Chapter 4: The Marshall
Aeon lived in an area near Sera City's Grand Hall.
From its location, one could immediately guess that it is not a place for commoners. In fact, it was where Sera City's most esteemed guests live.
It was quite large and fancy. It even had its own walls that made it look isolated from the whole city. A city within a city. However, it did not have a gate. Instead, two guards were standing in front of the area's entrance. They wore gold-trimmed armors that signified their high rank in the military.
Aeon greeted the two guards politely as he entered. He familiarly navigated through the streets until he finally arrived in a house that was unusually small. On top of that, it was at the corner of the area, adjacent to the walls. Compared to the other houses, it simply looked like a shed. Nevertheless, it was still clean and elegant.
He silently walked through the door.
The interior of the house was designed very simply. It had two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen. It did not even have its own dining room.
Aeon knocked on the room at the leftmost corner of the house.
"Dad, I'm home. Are you there?"
A loud voice immediately responded, "Do you want me to beat you up?!"
Aeon snickered before walking inside. A man with a head full of white hair was lying on the bed at the center of the room, his legs covered with a blanket. He looked thin and sickly, but his face was firm. He exuded pride and confidence that contrasted his appearance. He was Aeon's father, Marshall Devon Morgan.
"How was the test? Don't tell me you failed the first part," the man said seriously, almost authoritatively.
Aeon sat by the edge of the bed with a plop before he smugly replied, "How could I fail? I'm your son!"
"Pfft."
Aeon's father broke out in laughter.
"PUHAHAHA! Of course, of course. How could you fail? You're my son! PUHAHAHAHA!"
Feeling the atmosphere, Aeon also laughed just like his old man, "PUHAHAHAHAHA!"
"… Why are you laughing?"
"Who's laughing?"
"…"
"…"
Aeon's father sat up straight and coughed twice before going back to his serious attitude.
"Summarize the events."
"Alright!"
Aeon described everything. Him filling up the application form, detecting magic in his body using a magic stone, waiting for a few hours for his name to be called, listening to the administrator about the change in the exam's format, and lastly, fighting Suri Samo.
His father's interest was first piqued when he heard that the format was changed, and he wanted to ask more about it. However, after hearing about the magic technique that Aeon's enemy used, he suddenly stopped Aeon from speaking. He asked, "How long did it take for you to beat him?"
Without a second thought, Aeon responded, "One minute and three seconds."
Aeon's father shook his head, "Not good enough. 500 push-ups and 500 squats."
Unsurprisingly, Aeon did not disagree at all.
It did take me quite some time.
Aeon nodded, dropped on the floor, and started doing push-ups.
"He condensed magic, sacrificing the duration of the spell for more explosive power? What was the name of your opponent again?" his father asked while staring into space. He didn't even bat an eye when he punished Aeon.
"Suri Samo," Aeon answered while continuously doing push-ups.
Hearing this, Aeon's father smiled.
That guy's son, eh.
He cleared his throat before saying, "Okay! I'm feeling quite merciful today. Just do half of what I required you to."
"Mn," Aeon acknowledged.
Aeon's father looked towards the right side of the room. He wanted to look outside the window, a habit he developed throughout the years. However, after a moment, he sighed with lament. He wasn't in his old home anymore. In this one, there were no windows.
….
Five days passed in a blink of an eye.
After doing his morning routine, Aeon went back to the magic academy.
It wasn't crowded anymore.
After confirming his identity, an assistant ushered him to the waiting room, the same room he stayed in when he waited for the first exam. Now, however, there was an administrator standing in front of them. Aeon sat at the back of the room. He entertained himself by observing other people who came in.
There were applicants of all ages. The oldest one was at least 35 years old. These people were special cases wherein their magic power had manifested later in their lives. And they were still welcome to take the test. Given that they could prove their late awakening.
Before, people who experienced cases like these were not accepted. They were even mocked. Mainly because the Academy believed that a mage's accomplishments depended on how long they have been practicing magic.
But they were proved wrong by a certain man, about 50 years ago.
Kyrie Maxwell.
He was a legendary figure, not just in the Florentine Empire, but the whole continent.
Maxwell used to be a regular soldier in Solemnus Empire's military. He had a notable fighting prowess, but it wasn't enough to become a general. He lived a simple life, not showing any grand ambitions. However, when his lightning magic manifested at the age of 28, he showed a drive that was never seen in him before. He left the military and started cultivating his magic in seclusion.
A few years later, he emerged from his seclusion. He moved from empire to empire challenging its experts. He defeated them one by one, pulling each and every expert one level down the food chain.
Mysteriously, after he finished sweeping through all seven Empires, he disappeared. No one had seen him since, but he remained a legend in the people's hearts, especially those whose magic manifested late.
As a boy who loved stories, Aeon asked his father about the legend of Maxwell a couple of times. Every time he did, he would always see his father's eyes sparkle with enthusiasm. His father had always claimed that he had seen one of Maxwell's fights, together with his father, when he was still a kid. At that time, he still had no mastery of combat so he could not appreciate the battle. His father, Aeon's grandpa, explained to him why Maxwell was so strong.
To begin with, Maxwell was a Lightning Dio, the rarest occurrence in the history of magic.
In his few years of seclusion, he had completely mastered the art of combat that used both incantations and enchantments. He was not a General level soldier before, but after he integrated magic in his techniques, he became invincible.
Lightning was a rare element, and it was extremely hard to train because of its chaotic property. Most of the time, the caster would experience heavy backlash from his or her own spells while training. Maxwell being able to master it in a few years proved that he had an extremely high level of comprehension.
After his disappearance, Academies all over the continent started to open their doors to those mages whose magic manifested late, expecting another miracle to be born.
And now, Aeon was planning to benefit from that. The judges did not know yet though.
"Everyone, listen up," the administrator said, "You all know about the third part of the examination, right? Well, that'll be this one's second part. However, because we skipped the knowledge test, the number of participants here's a bit higher."
The administrator paused, letting the applicants digest his words.
He eyed the mages before continuing, "So this is what we're going to do."
The administrator turned around and scribbled on the board. With quick, confident strokes, figures began forming on the board slowly. After some time, he finally finished.
The result was a wonderfully drawn map of a forest. It was hard to believe for the applications that the masterpiece was written in less than a minute by simply using a single white chalk. After finishing his drawing, he once again faced the crowd.
"In the original format, the third part is supposed to be a fight between two teams. Five versus five, six versus six. Depends on the number of participants. The battles should also be happening simultaneously to save time. However, for this year, we're kind of…" the administrator paused, scratching his head while thinking of the best word to describe their situation. After a few moments, he continued. "Understaffed."
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The administrator banged on the board to catch the applicants' attention, chalk dust scattered through the air making the people in the front cough.
"Based on our manpower, we could only support one type of test. Well, it is also a team competition, but a bit different. All of you will be playing here," he said while emphasizing his drawing, "the forest, north of the city."
Aeon was repeatedly tapping his index finger on his chair. Clearly, he had already been bored again. Fortunately for him, the word "play" lightened up his mood.
That seems fun, Aeon thought to himself.
The administrator took out a piece of rolled paper from his back pocket.
He posted it on the board before saying, "This is the list of the groupings. Please find your teammates and get a copy of the forest's map here."
Before leaving through the backdoor, the administrator suddenly remembered something. He turned around and clapped his hands twice, "By the way, check the backside of the maps, the details of the competition are there."
The administrator left.
Looking at the table in front, there were scrolls stacked untidily.
Aeon walked to the front to check the list. It contained 44 teams in total. The piece of paper was packed full of names. On the 23rd line, he finally saw his name, along with two others.
Korona Arvent.
Aeon Morgan.
Suri Samo.
Aeon's eyes lit up. He was teamed up with Suri.
What a coincidence.
It did not take long for him to find Suri. The guy was standing in the middle of the room, squinting his eyes while trying to read the list. He probably couldn't squeeze through the crowd due to his large build.
Noticing the chaos in the room, Aeon sighed with his eyebrows furrowed. The exam was truly not organized well. With this bunch of people, how could they find their teammates? Are they supposed to scream other people's names?
Aeon walked through the crowd and approached Suri.
….
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone