Spirit Strands

As Neil was about to be disappointed by her lack of reaction, he finally heard his classmate's surprised voices.

"Eight Spirit Strands? Aren't we all the same age? Why is there such a big difference?" One of the boys whispered after realizing the disparity in their spirit strands. Needless to say, before he entered the Academy, he already had his Spirit Strand tested. 

The others had the same thought but didn't directly voice it out since they still felt indignant about being defeated by someone who grew up from a different Arcane Path's Faction.

"That's impressive! I knew it. You should've tested your spirit last… Now, everyone else would feel like garbage…" 

"As expected of my new friend. You probably have the same or even better Spirit Strands than Maya…"

His lackeys added to boost his ego. 

Neil was obviously delighted by this response but there are still some of them who were unconvinced as they whispered.