Specialization

All heads whipped over, wide eyes honing on the Saint. They could already picture what bringing over such powers would do in the ongoing conflict. Finally, their country could be victorious, the war over, with them as heroes.

Their mouths were agape and their faces red with excitement. Everyone’s thoughts were aligned, except for one person. The students were too preoccupied with their own thoughts that they missed the reaction of a particular classmate of theirs.

Rather than being red in the face with excitement, Mateo’s face went pale white. He felt his body go cold and his vision darken. It took a herculean effort to not stumble, to keep his balance, instead he focused upon keeping a fake smile plastered on his face, even if he was screaming internally.

“Archwizard Arwyn, if you would kindly show them the might of magic next.”

Saint Ezra either ignored the impact of his words or was completely ignorant of what his words would mean to this group of students as he continued on with the display.

With even more enthusiasm the group watched on to see what the magic of this world could achieve. Was it something with widespread destruction that could wipe out an army? Or was it something more insidious like placing curses upon the enemy and raising the dead? Or could it be a power of pure raw destruction like commanding the forces of nature?

Archwizard Arwyn raised his staff and signs of exertion could be seen on his face. The group could feel something in the air tremble, was this mana? Whatever it was, it seemed to flow towards the archwizard, or to be exact, the staff in his hands.

Around Arywn, the air started to become cold. Icicles began to form around him until finally 5 deadly arrows of ice were conjured around the archwizard. Once they were fully formed they shot out at speeds almost too fast to track with the naked eye, at least to the students.

All of the icicle arrows struck the barrier that protects the wall, however rather than shattering on impact they seemed to embed themselves into the barrier. They watched on as ice started to spread from the point of impact and spread across the barrier.

“What you’ve just witnessed is a basic ice element magic spell, Frost Bolt. Unfortunately due to the size of the room I was incapable of casting any wide spread spells without turning the room into a frozen wasteland. If any of you choose to go down the path of magic, and were to have any affinity with ice magic this would be one of the first spells you would be taught.”

While most teenagers would have erupted into endless chatter at the fantastical display, these students were trained and disciplined. Not only that, they now knew that the importance of what was being presented before them was far more significant than what they previously thought.

Now instead of just appreciating the might of the spell they had just witnessed, they were picturing the might of the spell when translated over to their own world. What impact would it have in battle? Could the ice incapacitate armored vehicles? What about firing beneath the enemies feet, impacting their footing?

If before they had just been taking everything in with the mindset of a teenager finding themselves in a fantasy world, they were now calculating everything with the analytical mind of a trained soldier.

This change did not go unnoticed by some of the occupants of the room, mainly those who not only held positions of power in the kingdom but also individual strength.

The occupants of the room could be split into two categories: old nobility who received their positions due to their families already being part of the noble hierarchy and those who rose to such heights due to the contribution of either themselves or their family in the war against the Demons.

The new Nobles looked forward to the strength of the Heroes while the Old Nobility wished to make use of the Heroes status. They felt that their positions were waning in the current times as more authority was being handed over to the rising stars of the kingdom. If they could tie these foreign heroes to their family, either through sponsorship or other means, they might very well not only weather this current storm, but rise above it.

Ezra, rather than observing the summoned heroes, was instead keeping his eyes on the nobility, new and old, who had forced their will upon the kingdom and church to make themselves to be present for this summoning. It would seem change would come not only to the external matters of the kingdom, but even internally. He just didn’t know if this would be for the benefit or detriment of humanity and its continued existence.

“Well now that you have been able to witness the might of spells and arts, and I guess even the capability of divine power too. It is now time for you all to choose which field you will specialize in.”

Ezra directed the attention of the students back to him as he moved onto more pressing matters.

“Unfortunately, I will have to preface this with the news that you won’t have much of a choice on which aspect of combat you will fall under. Everyone has certain aptitudes and affinities, even those who come from other worlds. The first matter is to see if any of you have talents aligned with weaving magic in the way of casting spells.”

After these words were spoken Archwizard Arwyn stepped forward and started handing out small sticks to each student.

“These are basic wands that all beginner wizards use when casting spells. I will now teach you a basic spell that’s sole purpose is to gather mana into the wand. Even those with the weakest aptitude for magic are capable of casting this spell with ease on their first try. If you fail, it means magic is not meant for you.”

Arwyn then spoke out a word of a language they had never heard of. He had everyone repeat the word one by one, correcting any mistakes in pronunciation. Once he gave the okay everyone raised the wand in their hand and spoke the chant aloud.

Of the thirty students, eleven of them had the wand in their hand light up. The happiest person in the room seemed not to be any of the students but Archwizard Arwyn himself.

“Excellent, I want the eleven of you to come stand next to me. From today on I will be one of your teachers on the path of harnessing and exploring the mystical prowess and wonders of magic.”

Seemingly content with the result, Arwyn stepped back and gave the floor to Ezra.

“Fret not, while you might not have any affinity with magic, the Diving Might of Paladins and Priests is in no way inferior. The test is similar to that of wizards, I will pass around Divine Objects that have been Blessed. Priests and Paladins harness the divinity that these objects hold and through prayer enact the divine might and will of the Gods upon this world. Rather than affinity, it is the Gods who decide if you are worthy of their Divinity.”

This time rather than a wand, what was passed around were all sorts of items. Some people received weapons, others books, while Mateo received a piece of jewelry with a symbol engraved upon it along with several others.

“I need all of you to get down on your knees and recite the prayer, I give my Faith to the three Gods for they will Guide me.”

Thankfully, Breglin was not a religious country so such an action was not seen as blasphemy. All of the students glanced at one another before getting down on their knees while clutching the divine object.

“I give my Faith to the Three Gods for they will Guide me.”

After these words were spoken the chime of a bell rang throughout the room. Six of the students found the objects grasped within their hands shine with a divine light. However, everyone’s attention was focused upon one individual in particular.

For four of the students, the object shone with the brightness of a lightbulb. For another, the object’s divine light would almost be considered blinding. That is if it weren’t for the last person whose divine light filled the entire room, scattering all shadows with the might of the sun, easily overpowering all the other divine lights the other five had conjured.

As the light finally died down, the silhouette within was revealed. Even with the light gone, his body seemed to radiate its own divine glow.

All eyes were focused upon Gerard.