10 Chapter 10. To the academy, aptitude test

The next day, Tirus left for the academy.

Elena went to see him off while his father gave him a high-quality dual edged blade and a few words of advice like "Don't be too arrogant." or "Don't let others bully you."

Tirus took his pet eagle, Hawke, with him. He knew that Hawke would probably die due to radiation, but that's precisely what Tirus wanted since he had plans for his pet.

In the huge carriage, there were several nobles his age chatting together to form good relations and to clarify the difference between their status.

When they looked in the direction of Tirus, he just gave them a smile before he was approached by them.

"Hello, my name is Rick. I am a noble. Pleased to meet you." Rick said, slightly bowing his head while placing his right hand on his chest. This was a nobles way of greeting their peers.

"Nice to meet you too, I am Tirus, a noble as well." Tirus said with a smile on his face.

They talked about numerous things, none of which were of much importance. After a while, Tirus picked a place for himself and sat there. Meditating.

[Name: Tirus Van Elrod, Occupation: Knight, strength: 3, agility: 3.4, vitality: 2.9, status: Healthy]

'3 more years, huh.' Tirus thought. This was the amount of time he'd need to become a grand knight.

A grand knight by the age of 16 was extremely rare. Usually, people wouldn't even have high or even mid-grade knight meditation techniques and It'd take them years to even become a knight since comprehending the technique was also quite difficult.

Most people would be struck being a knight their entire lives and yet, Tirus, who had a good start and the A.I. chip could easily become a grand knight by the age of 16.

'But it's nothing too special, a grade 3 acolyte can still kill a grand knight easily. Becoming a grand knight at the age of 16 is nothing too great since I got a lot of help from the A.I. chip.' He told himself.

He knew that he had put in a lot of hard work as well, but without the help of A.I. chip, he'd be nothing.

The journey continued peacefully. He didn't cause conflict and stayed in a corner while rarely talking to anyone and focused on meditation.

…

After a few days, the carriage arrived at a strangely isolated place inside a jungle. From there, they boarded a flying ship.

It took the flying ship a month to reach the academy.

"All of you, get in the line, don't you dare cause any ruckus, if you do, then don't blame us for being ruthless." A man in a crimson robe warned all the children gathered there.

Soon, they all made a line as they followed the man in the crimson robe.

They all arrived in front of a tent, in which sat an old lady with a face full of scars.

One by one, everyone went inside the tent and got their aptitude checked. Soon, it was Tirus's turn.

When he entered the tent, he was surprised to see that the tent which looked small from the outside was actually as big as his room back in the estate.

"Put your hands on the crystal ball, don't put your hands down unless it feels like it'll explode. Understood, you won't get another chance." She warned Tirus with no change in her expression.

"Okay" He said as he put his hands on the crystal as she instructed him to.

1 second

2 seconds

3 seconds

…

After a total of 10 seconds, Tirus couldn't bear the pain anymore as he put his hands down.

"Grade 5 aptitude." "Go to the next tent with this." She said as she gave him a piece of paper on which was written "Grade 5".

'Great, now there's no way I'd get involved in dangerous experiments nor would anyone get suspicious even if my growth is really fast!' He rejoiced in his mind.

Tirus went to the next tent. He saw a similar crystal ball, but this one was twice as big.

"Put your hands on it and tell me what you see." An old man sitting in front of him said.

Tirus put his hand on the crystal ball as said what he saw "I see a dark whirlpool with a lot of red dots around it with numerous blue sparks."

"Hm, okay" the old man said as he started writing something on a piece of paper.

"Highest affinity with Dark element, high affinity with fire and lightning, and low affinity with water." was written on it.

"Go choose a master for yourself in the next tent." He pointed in the direction of a tent that was just outside.

Inside the tent, there was a board flickering with blue light with 10s of names flashing across it.

"I wish choose a teacher myself!" Tirus said to the old man near the board as he gave him 10 gold coins.

"Okay, here's the list of teachers and their conditions, if you wish to become someone's student, then tell me." He instructed Tirus.

"Okay" He said as he started looking for a teacher who majored in transfiguration.

"Found one!" He said to himself as he started to look through the teacher's profile.

"Professor David, majors in transfiguration and proficient in alchemy. Must help in experiment at least once a month aside from other tasks given. The student may die in the experiment."

He read the profile. He had grade 5 talent, so he didn't need to fear dying in experiment. So, long as he didn't displease his master, he'd be nurtured well.

And so, he chose professor David as his master.

To be continued….