William

"You have all done well in the awakening." Although his voice reached everyone, he was only looking at people who passed the awakening with gentle eyes, especially at Williams, as his smile widened.

"You have all done well in this awakening," suddenly a man came from outside the hall in casual clothing as he looked at everyone present. Following him were the ten elders.

Although the old man wearing the coat was stunned, he looked at Williams, which made him bow his head respectfully as he retreated to the corner.

The leader nodded his head as he looked at all the people present.

"You will all be the future of the village and this empire. Some of you have less talent, some of you have more talent than the other, but that doesn't matter. As long as you work hard and train yourself constantly, you will be able to become a strong mage," he announced, which caused all the people's eyes to light up with excitement.

"Good. From next year, your academy will start, and you will be able to get all your first vital spells to train. So for this year, you must train your body to have a good foundation and learn to fight properly, got it?"

Although their awakening dates were today, many others who were born on different days but in the same year also needed to take the awakening, which made the distribution of people uneven if they did it on the same date. So the academy usually starts when all the people have got the chance to awaken their ability, starting next year.

"Yes, leader." Everyone bowed. After all, they were all considered as teens already in this world, even though they are eight years old, they are still sensible enough to understand the ways of the world.

"Williams, you stay here," the leader said as he saw all the children leave.

Williams paused his footsteps as he looked at the casually dressed man. "What is it?" with a casual tone as if he was talking to his friend.

All the elders were stunned when they saw this. "How dare he talk to the leader like this?"

However, the man casually shrugged as he went towards William. "Well, would you like to be taught by me?" he said, showing that he didn't mind it that much.

"Hmm, let's see. How about a 'no'?"

"This…" The man was stunned when he heard this.

"I didn't expect this boy to be so bold," he muttered to himself. While the elders were stunned, although the leader was known for his gentle and chill nature, it didn't make his status weaker. It just showed how great of a leader he is, but that didn't mean he could be disrespected.

"If this kid wasn't a high-grade talent, he would have most likely died by now," the sixth elder thought as he pushed his glasses into his eyes again, a strange glint reflecting wisdom in his eyes.

"Why wouldn't you choose me? You know there are many benefits to being my disciple, right?"

"Well, for a start, I don't even know your name. How could I be your disciple without it?"

"Hahahahaha, you are interesting. Very well, my name is Noah." Noah smiled with amusement as he looked at William.

"So, what will you give me if I become your disciple?"

"Well… what do you want?"

"I want… strength and protection until I get strong enough." William was about to utter the word "revenge," however, after a brief time of contemplation, he refrained from saying it.

Noah looked amusingly at him with a knowing smile when he heard this. "Alright, as long as it is within my power, I will protect you to the best of my ability. This is my word to you."

Thud!

William fell to the floor as his knee touched the ground, and he knocked on the ground three times with his head.

"You are a smart fellow," Noah said amusingly at him. "Alright, with these, the ceremony is officially completed, and you have become my disciple. However, I can't give you the vital spell directly. I will only train you in the foundation for your body right now until you can form your own blood and Qi. Even mages need to train their bodies. There is a reason we give you guys some time to strengthen your foundational body strength, got it?"

Although William was confused, he still nodded his head.

Seeing this, Noah had a disappointed look on his face. "After all, he still is a teen."

"You see, as a mage, you might not even need your body strength or even blood and Qi. After all, it has a limit which has never been surpassed by anyone in history that I know of. But that doesn't mean it's entirely useless. In fact, in the early tier of the mage apprentice, your blood and Qi are even stronger if you can manifest it. So, your physical strength is very vital for you." Noah patiently explained as William nodded his head.

"Remember, my disciple, if you have a question, ask away."

"Thank you, Master." William bowed as the two disappeared from their position.

"Well, the leader already likes the kid."

"More like he liked his talent. You know that our leader could only take seventy steps while William took eighty steps." A sneer appeared on the sixth elder's face; however, he quickly regained his demeanour.

After saying that, all remained silent as they looked at each other before they vanished into thin air.

Aur and the others walked outside the grand building that looked like a church. However, it wasn't a church with no statue or such; it was just that the design looked very similar to it.

As Aur walked outside, he saw the sun setting as the warm orange light of the sun filled his vision.

"Well, that was a hectic day," he thought with a smile on his face.

"Aur, you are finally here." His sister jumped at him while she rotated around him, using him as her own personal roller coaster.