While still kneeling on the ground, Emery felt the many questions that have been bothering his mind about the academy, since he entered until now, had been mostly answered.
After all, there were a lot of questions popping up during his time in the academy and they had been bothering him for a while. One of them was the strange and somewhat antagonistic attitude the instructors and other acolytes' showed towards them.
And also, the way the academy did the game that looked like a test, which was held at the beginning of the year and not at the end. This practice was truly in contrast with what a normal educational institution should do. After all, which educational bodies held an exam at the start of the school year?
Now he finally knew the reason, Emery realized the Magus Academy wasn't only an ordinary educational institution, where people came to learn and graduated. Due to the ongoing war, it would be more appropriate to think of the academy as more like a recruitment center for military purposes. Hence, it was no wonder there was a lot of power, struggles and agendas involved behind it.
The information just revealed was quite overwhelming for Emery and the others. Even though he wasn't clear about the magnitude of the situation, knowing his 2,000 years old senior was having difficulties regarding the matter surely made him concerned.
Emery and his friends didn't have any reason to not believe or doubt Lord Izta's story. The person standing in front of them was proven to be their great great predecessor and his plan was centered with them five being successful in the academy. Therefore, Emery and the others would have to take the torch, as this plan instantly became their plan too.
The five young yet very determined teenagers swore to take over the Sovereign of Earth position for themselves. All of this would begin by getting the best grade and acknowledgement from academy by the end of the year.
Even though Chumo, Julian and Thrax didn't regrettably manage to enter the elite class, they still had one of the five combat magus champions of the Combat Institute becoming their direct master. This should have given them the same benefit as those who were in the elite class, only minus the title of elite acolyte.
However, the same couldn't be said for Emery and Klea. Being able to succeed in the third trial would reward the winner the opportunity to become a disciple of the esteemed Grand Magus. This reward would guarantee the winner's place to become a magus and many more other indirect benefits. Therefore, this was what Emery and Klea needed to aim for.
"The third game is a one on one tournament between all the 500 passing elite acolytes and 50 priviledged acolytes. And at the end of the game, there will be around 100 acolytes that will be picked by dozens of esteemed grand magus." Lord Izta said.
There were only 10 days for Emery and Klea to prepare themselves for the game, thus they needed to immediately practice, improving their prowess as much as possible.
Lord Izta could help the three boys increase the finesse and mastery of their combat techniques, courtesy to his title of champion combat magus. He could also help out Klea immensely, as he was a wind element magus too, the same as her.
Unfortunately, Emery wasn't that lucky to receive direct guidance from Lord Izta, as the champion knew he was not the best person to help the young boy. Therefore, Lord Izta left Emery under Magus Xion's care.
Hence, Magus Xion would personally guide his training and supervise his improvement for the next ten days, just like the old times. Before the five teenagers seperated and did their own training, especially Emery, who would go together with Magus Xion, they gathered together.
"This is suddenly turned into such a huge matter, guys. Do you boys have what it takes to do this?" Klea teased the boys.
Unsurprisingly, Thrax was the first one who opened his mouth. It seemed he had been burning with excitement, as Emery and the rest swore they could see flame blazing above him. "My blood is actually burning! I had never been so alive before! I can see a big war coming and what does it mean? It's a chance for glory! Hahaha! I surely have what it takes!"
Chumo, still in his usual quiet demeanor, made a hand sign and said he would be the number one. Meanwhile, Julian was unexpectedly more quiet than usual. From the looks on his face, it appeared he had many thoughts going through his mind.
Emery was worried when he realized Julian was deep in thought, "What's the matter, Julian?"
Waking up from his contemplation, Julian waved his hand, flashed a smile and said, "Don't worry about me, Emery. Just do your best and make us all proud!"
Before Emery could ask him anymore, Thrax quickly replied, effectively cut him off, "Yes, Emery. The roman is right! If you are slacking out, don't you dare cry when we catch up to you!"
Chumo nodded his head in agreement.
Even though the three of them didn't make it to the elite class, each and every one of them knew and understood this was far from the end. They still had a long way to go and there was no need for them to lose themselves in their current failure. After all, they just found a new goal to strive for, giving them a new purpose to improve themselves even more.
Klea grabbed the shoulders of the two closest boys, which were Chumo and Emery, and forced the rest to do the same to the person beside them. They swiftly huddled together and made a small circle, then shouted their group name out loud,
"We will become the Earth's Greatest Magus!"
From far, Lord Izta who saw this scene couldn't help but reminisce about the past. Without anyone knowing, a drop of tear silently fell to the ground.
Immediately after, Emery left Lord Izta's palace and followed Magus Xion to the Darkness Institute.
As they walked their way to the portal, Emery couldn't help but ask his master, "So what's the plan, master? More darkness infused blade training? New spell training? Oh, new spells sound really great!"
Magus Xion only glanced at Emery for a brief moment before turning his head to the front again, "If you are planning to go against the Nephilim faction, you need to aim bigger. Actually, my master was interested to see you again"
"Master's master?" Emery asked, confused. Then, the expression on his face changed, "Grand Magus Zenoia?!"