All the participants stood before the olddy, waiting to see what was going to happen. For quite some time, there wasplete silence. No one spoke anything.


    It was as if everyone was waiting for the olddy to open her eyes which she didn''t do.


    For ten minutes, this continued. Fortunately, the olddy did open her eyes, slowly revealing her deep ck eyes.


    "It''s time. Make a line."


    Even though the woman only spoke in a low voice, there was something strange about her voice. It was as if there was some kind of charm in her voice that created an impulse in the heart of whoever heard her to follow hermands.


    Fortunately, this thing didn''t affect Gabriel. His Grimoire connection protected him.


    Every youngster made a line. Even though the words didn''t affect Gabriel, he still followed the instructions to get in the line, being in the middle of the line this time.


    The olddy gazed at the youngsters as they all got in a line.


    "I''m sure some of you might know about the entire process, but there would be many who don''t, so I''ll give you a brief once again. I hope you won''t embarrass yourself after going to the next stage. What you''ll go through here is just a basic test to see if you fulfill the minimum criteria to go to the next stage."


    "Everyone who fails here will have to leave right away. As for the ones who pass, you''ll go to the real tests."


    "Each of these orbs serves a different purpose. The first orb..." The olddy pointed at the crystal clear orb. "It is to test your age. As you know, only the Mages younger than thirty can take part, yet there are people every year who think they can get through, despite being older."


    "That''s why this test was ced here. The crystal will show your real age. You can fool your eyes but can''t fool this crystal."


    "As for the Second Orb." She pointed at the second orb, which was green in color.


    "This is just to test if you have talent or not. Only those who have a talent for magic can pass through. This orb won''t measure your talent level, just the presence. To pass it, you just need to possess a decent amount of Talent. It doesn''t have to be much. Unfortunately, this is also where most of you will be eliminated."


    "As for thest, this one will test your inner self. This is just for your ssification to decide which test you''ll take."


    She gazed at the third crystal orb.


    " In other words, it will test if you''ve ever used a Spirit Crystal or not. If you have, that means you have used resources to grow your inner magic. That would mean you''ll go for level Two Examination, which will be slightly tougher."


    "As for the ones who have never used a Spirit Crystal and can prove it here will be sent for Level One entrance examination, which will be slightly easier."


    "I hope everything is clear now? I don''t want any more questions."


    Hearing the exnation of the olddy, Gabriel understood why Lira hadn''t allowed him to use the Spirit Crystals before the examination here. She didn''t want him to go through a stricter examination.


    Gabriel stood calmly in the line, waiting for his turn.


    "You''re older than thirty. You really thought you could fool the Academy, didn''t you?"


    The old woman talked about people lying to give exams not long ago, yet it was proven by the first person in the line himself. The crystal showed thirty-five for his age.


    "I-i..."


    The man was left red-faced. "I am sorry... I just wanted..."


    "No need for exnation. I''ve seen more people like you than you can imagine. Go stand there. You''re rejected. After the line is done, you''ll be sent out."


    The old woman didn''t even bother with hearing an exnation. It didn''t matter why he did what he did. It was against the rules, and he was eliminated.


    "Next."


    The line moved faster than Gabriel had expected. One after another, people kept getting rejected. There were around forty people before Gabriel, and half of them were rejected; only twenty managed to pass through this basic elimination.


    Most were eliminated because of Talent, while a rare few were eliminated because of lying about their age. No one was eliminated for any reason other than that.


    Finally, it was Gabriel''s turn. He stood before the olddy.


    "ce your hand on the first one."


    Gabriel took off his left glove, finally revealing his Element of Light for the first time since he had arrived here.


    If Rem was here, he could''ve seen that the person he didn''t feel any aura from finally had an aura surrounding him like a raging me.


    Unfortunately, only Rem could see it. No one here could. Even the olddy couldn''t see that aura.


    Gabriel ced his hand on the transparent first crystal. A number appeared on the crystal.


    If he could, Gabriel wanted to avoid this test since he didn''t want anyone to know his real age. That was also why he had selected a slightly older look. Too bad this test became an obstruction in his path.


    A number appeared before the olddy.


    "Only eighteen? With the Element of Light?" Just as Gabriel had expected, the woman was shocked to see his real age. The awakening of the element at such a young age was a really huge matter, especially since it hadn''t happened before.


    The youngest awakened mage of Light that was known was close to twenty. Didn''t this make Gabriel the youngest awakened mage?


    Generally, this was such big news that it should''ve been known by the Church of Light. If there were really a Mage of Light with such a talent, the Church would''ve recruited him right away, not even letting theme to their academy.


    She couldn''t believe someone like him was standing here. This young man...


    She Gestured for the young man who stood behind her toe closer, whispering something in his ears.


    The young man nodded before leaving.


    "Is something the problem?" Gabriel grimaced.


    ''Where did this old woman send the man? Don''t tell me she sent him to inform the Church of Light! That would be bad news!''


    Instead of answering, the old woman asked Gabriel a question.


    "Does the Church of Light know about you? Or your awakening?"


    Gabriel frowned. "Why?"


    "Answer my question."


    "They don''t. I''m not known anywhere. It''s my first time here. I''m not an important person for the Church to know about me." Gabriel lied with a straight face.


    He has also calmed down a bit since he saw the man going deeper into the academy instead of going outside. It didn''t look like he was going to inform the Church of Light.


    "That''s good! Really good!"


    "Good?" Gabriel gazed at thedy in confusion. What did she mean by good?


    "If the Church had known about you, they would''ve snatched you before you could be a student. We can''t let such a talented mage go." The olddy smiled.


    Finally, Gabriel understood what this was about. She wasn''t suspicious at all. Instead, she appeared to be pleased that he had applied at the academy instead of going directly to the Church of Light. Having such a young mage as a student was certainly very good for the reputation of the academy after all.


    But this was also bad news… This was also what he wanted to avoid at the academy... Too much attention.


    Looking at the shine in the olddy''s eyes, he could already feel that things had started going south.


    He had nned for many things beforeing here, imagining every instance possible, but this wasn''t one of those. It was like a question that came out of the sybus after he had memorized the entire exam book.


    "Even though I already know you''ll pass through the next crystal test, while we wait, we should get through with it as well, just for the sake of it."


    "While we wait? Wait for what?"


    "You''ll know soon. Don''t worry; it''s not anything bad." The olddy smirked. "Now, young man, ce your hand on the next crystal."


    Gabriel was starting to get slightly worried about the way things were progressing. The n was perfect! He was supposed to take the easiest test, get inside the academy, stay under the radar and execute the theft and revenge.


    But simply because of his age, the entire n was turned upside down. Instead of letting him stay under the radar, the olddy had grabbed him and brought him straight to the middle of the radar.


    Looking around, Gabriel could see the jealous gazes of everyone who heard the exchange. They were so jealous of his luck. He had awakened an element at such a young age. They cursed their destiny for not having luck like him.


    If only they knew that Gabriel was also cursing his destiny for having such bad luck that he was caught right at the first test itself.


    Unfortunately, it was toote now. Even if he couldn''t stay under the radar, he couldn''t abandon his mission, or he would never get an opportunity. This was the first, and thest time he was going to have the Ring of Apophis. If he failed, there was noing back here.


    Even if the n was spoiled, he decided to start from scratch, observe the surroundings, understand the situation ande up with a modified n ording to the circumstances.