When Ganon saw all seven of the orbs begin to emit a faint glow, he revealed an astonished expression. Even Lisa, who normally kept a cool expression on her face, couldn’t help but also widen her eyes in disbelief. Angus and Brien stared, slack-jawed. Leonar started to blink hard and rubbed his eyes, making sure what he saw wasn’t an illusion. Even Roxana had her mouth gaping open.The entire town square was completely silent as the colors in the orbs began to fill up their respective spheres.

Why is it so quiet? Eldon opened his eyes. When he saw the orbs, he nearly dropped the green crystal. Holy shit!

What did having aptitudes in all elements signify? It surely meant the birth of a godly genius, blessed by the heavens. Surely Eldon would become one of the greatest figures in the entirety of Draen. The inhabitants of Aramore thought that they were witnessing a once in a lifetime event, and some even displayed reverence on their faces.

Soon enough, however, Ganon’s expression began to change. He had a strange look on his face, and he scrunched his eyebrows together. The glow of the orbs grew extremely slowly. Eventually, Ganon became relaxed again, but he couldn’t help but be puzzled. The colors of the orbs filled the orbs up completely. Black, white, blue, red, brown, purple, and green. However, each orb emitted a dull color, similar to Serene’s earth orb. The crowd began to stir, and people realized what happened. They started whispering to each other, and all of them had the same strange look on their face as Ganon did. Ganon rubbed his chin, and began to speak.

“Interesting, quite interesting. It is rather odd, Eldon. Nevertheless, you’ve passed the test. Congratulations.” Ganon spoke slowly. “You have neutral aptitudes for all the elements.” Ganon did not know how to feel. He had never even heard of someone having so many neutral aptitudes, and for all elements! Because of that, Eldon’s aptitudes were one of a kind, never seen before. Eldon did not really know how he felt either. He was happy that he passed the test, but it was really too strange.

Is such a thing even possible? To have neutral aptitudes in all elements? Even though he has aptitudes in all elements, they are just neutral aptitudes. Veronica thought. She was happy for her son, but she was worried. In the end, Eldon’s potential was as expected, albeit it was not exactly what people had in mind.

“Thank you, sir.” Eldon passed the crystal to Jake, another boy in town. Looks like I’ll have to work extra hard. I’m surprised by my aptitudes, but neutral is still neutral. Will I ever be able to become a powerful magician? Eldon wondered as he went to stand next to Serene and wait for the testing to finish.

“That was pretty surprising, Eldon.” Serene said, turning to look at him. She too, had been stunned in the beginning, and now looked at Eldon in a slightly different light.

Eldon shrugged. Sighing, he said, “It was, but my aptitudes aren’t that great.”

“Well, on the bright side, at least you can choose to train in whatever element you want!” Serene pointed out.

“Hm. I guess you’re right.” Eldon and Serene stopped talking, and watched the rest of the test continue.

____________________________________________________________________________

It was Angus’s turn. He took the crystal from the dejected Bain, who unluckily only had a neutral and a poor aptitude. Ganon raised an eyebrow as he saw Angus’s large figure come towards him.

“You’ve only recently qualified to take the test?” Ganon inquired.

“Yes, sir. I’m thirteen years old. My name’s Angus.” Angus replied.

“You don’t look thirteen to me.” Brien interrupted from behind, taking the words out of Ganon’s mouth. Angus gave him a quick glare.

Ganon didn’t say anything else, and once again imbued the crystal with his power. Eventually, only one orb was glowing. The color was a deep brown, and its intensity was only a little bit lower than that of Serene’s light orb.

“Well, seems like you have a fine aptitude for earth. Congratulations.” Ganon remarked. Angus’s father, who was in the crowd, let out a triumphant shout, giving his son a thumbs up. Angus grinned, being rather pleased with himself. He turned around and looked at Brien. Angus smirked, passing the crystal to Brien.

“Looks like you’re next. No pressure. Don’t fail, bud.” Angus clapped Brien on the shoulder.

Brien scoffed. “You wish.” Brien walked up to the table. However, Brien was sweating a bit. Angus’s father was a powerful swordsman, thanks to his aptitude. A case like Eldon’s was a freak scenario. He highly doubted that he would be the second.

Angus went to stand with Eldon. He made sure to stand on the side that Serene was on.

“Well done, Angus!” Serene said with her entrancing smile. Angus blushed.

“Thanks, Serene.” Angus replied. He grinded his teeth, trying to keep his mouth from curving up into a complete U-shape.

Brien silently prayed to his ancestors. I’ve been a good kid in my entire life...so far. I’m only a little bit lazy, and sleep occasionally...sometimes...often…

…

Anyway, so, uh, if you’re all watching me up there, I hope that you can help your little descendent out. Naturally, there was no reply. Brien stretched his neck around, trying to calm himself down.

“Whenever you’re ready, um…?” Ganon questioned.

“Brien. Brien Crowshade.” Brien said calmly. “Begin the test.”

Ganon pointed a finger at the crystal, and the testing process began. Angus and Brien looked worriedly from the sideline. As much as Angus and Brien bickered with each other, they were still good friends. Even Eldon silently prayed to Brien’s long dead ancestors, hoping for a miracle. The light rays entered the orbs. Brien gulped. Slowly, five of the orbs faded away, leaving an orb of dull purple and another orb of pitch black, which was like a black hole in the night.

“Neutral aptitude for lightning, but high aptitude for darkness!” Ganon was astonished again for the third time this night, with the first shock caused by Serene and the second caused by Eldon. This year has produced quite a good batch, he thought. Brien’s parents goggled at their son, and then looked at each other. Was he their son? Brien exhaled, raising his head towards the sky, closing his eyes. Thank you. He looked towards Angus, smirking. “What’s wrong, cat got your tongue?”

Angus rolled his eyes. Both he and Eldon were relieved that Brien passed, but Angus knew that Brien would make school life a pain from now on, as he naturally possessed the greatest potential out of the boys. Eldon smiled. “Congratulations, Brien.”

“Thanks, Eldon.” Brien stifled a yawn. “Wow, am I tired. All I need right now is a nice, warm and soft bed.” Brien trudged towards Eldon and Angus.

“I didn’t expect that from you, Brien. Looks like you’ll still be stuck with us in the coming years.” Serene marveled.

“Looks like it.” Brien replied coolly. He rubbed his aching eyes. The stress from the test only exuberated his tiredness.

They waited for the remaining people to take the test. Most of the rest failed, but some also passed. Karis was the last in line.

Eldon was beginning to grow a little worried. It’s Karis’s turn. Eldon knew that Karis’s parents both had good aptitudes, but not everything in life was absolute. Frederick, having just failed test, gloomily tossed the crystal to Karis, who slightly fumbled it.

“Hey, young man, be careful with that.” Ganon said sternly. Frederick didn’t turn back as he walked down from the platform.

“Your name, young lady?” Ganon inquired.

“My name is Karis.” Karis spoke softly, but Eldon could hear her as clearly as if she was shouting. Eldon could recognize that melodious voice in even the most rowdy of crowds. Ganon pointed at the crystal, and once again, the orbs lit up. Two orbs continued to shine after the other five slowly died out. One was of a pleasant blue color, and the other was of a fine shade of green. Eldon sighed with relief. Brien let out another drowsy yawn.

“Good aptitudes in wind and water. Good, very good.” Ganon took the crystal back from Karis’s hand. With a final wave of his hands, the table and the orbs vanished, returning to where ever they came from. “This year’s test has ended. We have quite a few talents! Would you please congratulate our future Valis Institute’s students?” Applause broke out from the crowd. The crowd began to slowly disperse. Most who were unable to pass had already left after their failure, but a few hopefuls remained to see rest of the test go through. Even if one failed the test, one could still attempt the test in future years, but only once. However, it was virtually futile, because aptitudes never changed (Author’s note: Or do they? Hm...). Ganon let out a small sigh, and looked at Lisa. She nodded at the small group of students who passed the test.

“Congratulations,” she said with a surprisingly gentle voice. “We shall depart tomorrow, as we did every previous year before. Say your goodbyes and pack up whatever you need, but only bring what you can carry.” The future students nodded. Ganon cleared his throat.

“Looking around, I can see that all of you are Rank 11 magic novices, but that will change as long as you work hard. Our Valis Institute does not have a strict schedule. We have many teachers, and classes can be easily made up. One usually is free to come and go whenever one feels like it. However, we will not assist you, so I recommend bringing a few friends along if you plan to return here someday or to go on a journey.” Ganon waved a hand at the students, but this time without any magic power. “Go home for now and prepare. We will be leaving early tomorrow, so come to this spot around sunsrise. Don’t be late!” Ganon smiled. “I guess you can consider yourselves as students of the Valis Institute now.”

____________________________________________________________________________

Night time. Eldon was packing up his bag. It was fairly large, but Angus had already reassured Eldon that he would carry whatever Eldon couldn’t. He put in a few of his favorite books, placing layers of clothes around them for protection. Eldon cherished his books, and he had quite a few. Books were rather uncommon, but his parents didn’t mind buying a few to please their son. He looked at the small, cracked mirror on his desk. He pondered for bit, shrugged, and placed the mirror onto his books. He then heard footsteps, and looked towards his door, and saw Roxana.

“You better get me a souvenir when you come back, Eldon.” Roxana pouted. Eldon smiled.

“Don’t worry, Roxy.” Eldon ruffled her hair. Roxana punched him in the gut lightly. “Oof..”

“I told you not to call me that before!” She grumbled. After a slight pause, she wrapped her arms around him. “I’ll miss you, brother. Come back and visit us every time you can, okay?” She looked up at Eldon’s face with a slightly teary face. Eldon had no defense against it.

“Of course.” He replied. He looked up and saw his parents, smiling. Leonar tossed a small bag at Eldon. It made a jingling sound when he caught it. Staring at it, he said, “Father, this is…” Leonar raised a hand.

“Say no more. I’ve been saving up a little money for you, ever since you were born. There should be around 50 gold coins worth inside. You can’t expect to live without money, do you?” Leonar joked. “Also, if you find being a magician not to your expectations, you can always change and train to become a swordsman and make this old man proud.”

“I’ll think about it.” Eldon’s eyes softened. “Thank you, Father. I will gladly accept your hard-earned gift.” He placed the money bag carefully in his bag. Veronica went up to Eldon and gave him a hug, stroking his hair.

Tearing up a little, Veronica said, “Don’t push yourself too much, Eldon. If you have any troubles, you can always come visit us, or we’ll come to you. And if you ever find yourself stuck on the path, remember, you can always come back and live with us.”

“I’ll miss you all. I love you.” Eldon’s voice cracked and his eyes began to blur, as fresh tears trickled down his face. It would be the first time he would ever be separate from his family. Leonar also went to embrace Eldon, and for a moment, the entire family stayed together, creating a beautiful image under the glowing moon shining through Eldon’s window.

(Author’s note: Sniff. I tried.)

____________________________________________________________________________

Everybody else going to the Valis Institute had already arrived when Eldon got to the town square. A small crowd had gathered to say goodbye to the thirteen year olds who passed the test. Lumbering with his heavy bag, Eldon spotted Angus and Brien, who were, of course, bickering with each other.

“Hey guys.” Eldon placed his bag down for moment, breathing a little quickly.

“I, Angus, had said beforehand that I would help carry your bag.” Angus picked up the bag with one hand as if it were nothing, and placed it into the enormous bag he was carrying.

“Thank you, Angus.” Eldon gratefully said. Angus rubbed his nose.

“Not a problem. Anything I can do for my little buddy.” He said proudly. Brien frowned.

“Why don’t you carry my bag also?” He protested. Angus snickered disdainfully.

“You want me to carry such a small bag? You can carry it easily by yourself.” Brien narrowed his eyes.

“You better watch out.” He scowled threatening. “Once we start training, my potential will allow me to be the first one to kick your butt.”

“Psh. Can you even lift your legs that high?” Angus snorted.

“You-”

Eldon could only sigh helplessly as they began to fight with each other again. He always wondered how the three of them managed to be good friends. Were Brien and Angus even friends, anyway?

Ganon looked around, confirming that everyone had arrived. “It’s time to leave, students. We’ll have to leave the town first before we can starting traveling quickly.” With that, he began to walk towards the east gate of town. Lisa was close behind him. Relatives and friends of the students said their quick goodbyes, with kisses and hugs. Eldon hugged his parents and sister again.

“Be careful, Eldon.” Veronica cautioned as Eldon was walking to follow Ganon and Lisa. He looked back, seeing his mother and father standing next to each other, with Roxana in front of them.

“Don’t worry Mother, I will.” With that, Eldon joined up with Angus and Brien who had also finished their goodbyes.

“This is it, guys.” He announced. “A new chapter in our lives.”

“I’m ready for anything.” Angus replied, with a new and fierce resolve gleaming in his eyes.

Brien did not respond immediately, but there was not a trace of tiredness lurking in his eyes. “Same here.” With that, the boys stopped speaking. Although there was no visible change, they had already begun to shed their childishness, in order to prepare for what was to come. They stepped out of the town, where Ganon was waiting. With a jarring creak, the giant wooden doors of the east gate began to close. Eldon and his friends gave one last look at what was their home for their entire lives up to now with heavy hearts.

“Boom”

Slowly, they turned around to face the unknown. But this time, they could clearly feel the beckoning of adventure, of glory, and of power. It was as if a blindfold was lifted from their eyes after all these years. Energized, the students washed away their sadness, and walked forward with a new spring in their steps.

____________________________________________________________________________

…

...

Andddd that’s the end of what I planned out so far when I started this story. I got the end and overall plot down, but I have no idea what to do on the way there xD. Now I got to think of more things to write. Time to put on my “winging it” cap.