The Spiritual Academy is not well known around the Empire. It was created barely 100 years ago and is focused on a system different from those already known.
They do not use swords or any external tools except Magical Artifacts, and they have almost no attack magic. Instead, they focus on researching the Spirit World and the entities that come from there.
They also have their own magical artifacts to summon beings from that world, so they can have more than one. But this Academy's research has just started and is still in its early stages. Although they manage to summon and teach the students how to do it, they still have more goals in mind.
Some of their research is known to all, including the summoning of more powerful spirits, the use of mana, and how to access the Spirit World. But since they are just in the initial phase, so many ignore them.
Even so, it is still a prestigious Academy in the Nevod Mountains because it has powerful people. However, it is not affiliated with any of the Three Alignments; its mission is to create the Fourth Alignment, which, internally, already exists.
Because of this, it is an Academy that receives many people seeking to become students. Even mages of other categories try to enter to find out if they can summon spirits from that other world and so on. If they are lucky, they might be able to summon a powerful Spirit Being to help strengthen them or give them strength directly.
This enrollment month was the same. Many people came here to try to get into the Academy. There were so many that they could be counted in the thousands.
Among so many people, Matt and Alice were in one of the many entrance lines, among the first places.
They were here because they had to pay an initial enrollment fee, and the long line of hundreds of people moved quickly. The teachers and managers were doing their jobs well.
Soon, it was Matt and Alice's turn.
"A couple of half-elves, eh? Good, the initial fee?" the attendant serving them asked, and Matt passed him several gold coins, which were the main currency of the Empire.
The attendant nodded after weighing it. "Names?"
"Zen Varrmar and Aelia Varrmar." Matt replied.
Since they had usurped an identity, they naturally had to do it right, so using Elven names and surnames was ideal.
The young man placed his hands on the pillar and injected mana into it. Soon, the pillar glowed white and came out and slightly surrounded the young man.
After a strange feeling that made him close his eyes, the pillar responded with a green glow.
"WOAH!" A great clamor shook the square at that moment.
"It happened; the first person made it through!"
"Could it be that it's easier than we thought?"
"I hope they call me..."
Various voices were raised from one side to the other, causing the square to be engulfed in an uproar in no time. Meanwhile, the young man's face was beaming.
The manager then let out a snort with his mouth that echoed everywhere. "Hmph, quiet!" His shout brought back to reality all those who were muttering idiocies back and forth, so the square was back to normal in an instant.
After seeing this, the manager nodded and smiled at the man beside him. "Welcome to the Spirit Academy. Go in the back and wait for this to be over." He said, dismissing the man to call another one.
The following 17 people failed. Until finally, someone succeeded. But after that, more than 250 people failed.
It was an absurd ratio that they were witnessing, for the vast majority were failing.
Most had the color red, but a few pulled out the color orange. None of the two that succeeded pulled out the color blue, and not that it was important to them since they didn't even know what it meant.
Even Matt and Alice were stunned at how many people failed in such a short time.
While watching that, a person approached them with the intention of speaking. It was a human, and he wasn't walking alone.
"I heard that red is the least of the four colors. Orange means you narrowly failed and will possibly pass the second test, and green means that you barely passed. For those who get the color blue, apparently, they are given a good status in the academy, because they are the most talented."