The First Day

-The next morning-

The rising sun cast a glowing hue across the morning sky. In a remote house, five young men could be seen laying on the ground undisturbed with sleep.

After a late night intense session, the five of them couldn't take it anymore and immediately hit the bed with extreme exhaustion.

*RING RING*

"Argh..." Ash groaned in his sleep.

*RING RING*

"..."

*RING RING*

Ash whipped out his hand and grabbed the alarm clock, crushing it to bits and pieces. Meanwhile, Asif slowly opened his eyes and witnessed what Ash did.

'Huh...' Asif was surprised. 'It seems our hard work has paid off.'

Asif got up and walked around the house in search of a bucket. He found one and filled it halfway through with cold water.

He then went back to where the other four were sleeping and with ease, dumped the whole bucket of cold water onto Ash.

"AHH MY BABY!!" Ash was instantly jolted awake and yelled. The other three woke up promptly after hearing the cancerous yelling.

"What the hell man?!" Bryan was a bit grumpy.

"W-What happened..." Ash was still in a daze.

"*Sigh* Asif happened." Ray uttered while rubbing his eyes.

"I was having a feast..." Algo pouted in dissatisfaction.

"You know I have to do this every time for him to wake up." Asif explained.

""Yeah, we know!"" The three responded.

"Fuck you, Asif. I was having the best dream of my life." Ash complained.

"You're welcome." Asif smirked.

"Tch!"

"Hey, what happened to the alarm clock?" Ray pointed at whatever was remaining of the alarm clock.

"Oh, that was Ash's doing." Asif revealed.

"Huh..." Ash was confused.

"You crushed it while you were asleep." Asif explained.

"Yeah, I'm not sleeping next to you ever." Bryan said.

"Does that mean all of us are powerful now? I mean, I can feel the power residing in my body." Algo said.

"Same here, so I guess we are." Ray agreed.

"Cooool!" Ash muttered with shining eyes.

"Here, there were some packages at the door." Asif brought out five packages and distributed them all.

"I wonder what's inside." Bryan said.

"Probably our academy uniforms." Asif assumed.

They opened the package and it revealed to be a white robe with a single bronze colored stripe on it. Along with the white robe, there were identification badges that could be attached to the robes.

"Sweet!" Bryan admired the white robe.

"They have pockets, I can store a lot of snacks." Algo excitedly said.

"You're right..." Ray agreed while checking out the pockets.

"We're gonna look like the nuns that symbolize chastity." Ash grumbled in displeasure.

"How are they any different from you?" Asif asked.

""HAHAHAHA!"" The other three laughed.

"..." Ash was speechless.

"Alright, let's get ready for our first day at the academy." Asif said before leaving to prepare.

"Aye aye, Sir." Ash mocked before joining the rest.

-After about some time-

The five brothers stood at the front porch looking rather magnificent with the white robes. They were checking each other out while waiting for Old man Reid.

"Am I Poutini now?" Ash smugly asked.

"You are an idiot is what you are." Bryan mocked him.

"Oh man, I can't wait to beat your ass." Ash said while pumping his fists.

"Right back at you."

Ray just looked at them weirdly. Soon after a few seconds, a gush of wind emerged from the far direction of the cobblestone path.

It got closer and reached the boys before they could even say anything. The gush of wind disappeared to reveal a middle-aged man donning golden robes.

"Old man Reid." Bryan called out.

"Good morning, old man." Algo greeted him.

"Good morning, Algo and everyone." Old man Reid greeted him back. "How are you guys doing?"

"Mornin', old man. We're doing fine as you can see." Ray answered.

"Yeah yeah, we worked hard yesterday." Ash proudly declared.

"That's good to hear." Old man Reid nodded in satisfaction. "Are you ready for your first day?"

They all eagerly nodded and followed Old man Reid into the cobblestone path. While walking down the cobblestone path and avoiding curious gazes from the other students, they came across a huge building.

Old man Reid stopped and introduced, "This is the main building of our academy and this is where your classes will be held. Proceed to the room of Class 10, that's where you'll be for the remainder of your stay in the academy."

"Class 10? Understood." Asif nodded.

"All the candidates who have passed this year will be in Class 10, so make some friends alright?" Old man Reid smiled and left.

"He didn't even wait for our response..." Ash said.

"He must be busy." Ray said.

"C'mon, let's go." Asif said and they entered the building. After a few minutes of searching, they found the classroom of Class 10.

"Here we go."

They entered the classroom and saw at least half the seats were occupied. On the other hand, one of the students in the classroom looked over and saw the five brothers.

"Hey, look. It's them." He slightly yelled out loud but it was audible for everyone in the classroom. The other students stopped what they were doing and observed them.

"Ah man, is this going to happen every time?" Ash said in annoyance.

"Let's find a place to sit." Bryan said and they all walked over to the last row and sat together with Bryan sitting on the far left and Asif sitting on the far right and the rest sitting between them. There were still some seats on either side of them. The other students stopped looking and continued with their business.

"I thought the classroom would be different but it's normal from the looks of it." Ray commented.

"I mean we can't really judge the classroom with the naked eye. Let's wait for the Instructor and find out." Bryan said and at the same time, someone pulled up and sat next to the empty seat beside him.

"Hi." Melissa greeted Bryan and the rest too.

"Oh hi." Bryan greeted back. "What brings you here?"

"Can't I sit here?" Melissa asked back.

"Oh no no, you can. I can't force you." Bryan said a bit embarrassingly.

"These two are at it again..." Ray whispered to Ash.

"I don't know about the chick but Bryan is for sure interested." Ash muttered.

"I'm pretty sure she is too." Ray added.

"I mean, she is pretty but I can't put my sights to just Earth. I wanna explore different worlds and their different cultures." Ash smirked creepily.

"Why does that sound fascinating though?" Ray questioned his and Ash's sanity.

"Hey guys!" Cristina popped up and cheerily greeted them.

"Oh hey, Cristina." Algo and the others greeted back.

"I'm very curious, how strong are you guys now?" Cristina couldn't stop herself from asking the question.

"We don't know." Algo simply answered.

"Huh?" Cristina was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we were practicing a lot yesterday night and before you know it, we're here." Algo explained.

"..." Cristina was speechless.

"So yeah, we don't know." Algo said with Asif nodding along with him.

"What about you?" Asif asked her.

"Hahaha! I'm proudly a 1st Stage Elemental Neophyte!" Cristina said with a smug and a proud smile.

As minutes went by, more and more students slowly filled the classroom. The door opened and a middle-aged woman walked in. As soon as the students saw her, they stopped the chatter and kept quiet.

"Good morning, my dear students. As you may all know me from the examination, My name is Issa G. Velia, you can call me whatever you feel like. I'll be your class guide for this year." Instructor Issa introduced herself as the class guide of Class 10.

"Now, I assume you've been practicing your cultivation to try and break into the 1st realm, Elemental Neophyte." Seeing the students nod, she continued. "Do you know why we have to refine our body with elemental energy?"

"To become stronger...?" One of the students answered.

"He's a real genius." Ash mocked.

"We refine our body so that we can make it a strong enough vessel to contain elemental energy." Isaac stood up and answered.

"Good answer. The second realm after Elemental Neophyte requires you to form an elemental core where the majority of your elemental energy will be stored. Now, if you try to form a core prematurely without refining your body, your body won't be able to handle the immense power and strain of the elemental core."

"Will we die if we do that?" A student asked.

"In rare cases, yes. But at most, you'll be crippled. So, I hope you students understand the importance of refining our bodies."

After her brief explanation, she continued with the rules and outline of the academy. Meanwhile, at the last row, the five have been silently cultivating after getting bored of hearing Instructor Issa's detailed explanation of the academy.

"It seems I've been boring to some students..." Instructor Issa smiled.

Immediately, the four of them opened their eyes and were slightly embarrassed. They could hear a light snore near them and it turns out Algo was sleeping.

'This guy...' Ray shook his head before nudging him awake.

"Ah, what happened? Did we lose the food war?" Algo woke up and said absentmindedly.

"No, you idiot. Instructor Issa called us out for cultivating, or in your case sleeping." Ash said.

Asif stood up and apologized, "We're sorry, Teacher Issa."

Instructor Issa shook her hands, "No no, it's quite alright. It's commendable you're focusing on cultivating. All of you students have my permission to cultivate at any time."

The five sighed from relief.

"But I'm very curious."

"Curious about what, Instructor Issa?" Cristina asked.

"Aren't you guys interested in their current elemental stage?" Instructor Issa pushed.

"Oh yes yes, we definitely are." Cristina immediately jumped on the hook along with most of the other students.

"Well then, why don't you five come up to the front. and stand before the pedestal." Instructor Issa gracefully said.

"Ugh" Ray grumbled.

"What's up, aren't you interested in your current stage?" Ash asked.

"I just wanna cultivate." Ray said.

"It's better if we get to know our current strength. That way we can monitor our progress smoothly." Asif said.

"Makes sense." Ray nodded and walked to the front of the class along with the others.

Instructor Issa pulled out another crystal ball inside the pedestal and placed it on top.

"This here is a handy tool to measure an elemental mage's stage in the 1st realm."

"Oo, can it also detect someone at the 2nd realm?" Ash asked.

"Unfortunately, the crystal ball only works for mages in the 1st realm." Instructor Issa answered.

"Alright, let's get down to business." Instructor Issa and everyone else were quite eager since they are prodigals after all.

"Who wants to go first?"

"I'll go." Asif said and touched the crystal ball. A bunch of letters slowly formed in the air right above the crystal ball.

*Elemental Neophyte - 3rd Stage*

Shocking gasps could be heard in the classroom. A small commotion arose and the students were chattering endlessly.

'That really is impressive...' Instructor Issa thought in amazement.

"Two whole stages above me." Cristina Rose muttered, "Then the rest...?"

Then Bryan, Algo and Ash went next and they too received the same result.

*Elemental Neophyte - 3rd Stage*

Ray quickly went as he was eager to know. He touched the crystal ball and was intently observing.

*Elemental Neophyte - 2nd Stage*

'Hmm, expected. I'm pretty close to the next stage.' Ray went back and joined the others.

"How close are you to the next stage?" Bryan asked.

"Very close, If I cultivate a bit more, I can reach the next stage." Ray answered.

"Well done, you can go back to your seats now." The five brothers went back and sat on their seats.

"You all must be amazed with their current strength. Indeed they are geniuses but remember, without extreme hard work, they wouldn't have reached their current stage."

"So work hard and prove to us that you are proud Elemental Mages of Earth." The classroom cheered and swore to work hard before Instructor Issa continued her lesson.