Soon after, the people of higher social status were finished, and it was time for the common folk.
Slowly and orderly, they filed into the halls until they were all inside. The chosen nobles sat in one corner as they watched these people enter.
Every participating noble had gotten into the academy without any problems.
Additionally, in Xathia, there were no special benchmark requirements, all you needed to qualify was to have magic.
But of course, there was still that mocking chatter from some of these selected noble mages as the common folk walked in.
Aiden could hear them all quite clearly, even the whispered comments. This was due to his Dragon’s Sense passive ability.
He scoffed slightly and said to himself, "How typical."
The one conducting the magic assessment was Xathia’s Grand Magus herself, Magister Thamoryn.
She had light blue hair packed neatly in an updo and wore glasses. She was known as the youngest Grand Magus in history, achieving such a title at only twenty-seven years old.
Before her was an orb that floated on a stone pedestal with rune carvings, and intended aspirants were to channel their mana through the orb.
The orb would then reveal not just results of the magic rank but also the magic type, by showing rune symbols which the Grand Magus would read aloud.
Their own orb itself was also a far better assessment object compared to Dragonhold’s.
While the selected mages sat in one corner, the other seats of the hall were segmented between the guilds of the kingdom: The Black Lions, Hollow Pact, Ravens Grave, Storm Sentinels, Crimson Dawn, Void Embers, Phantom Order, and Fractured Stars.
Members of these guilds, alongside their guild captains, sat in these segmented areas.
From a brief look at the seats, one could count at least 30 to 40 persons per guild, and the halls looked very colorful since each guild wore their distinctive uniforms.
Finally, at the upper levels of the floor sat the ruling family of Xathia, the Thornes. Lord Oberon Thorne sat with his beautiful wife, Ayan Thorne, to his left side.
Their son Kayden and daughter Amelia sat near their mother. Undoubtedly, they were part of those who had just completed their assessment.
The magic assessment in Xathia felt like a much bigger event than it was in Dragonhold. It had to be that way, given that they were the only kingdom out of the nine that had the most active mages.
"Alright, everyone, hush now," Grand Magus Thamoryn began in an audible yet soothing tone as she stamped her staff once on the ground, which immediately brought the noise down.
She went on to explain the instructions and how the magic assessments would be conducted. Immediately after that, the process officially began.
One by one, the people she motioned forward would approach, and on her instructions, they would channel their mana into the orb to be assessed.
She began calling out the magic ranks of those who were evaluated:
"Water Magic, E-Rank!"
"Wind magic, D-Rank!"
It was a series of E’s and D’s for several minutes, and after each announcement, she would gesture toward a section of the hall with emptier seats where the chosen mages from the commoners were to sit.
Those who had no magic at all were directed to return to the crowd of commoners still clustered together.
At one point, she called out "Fire magic, C-Rank!" for a certain girl who looked absolutely overjoyed that she had scored a C-rank as common folk.
Then it was the next person’s turn, and a mysterious figure walked toward the stone pedestal. This was a woman who pulled the hood over her head down to reveal that she was an elf.
However, it wasn’t just any elf; this was the pretty elven daughter of the chief of Rivendale, Laela, with striking green eyes.
Aiden, who saw her, was completely shocked. "She’s here?" he said to himself, and then a smile appeared on his face.
There was brief chatter from the crowds as they saw an elf reveal herself. It wasn’t a common occurrence.
However, one person looked particularly intrigued. This was Daylor, guild captain of Crimson Dawn, and until now he was the only known elven mage in the entire Xathian kingdom.
Laela proceeded to conduct her magic assessment, and after she channeled her mana, a smile appeared on Thamoryn’s face. Then she announced:
"Tree Magic, S-Rank!"
The crowd went wild! And the chatter became very audible.
"Now every guild captain has their sights on her," one voice said.
"Tree Magic? That’s new" one other voice said.
"So it isn’t just going to be Kayden this year," another added.
"Not fair, these elves always have strong magic," said a voice that sounded jealous.
Thamoryn stomped her staff twice on the ground to bring the hall to order, and slowly it quieted down.
She then looked down toward the elf with an encouraging expression and gestured toward where she should sit.
Laela nodded and made her way there.
Aiden had a startled expression when her rank was called out.
This was probably the most surprising thing for him since his experience at the lair and subsequently gaining the system.
At the upper levels of the floor, Kayden had a moody expression, a frown to be precise. He probably hated this outcome the most.
Earlier, when the nobles had their assessment, his Lightning Magic had achieved the highest magic rank of S.
He was an absolute prodigy just like his father, but this elf had just made his achievement feel less significant.
Though elves were generally known to have one of the highest ratios of powerful magic among all nine kingdoms, they were naturally blessed with mana.
Then it was time for the next person. This was the boy from earlier who had worn a black hood.
Though now he had no such covering over his head. His name was Ambrose, and he was the thieving son the man from earlier yelled about.
He had brown hair and a mischievous grin on his face as he walked toward the orb to channel his magic.