The old woman’s eyes were so terrifying that William was hypnotized for a moment. He didn’t know what to do, but little by little he felt drawn in, unable to look away. The sensation of being absorbed was truly strange, as if his body was no longer his own and he was just floating.
"William, resist!" Angel’s interruption caused the old woman’s spell to fail, bouncing back on her. She spat out a mouthful of blood, while William regained consciousness, falling to his knees, panting from the spell he had just endured.
Instead of getting angry, the old woman burst into laughter as she turned back to William and said in a happy tone, "As expected of a treasure, you are truly strong. Even Agis or the former director would have been trapped in my spell for a few minutes, and you managed to get out almost immediately and even hurt me in the process. I congratulate you, young man, you are the best prospect I have seen in the last 10,000 years. Here, take your collar. Do the same as her before proceeding with the next part."
The old woman’s attitude was strange; she seemed happy to have been injured, which pleasantly surprised William. Without wasting time, he took the collar and poured a few drops of his blood onto it before focusing his mind on it, just like he would with the spiritual bag. Upon entering, he could see that the collar was like a cell phone. It had multiple options, like a menu. With curiosity, he began to browse the collar. The menu had options such as:
Regulations
Buy
Sell
Message Center
User Data
Upon entering "User Data," he saw his name written there:
William Rosehart
Age: 18 years
Weight: 80 Kg.
Height: 1.88m
Rank: Level 2 Apprentice (Low)
Place of Origin: Desolate Continent
Bloodline: Human (Pure)
William’s information was surprisingly accurate, which made him wonder how they accessed this type of data if he had never provided all of it. If the collar could reveal these things on its own, it was quite powerful.
Before he could continue examining the collar, the old woman’s voice resonated, pulling both of them out of their reverie. "You’ll have time to check out those toys later. It’s normal for all of you to be surprised, but I must say these collars are quite obsolete; only a few people can get the more advanced versions. Anyway, young lady, hold this stone and recite the meditation technique."
Lía took the stone from the table and began to circulate mana throughout her body while reciting the meditation technique. The stone began to turn a light blue color with small white flecks that resembled a miniature snowstorm.
"Excellent, you can stop!" Hearing this, Lía stopped and turned to the old woman expectantly.
"Good, your primary element is Water and your support element is Snow. When your professor asks you, just tell them this, and they will know what to do. Also, I recommend you focus your training on control abilities and don’t waste time on offensive skills. I know this is strange for you, but your professor will explain this in the fundamentals of magic class; be patient. Now it’s your turn, young man."
Intrigued, William took the stone and did the same as Lía. The stone began to color gray with black and purple tones, making it look like a battle between the three colors, with none yielding its space. This surprised the old woman, who merely covered her mouth with her hands before saying, "Interesting, young man, I must say I’ve never seen anything like this in my life, mmm, the black color represents darkness-type spells, but it’s not dominant. In the case of the purple color, these are mental attack-type spells, quite strange to be honest, but what’s even stranger is that the gray color is the most dominant, and the gray color doesn’t exist, or at least there are no records of it, hohoho! We have discovered something no one knows. You should experiment with all elements; perhaps you’ll quickly see which one you’re best at. When you discover what this color is, come see me. I’ll give you many points in exchange for publishing this information, hoho, this will bring us much fame as an academy."
The old woman’s information came as an illumination to Angel’s mind, who quickly understood what kind of energy that gray mist was. She also knew perfectly well that William had an affinity for mental abilities from his first test with Argus, but the strangest thing was the black color; there was only one possibility, and that was that the mask represented that black color and had affected the test reading.
While William was lost in thought, the old woman spoke again, "I have no further recommendations for you other than to keep a low profile. In this place, those without backing are treated like trash, regardless of the evidence they have. Don’t waste your time trying to obtain recording crystals to submit evidence to the discipline hall; a single bribe from those people’s families is enough to stop any investigation. I don’t know about the new director Agis, but it will still take him a long time to make substantial changes, so I wouldn’t put my faith in that if I were you. In this place, only power can earn you respect, though some won’t learn until they see their blood on the ground. You may leave; welcome to Black Rock."
William and Lía exited the hall where Neri was waiting for them with a big smile on her face. "I see you’ve passed the tests, congratulations! How about I give you a tour of the academy before taking you to your rooms, or would you prefer to go straight to your rooms to rest?"
Lía, with a tired look, replied, "I’m sorry to be the one to spoil the fun, but today was quite difficult due to the attack, so I’m completely sore. I’d like to take a bath and sleep if it’s not too much trouble, a big apology."
Neri’s mouth suddenly opened, and she waved her hands frantically. "No, no, no, I should be the one to apologize for my lack of empathy. I completely forgot what happened a while ago and tried to take you on a tour. Let’s quickly get your uniforms, and I’ll take you to your dorms. I apologize for my lack of tact."
William and Lía calmed Neri with some understanding words, recognizing that the young woman was just trying to be kind to them.