Rem was a teacher at the Academy of Elements and taught the Mages of Earth, possessing elements of Earth himself.
He was in his early forties yet appeared to be younger than even thirty. Rem had short black hair and wore glasses that suited his long yet handsome face.
He was said to be one of the more observant teachers at the academy, known for having really unorthodox teaching methods.
Despite that, not many people at the academy respected him since his House of Earth was always the last ranked in the Academy. If House of Light was the peak, then House of Earth was the bottom.
Right beside him stood a blonde man who was in the same boat.
The man appeared like a frivolous young man. It was Lishen who was a teacher for the House of Wind.
Unlike Rem, Lishen was very popular at the Academy, especially amongst girls. Unfortunately, it wasn't because of his teaching skills but because of his looks. Lishen had deep green eyes, which created a stark contrast with his blonde hair.
Even though his House didn't do as bad as the House of Earth, it didn't do much better either, barely avoiding the last rank each year.
The Two Teachers have been close friends for a long time. In fact, the two of them had studied together at the same academy in their younger days before joining as Teachers.
The two had been teaching for a really long time. They had seen and taught thousands of students personally.
That's why when Rem talked about seeing a strange student, that intrigued Lishen.
Even though Lishen couldn't sense students' auras, he trusted Rem, who was born with the talent to see auras.
"Not even the weakest aura?" Lishen asked, frowning. "How did that guy even awaken an element then?"
Being able to see Aura was a distinct ability of Rem, which most people didn't know about. Through the aura of a person, he could make a rough guess about how talented a person was when it came to the path of magic.
Some people had weak auras, meaning they were really bad at magic and didn't have any talent. On the other hand, some had really strong auras, which meant they were immensely talented.
Strangely enough, Rem couldn't see any aura from Gabriel.
"That's right. Not even the slightest aura. It's like he is a common person with not even the slightest affinity for magic. Why is he even here then? He would be kicked out in the first round itself." Rem frowned. "Idiots like him not only waste his own time but ours as well. They don't know their limits."
"Poor guy," Lishen muttered, glancing at the silver-haired young man in the distance who was none other than Gabriel himself.
Fortunately, he had managed to arrive here on time. He handed over the horse to the establishment near the Academy before dashing here, finally arriving.
Gabriel was breathing heavily. Even though he had become a mage, it was still very tiring for him, especially when he felt like he hadn't slept when the slightest.
After resting for a few seconds, he finally mixed in the crowd, trying to locate Cain and Zale. Unfortunately, he couldn't find many familiar faces in the crowd. It was as if the others had already entered the Academy.
While Gabriel tried to locate someone, he also felt like someone was looking at him.
He took a subtle glance at the two teachers who stood near the entrance, gazing straight at him.
Gabriel acted ignorantly as if he hadn't seen them. Still, he was slightly concerned on the inside. The two people appeared like teachers here. The two of them had an emblem of the academy on their chests.
"Did they find out? That should be impossible though. Even the Head Priest couldn't sense my dark aura because of the gloves. Is it about my disguise? But if they had seen through, they would've captured me. Then why are they staring?'
"Alright, the next hundred people can get inside!" Loud instructions came from inside the Academy.
Even though it was a unified exam, there was still no way to test them all at once. There were just too many people. That's why the exams were conducted in the batches of a hundred each. The selection criteria were so hard that only one or two were selected from a batch, sometimes more, sometimes less.
A hundred participants entered the academy, where they were further escorted by a teacher before disappearing.
Gabriel didn't happen to be in those hundred since he had arrived just now. There were still close to two hundred participants before him yet to enter.
"I don't think anyone else is coming. We've already seen the participants for this year. We'll see further in the Trial Arena. Come, let's get inside." Lishen patted the shoulder of Rem, who agreed.
The two teachers entered the Academy, disappearing from public view.
After ten minutes, there was another call. A hundred more were called in, leaving slightly over a hundred left behind.
Around twenty minutes later, everyone who was left behind was called in. Finally, Gabriel was allowed entry into the beautiful academy.
"Hmm?" As Gabriel passed through the entrance, he felt some strange feeling. It was the same feeling that he felt when he had passed through the golden barrier. It was as if something was at the entrance to check every participant for something, possibly for the element of Darkness.
Gabriel glanced at his gloves, not worrying.
A bulky man approached the young participants.
"There are slightly over a hundred of you left. You shall all follow me. I'll take you for the basic screening. If you pass that screening, only then will you be allowed further."
"Remember, if any of you get lost or are found to be roaming where they shouldn't, the Academy Security Forces possess the right to execute you, no questions asked! So better not lose your way! Stay with the group!"
The bulky man only issued basic instructions to the participants, scaring most of them. He didn't even introduce himself as to who he really was. No one asked him either.
All the participants followed the man, going wherever he took them.
From the inside, the Academy appeared to be even bigger. It was massive. Unfortunately, no students could be seen in the academy.
Gabriel wondered if the students were inside the academy buildings, learning.
While most of the participants were focused on the beauty of the Academy, being amazed at everything they saw, Gabriel was focused on something else entirely.
Instead of focusing on the building, he was focusing on the security and the guard placements.
'The Academy does spend a lot on guards, it seems. There's no blind spot. They are everywhere, and it's just the entrance. Near the Museum of the Academy, their numbers will be even more. Lambard wasn't lying when he said how hard it was to steal the Eye of Osiris.'
After a ten-minute long walk, the participants were told to stop in the middle of an arena.
There was one table in the middle, covered in a white bedsheet. On top of the table, there laid three crystal orbs the size of a human head. Behind the table, a white-haired old woman was sitting, seemingly with her eyes closed.
Behind the woman, there stood two more men wearing the Attire of the Academy.
