34 Taking The Test (1)

"So your name is Zio Asura?"

The leader of the group asked.

"Yes, it is" Zio answered.

"That's a surname I have never heard off, you must be from a faraway land?" The young teenager asked.

"I am from this country, it's just that my clan is very small, that's all" Zio answered.

"I see, by the way, my name is Sabas Clinton, I am from the Clinton family"

The leader of the group introduced himself and also informed Zio about his background to Zio, Zio really didn't care about these people's status, he already knows that the world is a place where only people of status can have some freedom in their action.

Zio understood that this Sabas wants to present himself as someone superior to him with the help of his family name, but it didn't matter to Zio, he was only interested in becoming stronger, he didn't want to meddle with these aristocrat families and bind himself to their problems.

Asura has already told him to stay out of their way unless they start to get on his nerves.

During their walk Zio and Sabas talked a little about themselves and the more they talked the more Sabas attitude towards Zio changed, at first Sabas was a little careful about not offending Zio because he was holding a very high-class Religan but as Zio introduced himself to be someone from a small remote clan and he is only a traveler, Sabas's attitude changed and he started to display some superiority in his voice.

Zio ignored it and remained the same, to him it didn't matter, soon they arrived in front of the academy.

"We will be leaving now, I hope you will be able to join the academy"

Sabas said and left with his group, some of them looked behind to get a glance at Zio and walked into the academy.

Zio watched as the guards in front of the academy stopped the group and asked for their identification, once they validated their identity they were allowed to walk into the academy, Zio noticed that no one other than the students and teachers can enter the academy.

Any stranger who approaches the academy will he suppressed on the spot by the guards and then they will ask any questions related to the person's identity and innocence. The security around the academy seems very strict and no one should be able to sneak in without alerting the guards unless someone used an ability similar to the thief that Zio caught.

On his way here Zio asked a lot of question on how to join the academy to Sabas and he got some information on how to join the academy, Zio was lucky that he arrived in the right time, the academy is just about toe enroll students again for this semester and Zio could apply for it.

To become a student a person has to be below the age of 18 and should be at level 8 of the foundation stage, Zio met both the criteria, he is only 15 and he is already at level 10 of the foundation stage.

The person should also have a Religan, it didn't matter what type of Religan the person had, whether it is a weapon or a tool, a person could enter if they have a Religan with them. Since Zio has a Religan he is eligible to enter.

The third criterion is that the person knows how to read and write, luckily Zio's parents had thought him how to read and write because they were prepared for Zio to leave the clan and explore the world outside and now it has come in handy for Zio.

Since Zio was eligible to join the academy, he is allowed to fill the entry form, but that doesn't mean that he will become a student of the academy just like that, there also seems to be an entrance test which every student has to take part in, whether they are of the royal family or a local, if they are able to pass through the entrance exam they will become a student in the academy.

Zio looked around to find the place where the entry form is being distributed, it didn't take him long to find it because he saw a lot of people standing in a queue in front of a massive window attached to the outer wall of the academy.

Zio walked towards the queue and stood there as he watched how the process was being handled. He noticed a middle-aged man standing behind the window, in front of this man is a teenager who also wants to enter the academy, the man gave the teenager a paper to fill it, Zio observed as the teenager wrote down on the paper right in front of the middle-aged man as he watched carefully.

Next the middle-aged man asked the teenager to show his Religan markings, the teenager extended his hand and showed it to the man, the man grabbed his hand and did something and let go of the teenager's hand, he then took out a clear crystal and asked the teenager to put his hand on it.

As the teenager put his hand on it, the crystal changed its color to blue, the man nodded his head and then passed a small wooden card with the teenager's name and a number next to it, the teenager got excited as he received the card and walked out of the line.

Zio watched this process many times, most of the time, the first two processes of writing and testing the Religan markings seem to have no problems, but when it came to the last test, there were some changes, some candidates when touching the clear crystal, the crystal turned red and the middle-aged man would blow them away with the wave of his hand.

Zio realized that the crystal actually checked the age and cultivation stage of the person. If it turns blue, it means that the person is under 18 years of age and is at the 8th level of the foundation stage. If it turns red, they are either over-aged or their cultivation is lower than level 8 of the foundation stage.

Soon it was Zio's turn, he stood in front of the middle-aged man and looked at him.