Anton would have been filled with much more excitement upon learning what the Kingdom of Ormunda could offer him, but because of the tragedy that happened, everything they encountered in the new kingdom was tainted with grief and might-have-beens.
Even Anna felt the same way since Anton heard his sister whisper that Ramona, Belinda, and Lunelle would have enjoyed coming to such an establishment.
Anton would have told Anna that Ramona, Belinda, and Lunelle would not have qualified to enter the school due to their extremely low wizardry talent. The only reason they managed to reach their current rank was because of Anton’s auras and a place filled with tamed mana. But of course, he didn’t open up that topic because it was a moot point.
Oscar talked to one of the guards, who led the three of them to a small office near the gates. There, they waited for several more minutes before a middle-aged wizard appeared.
“Good evening, gentlemen and miss. I’m the Archmage Piamon, one of the mages who handle accepting students in the academy. The test for accepting new students is already done, and the new semester will start in a week, but according to Guard James, you brought a thirteen-year-old rank five wizard and an eighteen-year-old archmage. Is that right?” The wizard was looking at Oscar when he had spoken.
Oscar was about to speak when Anton stopped the man.
“Forgive me, Sir Wizard. Oscar is the wizard I hired to guide us here. I’m Anton, and this is my sister Anna. Your guard is correct. I’m an archmage rank and was officially confirmed by the city of Zalnothel’s wizard in Rendindura. My sister is a rank five wizard, but is not official. My sister is the one planning to enroll in your school,” Anton said.
The Archmage Piamon looked at Anton and then stared at Anna. Both of them simply returned the wizard’s gaze. The mage then brought out an orb that tests the rank of a wizard. It was exactly the same orb that the archmage Voduria from Zalnothel used to test Anson’s rank.
“Can I test both of you even if you’re not planning to enroll?” Piamon asked, and Anton simply nodded since he was curious about what rank he was now.
With Anton and Anna’s permission, Oscar stayed, but everyone else exited the guard room, so the only ones remaining in the place were Anton, Anna, Piamon, and Oscar.
Anton remembered that the orb was still the “lite” version, and the more absolute tester that he encountered personally was the one conducted by several wizards in a room that was inlaid by some sort of runic engravings.
The archmage Piamon simply handed the orb to Anna and asked Anna to handle her mana as if she were preparing to cast a spell. After a couple of minutes, the archmage Piamon confirmed Anna’s rank.
“Young lady, you have indeed reached the fifth rank of your wizardly power. The usual standard was, those who are below seventeen and have reached your rank wouldn’t need to pay the tuition as long as an archmage or above had taken you in as their disciple. Since you’re only thirteen, it’s guaranteed that there would be a scramble on who would take you in,” Piamon said, and Anna nodded.
“When the wizards of Zalnothel tested my rank, they used that very same orb, but when it was time to confer a noble title, they used another way to check my rank. It was in a room inlaid with runic designs,” Anton commented while he accepted the orb from Piamon, who took it from Anna.
“We have that as well, and your sister will do that also. The ritual room for checking a wizard’s rank also checks the bone age of the mage to make sure that the mage in question is not some wizened archmage or supreme pretending to be a young wizard.”
“Does that happen?” Anna asked.
“All the time,” Piamon said, and based on his expression, that’s the only thing that he would share about that information.
After a couple of minutes of Anton handling the orb tester, Archmage Piamon confirmed that he was an archmage, but of near enough Supreme rank, which made Oscar gasp.
The archmage Piamon was looking at Anton with respect. He thought that the reason for the increase in rank was the stats that were provided to him by reaching the maximum level of some of the characters in his Diablo II system in the Ladder Season. Not only that, Anton was wearing runeword armor, Chains of Honor under his robes.
Anton wasn’t particularly proud of the fact since he didn’t feel like he had made progress power-wise. As far as he knew, his current power wasn’t enough to save any of his friends, and that was all that mattered.
Anna was not wearing her Sorceress Circlet of Enlightenment since they didn’t want to confuse the tester, but according to Anton’s sister, she would wear the powerful circlet during her daily life in the academy since she wanted to get used to the advantage it would bring to her magic practice.
The fact was, the moment Anton separated from his sister, she would lose his Meditation aura, which was the main reason why she was able to reach a high enough rank with her age. Both Anton and Anna knew that even without the aura, Anna was talented enough to increase her rank by herself. The main reason why she was so focused on her grimoire while she was with Anton was, she was taking advantage of his presence while it was available.
They both knew that ranking was not the most important one because if it was, Anna could have just stayed with Anton. They both knew that knowledge was the most important. Anna needed to learn how to use her power. How to navigate this world and more, and the only place that could provide that knowledge was a magic academy.
“Are you sure that you’re not going to join your sister in enrolling in our academy? I’m quite sure that even Invincible Wizard would take notice of you,” Piamon said.
That comment almost made Anton wince, and even Anna couldn’t help but show a reaction to that statement, but thankfully, no one noticed Anna’s expression. Before Anton had met Katrina, he would have jumped at the chance to learn from powerful wizards of this world, but the fact that an Invincible Wizard planned to capture and even kill Anton and his family for the sake of a skill that she probably could not replicate traumatized Anton, Anna, and his father. It would probably be a while before they trust any Invincible Wizards.
Anton just reiterated that he didn’t plan to join any school at the moment and would pursue being an adventurer. Piamon, with support from Oscar, looked ready to spend countless hours convincing Anton otherwise, but Anton and Anna both just stood up and said that if the school wouldn’t accept their decision, they would just find another school.
Piamon frowned, and Oscar looked panicked. Anton supposed that Oscar would receive some sort of compensation from the school for bringing Anton and Anna to them because it was undeniable that both siblings were talented wizards. If they did go to another school, the siblings wouldn’t mention Oscar anymore.
“Okay fine. You can have one last evening with your brother because tomorrow, if you still want to go to this school, there will still be tests that need to be done, but once the enrollment procedure is over, you will not be able to see your brother again for the whole semester. Is that understood?” Piamon told Anna, who was now ignoring Anton.
“Excuse me. Will my not accepting to join your school affect my sister’s attendance here? I think it would be better for us to just look for another school,” Anton said.