The elders watching from above were shocked at such a strategic move but also at the strength to carry such a heavy stipe. Killing an intermediary-tier beast was beyond expectations for a child. The people in Evelyn's group looked at Alonzo with anger. He had brought the beast to them, so he needed to give an explanation, they thought in unison. One Luminari named Michael stepped up to him and yelled in his face:
"You bastard, you first bring the beast to us, injure our people, and then claim the beast for yourself!"
Michael clenched his fists. To him, such arrogance was unheard of. He had to pay him back. Alonzo simply glanced at him and said casually:
"I did what I had to do to pass the trials. Now scram!"
Michael and the others were shocked. Such coldness, such lack of care for the life of their fellow people. But they couldn't do anything. After all, there were only a few hours left before the trial ended, and their leader Evelyn was unconscious from the bear's hit. They couldn't afford to waste time with Alonzo. They quickly gathered, carried Evelyn, and left.
Alonzo was soon approached by an elder—the same elder from the affinities test, Atlas. He looked deeply at Alonzo and said:
"Alonzo was your name, right? I'll remember it. Come with me!"
This wasn't an invitation. As he spoke his last words, Alonzo and Atlas were teleported back to the room they had initially been in. There, they were greeted by the sight of many elders and the few participants who had passed the trials.
Most of them looked at Alonzo in shock and surprise, but that didn't matter to him. After all, this battle with the beast had shown him his weakness. He needed to improve his strength to better defend himself. In this battle he had depended more on luck than on strength—he would not let this happen again. Atlas looked at him and said:
"Go sit down. We still have a few hours before the trials end."
Alonzo patiently sat down, meditating.
After a few hours, Evelyn's team showed up, beaten, but they had passed. Evelyn also seemed to have healed. She must have been pretty angry, considering how she was looking at Alonzo, but she didn't approach.
The time set for the trials was up, and the remaining people who hadn't managed to kill a beast were brought back conventionally. From the former 30 kids, only 10 passed the trials. Now the ones who failed would be sent to the Luminari army to be trained, while the ones who passed would go to the academy and have a better prospect for the future.
Beatrix stood up and announced:
"The trials have ended. Those who passed will be transported to the academy using the teleportation runes, while those who failed will have to present themselves at the nearest army camp!"
Beatrix continued:
"After finishing training in the military, you will be given a chance to go to the academy, but you will be external students with fewer rights than internal ones."
Aaron, who had been eliminated from the trials, was mad, thinking it was Alonzo's fault for what had happened to him. So he sought justice:
"This is not fair! I was eliminated before having the chance to kill a beast. I request another examination and the disqualification of Alonzo!" yelled Aaron.
The elders simply glanced at him, then Atlas took the lead and explained the situation:
"You approached him first. He didn't cripple you nor kill you, so he didn't break any rules. Now be quiet!"
Aaron didn't dare provoke trouble anymore. If he did, he might get excommunicated, and even his family might not be able to save him. Beatrix walked up to the ones who had passed the trials and told them:
"Follow me. We need to go through a rune portal to reach our destination."
Beatrix and the Luminari kids stepped inside a bright blue room, where a reality-warping portal resided. She looked at them and said:
"Go through this portal. I won't follow you, but I will tell your relatives of your success."
The kids stepped into the portal, not in any particular order. After they were transported to this new environment, they felt sick from the quick change. The only one not affected was Alonzo, who looked at the so-called academy.
It was a huge gothic structure with giant external pillars, entirely black, surrounded by stairs. A true masterpiece, some architects might say. There they were greeted by a man in his early twenties, wearing a wizard hat and robe, with thick eyebrows and green eyes.
Alonzo was surprised at his magic power. Despite never practicing actual magic, he could feel this man's strength. The figure introduced himself:
"Welcome, new students. My name is Apostol. I am a teacher from Elarion Academy of the Moonveil. I will first show you your rooms and then let you get accustomed to this place. Each of your rooms has a manual of the internal rules of the academy. In it are also listed things such as when food is served. Now come with me!"
On their way, Alonzo noticed Evelyn's gaze sweeping past him. When he tried to look back at her, she quickly withdrew her gaze, which left Alonzo perplexed. He also saw many statues, so he thought of asking the teacher about them:
"Sir, I have a question. Who do those statues represent?"
Teacher Apostol halted, looked at him, and said:
"Those are the statues of the old Gods. They disappeared a long time ago, paving the way for the new Gods."
Alonzo was confused. He had never heard or read about those Gods, but this was a good opportunity, since it meant they had many books with the information he required.
Soon he reached his room. It was spacious, with only one bed, little to no furniture, and below it a red carpet. He had one bathroom in his room. The first thing he wanted to do was check his body—he felt a breakthrough in his core.
He sat down and concentrated. His red core had now grown significantly, and it had yellow ripples.
He started tearing the core walls down forcefully. The pain that assaulted him was not from his body but deeper, from his very soul. This was unlike any pain he had ever suffered. He started wondering if he had done the right thing instead of waiting for the core itself to evolve, but now it was too late to regret. He continued and amplified the speed at which he tore down the red particles.
This process lasted for a few hours. He was covered in sweat and impurities expelled from his body. The pain was gone. He tried to get up but collapsed from exhaustion. He waited on the floor for some minutes to replenish his stamina. Then he stood up and felt it—he had formed a yellow moon.
He felt the strength inside him. He wanted to test it and get accustomed to his new power, but first he had to take a shower. He smelled worse than the intermediate beast he had killed in the trials.
He went to the bathroom, soaked himself in water, and went outside his room to look for a place to test his strength. He spotted a senior student in the hallway, went up to him, and asked for directions to the training ground. The student told him the training ground was below the academy.
Alonzo started going down the stairs until he reached the second-to-last floor. He realized the last floor was blocked off, making it impossible to enter. He didn't pay much attention to this and went inside what appeared to be an underground hub. There was a fellow student behind a desk reading a book, so he went up to her and asked:
"Hello, can I enter the training ground?"
The student didn't even look at Alonzo and said:
"Room number 40. You have 4 hours allocated to you every day in the training grounds. If you want to train more, you'll need to pay crystals!"
She took a set of keys with one hand and threw it at Alonzo. He took them and went inside Room 40.
It was a giant empty gray space with only a magic formation in the middle. Alonzo realized you could increase the gravity of the room to train by using this formation. First, he increased the gravity to twice the normal weight. He felt heavy. Then he increased it gradually from 2 times to 4, then 6, 8, and stopped at 10. He didn't wish to continue, since he already felt like he was weighted down by a mountain. He started doing push-ups, squats, and practicing various kicks and punches.
After four hours the formation stopped, and suddenly the voice of the student could be heard:
"Your time is up. If you wish to continue, pay crystals!"
Crystals were the currency mages and other people with high status used. They were square and glowed with a faint green light. At the moment, he didn't have any at all. His mother hadn't sent him any, since she herself probably didn't have any, and his father was more of a spectator than a father.
Alonzo got up and left the training grounds. It seemed to be night outside, though it was hard to tell the time since the sky was pitch black and the giant moon emitted light all day. Luckily for him, he had a device similar to a watch, gifted to him by his mom on his fifth birthday, that told him the time. It was nighttime. He needed to rest since tomorrow the lessons would start, so he went straight to sleep.
The next day he woke up early, put on the academic uniform, and went to class. It was situated on the first floor. He opened the door and was welcomed by the sight of many unknown new students, but also a few he knew—for example, Evelyn. When he looked at her, she quickly looked the other way.
He found an empty seat in the back of the class and sat down. A classmate slowly approached him and said in an intimidating tone:
"Hey, I was sitting there. Get moving!"
Alonzo looked at this person. It was a tall boy with green hair and green eyes. He had a crooked nose, and his uniform was dirty. Alonzo didn't say anything; he just stared at him.
But before the bully could say anything more, a thin middle-aged man, who looked like he was wearing rags, entered the class and yelled:
"Student Ansel, get a seat! The lesson has started!"
Ansel forgot about Alonzo and quickly took a seat. The teacher continued:
"I will be your physical education teacher. My name is Angrone!"
You could hear the groans of uninterested students. They had hoped they would learn magic instead of some boring physical class. But the teacher didn't care and said:
"I would like to encourage you all, so let's all move to the academy exterior for a little test."
They followed the teacher to the outside world, curious about what he would do. Soon they came to a stop, and the teacher turned back and announced:
"Before I start teaching you, I would like to see the level each of you are at. And what better way to do that than to have a little contest?"
The teacher looked at the nearby mountain, grabbed a chunk of it, and pulled an entire boulder, creating a small earthquake in the aftermath. He put the boulder down and said in a mysterious manner:
"Whoever manages to pick up this boulder will get a low-tier alchemical strengthening pill!"
The students were shocked. Such a pill would help them develop a stronger physique, which would also help them improve the quality of their spells. Such pills were rare.
The first who stepped up was Ansel. He was confident since he was bigger than the others. If he couldn't move this big rock, then no one could—or so he thought. He grabbed the rock sideways and tried to lift it up. He only managed to push it a few inches until he fell down from exhaustion.
The other students, seeing that even the biggest of them couldn't lift it, gave up. Ansel became proud that he had at least managed to move the boulder a little. But the next moment, someone raised a hand and said:
"May I also try?"
It was Evelyn. The other students looked at her oddly. How could a frail girl like her move such a boulder, they thought. The teacher looked at her with curiosity and said:
"Sure, be my guest."
She stepped up, grabbed the rock from below while arching her back, and pulled as hard as she could. To everyone's surprise, she managed to lift it off the ground, shocking them all.
The teacher looked approvingly at her and congratulated her:
"Anyone else who wants to try, or do I give one only to this young lady?"
A white-haired boy stepped up from the group. It was Alonzo. His stature didn't make him imposing, but the aura he was emanating gave off a dangerous vibe. Evelyn, still present in front of Alonzo, didn't know what to do since their relationship had become awkward. Before she could say anything, he went past her without even glancing at her. He picked the boulder from below like Evelyn, but this time he lifted it above his head, making everyone gape in disbelief—even the teacher was shocked.