Nilger had gone and was currently reporting to Professor Balmer about what had happened.

“So he just sat there? You didn’t see him doing anything else?”, Balmer asked, clearly still sceptical as to the authenticity of those words.

“Believe me, professor, he didn’t move a muscle after he sat down with the book in hand. To make matters even weirder, the book he had chosen, happened to be one of the worst martial skills that our library has.”, Nilger repeated helplessly.

“And he wasn’t reading the book?”, Balmer repeated.

“No sir. He had his eyes closed the whole time.”, Nilger said.

“And where did you take him after that?”

“Well, we headed in the direction of the student’s arena. He didn’t show much interest in the fights. He looked pretty clueless about the techniques they used as well, even the most basic ones.”

“Oh. Hmmm”, the professor started thinking more.

“Thereafter,” Nilger continued, “I led him to the Commissions Hall. He was surprisingly delighted to learn that he could earn gold as a reward for accepting and finishing commissions that are posted there.”

“Oh. So he is greedy huh?”, Balmer said.

“While I might not be so sure on that point, he asked me specifically if he could earn 10,000 gold coins within a year by doing commissions. I went with the standard rate of 100 coins per commission and told him that he would be able to earn it within 4 months if he completed a commission every day.”

“He wants to earn 10000 gold coins within a year? Just what will he be using that money for?”, the professor asked.

“He didn’t mention that professor. He just told me it was for a personal matter of his. But the good thing was that he wanted to take the entrance examinations immediately after that. So I took him to the enrollment centre and put him in line to take the exam. Then I came to report back to you.”

“So he’s is at the enrollment centre right now huh? Let’s head over then.”, Balmer said and walked out of the Teacher’s Residence with Nilger close behind.

As they neared the enrollment centre, they could see a couple of students standing outside in depressed moods. The professor went up to one of the kids and asked with an irked face, “Hey shouldn’t you all be standing in a line to take the exam? Why are you scattered outside like this?”

“Greeting Professor”, the kid who was spoken to, immediately bowed.

“Well, we would have been standing in a line, but the examiner informed us that the exam puppet is broken and that it’ll take a bit of time to bring a replacement. So we were directed to wait outside.”

“What?”, one of their facilities being broken in the middle of an exam was a huge embarrassment for the academy. “Did the examiner mention how or why the puppet broke? Was there any malpractice or use of artifacts by any examinee?”

“I’m afraid we weren’t informed of the details professor. But the last examinee to go in went ahead to the second stage so I can only say that the puppet broke when testing him.”

“We should handle this first. Aiden’s exam will have to wait.”, Balmer said.

The Enrollment exam was divided into 3 stages. 

The first stage was one where the examinee was pitted against a mana-enhanced puppet. The puppet’s strength could be adjusted by the examiner according to the cultivation stage of the examinee. To pass the stage, the examinee had to deliver 10 solid hits to the puppet’s body. This tested the examinee’s practical combat experience.

The second stage was a test of talent where a specially made crystal artifact could find the time since the cultivator began cultivating and the level of power he had reached to date. Accordingly, it’d display a number from 1 to 100 that displayed a cultivator’s talent. A higher number meant that the person in question had taken relatively less time to achieve the level he was at.

 A talent of 1 to 10 represented the below-average category. If one scored 10 to 50, he’d be considered average. Anything above 50 was considered a pass, while if it reached 80 then the examinee would be said to have astounding talent.

The third stage was a test of the cultivator’s understanding of any one martial arts skill of his choice. He’d have to explain that skill to the examiner who’d then assess if the examinee’s understanding of the skill was at a satisfactory level.

If one could pass all the tests, one would be eligible to gain admission into the academy. 

However, there were exceptions to this too. If any student was found to have an outstandingly good performance in any single stage that far outshone other cultivators of his level, he’d also be admitted into the academy.

As the professor entered the first room of the exam hall, the first thing that caught his eye was the broken metallic puppet lying on the floor. Its body had a gaping hole in the chest where one could see through to the other side.

The examiner who was standing beside a recording crystal at the side of the room walked over to the professor on seeing him enter. 

He gave a slight bow with his hands cupped in front of him“Vice-Head, welcome. What brings you here today?”

Balmer looked at him queerly, “What happened here? Did you not adjust the puppet’s enhancement according to the examinee’s cultivation?”

The examiner looked both grieved and embarrassed. “I…I did. I had checked the examinee’s cultivation level to have been in the consummation stage of foundation 3-dan, both before and after the exam. There was no way the device could be wrong about that. I adjusted the puppet’s strength accordingly. But when he attacked it he was way too fast, so much so that the puppet barely had a chance to react. He punched the puppet’s chest and you see the result here.”, he dejectedly pointed to the sad machination lying on the floor.

“If it was the consummation stage, it must not be Aiden. That kid was only in the intermediate stage. Phew, at least we can be sure he isn’t wrecking the Academy on his very first visit.”, Balmer spoke to Nilger.

“Are you sure that the artifact isn’t defective?”, saying this, the professor snatched it from the examiner’s hand and measured his cultivation. The artifact, which was a cloudy glass ball, slowly showed 7 bluish-hued stars inside.

“It’s working fine……then just what went wrong……”, he thought for a bit, “Where’s the examinee now?”

“He must be in the talent measuring room right now.”, the examiner said, scratching his head.

Moving to the next room, the professor and Nilger saw the Examiner for the second stage, sitting on the floor rubbing his temples as if having a headache. He was looking at the huge crystalised flat screen, the artifact for this stage.

“What happened here?”, Balmer questioned.

“Oh Vice-Head”, the examiner stood up. He happened to be a teacher under the Mana Beasts Department, Mr Lathis and a person whom Balmer knew well.

He sighed, “Look for yourself.”

The confused Professor went up to the flat crystal display and his eyes opened wide in shock

Nilger, following close behind him, gave a confused look. “Professor that……..this examinee’s talent is just 8? But why is the 8 rotating on the screen?”

On the surface of the screen was displayed a shining silvery ‘8’ rotating slowly at its centre.

“Well…..”, the professor slowly replied after a brief pause, “...that, my child, is the symbol of infinity.”

Before Nilger could process the shock and reply something, the professor continued, “But it doesn’t mean that the person’s mana value is infinite. It just means that either the person in question doesn’t have mana at all, or he cultivates as easily as eating food or breathing air and thus the artifact hasn’t been able to evaluate the talent in this case.”

‘Well. It isn’t Aiden then. Considering he started cultivating around 2 years ago his talent shouldn’t be so high that it becomes unreadable for the artifact. But truly what a lucky time catch, to find two promising talents in a single day. I better ask for a raise for this contribution when I see the headmaster next time.’

The professor looked at the examiner questioningly. “So?”

“Huh?........”, Lathis was confused for a bit before coming to a realisation, after which he revealed an embarrassed smile, “Sorry Vice-Head, I was just too transfixed on the evaluation result and forgot to stop the examinee from taking the third test. He must be right ahead.”

“Oh, he’s taking the third test? Who’s the examiner for the third stage today?”

“It happens to be Professor Williamson from the Martial Arts sector of the Physical Arts department.”, Lathis replied.

“Williamson?”, Balmer frowned. “That guy is extremely harsh on all freshers and has a bit of a high expectation from everyone. But he has the skills and talent to back it too. Sigh. It’ll be hard for this new examinee to impress him with his martial  skill understanding.”

“Well at least, we can finally see who our mystery examinee is.”, Balmer chuckled to Nilger as he pushed open the door to the final room. The door opened into a small classroom of sorts where a few benches were laid. 

Sitting on one of the benches was Professor Williamson, who happened to be scribbling on a piece of paper and taking notes.

…..……

Huh

………………

“Taking notes?”, Balmer’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “Isn’t the examiner supposed to just listen and evaluate if the examinee’s understanding is up to the mark? And just what is wrong with Williamson’s head that he is taking notes from a child who hasn’t even enrolled in the academy yet, let alone be capable of giving lectures? THIS IS A DISGRACE!!”

“Um……professor………..”, Nilger was tugging at the professor’s robes as he pointed at the podium.

“What?”, Balmer said as he turned to look at the examinee who was lecturing.

“Aiden?”