He walked into the Gravity Steps and saw the familiar sight of Marcus and Lyra competitively trying to reach the furthest they could in the stairs.
He walked to the counter to pay for his own attempt. Once he was done paying, he took his card and went to start his attempt. As he was approaching the two, they didn't even realize that there was someone behind them.
Lyra and Marcus were both trying their best to take an extra step to get ahead of each other. At this point, they were both only a meter away from each other. So they were concentrating solely on trying to get a little further.
Lyra looked forward at Marcus who was ahead of her. She gritted her teeth and was about to take another step, but a voice distracted her.
"I heard from a little bird that you were looking for me," the voice said.
She swung her hand to hit the person behind her in reflex, but the person caught the hand.
"I am hurt. Is that how you are greeting me?" He asked.
She turned back and saw Leo.
"Leo!" She shouted in surprise. She suddenly became angry. "Where were you?! Do you know how worried we were?"
Marcus looked back and saw Leo talking to Lyra. He stopped everything he was doing and took a couple of steps back.
"Leo, are you good? Why were you gone for so long?" He asked.
Leo couldn't understand their worry.
"What is the problem? I was only gone for two weeks. I was just training. Did something happen?" He asked them.
They nodded their heads. Lyra told him what it was.
"Well, you know Maria? Our instructor. She gave us an opportunity that you were supposed to have. She told us to tell you that you can get it too," She said.
He chuckled. "That is very vague," he said. "What is this opportunity?"
Marcus shook his head.
"No. First, you need to come with us to meet Maria. She told us to come to the office once we found you," he said.
He dragged Leo out of the steps while Lyra followed them. Meanwhile Leo just helplessly went along with it. After all, he was the one who had gone incognito without telling them.
"I just got to the steps. That's a 1000 points I won't get back," he moaned with disappointment.
"You have more important things to think about," Lyra said from the back.
The group of three walked quickly to a huge building that was beside the academic buildings. Leo had noticed it before but never knew what it was for.
They entered the building and immediately took the stairs to get to the 2nd floor. They saw a corridor in front of them with a line of rooms to the left and right. Marcus walked in the front while Leo followed him.
They quickly reached a room that had Maria's name engraved on it. Marcus knocked on the door.
"Come in," her voice came from the inside. Marcus walked in first.
Maria was sitting on her chair looking at a few papers on her desk. She looked up to see Marcus.
"Is there any problem, Marcus?" She asked him.
He shook his head. "We found Leo. We brought him," he said. He looked back at where Lyra was standing and beckoned her to bring him.
Leo was standing at the side of the door so Maria couldn't see him clearly. Lyra took his hand and brought him into the room.
He just retorted at Marcus' words. "What do you mean found me? I was training, not lost in a forest," he said.
Maria's eyes showed a lot of disappointment.
"Leo, I had a lot of expectations for you. I thought you had the potential to be great. But you can't achieve that potential if you keep skipping class and taking it casually. You have to put in the effo-"
She was talking with a very disappointed tone but stopped when she noticed something about him.
"You broke through to the Middle-Stage?" She asked him.
He nodded. "Yes. Just today, actually."
Lyra showed her surprise. "You were actually doing something in this time?" She asked him.
"Yes, obviously. What else would I have done for the past 2 weeks?" He asked her.
The only person who didn't show any surprise was Marcus. He was also the only one who expected Leo to be training for the entire duration of his disappearance. Even Lyra slowly transitioned to thinking that he had just left the academy to have fun.
"This changes everything. You have a very good chance of making it. Did Lyra explain everything to you?" Maria asked Leo.
"Nope. At this point, I basically understand nothing," he said.
"Fine. Then I will explain it myself. You are being given the chance to go to the Phoenix Trials as a reserve member," she said.
"Phoenix Trials?" He asked.
She nodded. "The Phoenix Trials is a competition held between the best 1000 academies inside the Solarian Empire. It is held within a separate space and the candidates can find out about how it is conducted only after entering that space. They are also forbidden to tell anyone.
But the reason this is so important is because it gives you the opportunity to become strong. Everyone who comes back from the Phoenix Trials is considered one of the best geniuses in the Empire.
You will be seeing famous geniuses from every academy attend this. They are all competing to be called the strongest person in the young generation. And they are rewarded for this." She said.
"So the strongest people from the young generation will go to compete for the title of the strongest. And they are rewarded in the process," Leo said.
"Yes. The rewards are priceless. This is why you will see even Duke's heirs and even princes in this competition. Just being in the top 100 is a feat. This will also bring great prestige to your academy. If you perform well, the academy is also rewarded along with you." She explained.
"This all sounds great and interesting. But you said reserve member," he said. "What does that mean?" He asked.
"It means you can participate only if you go through another screening there. You will have to pass a few tests before being allowed to compete there. We are among the 10 best Aura Knight Academies inside the empire, but we are just allowed 10 spots.
There are some academies that are only allowed reserve spots that will have to compete for their position. In total, there will be 900 people who are already competing. 1000 people are reserve members who are going to fight for the remaining 100 spots. You will be one of them," she said.
"Is there anything else I should know about this?" He asked.
She nodded. "While this is a very very good opportunity, there is a chance that you could die. You will have to take that into consideration. You also have to be 17 years old or under, but that shouldn't be an issue for you," she said.
He nodded. "One final question. Where exactly is this held?" He asked.
"The Capital," she said.
