When he finally made his way over, the exam area was located at a good-sized outdoor training grounds. Stone-like seats situated into rows were surrounded all around the area, making it closer to being an arena.

All sorts of other examinees were around the general area, either talking amongst each other, practicing, or just waiting around until the official announcement for the exam starts. Several of the teachers who seemed to be helping with the exam were around directing and informing the examinees.

Near the middle of the stone-like seats straight ahead, near the very back top, sat 3 distinguished figures in 3 respectable looking seats. Allen guessed they must be the directors of the academy, watching over the entirety of the exam. He couldn't make out their features since they were a bit far away, but he could at least tell they looked like powerful mages.

There was a singular, empty seat next to the right of one of them that was empty. Perhaps, it could be for a fourth director. Allen had heard that there is a director for each element type, and since fire magic is banned, that would make sense why it was clearly empty.

Just before things seemed like they were about to begin, a boy who seemed like another one of the examinees rushed in from where Allen had come from, and almost ran straight into Allen. Luckily, Allen was able to move out of the way right before it happened. The boy almost fell on his face, but he was able to catch and rebalance himself.

"Woah! So sorry about that! Almost ran into you!," the boy apologized, however he was talking like he was out of breath.

"It's alright," Allen responded with his arms up. "But, why are you in such a rush?"

It seemed like Allen's question almost personally hurt him, as the boy winced really hard.

"Ah well... that's the thing... I, uh may have woken up a bit too late; and then I had to rush to get here so... yeah...," he explained while scratching the back of his head with an embarrassed smile on his face.

"Ah okay, I see. So you were in a hurry to get here. But, at least you made it in time," Allen gave him a warm smile, despite this odd encounter with him.

"Thanks! I'm just glad I got here in time!," the mysterious boy responded, while doing what seemed like warm up stretches.

He's already starting to warm up, despite being out of breath not even a minute ago?, Allen thought, eyeing him for a second.

"Well, it's nice to meet you. My name's Allen Fleming," he reached out his hand, to which the boy took it and they shook hands.

Allen now took a good look at him. The boy had short dark brown hair that seemed to be naturally straight, with eyes that matched his hair color. Both his hair and eyes were an almost dirt-like color, to which Allen found rather strange. The boy also seemed to have a bit of muscle, so Allen guessed he must be the type that trained each day like himself.

"Well, nice to meet you Allen. The names Thomas Terrastone, he responded, with a sort of look on his face that seemed to be expecting a specific answer.

After a few seconds, it seemed like Allen didn't act in the way he had expected, which seemed to make him happy.

"So, you don't seem to be from around here. Where are you from if I may ask?," he asked, while going back to his warm up stretches apparently.

"Oh, I come from Lyfast. It's a small village, several days west of London," Allen responded, watching Thomas do his warm up stretches with curiosity. Perhaps he should also be warming up too before the exam?

"Lyfast?," Thomas asked, with a confused look on his face. "I don't think I've heard of it. It must be that small and that far as you said"

"Yeah, it took me 3 days to get here," he responded, while looking around, as he noticed more movement from both the teachers and examinees.

"Hmm, this academy is well known, I suppose, By the way, what's with the strange, singular glove you're wearing?," Thomas asked, while pointing down to Allen's right hand.

"Oh this?," Allen started to say, moving his arm up closer to Thomas. "This is-"

However before he could finish, a teacher near the main seats, close to the directors, began to speak up.

"Alright all of you, the exam is about to begin! Listen well, because I will only be saying this once!," the teacher's loud voice seemed to echo around the arena.

"You will all be split based on elemental attribute to perform several tasks, that range in difficulty. These tasks range, depending on your element, so you may have different tasks than the rest of your peers. Finally, near the end of the exam, there will be a mock duel between you examinees"

Various chatter amongst the examinees started. Allen guessed they were surprised about the dueling aspect of the exam. From what Allen remembers from his mentor, there was no duel part in the exam. Perhaps it was new?

"Silence!," another teacher standing near the teacher who just spoke shouted to quiet down the examinees. The other teacher continued.

"As most of you may know, duels at this academy are important in determining your rank and assessing your overall magical ability at the academy. Thus, the directors saw it in their best interest to include a mock duel for the exams"

"But do not worry, this mock duel will not go on your official duel stats. This duel is only to help us assess your beginning rank at this academy"

Once again, more chatter from the examinees followed. The teacher waited for the examinees to hush down before continuing.

"Finally, once we have tallied your overall performance for each task, including your mock duel results, you will be given our starting rank provided you passed. The ranks are from A to D; A being the highest, D being the lowest. Do not worry; even if you are given a low rank to start with, you can always work to increase your rank during your time attending the academy. Anyone who fails the exam will be sent home, and will not attend the academy"

The chatter became even louder now. After all, if they failed, they would have to wait until next year to take the exams.

"Silence!," the other teacher once again shouted, louder this time.

"Now then, please go to your designated part of the training grounds, which will be based on your elemental attribute. There, you will find your main examiner, who will be taking down your results. If you have any questions, please ask your examiner in your area," the teacher finally finished.

Just then, all of the examinees began to disperse to their designated areas. Allen started to look around, so he could find out where he needed to go.

There were 3 areas in total, one for each element. The one to Allen's right seemed to be the water exam area, as the teacher standing there had a blue flag. There seemed to be both distinguished and regular examinees alike, based on the clothing they were wearing.

To Allen's left, looked like the earth exam area, based on the brown flag the teacher there had. There seemed to be more earth examinees than water mages, and there didn't seem to be many distinguished mages either.

"Hey Allen, I hope to see you after the exam!," Thomas waved as he started to walk over towards the earth exam area. Allen had almost forgotten he was originally next to him. "Hope you pass!"

"Yeah, same here! Good luck!," Allen waved back at him. Thomas gave him one last grin before turning his head around and continuing to his area.

Allen started to look around for the air exam area, where he would need to be. At this point, most of the examinees were already in their respective areas, leaving Allen practically alone. Finally he noticed the air exam area, more towards the area where the teacher was originally speaking from. There was a teacher holding up a gray colored flag.

There weren't that many examinees there, and the ones that were there were all wearing distinguished clothing.

Well, that matches what that one teacher was talking about earlier, Allen thought to himself as he headed over to the air exam area.

As he got closer, he noticed they all seemed to have tired and bored looks on their faces, as if they already knew they were going to pass and this whole exam was just a waste of their time. They were here just to get in and out, and then continue on with their business.
Unlike the other exam areas, they didn't seem like they were keen on talking amongst each other. Perhaps they already knew each other, and didn't have anything to say to each other?

When the air examinees saw him, they all wore confused and disgusted looks on their faces alike.

"Woah woah woah kid, the earth and water exam areas are elsewhere. This exam area is for us air examinees. Go on," one of the male examinees shooed him away like he was nothing more than an annoying fly buzzing in his face.

Well, isn't this going to be fun, Allen thought to himself. He already knew he wasn't going to like these examinees.

"I will have you know my elemental attribute is also air like the rest of you, thank you very much," Allen gave him a look as if to challenge his previous statement.

All of the air examinees looked at him in surprise, as if Allen had just done something they never would've expected.

"How dare you speak to us like that!," one of the female examinees spoke up, her nose almost twitching up as if Allen smelled repugnant. "We'll have you know, all of us are from proud and noble-like families; and we've been training with our mages from very early ages. This academy isn't for peasants like you, certainly not the proud air division!"

All the other examinees nodded in agreement, as if what she said was the absolute truth.

Wow I haven't even started classes yet, and I am already getting this special treatment, Allen thought, rolling his eyes.

From what Allen remembers, air is considered the strongest element, and people such as himself with weak air magic apparently give them a bad name. Even so, Allen is here to study and practice just like everyone else here. Important families or not, Allen didn't care, and wasn't afraid to hold back his tongue.

"All of you can think what you want, but I am here for the same reason as the rest of you. Whether I or someone else is from an important family doesn't matter. What matters right now is passing the exam," Allen retorted, crossing his arms.

All of them once again just looked at him in disgust, confusion or both. To them, they didn't care what Allen thought or said. All that mattered to them were status, and magical power.

In the corner of his eye, Allen thought he saw one of them with a curious look on his face rather than disgust. But before he could get a better look at him, the air examiner began to round them up.

He carried a clipboard and a pen, presumably used to write down their soon to be results. He just kept reading through his papers on his clipboard, only looking up at them when he finally made his way to them.

He took a moment to inspect each examinee, almost as if to size them up. When his eyes landed on Allen, he stopped, with a confused look on his face.

"Your elemental attribute is air, right?," he asked, his brows twitching.

"Yes, that's correct," Allen nodded, hoping not to receive the same treatment he got from the rest of his fellow air examinees.

The examiner took a moment and looked at him in surprise, as if he wasn't expecting that answer. After a few moments he shook his head and gave up, then went back to looking through his papers.

"Very well, now let me go over the contents of this exam"

The air examiner began to explain the basics of their exam. Essentially, there would be several various tasks they would need to complete in order to overall assess their magical abilities. Most of the information he explained matched what the original teacher explained.

Most of the air examinees didn't pay attention, and just sat there impatiently waiting for him to finish. Most of them preferred to mess with their outfits, curl their hair, or look around at the other areas.

Allen made sure to pay attention, but began to feel nervous again about the exam. He kept reassuring himself that he will be fine. He was determined to give this exam his all, and he will pass!

"Well, that is everything. Let's get started everyone," the air examiner looked up at all of them, signaling them to follow him.

This is it!, Allen thought. The long awaited exams! I will definitely pass!