MJ— CHAPTER 5

Title: Graduation

Razael slowly walked into his own classroom. The benches were pushed aside, forming a wooden border around the class while a large desk was set up on the raised section of the floor where the professors would usually lecture the students. Behind the desk, three aged beings sat with the old woman taking the center seat and the old men sitting beside her.

Razael wasn't the first to be interviewed and hence, knew the identity of the three people. The old acolytes who have accumulated enough experience to replace mages and mistresses in terms of measuring the potential of graduating students.

The Old Misers.

As Razael stood behind the chair he is supposed to sit on, he waited until the old woman's— Old Jola's— eyelids twitched and a raspy voice echoed from her throat.

"Sit."

Silently, Razael sat on the chair and placed the Letter of Acknowledgement he received from Rodrig on the table. In fact, there is nothing special about the letter except for the seal covering it and the old man sitting to Jola's left stretched his palms forward and accepted the letter. He only glanced towards the letter before speaking in a soft voice, "Accepted. You may begin the interview."

Meanwhile, the old man right to Jola smiled, his wrinkles curving over his leathery face while he showed an unexpected set of brilliant teeth that put many youngsters to shame, "Very well," a youthful voice emerged from his throat. "Razael Maver, right? Call me Old Hin. Now, this interview is standard procedure. I will have you explain to us the most basic concepts that any acolyte should be aware of and then, at last, you shall demonstrate your prowess by revealing your Energy core in real life. My partners here, Old Jola and Old Areu shall keep to themselves for the remaining time of the interview."

Razael still kept his silence and nodded patiently. With a pleased smile, Old Hin began, "Now, Mr. Maver, who are Acolytes?"

"Every living being is shackled by nine limits, at least that's what we understand," Razael began. He was only told about the form of an interview where he will be asked questions but Old Jola and Old Areu simply kept Razael in their scrutiny, making him believe that there was something else to the interview that wasn't told to the students and he wished to simply stick out from other students by keeping his answers clear, concise, and extremely rich.

"And all the living beings are capable of unshackling themselves. However, in human society, any person who breaks away from the first shackle and gets access to one's energy core will be titled— Acolyte. The title of Acolyte remains on a person until the sixth shackle is released."

"Then what is an energy core? Please be brief on its use," Old Hin smiled.

"Energy Core is simply the source of energy for living beings. The core continuously rotates and absorbs the natural energy present around us and converts it into life force known as Mana. However, once an Acolyte is made aware of Energy Core's existence, they can take the use of the core one step further and carve spells on its surface to turn an Acolyte's activities more efficient."

"Good. Would you consider having a low Aptitude as a curse?" The moment Old Hin asked this, a certain pressure enveloped Razael as Old Jola and Old Areu focused on him with an intense gaze.

'So this is why there are here. But I can't lie in an interview, they probably set up a spell in the classroom to detect body's condition to have an objective interview,' Razael's mind turned a bit attentive as he slowly began.

"I don't consider low physical aptitude a curse. But I do believe it to be a setback needed to overcome. Fortunately, I don't have such a setback to tackle. After all, the greater the speed of rotation of the energy core, the quicker an Acolyte can recover its mana."

"For instance?" Old Hin pursued.

"If I have a rank 1 spell etched onto my core, I can use it at the interval of 1.5 minutes because of my core having an aptitude of 93 rpm. Similarly, the same spell would need 6 minutes if an Acolyte's aptitude is at 40 rpm, which is considered D-Grade."

Old Hin nodded. The conversation of one rotation to the time needed to recharge a spell was 5 seconds. So, lower the rotation of a core from 100 rpm, the greater the time required to recharge a spell with every difference in rotation adding 5 seconds to the baseline of a single minute.

[A/N: In essence. 100 rpm=1 min of recharge time. The difference of 1 rotation adds 5 seconds so if someone has D-Grade Aptitude with 40 rpm, the difference of 60 rpm will be translated as 300 seconds or 5 minutes. 1+5= 6 minutes. I hope this wasn't too complicated.]

"This is the final question before we will observe your Energy Core. Are you still pure, Mr. Maver?"

Razael nodded without hesitation and after a moment of silence, a pleased look flashed on Old Hin's face, "Fine. Mr. Maver, demonstrate your Energy Core for us."

Taking a moment, Razael took a deep breath and clenched his right fist before raising it towards the Old Misers and opening it, revealing a grey ball with a smooth surface. So smooth that the high speed of rotation of the ball on Razael's palm couldn't be observed but the three Misers were quite surprised at the speed of the Summoning of energy core. They gazed at Razael intently before nodding at each other.

In front of Razael's stunned eyes, "Old Areu touched the seal of the letter of acknowledgment as it instantly lit up in a violent blaze before covering the entire letter. The crackling blaze lasted a single breath and was put off as quickly as it erupted, leaving a crimson badge with a three-eyed owl etched on its surface.

The Emblem of the National Academy of Wonder!

The Wise Sage.

"Congratulations, Mr. Maver. You have officially graduated from the National Academy of Wonder as an Acolyte," Old Him began as Old Areu pushed the badge towards Razael, "Behind the surface of the badge is your identification number that can be used in any facility of the Democratic Nation of Kopre. As an Acolyte, albeit of greater rank and experience, it is my duty to ask you of your future plans and advise you before you leave this room."

"I... wish to apply for the internship of Junior Researcher in the Exploration Department of the NAW."

"Mr. Maver," Old Jola began this time, "The Exploration Department focuses on a balanced structure of spells which may be beneficial to an Acolyte in the beginning but it is quite disadvantageous in the later section of an Acolyte's life."

Her voice and tone were quite unfriendly but Old Areu interjected her by pushing a piece of paper towards her. Looking at the contents, Old Jola finally quietened down while Old Hin chuckled wryly, "Mr. Maver, selecting the Exploration Department is quite wise. Have you prepared your spell structure?"

"Yes," Razael nodded.

"Then do you wish to take another interview today?" Old Hin continued.

"Yes."

"Very well. You must meet Acolyte named Lopy Hurey in the Exploration Department's lounge at 15:30. He will be interviewing you for the internship. You may leave."

Taking the badge as his Energy Core disappeared, Razael finally walked out of his old classroom. The moment he walked out, the next student in the roll call entered while Razael was flocked by remaining students who had yet to be interviewed.

All sorts of questions filled him but Razael escaped after a few short replies. He had to prepare for the next interview, after all.