It wasn't the way Cheryl had imagined it to be. It was more of an official gathering than he expected, with nobles of different classes gathered around, waiting for the announcements.
The tests, on the other hand, were unusual. He was expecting them to place their hands on an orb or something of the sort, but apparently, they were taking their samples.
From Cheryl's point of view, they were extracting something from their body with injections, and taking the viles to another room for tests, after some minutes they emerge from the room with documents in hand, and place them together with a large folder, probably to be announced once they were done.
The line crawled forward slowly, with each child taking their sample before walking off. So far, he had been the oldest standing on the line. No one else seemed or looked older than he was, and it was expected.
Parents usually brought their kids at the age of ten for the test because that was when the reaction rates were high and the chances of awakening something great.
As the years go by, the body reacts less with the pill, and therefore, kids tend to awaken weak or low tier abilities. Which made parents start testing their kids at such young ages.
'I really wish fate will let me have this one opportunity to finally have something reasonable in my life' he hoped as the line crawled forward.
"Please take your seats," a warden said as it reached their turn.
The twins went first, both sitting on the two available seats, waiting for their injection. They didn't seem scared about it, even though most of the kids here had themselves crying from seeing the injection.
The warden called the extractor to come with the equipment, standing up and stepping aside after properly preparing the twins for their extraction.
The extractor was a female in her late forties, still holding on to the young beauty of life. She had an exquisite figure that curved down her hips, outlining her curves from her outfit.
She looked about five feet, nine inches in height, and wore circular glasses, like the lady at the desk.
"Please don't move when I inject you, okay?" She advised the twins with a smile.
The twins nodded. They seemed extremely comfortable around her, which was unusual because he had lived with them, and he had never seen them get comfortable around anyone except their parents.
She drew the samples, the first one from Alec was glowing gold, and the second from Aria was glowing dark purple. The look on her face said it all. They were about to be announced as the next A tier users in their family, and the only one left was him.
After she was done, she cleaned the area where the injection was placed.
"Here's candy for your mouth, and don't remove this from your hands, alright?" She handed them both two box of candies.
They nodded, then stood up from their seats and ran off to meet their dad.
"Wait, don't go yet. Let's all go back together. Just wait a few minutes for me," Cheryl pleaded because he didn't want to be left alone.
"No!" they answered, shaking their heads before running off.
'These kids,' he sighed.
"Come on, take your seat so we can finish this on time." The warden called him.
He walked up and settled down on the seat. There was a headrest placed on it. The arms felt unusually soft, probably to reduce the pain from the injection.
'I hope this goes well,' he closed his eyes as the woman returned with another box of equipment.
"Alright, you're a big boy. So don't shake your body, okay?. Just stay still so I don't make a mistake when extracting your sample." She said with a smile that calmed Cheryl's nerves.
'I see why the twins were so calm around her. She has an aura of calmness around her when she smiles, and it's really helpful.'
He relaxed his body while she extracted the sample from his body. It was not painful like he had expected.
Before he knew it, she was done. Right before she placed his sample inside the aluminium suit case, he took a brief glance at the colour of his vile, and it was brown and grey.
'Brown and grey?, and they were both dull. Please let it not be what I think it is.' He hoped, rising to his feet and leaving the area to meet his father and the twins.
The only action that was left was to wait for the announcement of the results, which wouldn't be so long because only eight kids were left, and the result would be announced after that.
He saw the twins, and they both winked at him before turning away. He no longer had issues with them. The only issue on his mind was his appraisal.
So their tantrums were now the least of his problems. In the next ten to thirty minutes, his life will change, for the better or for the worse, and it was right in front of high ranking individuals, some of which he didn't know of.
Every minute that passed felt like waiting for an eternity to finally end, with him in the middle of the seconds that passed by.
Finally, the last kid was getting his tests done, and the announcer was arranging the documents alphabetically.
After they were all done and prepared, the warden and the woman stood by the stage, while others stood on the other section.
The announcer advanced the middle podium, with a setup microphone for the announcement.
*clears his throat*
"Thank you all for coming and being here today. It is truly an honour to be the only establishment in charge of testing your kids, and you have put your faith in us for several years, and we've done nothing other than earn more of your trust every five years."
"Today, we're all gathered here today to witness the appraisal of a new set of kids whose fates will be decided here today."
"With me, here is the list of individuals that got tested here today, as well as their awakened abilities. With the honour of the academy, I will announce the names of the children and their awakened ability." He announced, holding the microphone tightly.