermediate Soldier

76 - 100: Peak Soldier

101 - 200: Corporal

201 - 250: Peak Corporal

251 - 500: Sergeant

501 - 750: Peak Sergeant

751 - 1500: Commander

1501 - 5000: General

5001+: Half-God

Starting from Commander, it becomes much too difficult to determine someone's strength using this metric. A general with a score of 4000 can still lose to a general with a score of 1600. However the 1600 generals will almost never lose to a commander. The gap between ranks can take years to pass.

Alex, scoring a 74 could be considered above average. Most kids going into high school are within the intermediate soldier range, while the geniuses are peak soldiers. Mrs. Bates was shocked by the results, but did not let it show on her face.

“Good. Next, cast a mana shield.” Mrs. Bates said.

Alex casted a mana shield without the black mana, and a sturdy looking mana shield appeared.

“G-good job. You pass, please head back to the classroom.” Mrs. Bates said, slightly startled. After Alex left, Mrs. Bates pondered over how Alex got that much stronger in such a short amount of time. His mana shield was obviously stronger than the other students. Not wanting to dwell on it, she continued testing the rest of the class.

After all the students had been tested, Mrs. Bates walked back in and announced to the class,

“Congratulations. Everyone here has passed the test with an average score of 57. You will all begin doing live action practice against magic beasts in one week. On the day of the fight, we will provide beast gear to those who need it. You may head home now.”

Everyone in the classroom was excited, but also confused. They all looked at Alex, wondering how he managed to pass. Alex ignored their gazes and started walking home.