Upon the presence descending, John quickly looked up towards the citadel. Circulating a large amount of mana towards his eyes, John managed to see a silhouette at the top of the marble staircase.
"Today is the day students are accepted into the Academy, there will be no violence," said the voice sharply. Upon those words, John felt his core slow down and all the surrounding aether being drawn away, including the ones gathering around Evan and Michael.
"Hmmphhh very well," grunted Evan, quickly snuffing out the spell he was preparing. Looking at Michael Evan taunted him. "You got lucky this time. Next time there won't be an Academy teacher saving you. Remember, you're toast."
Also grunting, Michael looked at Evan and said," We'll see Embercrown," before walking away with all of the other Celeste Kingdom Nobles walking away with him.
"Oh we'll see soon, Caelthorn," said Evan before also walking away.
After the confrontation was resolved, the voice was suddenly heard again. "Welcome students to the Central Academy. For the next 6 years, you will be taught the art of being a mage. From basic history to the most intricate aether array's, you will be learning them all."
"Now, as you all know, you are all of different ages, which means that some of you will be more knowledgeable and stronger than the others. Due to this the Academy will have two sections for teaching you bunch. There will be the Novellus branch for those from 6 years old to 12 , as well as the Asper branch for those from 13 - 19. "
"In each branch there will be 4 classes, going from class A to class D. The higher class, the more resources and teaching you will receive, with the top class A, even being granted the privilege of being able to use the Academy's advancement array in order to assist them in advancing to the next stage."
"We will be assessing you and placing you in different classes by using the staircase in front of you. The staircase imitates the presence of a high level mage with each step imitating a stronger presence. The further you make it up, the higher you shall be ranked. If you believe you cannot go further just stop where you are and shout out that you are done. However if you faint and fall off due to overexertion, do note that there is a chance you will not be caught. And if any one of you manage to reach the top, which only happens every few decades, you will be immediately crowned the class president of the Class A. Now let us commenc-"
"Wait," suddenly a shout resonated from below the staircase. "Yes?" said the voice sounding annoyed. Looking at the owner of the voice John realized that it was Michael Caelthorn."
"What happens if two people reach the top?" asked Michael. "Well…. then they will fight for the position, now let us commence, students you may begin," replied the voice hurriedly, seemingly annoyed with the questioning.
As soon as the voice said begin, all the nobles hurriedly ran up towards the marble staircase. However, unlike what one would expect, instead of them all being crowded, after passing the threshold of the staircase they were all teleported into different positions on the beginning part of the staircase.
Observing the teleportation as well as the different positions, John intensely circulated aether throughout his eyes, and soon felt a sharp pain. After closing and opening his eyes John involuntarily remarked, "Remarkable, the staircase is a beautiful usage of knowledge regarding aether."
Looking carefully at the staircase, John found that there was a sudden cutoff between aether at the threshold of the staircase. There was clearly a portal between the aether which was the reason the nobles were all disappearing after entering the threshold.
Observing the pattern of teleportation, John found that those with higher talent levels such as Michael Caelthorn, were teleported higher than the other regular nobles. "Hmm, is this to teach the young nobles, that the higher the talent the further they start on the starting line," thought John before making his way to the staircase. WIth his Brilliant Core talent he would inevitably cause great commotion, once people recognized him, so he decided to wait until another Brilliant Core user was teleported.
Although Brilliant Core level talents were incredibly rare, John was incredibly sure that someone else had it due to him overhearing a conversation between two nobles. Apparently, Evan Embercrown, the son of the Duke Embercrown, had a Brilliant Core talent, which was the reason behind his arrogance.
Soon, just like John had anticipated, Evan came strutting along with his lackeys. "Watch me," he said arrogantly, "I'm going to show that piece of Caelthorn trash what it means to be a Brilliant Core talent." Stepping into the threshold, all of the nobles gasped as they saw Evan be teleported tens of steps ahead of the furthest climber, who was Michael Caelthorn.
Looking down at Michael, Evan taunted him again, "Well, well, well, looks like we've met again here huh? Didn't expect me to catch you again so soon? Don't worry, the Academy is strictly not allowed to interfere with the Ascension process unless a student falls so you and I will be uninterrupted here, unless some mid-ranked vassal wants to interfere. Come now, let me show you what it means to be a Brilliant Core."
With that, Evan began gathering aether again, and started preparing for a spell. Seeing this, Michael gritted his teeth and also began to gather aether, however as he was gathering aether he also started ascending the staircase.
Soon both spells were at their peak, and Evan and Michel both unleashed their spells at once. A great branch suddenly materialized striking at Evan, while a fireball quickly whooshed out of Evan's head.
BOOM, a loud explosion could be heard, and smoke filled the air obscuring everyone's vision. Sounds of footsteps were heard and suddenly a scream was heard. "ARGHHHH, HOW DARE YOUU," the sound of a furious Evan could be heard and soon everyone saw him fall off the staircase.