Battle Mages

"H-H-H-Henry Choros??!!!!" replied Kierra shocked to her core by the fact that the young master of the second strongest house in Sierra Kingdom was just casually sitting with Kyle and not surrounded by more esteemed young masters, and she was right as the other four young nobles from the rest of the Dukedoms were already surrounded by the children of Marquises and Counts.

However, Henry was not the type to sit with other people as he didn't like crowds, that was one of the reasons why he chose to sit in an empty place such as the corner of the cafeteria.

Kierra quickly regained her composure and bowed respectfully while introducing herself: "Hello young master Choros, I am Kierra Scott, the daughter of Count Jack Scott, Kyle's fiancee,"

Kyle and Kierra have had an arranged marriage since they were kids to improve the relationship between the two houses, so although they weren't in love with each other they were still friends who were fine with marrying the other for their houses' benefit.

Henry smiled and replied proudly: "Hmph, be honored you're the fiancee of my first friend!"

Kierra didn't know how to respond to such a bold statement, and so she glanced at Kyle with eyes that screamed 'help', Kyle decided to change the subject as he also had no comment on the current subject.

"Henry, Have you decided what type of magician you want to become?" asked Kyle, slightly curious. "I will obviously become a proud battle mage!" replied Henry without a second thought suggesting that it was an already done deal.

"What about you, Kyle?" asked Henry, to which Kyle replied: "I also would like to become a battle mage," Kyle liked battles, and although he received basic training back at the Fowler Mansion it still wasn't anything extreme because of his overprotective mother, Pearl. Thus he was looking forward to the special training he will receive in the Academy.

"And you, fiancee of Kyle, what do you want to become?" Although Henry didn't really care about Kierra he still decided to ask her about her profession albeit with less respect to strengthen his bond with his first 'friend', Kyle. "I'd like to become an alchemist" replied Kierra enthusiastically. "Hoh, I wouldn't mind recruiting you into my house after you become an official alchemist," said Henry with a bit of expectation.

Alchemists are valued throughout the continent as not many people would take the risk of becoming one. Becoming an alchemist has way more disadvantages than advantages. They usually end up staying in one room their whole life, researching spells and brewing potions, it also takes a lot of time to brew one potion much less an elixir, which is why Henry wasn't that expectant of Kierra especially since she had a personality that doesn't suit such a profession, yet he still took his chances and decided to give her an offer as he wouldn't lose anything even if she didn't become an alchemist.

The bell that indicated the end of recess rang, and students were led to the meeting hall. This time, however, they were not met with the headmaster but with a couple of professors, three of them to be exact, each one of them standing under a symbol symbolizing a profession.

The first Professor was a tall muscular man with scars all over his body under a magic sword symbol representing battle mages. The second one was an old man with a tall white beard in a purple robe under a potion-like symbol representing alchemists. And the third Professor was a middle-aged woman in a white robe that screamed of holiness under a cross symbol that represented clerics.

The battle mage Professor was Arthur Gi, a prominent fighter from the Dukedom of Gi, while the alchemist Professor was Silas Anemos, a famous alchemist of the Dukedom of Anemos. The third Professor, Professor Mary was an archbishop dispatched from the Holy Kingdom to show their goodwill and support of the Magic Academy.

The students that aspired to become battle mages stood in front of Professor Arthur, while the students that aspired to become alchemists stood in front of Professor Silas, and the students that aspired to become clerics stood in front of Professor Mary. And as Henry had previously stated, the students that lined up in front of Professor Silas were clearly much fewer than the students in front of the other two Professors.

Then the Professors each took their corresponding students to their specific lectures, with Professor Silas taking his students to the research hall, Professor Mary taking her students to the newly built chapel, and Professor Arthur taking his students to the training grounds outside where he examined his students' capabilities.

The students lined up according to their status in front of a stage where Professor Arthur appraised their magic rank through a crystal orb that not only told their current circle but also what tier they were by giving three colors and three lines, green indicating 1st circle, blue indicating 2nd circle, and red indicating 3rd circle with 1 line indicating low-tier, 2 lines indicating mid-tier, and 3 lines indicating high-tier.

First, Henry came up and poured his magical energy, it glowed red with 1 line appearing on it which was extremely impressive for a 16-year-old even with all the elixirs he's been given. Then, another member of the Dukedom of Gi, young master Hunter Gi came up and he also had similar results.

The rest of the young nobles came up and most of them were at the low tier of the 2nd circle except a couple of nobles from higher nobility who were either at the mid tier of the 2nd circle, then it was Kyle's turn and as he poured his magical energy into the orb it glowed blue with 3 lines appearing which shocked the audience, including Professor Arthur. Although Professor Arthur was slightly shocked he still didn't pay much heed to him, after all, he's encountered many other prodigies throughout his years of experience. After that, was the commoners' turn where most of them were at the high tier of the 1st circle.

"HAHAHAH, we have many talented newcomers this year! I'm very satisfied with your results," spoke Arthur loudly befitting of his rough appearance, and with every word spoken, the students felt the earth shake and the rocks split showcasing his strength.