The Academy's gates closed soon after Alec entered, prompting him to look up and around. He was surrounded by kids like himself. What bothered him, though, was the appearance of most of them.
Since there were Commoner Mage and Warrior divisions, there should also be Noble divisions. But he didn't see any nobles around, unless his preconceived notions got the best of him.
Just because it reminded him of medieval Europe, it didn't mean the nobles had to dress fancier than the commoners. There might not even be nobles or an aristocracy like it did in history.
But knowing his brother, Alec was confident that it would be the typical noble society that was so common in medieval fantasy stories.
'Ah, wait.' If it was like he suspected, it was only natural that the nobles would be taking the entrance exam somewhere else. Exalted nobles couldn't be deigned to take the same exam as lowly commoners.
'Or something like that.'
Alec turned to Taryeon while the other kids calmed down and turned toward the stage at the center of the grounds just inside the gates.
"Is double majoring a thing?" He asked. That was his decision.
Since his body was supposedly a clean slate and ready for him to build on, didn't that mean he could train both magic and the art of physical combat?
"Double…majoring…?" Taryeon tilted his head as he looked at Alec in confusion.
"Yeah, like being both a Warrior and a Mage." It was a question whose answer might be something as obvious to the natives of the world as dying when stabbed in the heart. Alec might make himself look dumb. It was a risk he was willing to take.
"No." Taryeon shook his head.
"Not unless you have two hearts," Isidore added.
"Which I don't."
"Which you don't." Taryeon nodded.
"But that doesn't mean you can't learn how to use a weapon. Since it's important to keep your heart strong, a lot of mages include strength training in their routines. Some even pick up weapons in case they are ever in a situation where they can't use magic."
"Or as a more reliable close-range self-defense tool," Isidore added again.
"I was actually planning to have Isidore share some of what he learns with me in our spare time just so I know how to defend myself against Warriors."
Alec nodded along while thinking.
"Pardon my ignorance, but is there a definite reason why it doesn't work?"
"Yeah. The stars and magic circles don't get along. If you only have one star or magic circle and somehow manage to condense the other, you might be able to survive the clash. You'll be cripple for life, though. Any more stars or magic circles before trying to add the other, and it's instant death."
"I see…"
'Well, that sucks.'
"Quiet, please!" A calm but firm voice called out to all the mingling kids, forcing them to look at the source. It was a tall, bald man with wide shoulders and a soldier-like outfit. He stood with his arms behind his back as he scanned the crowd of children.
'Ex-military?'
"As you all already know, becoming a Mage or Warrior without Aether sensitivity is hopeless, as such, the first part of the entrance exam will be to test your Aether affinity.
"Line up! Come forward one at a time."
The first brave soul was pushed forward and forced to walk over to the teacher. Without any dilly-dallying, the teacher grabbed the kid's wrist and placed their hand onto a stone slab resting on the table next to the teacher.
That was all the other kids could see.
"Pass! Next!"
"Fail! Next!"
"Fail! Next!"
"Pass! Next!"
***
Eventually, it was Taryeon's and Isidore's turn. They passed. Then, it was Alec's turn.
He looked curiously at the stone slab. He hadn't seen it from further away, but there were symbols on it. They were unlike anything he had ever seen.
Some of them started glowing as soon as he made contact with the stone, and a few others started glowing after only a few moments. Eventually, it became clear that he wouldn't be making any more symbols glow, and the teacher removed his hand and sent him past the table. It was a pass.
But Alec didn't hear his voice. He was busy frowning at the sudden headache that appeared when he looked at the symbols. It was strange.
Out of instinct, he had tried to understand them, despite not having seen anything like them before.
'System?'
[A headache is a common symptom of sudden Energy loss or Resistance and Intelligence stats being too low. It might also be a coincidence.]
'It's not a coincidence. So, what do you mean Energy loss or my stats being too low?'
Alec followed Isidore and Taryeon to another instructor who asked if they could read and write, which they could. They were sent to a classroom, where they received an exam paper.
[You tried to Read those symbols, didn't you?]
'I guess.'
[You activated your skill Reader. Since you were trying to read something far beyond your current understanding, your Skill Energy was drained instantly. Your Resistance stat would have helped you withstand the headache, and your Intelligence stat would have reduced the energy usage.]
'I see. I need to focus now. Can you be quiet?'
The System wanted to protest with outrage. He had been the one to ask it questions. The gall of the kid to tell the System to be quiet when it was answering!
But he did need to concentrate, so the System stayed silent as Alec started on the exam paper.
Alec didn't know what he had expected, but it wasn't this. He had thought that maybe he would be questioned on basic knowledge, math, or maybe even magic or something.
Instead, what the Academy wanted was an understanding of him as a person.
That was why the first question was a so-called common-sense question.
'If you find yourself being mugged by someone with a knife while walking down the street, what do you do?'