Acceptance

'I…I made it. I made everyone, I got in! You all should wait for me, I'll work hard and make you all proud!' Alex was boiling with emotions inwardly as he remembered the village head who had tirelessly brought him from the village and everyone back home. Remembering all the suffering he had seen the people of the village go through for the past few years as he could remember and the humiliation they faced at the hands of that old man. A single drop of tears escaped from his eye which Alex quickly wiped off with his sleeve before turning to look at Vee who was also smiling at him.

The both of them nodded at each other without saying a word but understood what each other meant.

After the kids had managed to calm down their excitement, the purple-haired woman cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Now that the awakening is done, you all are now students here and should be aware of some general rules of the academy.

Living in the academy premises is a must for all first-year students, you all are to report to the academy latest tomorrow so coming in today is fine. Attending classes is a must because attendance will affect your evaluation score for the ranking which will happen three months from now. Disrespect to a teacher or senior students is at your own risk" the purple-haired woman said, the last part of her words sounding like a threat. It was as if she was telling them to try messing with the teachers or senior students of the academy to find out what would happen.

A kid raised her hand after the purple-haired woman stopped talking, the kid was a girl wearing glasses and gave the impression of a bookworm.

" Ma'am, what's the ranking that you talked about?" She asked before the purple-haired woman could say anything.

The woman only glanced at her briefly before looking away.

" No questions, anything else will be explained to you after you come to the academy. You should report to the registration office when you are ready, the deadline is tomorrow, to get your student card, lodge key, uniforms, and other necessary stuff. Classes begin in two days, now dismissed. You have a few hours to spend with your families before coming back so get lost already" The woman yawned lazily while stretching, displaying a provocative figure even more, though none of the kids paid any attention and began to storm out to tell the good news and their goodbyes to their families waiting outside.

Alex and Vee did not stand up immediately as the number of kids storming out of the hall was too much and the entrance was full of struggling kids, they wanted to wait for most of them to pass first before leaving. They were not the only ones with these thoughts, sitting quietly in front where a few other kids with the most eyes catching were the stoic red-haired girl with peak grade talent who had awakened the fire element, the girl with glasses who had asked about the ranking earlier and the first kid who had awakened. The others were also kids who had awakened decent elements with decent talents but Alex had not paid too much attention to them.

Less than a minute more and the hall was now looking scanty after most of the kids had rushed out, Alex decided to leave at this point along with Vee to go meet the village head.

Coincidentally, the others in front also stood up at this same moment to leave. Well, since the place had fewer people now, it would not be a problem for each of them to leave. Besides, Alex and Vee were closer to the entrance than the others were.

"Hey, whiteheads!"

A loud voice suddenly called out from behind, Alex and Vee did not need to look back to know that the owner of the voice was referring to them. After all, their hair colors were quite eye-catching in the hall, and adding that they sat next to each other.

The two of them turned around and saw the boy who had awakened first matching towards them with long steps, behind him were the kid with glasses and the redhead girl with an expressionless face.

"Are the two of you brothers? How come you have the same hair color and your eye colors are even the same!" The boy exclaimed as he bent his waist and stared at the two of them, his height was towering above the two so he was qualified to bend his body when talking to them.

Alex made a strange face, not expecting him to be so straight with his question. He just stared up at the boy without saying anything for a few seconds, Vee also did not reply and just stood there like a statue.

"Move, you are acting like those muscle heads in novels" a smaller voice came from behind as the girl with glasses pushed the boy to the side, though he was unable to do so due to their size difference and the boy had to move by himself.

"Hello, hello! My name is Helen, nice to meet you" the girl beamed a smile as she stretched out a hand towards Alex for a handshake.

Alex took her hand and also introduced himself, the same action played out with Vee and he shook hands with the girl too.

"Hey, you didn't ask my name!" The boy at the side voiced out.

"You should say your name first when talking to people instead of asking stupid questions" the girl with glasses hissed at him before turning back to Alex.

"Although that ma'am said your case isn't rare, I haven't heard of anyone with two elements all my life or ever read of them. Let's be friends, alright?" The girl said to Alex in a friendly manner.

"Umm, sure" Alex nodded slowly before turning to stare at the red-haired girl who was staring at him from the side, a confused expression formed on his face as he thought 'Did I offend her or something?'

"Oh, don't mind her. She isn't the active type, she's a shy one" the girl with glasses said with a giggle as she also stared at the red-haired girl.

"I'm not shy" the red-haired girl argued in an expressionless voice and glared at the girl with glasses.

Alex stared at them without saying anything. He felt that their personalities were swapped because the girl with glasses was too talkative for a bookworm.

"Hi, I'm Alex" Alex turned towards the red-haired girl and said with a hand stretched out.

"Torie!!"