Showoff

[9 AM Xenovia Academy 1 Elite Class Floor 30]

"Better not disappoint Ray I'm expecting a good performance."

Ray was now under the pressure of his peers watching him perform. Although he was nervous, his eyes showed no wavering.

He picked up a mace from the weapon stand that we were supposed to choose from.

The first thing he noticed was the distance of the practice dummy. He needed to move closer to get into his ability range. The [Shoulder Charge] he used needed to be into the 20-meter range to be accurate. His Xer affinity was earth making him a proper tank all the way around.

[Shoulder Charge] A shout echoed throughout the testing room. The ground shook as Ray charged at the practice dummy with amazing speed. "[Ground Slam]" Another shout went awry. Surprisingly he could cast two abilities in succession. This put him in the top 5 without a doubt, but the power output was disappointing because of his Xer control. Nonetheless, this meant that if this power was too perfect it would be almost impossible to parry.

"See this Raphael, I would have split your head open if you didn't catch me by surprise!"-Ray shouted proudly.

Annoyed by his cocky, attitude Raphael snorted at him but didn't make a sound. Despite the rudeness, his performance was still remarkable. Raphael gave him 43 points in his mark and his average was 45. Next in line was Alezinia who came in third on the exams.

"Step up Alezinia, it's your turn"

The professor pointed toward the testing room. Her silent strides caught my attention. She had done this before when she snuck up on Raphael, her Xer control was excellent. Although she fought in the entrance exams, no one was paying attention to her match since it ended too fast.

The weapon choice was weird, a whip. This wasn't the casual RHA pick since their main weapon is usually a longsword. After facing the practice dummy, her splendid greyish wings sprouted out again. A gold aura enveloped them along with some strands of black. Her Xer affinities were lighting and darkness.

[Firestorm Whip] She instantly cast, with no hesitation. [Gust of the Abyss] Relentless she cast again, this time the practice dummy shot up in the air. The whip which she aimed high hit it rapidly and the whirlwind of dark blades seemed to pierce it each time it spun.

It was perfection, her Xer control was impeccable. This time she got higher marks than Raphael and that was obvious from the look on professor Adelle's face.

"50 points average, that's a new record," Adelle said as she put Alezinia's evaluation sheet on her desk.

"This makes you the first student to get half marks in the whole academy's history"

All the students had an envious look on their faces but it was only normal that she was of this caliber. After all, she was of a bigger background than most, so the support she must have gotten should be huge. Despite her clear success, she was still disappointed by the reactions she got. The only one looking in awe and curiosity was Raphael.

"Enough with the chatter you hatchlings, next in line Zephisto."

Rolling his eyes backward, Zephisto made his way toward the testing room. The last time he went to display his prowess, Raphael made a mockery of him so this was a way to redeem himself.

The white wings on his back changed to black again as shown before but this time he used a move that he hadn't exposed yet.

His affinity showed signs of a dim blue, this meant he had water and darkness affinity. [Grand Blue] A menacing whisper came from Zephisto's mouth. The dummy shook up from a wave of water coming from under it. [Poison Spikes] He cast again piercing the airborne dummy. the second ability was underwhelming in comparison to the wave of water he made.

"40 points Zephisto, your control was only subpar," Adelle said with a disappointed look on her face.

"How was that a subpar performance, it was my best yet," Zephisto was very mad and it showed on his face.

"Careful hotshot you're going to pop a vein like that," Raphael mocked.

"Shut up worm, you were the one that most likely graded me low on purpose," he shot back at Raphael.

"I gave you 43 points out of pity you damn dimwit, you should be thankful instead."

Zephisto went silent and came back into class with his head lowered.

"There will be no more of these temper tantrums in this class, understood?" -this time the professor got annoyed at the sheer attitude that Zephisto was giving. So she decided to make an example of him by slightly scaring all of us with her aura.

All the students understood that if this happened again it would be a pain in the butt so they decided to agree. Moving on it was Dray Sunless's turn. The Sunless family was known to have a signature sun and moon affinity that combined into a cold flame. His weapon of choice was a bow.

[Flame of Eclipse]

He cast the arrow which he shot at the target after repositioning himself using [Tidal Steps], another moon affinity-based ability.

The practice dummy was engulfed in blue flames and his turn was over. "41 Points, good control, and swift movement."

His very extroverted demeanor made him stand out along with his gray hair.

"At least I was flashier than spiky hair in the back," he laughs.

Almost going on a tantrum again Zephisto was reminded of the professor's words and sat again.

"Now we continue with the theoretical strategy lesson, the remaining will be tested tomorrow," Adelle closed off the testing room and started writing on the whiteboard.

The rest of class went on as normal with no interruption and Raphael slowly fell into deep thought.

"You're drifting in thought again boy," Bruno's voice echoed again in his head.

"Do you have to scare me every time you talk," He kept these words in his head in an attempt to talk to this voice.

The echo stopped and the voice didn't seem to respond. This class was very uninteresting to Raphael since he was naturally gifted in strategy.

"This is it for today kids, until the first two weeks of school are over no one will be allowed into their respective living places,"

"Instead everyone will live in the dorms on the upper floors of the academy."

[1 PM Xenovia Academy Lobby Information Desk]

-Notice-

"Everyone will be given a key to a dorm room that they will share with two other roommates except Rank 1 in exams which will be given the special privilege of a single room"

-End of Notice-

Raphael walked up to the front desk to receive his dorm room key from the assistant there. His eyes quickly noticed Tanna waiting for him there.

"Hey dear, how was your first day?"- she came close to him caressing his neck.

"Tiring but entertaining nonetheless, I was able to learn a bit more,"

"Are you sure you didn't sleep through the theory part because I did the same?"- Tanna said while chuckling.

"Well..."

They cracked a laugh together and greeted each other with a hug. It was only natural since they would not be seeing one another for two weeks until the start period ended.

Raphael went to the dorm on the 31st floor and sat to revise "Flow" the book that Tanna gave him before going to bed.