CHAPTER 22 - Initiation Begins.

He thought,

'The Academy has decided the Forest to be the location for our final task. There should be some arrangement to ensure the security of the students. Senior Nigel did mention that while the task could be difficult to complete, there were no direct aspects that could endanger the students. So the reason they mentioned it now should be to shake us up a little. Maybe it is a task that can not be cleared without the help of the seniors? No, I am overthinking it should be something that can be cleared by us. Or did they make it such that no one can clear it. In that case the students that were chosen in advance would be selected based on their performance till now? Gah, stop being ridiculous and focus on the task at hand.'

Azyl stopped his trail of thoughts and raised his head to pay attention to what was happening at the front. Only then he realised his name was being called and he seemed to have spaced out in other students' eyes. He remembered he was at no. five in the roll call, meaning that he would be among the first five to be tested.

Ignoring the students that were sniggering at him, he immediately moved towards the front of the crowd to get to the boulder and get done with this. He was already aware of his level and this was just a formality, was what he thought. After all he wasn't really bothered to learn about how others were going to perform .

Quickly, he was standing with the other four that were also going to be tested with him. He could hear the others in his class talking or laughing behind his back, but he just looked at the rock in front of him with curiosity. And so he failed to see the keen look that professor Akira was giving him.

Then the five of them were led to the boulders. Another professor that stood before them explained to them properly what they had to do.

It was in fact, a really simple process. Normally, they could feel the presence of prana in the environment around them and then pull it inside their body. Then they would control it to circulate through their origin path. With this boulder, they just had to place their palm on it to feel the prana that was already collected in it. They had to interact with the prana, and then complete a full circulation through the thin path that was naturally formed inside the boulder. Who would have known that such a simple action could measure a person's prana level?

Curiousity got the better of him, as he directly went and placed his hand on the boulder to get a feeling of the intricate working of the boulder that was explained by the teacher. Looking at his action, one of the other kid could not help but scoff at him.

"Huh, why is the number one lazy student in a rush to make a fool out of himself? Did he not understand what the professor told and is randomly trying anything to be done with this test?" He mockingly laughed at Azyl.

The professor also frowned at Azyl's action but did not refute him from beginning. He just thought that this rude student was just making a fool out of himself when he heard the comment from the other kid.

Hearing the comment from this student, Azyl turned to him with a smile. He looked him in the eye and then shifted his focus back at the boulder in front of him. Unlike when they had to wait a while to feel the prana in the air, the boulder was saturated by it. Just after a moment he could feel the gentle breeze like feeling. Then he proceeded with the circulation path and in quick succession went through the path.

The kid who had just mocked him was a surprised when he noticed the boulder starting to glow lightly. The same went for the professor as well as everyone else, other than Zewoulf as they had noticed Azyl was the first to begin and quickly get a result.

A moment later the rock stopped glowing. Noticing that Azyl was done with his circulation so fast, the professor immediately thought that this student was not even able to complete one full circulation. He was going to berate him for being hasty and not having patience when the boulder suddenly started blinking in the same golden glow as before. It blinked brightly for five times and then blinked once more in a dim light.

Everyone was surprised at this as they were not aware of this reaction. The professor who was going to speak stopped himself as he recognised this student was definitely someone talented. The person who stood beside to record everyone's result immediately came forward to ask Azyl's name. Then he turned towards the crowd and announced in a loud voice that was audible to everyone in the ground.

"Azyl Lheas - prana level 5.5

Grade given - Excellent"

Azyl was surprised when he suddenly heard his name once more aloud. He did not know that they would be announcing their result like this. But then brushing it off, he just smiled once more at the individual who had mocked him and then walked back to his place in the rear. Only this time, he could feel that people were looking at him with awe, unlike before.

The student that had talked ill about him felt his face become red. He was aware about his own level, so he could not help but feel ashamed. The one that they all scorned turned out to be a genius in disguise. Soon the results of the other four came out. Other than Azyl, there was one more individual, a girl named Aoi who had a level of 6.5, which was expected as she was recognised as a hard working student like Woulf. All others were around 2-3.

After this round, everyone became aware that unlike what they believed earlier, Azyl was either a hardworking or a talented individual. Especially Teacher Ren, who could not help be surprised. He felt that this shameful student of his had fooled him once more. But inside he was really glad at his performance. But there was also a part of him which was concerned about him, as he thought maybe Azyl would end up being a dark horse and get selected this year which he did not want. He could just hope now that things worked out for him.

After that the testing for every student continued. Woulf who had expected Azyl's result was not fazed at all and maintained his calm. When his turn came towards the end, he gave the class another shock with a result of 7.5. This was recognized as the highest and immediately the pair of friends became famous amongst everyone that was present on the training field.