The Last Four

"Welp! I'm next." They lined up in accordance to their age, and since Ash is the second eldest, it was his turn to begin the examination.

"Wish me luck, guys!"

"Smash it, Ash"

""Good luck""

The other three wished him the best of luck. Ash walked on to the stage with trembling hands and stood before the crystal ball.

'Fuck! Why is my hand trembling now?!' Ash complained in his head. 'Argh, fuck it. As long as I awaken a grade, I'm good.'

"Go ahead, young man!"

Upon the Instructor's beckoning, Ash nodded and placed his shaky hand on the crystal ball. Just like the last Purple Grade phenomenon they witnessed, it had appeared once again. The crystal ball was embellished with a turbulent purple color. But that was not all, golden threads poured from the center and blended in with the crystal ball. If anyone could observe the crystal ball closely, the crystal ball contained a combination of purple haze with golden threads lacing it.

The Instructors and the crowd were shocked speechless once again. Old man Reid stood still with trembling hands.

"T-This...what is going on?"

"ONE MORE PURPLE GRADE?!?"

The chances of a Purple Grade appearing is incredibly and extraordinarily rare and the fact that two of them appeared back to back is causing a turbulent motion.

The person who caused all of this is excited beyond belief but he is also confused. He could see golden threads flickering in the crystal ball. This change did not escape the eyes of the Instructors and Old man Reid.

'H-He almost touched the Gold Grade?!' Old man Reid was flabbergasted inside but tried to maintain a calm visage on the outside.

*Sigh*

"Congratulations, it looks like your group of friends are going to lead Earth into new heights." Instructor Issa who was already reeling in stupefaction from Algo's examination, was once again hit with another surprise. She steeled herself once again and looked on with expectation.

"Candidate 4997, Ash Frudae. Elemental Aptitude - Purple-Gold Grade." Instructor Issa announced loudly. The crowd were stupefied after hearing the second part of the announcement.

"Purple Gold?!"

"Is that even a thing?"

"Are we witnessing something historical?!"

"Wow..." Ash was enjoying being the center of attention.

"This fucker is shy but enjoys being in the limelight." Bryan shook hid head, happy for him.

"Damn, Ash." Ray inwardly joyful for his brother.

Ash happily left the stage and joined Algo amongst the other Awakened candidates.

"I wonder what the others are gonna get..." Algo said curiously.

"All I know is they won't get a better one than mine." Ash said with a smug voice.

"Next!"

"I'm already here, ma'am." Asif spoke whilst standing before the crystal ball.

"..." Instructor Issa didn't expect the him to appear so quick.

"What the hell, when the fuck did he go to the stage?" Ray asked.

"It's because he is as eager as us." Bryan spoke.

*Cough*

"Alright, since you're already here, go ahead and place your hand on the crystal ball." Instructor Issa said.

"Yes, ma'am." Asif replied. With a calm countenance and steady hands, he placed his hand on the crystal ball.

A dazzling concentrated light burst forth from the crystal ball blinding everyone. After a few seconds, the sparkling light slowly faded away revealing a glittering golden crystal ball. It was shiny with no specks of any kind of blemishes, it was adorned with the color of absolute pure gold.

Around the crystal ball, golden orbs silently floated in the vicinity exuding out a dazzling trail of golden dust. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

Instructor Issa is desperately trying to remain calm, but whatever just happened was earth-shattering. Not much can be said for Instructor Carter as he had lost his soul, Old man Reid stood with his hands behind his back. Looking closer at his hands, you could see them shaking with excitement.

In the area of the once again stunned awakened candidates, Ash was stupefied as he was extremely confident that no one would be able to get a better grade than him. Algo was laughing his butt off at his stupefied face.

"Asif actually got a higher grade than me..." Ash muttered.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Algo uncontrollably laughed.

"Tsk! Shut up."

"He got the legendary grade..." Both Bryan and Ray were shocked. Although they're new to the Magic world, they knew how incredibly difficult and rare it was to get a decent grade much less the legendary grade.

Asif witnessed the rare event that he produced, and was also astounded. He never expected to get the Legendary Gold Grade. This would mean his talent in cultivation would soar rapidly amongst his peers.

"C-Candidate 4998, Asif Vizier. Elemental Aptitude - Gold Grade." Instructor Issa announced with disbelief. It echoed throughout the assembly ground, waking everyone up from their stupor.

"Thank you for the test, ma'am!" Asif respectfully thanked the Instructor Issa and joined Algo and Ash, leaving the stage.

"Stop acting so calm. I know you're being all smug inside, shit face." Ash being annoyed from being surpassed.

"Heh, jealous that I got the Legendary Grade?" Asif retorted with a wide grin.

"Tch, shut up!" Ash seeing his smug face got annoyed even further. Asif laughed lightly at this.

"HAHAHA, I can't believe we're creating history here. I have a feeling that Bryan and Ray will awaken something great." Algo said joyfully while bringing the reluctant Asif and Ash for a tight hug.

""Aughh"" They both groaned helplessly. At this moment, Instructor Issa called out for the next candidate.

"Next!"

"Good luck, Bryan!" Ray cheered for Bryan.

"I got this."

Bryan smiled and walked on to the stage. Standing before the crystal ball, he wasted no time and placed his hand on the sphere. Shortly after, the crystal sphere was filled with the color of murky purple with blotches of gold orbs dancing wildly and a heavy purple mist spreading on the stage.

Bryan seeing this let out a deep breath and shook his head inwardly. 'It seems I'm the same as Ash.'

"HAHAHAHA! HE'S THE SAME AS ME! WHO WOULD'VE THOUGHT!!" Ash laughed out loud. Bryan heard him and his eyebrows twitched with annoyance knowing that Ash is going to irritate the shit out of him for this.

'They always bicker on small things and now they have the same aptitude grade. This is actually fucking hilarious!' Ray thought cheerfully.

The crowd on the other hand were still shocked speechless and would continue to remain the same till the exam is completed. At this point, they are waiting for the last of the group to be tested to see if the streak would continue or end.

"*Sigh* And here I thought I was a generational talented genius." Cristina sighed not too excited about her Blue Grade talent anymore.

"Candidate 4999, Bryan Pine. Elemental Aptitude - Purple-Gold Grade." Instructor Issa announced. Bryan happy with the grade he awakened joined the group of awakened candidates.

"Tingly, why do you always have to copy me?" Ash smirked at Bryan.

"Ughh, wipe that stupid grin off your face." Bryan groaned with annoyance.

"Hahaha...never!"

"You two, stop it. Ray is about to take his test. Continue your stupid squabble after the examination is done." Asif irritatingly said.

"Next!"

"Welp, it's just me now!" Ray calmed down his rapidly beating heart and went to the stage.

"Let's get this over with, young man. I'm curious to what kind of Grade you're going to awaken." Instructor Issa ushered him to proceed.

"So far amongst us, we have one Purple Grade, two Purple-Gold Grade and one Gold Grade." Asif mentioned.

"I wonder what grade is Ray gonna get." Algo curiously said.

"Yo guys, wanna make a bet?" Bryan asked while rubbing his hands together with slight excitement.

"Ahh, here he goes again." Ash rolled his eyes.

"What kinda bet?" Algo asked.

"We bet on what type of grade Ray is going to get. And whoever wins gets to choose someone to treat us for food. Deal?" Bryan proposed.

"Deal! I'mma win this time." Ash accepted.

"Sure, why not." Asif confidently said.

After a few seconds, they finished placing their bets. Bryan betted on Ray getting a Purple Grade. Asif betted on Ray getting a Purple-Gold Grade. Algo, and Ash gambled on Ray getting a Gold Grade. Now, they were looking at Ray with expectant eyes.

"Why the fuck are they looking at me like that?" Ray muttered.

'Hehe, I wonder what Grade I'm gonna get. Purple-Gold? or maybe the legendary Gold?' Ray clearly excited to get tested, quickly walked to the stage.

"I'm gonna go ahead, ma'am!" Without waiting for Instructor Issa's confirmation, Ray confidently placed his hand on the crystal ball.

After about some time, traces of blue clouds started forming and started filling the crystal sphere.

'W-WHAT?!' Ray was stunned and his heart almost stopped. 'B-Blue? Not even a Purple?!'

"Hmm?" Instructor Issa saw this and her excitement was doused. 'Compared to the other five, it's a bit underwhelming.'

"Oh Fuck." Ash said worryingly. The rest looked at Ray with concern.

Ray could see the clouds of blue gently fill half the crystal ball. He couldn't help but feel dejected that he was not in the same league as his friends but he didn't want to give up hope.

While staring at the crystal sphere with a hopeful face, he saw the blue clouds halt its formation. Instructor Issa also observed the weird situation and was confused.

"Huh, why did it stop?" Ray was worried. On the other half of the empty crystal ball, purple clouds rushed in and filled the empty area. The crystal ball was split between two halves, being blue and purple.

'Hmm, looks I was mistaken, they're all special. Maybe they were right, there's hope for us.' Instructor Issa thought.

Old man Reid was silently witnessing everything. At first, he was worried for the boy but then he witnessed the change in the crystal ball and he slowly let out a loose smile.

"Phew! Thank god." Ash sighed in relief.

On the stage, Ray was excited to see the new change in the crystal ball. He was glad he's not just a Blue Grade talent but then he thought about what grade his brothers got. 'In the end, I still can't compare to them.' Ray sighed in his head.

"Candidate 5000, Ray Angelo. Elemental Aptitude - Blue-Purple Grade." Instructor Issa announced creating a small commotion amongst the crowd as they didn't expect a Blue Grade to appear amongst the monstrous group, but nevertheless it's still surprising to see him awaken a rare grade.

"I'm proud of you, Ray." Old man Reid congratulated him before disappearing from the assembly ground.

"Thank you, Old man."

"Don't be so down, young man. You still have awakened a rare grade, be proud of that and work hard." Instructor Issa cheered Ray up. Ray thanked Instructor Issa and slowly joined the rest.

"Hey guys." Ray waved at them with a smile.

"Rayyy!" Ash jumped and hugged him.

"You don't have to worry, Ray. If anything happens, we're here for you!" Bryan said while pointing to himself. Algo, and Asif nodded vigorously. Ray shook his head and dryly smiled.

"I didn't expect to get a Blue-Purple Grade." Ray said.

"Ah, what do you mean?? It's still amazing, look at me. I got the Blue Grade and I'm as happy as a clam." Cristina consoled him, clearly still happy about her grade.

"Haha, you're right."

"Wait, that means we lost th-!" Ash exclaimed before he felt a smack on his head.

"What?" Ray asked.

Asif glared at Ash before responding, "Ah it's nothing, let's see what the Instructor has to say."

"Alright." Ray shrugged and they turned their attention towards Instructor Issa.

"Congratulations to all the candidates that have successfully awakened. This is just the start of your examination. The next and final examination will take place immediately in the prestigious academy hall."

"Remember, you will all be in the presence of the Director and other important faculty members of the Academy. So, try to be respectful and not cause a fuss."

"Now, follow me to the academy hall!"