MJ— 4

Title: Letter of Acknowledgement

It's been three days since the unlocking of energy cores of the tenth-graders of the academy.

*Click*

The door of Raz's house clicked open as the dark-haired youth walked out with a slightly exhausted expression.

"Three days of isolation is still the limit..." Razael sighed deeply. For three days, he had been practicing to take his energy core out as quickly as possible while trying to omit a few steps and reduce the possible time needed for the task to be accomplished.

However, he wasn't willing to mentally exhaust himself completely, and knowing that any more practice would prove counterproductive, Razael took a day-off from the practice to complete a few other tasks meant outside his residence.

With December's chill making it hard to wear anything less than a comforting jacket and a pair of thick pants, Razael began making his way towards the Professor's Lounge. With the National Academy of Wonder divided into various segments and boasting a size larger than the capital of Democrats, it was easy to understand why Razael didn't enjoy making his way to the Professor's Lounge.

It was way too far and with no vehicle allowed in the academy bigger than a state but the Learning facilities were grouped together and only took Razael a total of eleven minutes to reach a large building surrounded by a well-maintained garden that was properly guarded by a layer of fence and security guards.

"Raz?" A familiar voice called out as Razael looked to his left, finding Noin and Hori walking together towards him.

"Yo," Raz waved his hand in greeting before noticing Hori's necklace now loosely hanging on Noin's neck.

"Is this for real?" He inquired with a chuckle as his gaze focused on the necklace while Noin and Hori shrugged, "One thing led to another," Noin smiled. "And the next thing I know, I woke up in Noin's bed the next morning," Hori grinned as Razael furrowed his brows.

"Why would you lose your virginity on impulse?" He questioned, "The task of understanding one's physique is greatly dependent on our virginity. You—" As a fellow student and classmate, Razael was honestly appalled by such an act. The first thing taught in the academy is to preserve one's purity for both men and women so much so that Razael never even masturbated to keep his path of unlocking the second shackle clear.

"Honestly," Noin sighed, "It just happened. Still, as an A-grader, both of our speed of understanding will increase as time passes, so I don't think it will be problematic."

"Boo! You gotta learn to have fun!" Hori chimed as she winked but Razael felt a little sour. For years, Noin and he had competed against each other in written examination and honestly, Razael was expecting to compete against Noin as an Acolyte, too.

"Well, you do you," Razael finally nodded, "You guys here for Letter of Acknowledgement?"

"Yes."

"Yup!"

After showing their identity cards to the guards in front of the facility, the trio entered the Lounge while Hori inquired, "Are you also applying for the position of Junior Researcher?"

"You two, too?" Raz questioned in return as the two nodded with a serious expression.

"I am thinking of applying for Mage Washek's team. Their team is the prime contributor for detection spells and I want to learn from them," Noin smiled with a look of admiration.

'Mage Washek, huh... despite many rumors about his incompetent and eccentric nature, that man is really the lead Mage when it comes to detection spells even on the continental level."

"I'll try to get into Mage Kim's team of acolytes. My aptitude isn't great and with their research on physical structure and composition of the body, I'm trying to get a headstart," Hori chipped in.

"Mage Kim's team is the hardest to get into," Razael looked surprised, "You must be confident then."

"I am. What about you? Which team are you applying for?" Hori questioned curiously.

"Mistress Olivia's, of course," Razael shrugged, "She's the one who found me, sponsored me, and leads the exploration teams."

Noin and Hori looked at each other with a stunned expression, "So your spell structure is expected to be quite diverse, right? Can you afford it?" Noin inquired as Razael smiled, "You really expect me to expose my budget? Come now, the Noin I know maybe lost his commonsense after a night of lovemaking."

Noin and Hori blushed instantly as the Goraion glared at Razael, "Shut it, will you? No matter the exploration team or spell detection team. Talks of our budgets will be leaked one way or the other as an act of suppressing new Acolytes."

"Heh, so what?" Razael knocked on the door that the trio stopped in front of, "Don't expect help from others now. We're gonna be acolytes. Probably, you and Hori can only rely on each other from now on but don't dream of pulling me into your little group."

The recently acquainted couple gritted their teeth at Razael's cold remarks but knew very well that he wasn't lying. Maybe, deep down, the couple also hooked up to find support in each other's arms later on because the life of an Acolyte is even harsher than students but if managed properly, it can be quite fulfilling.

"Come in," The voice from the other side of the door permitted as Razael pushed the door open, revealing a small office with an old Professor sitting on the other side of the room. Adjusting his glasses, Prof. Rodrig looked at the trio and smiled, "Ah, two of my best students. I hope you don't mind being excluded, Ms. Hori."

"Don't worry about that, Professor," Hori smiled while the trio entered.

"So, before I hand you the Letter of Acknowledgement," Rodrig smiled and presented three forms to the trio, "I hope you wouldn't mind filling the reviews of me as your teacher. Not to pressure you or anything but... my job as a professor and your letters of acknowledgment depend on these reviews."

As unethical it might have been, the three students did not have any problem in simply selecting the best option presented for the questions in the review. After all, Professor Rodrig was not a mage and only held pull over the students. Once they receive their Letter of Acknowledgement, they might never even meet with the Professor again.

"Well done," Rodrig smiled as he collected the forms and handed out the letters to the trio, "I hope the three of you achieve your goals with minimal difficulties."

"Thank you, Professor," Hori smiled while Noin and Razael nodded before leaving promptly.

"Well, I hope to meet the two of you in your expected departments later on," Razael was the first to bid farewell as Noin and Hori returned to their residence, too.

"That's one competitor set back severely," Razael got over his complicated emotions and felt gleeful, "I just hope that Jiker hooked up with someone, too. This way, both the A-grader of my group will have trouble unshackling the second limit while I can pull ahead!"

With a great mood, Razael returned to his residence.

For the remaining days, the young boy continued to work on his ability to bring out the energy core. And finally, after three more days, Razael finally cleaned himself and even tried to look a bit more presentable than usual. After all, today was the day where he will be going through two interviews and he needed to impress his interviewers to the best of his abilities.