after waiting in line Dave was directed to a hall filled with kids his age, some nervous, some excited and some acting like they had already got into the school before the test had even started
"attention everyone" called out a man from the front of the room "I won't sugar coat it, most of you will leave here empty handed meaning only a select few of you here will actually pass the tests we have for you" he said scanning the room
"it doesn't matter whether you are from a poor family or from one of the most prostigious families out there, here everyone will be tested equally, so those of you who are thinking of using your parents connections to get in are in for a big shock" some of the confident looks on some of the kids faces disappearing with the mans words
"now then, the first test is simple, a magician must have a body that is able to withstand their own magics power, as such you will be running laps around a one kilometer track, you must finish 5 laps within the alloted time to be accepted here" he informed everyone, a magical path forming on the floor creating a track on the floor "everyone to the start line" he commanded as some people still confidently moved to the start while other looked like the world had ended
"you have 20 minutes and are able to use any spells to enhance yourself, but be warned, there are still more tests that will require your magic after this so I suggest you don't over do it and use up everything you have now" he warned "now if everyone is ready, on your marks, get set, go" he shouted shooting a bolt of magic straight up to signal the start and it turning into a flaming countdown
Dave was not phased in the slightest as he was not fast enough to do 1 kilometer in 3 minutes with his weights on and he had left them at home today so that they wouldn't impeed his ability, this lead him to easily reach the front of the pack in seconds and finish all 5 laps in the time it took most people to finish 3 and thanks to his improved figure the amount of energy he actually used would nearly have all come back by the time the 20 minutes was up due to him recovering twice as fast nowadays
"time is now up" shouted the teacher as the countdown hit zero, turning into a magical wall at the finish line meaning that no one could cheat and pass the line after the time was up
"those of you who didn't make the cut may leave, the rest of you follow me" he said not dicing his words in the slightest, some of the kids crying that they made it, others shouting in frustration because they didn't
following the teacher into the next room he stood by a device with a numerical counter on it and a stand for someone to place their hands
"I hope you didn't expect a rest and time to recover your magical reserves because the next test is a magical output test, you will stand here and channel your magic into the pedistal, the passing mark is 150, anything below that is a fail, no exceptions"
this concerned Dave as his magical energy was only 80 but he was happy that it was based on output and not max amount as by changing some of his yellow energy to blue energy he would be able to have a max of 179 if he pushed himself to the point of passing out, but considering he didn't know how many more tests there would be or what they would entail he thought going up to 155 would be what he aimed for, just to be safe not stopping at 150
before Dave there were a number of students, some passing and some failing, one student barely reaching 10 as it was obvious he had used pretty much everything he had in able to pass the first test only for it to end up coming back to bite him in the second test
finally Dave's turn arrived and he stepped up to the podium, placing his hands on the stand, channeling his magical energy into it and changing his yellow energy into blue energy as his blue reserves were drained
"155 pass, not as good as your physical results it would seem, but that is only to be expected, you do seem to come from a more common family" said the exam teacher "head into the next room"
doing as he was told Dave proceeded onwards through the door, finding himself in a room with the other people who had passed
a few minutes and a small number of people who had also passed later the examiner came through the door "alright, for those of you who are here you will now be considered students of this academy, now you will be sorted into your houses dependent on your main attribute" he informed the students, some of the students celebrating, others slumping down onto the floor in relief and a small few having kept confident smirks on their faces from start to finish
"the houses are as follows, those who have fire attributes will be in the phoenix house, water will be in the kraken house, earth will be in the Huanglong house and those of the wind element will be in the pegasus house" he informed the students "the order in which you will be checking your attributes will be determined by the results of the prior 2 tests, as such ms Azura Inferno, please step forward, you had a score of 500 in terms of magic and came second in the physical test"
"500" Dave thought in shock "that's nearly triple both my energies combined and over six times my magical energies max"
"please, as if I need to check my attribute" came a proud voice from a girl with short blue hair and deep blue eyes, stepping forward
"indeed, coming from the inferno household means that you are going to have a fire attribute but this is something that everyone goes through" the teacher informed her, revealing a crystal ball
"Fine, let these people see what a real element is" she proclaimed, placing her hand on the ball, a blue flame forming in the ball, the heat of which could be felt even at a distance
"incredible ms Inferno, I've never seen such a pure flame before, definately the phoenix house" noted the examiner
"Next up mr Dave Spark, although you did not achieve much in the magical output test your score in the physical test has brought you to second place
Dave's heart was beating in his chest hard, this was it, he was finally going to find out what his element was, placing his hands on the ball he channeled his energy into it, 2 sparks of electricity appearing in the ball, one yellow and one blue
"A dual colored lightning element, very impressive young man, your more commoner upbringing must have limited your growth" he noted "now then, lightning can be considered a combination of wind and fire so which house would you like to join"
"he will be joining the phoenix house" commanded Azura "I will not allow someone who beat me in anything run away from my challenge and so he must stay where I can see him" she said with a glare
"in that case phoenix house it is" said the examiner
"wait don't I get to chose" complained Dave
"normally yes but ms Azura is from one of the most powerful houses of magic in the country, disobeying her would lead to me losing my job, I'm sorry" the examiner informed Dave with a guilty expression
"follow me" Azura ordered, waiting for Dave to follow her
being given no choice Dave followed after her, accidently knocking the crystal ball onto the floor causing it to diappear out of sight as it fell between Dave and the table, meaning that no one saw the red spark that momentarily appeared in the crystal ball, causing it to crack in half as it fell onto theo floor, everyone to focused on the young ladies commanding presence as Dave followed her out, heading towards the exit, to realise what had just happened
the examiner believing that it must have broke from over use combined with the impact of hitting the floor.