As Silver rose from his sleep, the first thing he noticed was the absence of sunlight. Whether it was due to anxiety or excitement, he had woken earlier than necessary.

This was an important day for him as it marked the actual start of his journey to fame and finding his family. He wished to use his time at the Academy to become a powerful mage whose name was known across the entire continent.

After cleaning himself up and dressing appropriately, he decided to use the few extra hours he had by meditating to increase his mana. Every slight advantage he could get over the other students would be helpful.

Meanwhile, in a nearby room, Zac lay on his bed while watching the ceiling as though it was telling him the most intriguing secret. With eyes akin to a panda's, he lethargically got up and decided it was finally time to get ready.

He had contemplated knocking on Silver's door throughout several parts of the night. However, he knew it was unfair to cost his friend a good night's rest just because he could not get one. Instead, he decided to wait the few hours left before the time they agreed to meet by meditating.

His father had constantly told him that meditation should be akin to breathing if he wished to become a great mage. It was only at age 18 when the true mana in an individual's body would awaken. At that point, one could finally break free of the shackles that obstructed them from becoming an apprentice mage.

The highest speed recorded for this transition was 6 months. However, Zac would still be ecstatic if he could become an apprentice mage by the end of his first year at the Academy, as this was still seen as an impressive feat.

While lost in his meditation, the sunlight teased his closed eyelids as if to remind him of the appointment with Silver. He slowly opened his eyes, satisfied with his progress, and made the short journey to his friend's room.

Hearing a knock on the door, Silver got up from his seat and gave the room one last look, ensuring he had not forgotten anything. This was unnecessary, however, as his meticulous nature would not allow it.

When he opened the door, he was met with a panda. No, not a panda. It was Zac.

"Hey man, sleep well?" Zac asked.

"Well. Definitely better than you." Silver laughed while pointing at his eyelids.

"Haha! Very funny. I'm just a little anxious okay? I didn't even get a hint of sleep last night."

"Hahaha. It's not that bad, don't worry. I'm just teasing. Anyway, are you ready to go?"

"Please. I feel like if I wait any longer, I will go insane," Zac made way for his friend, gesturing for him to lead the way. The meeting place was just a mile outside Blue city, and they were told to be there just after sunrise.

"For your sake, I hope they don't have one secret, final test for us once we get there. I doubt you would fair well in that state," Silver joked.

"Hey, man. I might look tired, but I'm in top shape, okay?"

"Tired is an understatement. You look like you've been an insomniac your whole life," Silver teased.

"Whatever. Let's just hurry before they leave us or something." Zac replied as he stormed ahead of his friend. He knew very well, however, that the teleportation array would be active until noon. This was just an excuse to not be mocked further, and it was one Silver was very aware of.

As the two finally arrived at the meeting location, they found a familiar figure standing by a small tree in the forest. About 100 meters ahead, they saw a purple portal being manned by an individual who seemed to be an Academy student.

"Hey, Isabella. Fancy meeting you here, ey? What a small world we live in," Zac joked as the two approached her.

"Does your tongue not know how to talk normally? why do you continue to spout nonsense every opportunity you get?" Isabella didn't know why, but she had a sudden urge to punch this youth each time she met him.

"Hahahaha. My tongue knows quite a bit. You would be pleasantly surprised."

"How shameless!" Isabella was left stunned by the nerve he had. She decided to completely ignore him from now on as she strode towards the portal.

"Oh, come on. I'm only playing around. I'm sorry okay?" Zac consoled as he followed behind.

Silver didn't know what to make of this as he questioned when the two became so familiar. As he followed along, he promised himself to question his friend later.

"Ah, how convenient for me. It seems you have all arrived nice and early." A tall youth around their age welcomed.

"My name is Clyde, and here is my identification medallion." He held up a gold pendant-like object with an engraving of an eagle. The trio instantly identified the object they had been told to look out for. With the addition of the name, they had now confirmed this indeed was a student from the Academy.

"When you are ready, please step into the portal. It will take you straight to the Academy," Clyde concluded.

At first, Silver wished to ask the youth a few questions. But by the uninterested look on his face, he could tell that this Clyde fella had no intention of speaking further. So he decided to not waste his breath and lead the way into the portal.

Once through, Silver found himself atop a massive platform filled with thousands of youngsters around his age. And yet somehow, the silence was deafening. Even the trio's arrival didn't garner any attention from them as their eyes remained focused on the center of the plateau.

Following their gaze, Silver noticed a hairless old man grasping a walking stick in front of him with both hands. The man stared back at him with a slight smile.

Unaware of the reason why, a sudden feeling of unease began to grow in his heart. Soon the feeling changed from unease to discomfort. A few moments later, cold sweat began to run down Silver's back as he began to feel fear.

[ Wait, Why do I feel afraid of this harmless-looking old man. He looks as though he could be defeated by strong winds, yet somehow I'm afraid?" ] Silver questioned himself.

That didn't stop his heart rate from increasing though, as the sweat dripping down his body began to feel like a shower. This was bad. If he let things continue like this, he felt something terrible would happen.

Before the fear could settle any deeper, he decided to utilize a calming technique taught to him by his master.

At first, he focused on his breathing and retook control. Then began to slowly distract himself from the fear by focusing on one thought. That was always easy for Silver because one prominent thought continued to live in the back of his mind. Finding where he belonged.

Soon, he realized he was beginning to feel better and could focus on the old man again.

[ Wait a minute. Why does he look different? Is he shining? ] Silver was confused by the light coming from the old man's bald head. Why did he look brighter all of a sudden?

The answer came soon to him as he noticed the afternoon sun high in the sky. The encounter that felt like a few moments to him had taken several hours.

[ Hmm. How fascinating. I could swear he didn't use any magic like the rest. How did he manage to break my spell? ] questioned the old man.

[ Hehe. It seems like we have another interesting one this year. Perhaps I should test him some more ] he laughed to himself.

Silver couldn't believe that it was already afternoon. The sun had barely made its appearance when he had arrived on this platform, yet somehow, it was already noon?

[ Did he use magic to change the weather, or did he use some type of spell on me? ] Silver didn't know what to believe, but before he could mull over his theories, he suddenly felt uncomfortable again.