Chapter 52: After the Exam

Julius watched as Gabriel stayed where he was and looked at him with jubilant eyes. He seemed more excited that Julius had managed to land a clean hit than Julius himself. Gabriel pressed something on his bracelet, and Julius felt the device no longer restrict his shoulder. It was an amazing piece of equipment.

Gabriel walked up to Julius and placed an enormous hand on his shoulder giving him another large smile. “Good fight, Julius. I genuinely enjoyed it, you really got me there at the end.”

Julius was still worried about tipping his hand a bit too much, but Gabriel’s reaction put Julius at ease, it seemed that he just enjoyed a good fight, and honestly showing his aura abilities wasn’t that big of a deal. Julius had already partially revealed them to that Silas guy before.

Julius turned to face the large man. “Thank you, I had fun as well. How did I do? Do you think I will pass?” Julius was curious about how the man would rate him.

“Oh there’s no doubt, you passed halfway through the test when I saw your kinetic enhancement skill and that fire skill. You obviously have fought for real before, I just wanted to see how far I could push you for my own curiosity,” Gabriel explained to Julius.

Julius mentally kicked himself, he should have stopped or pretended to be defeated earlier. He could have passed without showing more of his cards. But what’s done is done, he did well, and as long as the interview didn’t screw him he had a good chance of getting in. He just hoped that this wouldn’t bring him too much attention to the wrong sort of people. Luckily, he didn’t think Gabriel was the scheming type anyway.

Julius did have some questions he wanted to ask. “You felt, stronger than some of the other proctors that I saw, is there a reason for that?” Julius asked the man.

“Yeah, most of the proctors are assistant professors, they have strict schedules they follow for the practical and are usually Tier 3 but I am a Tier 4 and a Senior Professor of the Combat Department.” Gabriel openly told him.

“Why would a Senior Professor handle my exam?”

“I don’t know either, there was a last-minute change made by Silas Silvertone the Assistant Director of Enrollment, making me your test proctor,” Gabriel informed Julius.

Silas Silvertone? So he did do something, but what was the point of it, a test? Was he just curious after seeing my aura skill or was it my behavior?

He hadn’t even started yet, but he was already causing issues for himself. He hoped that this wasn’t a precursor to what was to come.

Gabriel was very kind to Julius, he stuck around and talked with him for a while. He asked about how Julius had trained and Julius was able to ask about how often he would be allowed to leave if he attended Goldencrest.

“You will have most of the weekends off, so you should be able to leave campus then. Many of the older students choose to head to town for some fun,” Gabriel told him.

That was nice to know, he would be able to see Declan, Orus, and Rae pretty often at least.

Gabriel was even nice enough to give him some tips and even offered to spar with him if he ended up coming to Goldencrest. Gabriel was a Senior Professor so that meant he typically taught the older students, while normal professors and their assistants were the ones who taught the basics to first and second years. Julius hurriedly accepted his generous offer. He was surprised because he thought that Gabriel must’ve been busy already and offering a first year to spar could not have been the norm. Julius must have impressed him enough.

Gabriel couldn’t stick around forever and soon excused himself, getting back to his duties. “Don’t wait too long to come and see me!” Gabriel reminded him.

Julius promised he wouldn’t and they both headed off their own ways. The practical was the last part of the exam and after he was done he went to a desk where he was told where he could find the exit and that his sponsor would be notified whether or not he would be accepted shortly.

Julius made his way outside, into the sunny courtyard where many other kids who were also done with their exams were waiting around for their parents or talking to other kids their age.

Julius spotted Declan waiting at the edge of the gate, wearing his black uniform. Julius headed toward him, trying to squeeze around the other kids as he did.

“How did it go?” Declan asked when Julius got close enough.

Julius made a face, “The affinity portion was expected, but the interview could have gone better.”

“Why? What happened?” Declan asked with concern.

“It got pretty contentious between me and one of the examiners. She thought I shouldn’t even be trying to apply with my affinities. Also, the main examiner tried to invade my aura, but I caught him before he could,” Julius explained to Declan.

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“There are always people like that, they think that affinities ranks are everything, I wouldn’t let it bother you too much. As for the other thing, It’s not uncommon for higher-tiered individuals to do that to Tier 1’s or those without an aura. Did it seem like he would punish you for catching him?” Declan asked.

“I don’t know. But my proctor for my practical exam was a Senior Professor named Gabriel Keller. He was strong, and nice enough to offer to spar with me during the school year. He told me the same man who did my interview changed who my proctor was at the last minute.” Julius told Declan.