The Human Federation Academy

*Tsk*

"Now that I gave you kids an introduction to what Elemental Magic is, I want all of you to pack up and get ready to leave the orphanage tomorrow morning."

"Wait, why?" Asif inquired.

"We're going to attend an examination to test your elemental affinities and aptitudes." Old man Reid replied.

"Old man Reid, are you actually serious?" Bryan asked, still in disbelief.

"Kids, I know this is a lot to take in but yes, everything is real and I hope you brats become Elemental Mages of your own right. "

The five were startled that they had to leave the orphanage. As far as they could remember, they have lived their whole lives in the orphanage. They didn't have to attend any school because Old man Reid would hire a private tutor for the five of them. The five of them were brought into the orphanage when it was just built, and as such they were the first batch of orphans.

Asif, Bryan and Algo became close after a few years at the orphanage, Rey mostly kept to himself but slowly blended into the trio and they grew into being friends. Ray was different as he was innately distrustful, it took a lot of time for him to slowly open himself and after a long period of time, he became their youngest mischievous brother, albeit not related by blood but they couldn't care less about that.

"I'm still reeling in the fact that Magic is actually fucking real!" Bryan was still surprised.

"Yeah, it's not everyday you see something out of those fantasy books." Asif spoke.

"At least I'm not like those two being all dreamy about it." Algo pointed at Ray and Ash.

"Hey hey, it's magic, alright?" Ray being beyond excited.

"Old man Reid, where exactly are we going?" Bryan inquired.

"We're going to the HFA or the Human Federation Academy which is the only institution on Earth created to train and nurture Elemental Mages. It was established after a joint decision from the leaders of each country."

"So, we're going to an academy...?" Ash whispered.

"Don't worry, Ash. We're here with you." Ray comfortingly said.

"Tch, I am not worried about anything."

"Oh yeah? Let's see."

"Old man, are you really just a mere manager of the orphanage?" Asif prudently probed. The others were curious too because how could an ordinary manager of a remote orphanage be an Elementary Mage and know so much about Magic.

"Heh, you'll find out tomorrow. Anyways, enough with the questions, go back to your rooms and get ready to embark tomorrow. A whole new life awaits you, so go get a good night sleep and be prepared."

"Aye aye!" Ash nodded.

"Good night, kids." Old man Reid smiled.

""Good night, old man!"" The five wished him as they walked out of the office clearly jittery and excited for tomorrow.

Watching the five kids leave the office, he waved his hands and a *clink* could be heard, showing the door was now locked. Old man Reid stood up from his desk and walked towards the window behind him. He stared out at the sky and released a deep breath.

"It's about time..." He muttered before closing the window curtains.

-The Next Morning-

"Who the fuck took my toothbrush?" Bryan asked in irritation.

"It's probably somewhere in your bed if you call that a bed." Ash mocked him.

"Ash is right, I don't know how you sleep on that mess." Algo said while packing up.

"It's like a raccoon came and made your bed its home." Ray ridiculed while Bryan was giving him the death stare.

"We can just ask Old man Reid to get you a new one, Bryan." Asif proposed.

"Yeah, I'll ask him later."

They were almost done packing when they heard someone open their door. Old man Reid came in and nodded in satisfaction seeing that they were almost ready.

"At least, you kids are not late this time."

"Old man, obviously we won't be late for this." Ray looked at him with excitement.

"Yeah, I wanna know if I can create a new type of food." Algo said with shining eyes.

"What the fuck?!" Ash looked at him.

"Perhaps you can." Old man Reid said with a wry smile.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" He looked at them and they all nodded with excitement ready to leave.

"Come, follow me!" Old man Reid beckoned them over to follow him. The group walked down to the ground floor and they stood in front of an empty wall.

"Old man Reid, where are the others?" Algo was confused because he expected to see the other orphans running around.

"Don't worry, Algo. I've sent them away to a different orphanage, they will be perfectly fine there." Old man Reid assured him, "Now, let's go."

He placed his hand on an obscure spot on the wall. A section of the wall slowly vanished revealing a stairway leading downwards to a door. Old man Reid turned around and saw the five of them stare with gaping mouths, he chuckled and told them to follow him.

"I thought we were gonna be flying on a plane..." Ash clearly excited at the thought of flying.

"Ash, instead of flying, we'll be teleporting to the academy." He chuckled seeing them widen their eyes after hearing the word 'teleporting'.

"W-We'll be teleporting??" Ray was shocked.

"At this point, I'm gonna be numb to the amount of surprises being thrown at us." Asif getting past the surprise.

After traversing down the stairs, Old man Reid opened the door to reveal an almost empty room. In the center of the room, four small pillars engraved with some sort of symbols could be seen placed in a square formation. The section of the floor, where the pillars are placed, is slightly elevated compared to the rest of the floor.

"I can't believe our orphanage has a secret basement." Bryan sighed. The group soon walked over to the center of the four pillars. Old man Reid took out four dazzling blue stones from his pouch and placed a stone on top of each pillar. He looked at the five boys and knew they were confused.

"The blue stone I just placed on top of the pillar is called an elemental ore. These ores contain elemental energy and can be used for a lot of magical stuff. In this case, we're using it to power the teleportation platform." Old man Reid explained, the five understandingly nodded.

"Is everyone ready?" The others nodded.

"Good, now take a deep breath and I'll activate the platform." The others took a deep breath and Old man Reid raised his hand and it started shining, releasing rays of dazzling light, lighting up the dim room. The others closed their eyes due to the intensity of the light. The elemental ores have begun to shine before a stream of energy flew swiftly to the platform where a mystical formation of some kind was being illuminated.

Before long, the intense light slowly faded out returning the room to its previous state. And in the center of the platform, the group was nowhere to be seen.

-Far away in a remote island-

An enormous grand academy stood tall in the center of the island, spanning a few dozen miles. An arc of striking mountains cover the outside of the academy with abundant luscious meadows at the base of the mountains and the grasslands. At the entrance of the academy, a grandiose gate could be seen painted in white with golden streaks spread across the gate radiating a majestic aura.

A mass of people could be seen going in and out of the gate. It's especially crowded because today is the day of the examination. Numerous groups could be seen exhibiting signs of excitement, nervousness and calmness reveling in a chaotic atmosphere.

In the center of the academy grounds, there is a large assembly ground where the examination usually is conducted. In front of the ground, there is a large stage erected with a pedestal on it. A huge crowd of about 10,000 people stand behind the stage. At least half of the crowd are the 15 year old prospective candidates being accompanied by their family or in-charge.

Next to the stage, there is another teleportation platform, similar to the one in the Rainbow Orphanage, albeit constructed at a grander scale.

The ground is bustling with sounds of conversations permeating through the air. At this point, 2 middle-aged adults wearing white robes walked into the stage. One of them, a woman walked in front and spoke.

"Everyone, please maintain silence." Her words echoed all over the ground, reaching everyone which no normal human being could mimic the same. Instantly, the people stopped talking and diverted their attention to the middle-aged woman standing on the stage.

"Thank you everyone for your cooperation."

"I welcome everyone to the Human Federation Academy. Today each one of you will have a chance to be an Elemental Cultivator. As I see a lot of candidates present on the ground, let's not waste any time and immediately start the-"

Before she could finish commencing the examination, a vibration pulsated in the air and a bright light shone on the teleportation platform. The four pillars were glowing a blue hue and a wave of rippled glared across the platform. The ripple slowly faded away before a group of six people appeared on the platform. Sounds of groaning could be heard from the group, everyone else assembled on the ground gave them weird looks.

"Fuck me, that felt...weird." Ray rubbed his head.

"I felt like I was being surrounded with jelly." Algo massaged his hand relishing the feeling.

"Ugh!" Asif grumbled with a pale face.

"Guys guys, look at that big ass building." Ash pointed at the main building of the academy.

"Um, guys?" Bryan called out.

"Yeah?"

"There's a lot of people looking at us weirdly." Bryan pointed at the huge crowd.

At this point, the white robed woman on the stage was dumbfounded that someone used the teleportation platform. She knew that only a few important members of the Academy could utilize the platform. Looking past the kids, she looked at the middle-aged man standing behind them and slowly recognized him with surprise.

"V-Vice Director!" the white robed man who was standing behind the white robed woman whispered.

"H-How did they do that?"

"Did they just teleport?!"

"I thought that platform were off-limits?"

"Are they someone important??"

Numerous questions popped off amongst the crowd breaking the silent atmosphere. They were all very curious about the identity of the new group.

"Silence, everyone! They will join you for the examination and we will commence the examination soon after." The white robed woman saw Old man Reid signal her to continue on with the examination to avoid any delay and the robed man kept quiet.

"Follow me, kids. We will join with the rest of the assembled people. Just stay close to me." Old man Reid instructed the five. The six of them nodded and followed Old man Reid into the crowd.

"Man, there's a shit ton of people." Ash commented trying not to catch anybody's eyes.

"Wouldn't you love it?" Bryan sarcastically replied,

"Tsk!"

"This place is amazing!" Ray was excited.

"Indeed, it is very beautiful." Asif admired the beauty.

Asif looking at the unfamiliar place and the majestic academic buildings, was feeling a bit emotional as he instinctively felt this is the start of something great. He called out.

"Guys?"

""Yeah?""

"I just want to say whatever happens in the examination, I'll be with you guys no matter what." Asif spoke with spirit.

It was a silent for a moment and before Asif could get mad at them for not saying anything, Ray and Ash shed fake tears.

"Maan, Asif *sniff*, I never knew you could say something like that." Ray spoke.

"That was *sniff* cringe but I loved it." Both Ash and Ray walked over and hugged him.

'These idiots...' Asif smiled accepting their hugs.

"Don't worry, Asif. We're all a bunch of idiots." Bryan resolutely spoke with his fist held to his chest.

"Yeah Asif, I'll make everyone eat food and we all can be happy." Algo joyfully said. Old man Reid looked at them with fondness and was proud of them.

"Old man Reid, don't think we didn't forget about you." Ash said before they all huddled up around Old man Reid and hugged him too.

'If anything happens, I'm here to protect you kids.' Old man Reid thought silently before smilingly receiving their hugs.