They found themselves in an office… Well, at least Lindarion thought it was an office. He had no idea where he was.
The office was sparsely decorated. Actually, it wasn't decorated at all. There was a simple desk with two chairs… and that was it.
The desk was entirely black, and the chairs were glaringly white.
'Not bad, I guess. I like simple decorations as well..'
On the desk was a logo-like pattern, a moon design, almost as if it symbolized the endless night.
"Welcome to Evernight Academy, kid!"
Thalorin said, slowly sitting in the chair behind the desk while stroking his beard.
'Time sure just flies, I'm already starting in the academy..'
Lindarion shook his head, then sat down with a slight smile. To be honest, the chair was quite comfortable.
"Since you're my disciple, you don't have to take the entrance tests—"
Lindarion cleared his throat, interrupting Thalorin, whose smile began to falter.
"I want to participate. I don't want to be treated like some pampered little prince."
Thalorin laughed loudly, stroking his beard, but his smile quivered.
'Well, you are a little prince!'
Thalorin wanted to say those words, but instead, he just shook his head.
He snapped his fingers, and the space next to Lindarion began to crack open.
"If you step through the space, you'll be in front of the school gate."
Thalorin's voice was warm as a gentle smile appeared on his face.
Lindarion started rummaging through his clothes, causing Thalorin to raise an eyebrow.
"Before I go, my father wanted me to hand this over."
Lindarion pulled out an envelope marked with the Sunblade emblem and placed it on Thalorin's desk, who simply nodded.
'What could be in the letter? Oh well, not my business.'
Lindarion shook his head, stood up, and stepped closer to the tear in space.
"We'll meet at the opening ceremony, kid!"
Thalorin said with a smile, and Lindarion nodded, stepping into the rift.
The space started to swirl, and Lindarion found himself in a bush, upside down.
A vein started throbbing on his forehead as he slowly crawled out of the bush.
His teeth were almost grinding. As he slowly looked around, trying to assess his situation, it dawned on him that he had absolutely no clue where he was.
In front of him, he saw a massive gate, bustling with people.
'I guess this is the entrance.'
He looked up at the enormous white marble gate, above which was engraved "Evernight Academy".
'So this is it huh, the start of my academy life.'
He walked toward the gate slowly, observing the various creatures around him… dwarves, elves, humans… and were those cosplayers or some shit? They had cat ears… and tails.
'What is this? Some kind of beast people? Guess it's not just kids here…'
Lindarion's expression shifted as he noticed a number of adults waiting with the first-years.
'Seems like age doesn't matter.'
Age did matter..just not in this scenario.
He didn't recognize a single familiar face, and no one seemed to care about him. Then again, he didn't really know anyone.
'Let's see what the old man planned.'
Everyone was facing a large wooden podium, which was completely empty. The students' murmurs filled the air, but Lindarion tuned them out.
'Just need to be patient.'
He stood at the very back of the crowd, not wanting to push forward. What was the point? There was no need.
"Is something going to happen?!"
"Is this why we came here?!"
Voices rang out from the crowd, their chatter relentless. Then the sound of the space tearing again interrupted, and the podium was filled with a familiar elf.
His white beard was a bit scruffy as he stroked it, then snapped his fingers.
"Good day to all of our new prospective students. My name is Thalorin Evernight, the headmaster of the academy."
Thalorin's voice echoed across the space, and the hundreds of students fell silent.
Lindarion shook his head, then focused on Thalorin's words.
Thalorin cleared his throat and continued.
"Today, we will once again carry out the enrollment of new students."
Was his voice… polite? That was definitely not the Thalorin that Lindarion knew.
"As you may have noticed, many different races have gathered here today to apply. However, not everyone will make it in."
Thalorin let out a chuckle at the end of his sentence, and the participants exchanged glances, murmuring. He continued.
"Today, we will assess your potential. We'll determine how strong you are and your level of intelligence."
Honestly, Lindarion had expected more, but secretly, he was relieved that it wouldn't be too complicated.
"At this academy, your royal rank or whatever of the sort does not matter. It doesn't matter where you come from, what family you belong to, or what race you are. You will all be treated the same as students, and will be assigned into your respective classes based on the results you bring during the tests."
'Who would've thought? Anyways, I'll probably end up in the first class or something..'
Lindarion shook his head at Thalorin's words.
'Of course, what matters most is how strong you are.'
"The most important thing is your potential. How strong you can become, and we will assess that with a simple test."
Lindarion's gaze shifted to two women carrying some kind of blue crystal up to the stage.
"We have recorded your names and data. We will assess your potential abilities with a Zulf crystal."
Thalorin gestured toward the tents set up behind the stage.
"In each tent, there is a Zulf crystal, along with an assistant who will help assess your potential. This is necessary to keep your abilities secure and confidential."
'So they're keeping the information among themselves, that's not bad.'
"Each tent has a name list in front of it. Stand in the line for the tent with your name on it."
Thalorin cleared his throat one last time, spreading his arms.
"With that said, the entrance exam begins now!"
His eyes met Lindarion's… even though he was at the back, it seemed like the old man was smiling.
'Finally, let's go then.'
Lindarion's thoughts were clear as he began walking toward the tents. He was the first to move, and because of that, all eyes turned to him.
'Why are they staring? He literally just told us to do this.'
Lindarion walked toward the tents, unfazed by the countless eyes fixed on him. He ignored them, scanning the name lists outside each tent as he passed.
But his name was nowhere to be found.
Finally, he reached the last tent. And there it was—
His name sat right at the top of the list.
Slowly, the other applicants started lining up behind him. He barely paid them any mind.
'Anytime now…hopefully.'
Time dragged on. The crowd behind him fidgeted impatiently as the line refused to move.
The tent's entrance abruptly flapped open, and a rather petite woman stepped out.
For a second, Lindarion thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.
She had striking green eyes framed by thin-rimmed glasses, her sleek black hair pulled into a neat bun. She was short, but slender—yet… somehow, still curvy.
'Nope. No. Absolutely not. I must cleanse my thoughts.'
Lindarion forcibly shut down his thoughts as the woman cleared her throat and looked up, meeting his gaze.
"Lindarion Sunblade, correct? Come in."
He nodded vigorously before stepping inside.
The tent's interior was… deceptively large.
Yet, despite the extra space, it was just as bare as Thalorin's office—nothing but a table, a chair, and a softly glowing blue crystal resting on a white cloth at the center.
'Alright. Let's do this.'
The woman sat down, her sharp green eyes studying him as she picked up a sheet of paper.
"Please place your palm on the crystal and channel your mana into it."
Lindarion raised an eyebrow. The woman mirrored the expression and nodded.
Shaking his head, he stepped forward and placed his hand on the crystal.
It was ice-cold to the touch.
The moment he infused it with mana, the entire crystal ignited in a brilliant glow, flooding the room with light.
The woman's words echoed in the tent.
The crystal exploded like an overinflated balloon.
Lindarion and the woman stared at each other in absolute silence. Her expression seemed rather shocked? To say the least. Her smile and whole expression seemed to be twitching.
'I guess this isn't supposed to happen.'
Lindarion smiled innocently at the lady, her shocked expression still remained on her face…
"I have to report this to the headmaster…"
She said whilst taking out some kind of device from her pockets. It was familiar to Lindarion.
'The walkie talkie thing!'
He remembered it from back when he entered the dungeon with his team.
"Headmaster Thalorin…we have a problem in tent number 10…The student's name is Lindarion Sunblade."
Her voice echoed in the tent as she used the device.
Lindarion for some reason couldn't hear Thalorin's responses, however he saw that the lady just kept holding her head…probably from the shock.
"I see. You are free to leave the tent Lindarion Sunblade."
She said with a defeated sigh.
"What's my potential then?"
His eyes met hers, and a silence enveloped in the room.
"W-We have no idea, the crystal couldn't measure it.."
Lindarion couldn't even say a word as he heard her response.