Warm rays of sun shone down from the sky, heating up and illuminating a large clearing on a mountain cliff. The mountain cliff spanned a kilometre, and fauna was littered across. Bees buzzed across the mountain, pollinating the area in return for sweet nectar. Butterflies danced together in pairs as they flew around aimlessly. An intoxicating atmosphere was given off by the animals and plants in the vicinity, and the summer weather only added to the inviting nature of the area.

The joyful and carefree vibe that should have been acting like a contagion to any life in the area, was starkly contrasted by grim faces filled with exhaustion. After a long journey filled with unexpected setbacks, all of the initiate mages had finally reached their destination; a dead end. After the cliff there was only a drop that would last for ages. Exhaustion was exchanged with confusion after they reached here.

All of the initiates could be easily made out, as they were all no older than 16, and no younger than 14. Favian himself was currently 15 years old, with a pretty average height and average build. You wouldn't be able to notice him in a crowd because of how average he looked, despite the purple hues his hair contained. Had he been given more nutrition at the orphanage, then he would have been a lot taller, and instead of a height of 175cm, he would have been about 190cm.

Groups of friendships had already been formed by many of the kids here, with them lending each other mental support throughout the arduous journey. However, there were five individuals littered around who similarly to Favian, were stood next to a professor from an academy. These were easily identified as having good enough potential to immediately be taking under the wing of a full-fledged mage.

'System, bring up my stats.' Favian ordered nonchalantly in his mind.

[Ding! Constitution: 0.8, Strength: 1.0, Intelligence 2.8, Agility 0.8, Arcana 1.4. Mana pool 140]

Favian had continuously been monitoring his stats ever since his first session of meditation. Another five days had passed in which he meditated whenever he had the free time. 'My intelligence and arcana have both increased by 0.4 points, and my strength, constitution and agility have increased by 0.2 points each. It seems that my first ever meditation had a much stronger effect on my body in a single go, however I am still increasing in power pretty rapidly' he thought to himself. His constitution and agility were still under the level of an average man; however, it would only take some more time for his body to become booming with vitality. He could feel that the more he ate and the more he meditated and worked-out, his body was steadily becoming the stable foundation he would need to become a potent magician.

'Bring up the information on my spells.'

[Ding! Innate Protective Shield – (Level 1), can sustain tiny amounts of damage before being rendered useless.

Necrotic touch (Level 2) – 30 mana. Laces palms in dark energy which will speed up the death of any living cells being touched.

Bend light (Level 4) – 10 mana. Refract light waves in a 5-meter vicinity of host.

Net of shadows (Level 4) – 70 mana. Coat an object within a 60-metre radius in a viscous net made out of shadow energy.] the system chirped monotonously.

Looking at his current list of spells, Favian felt proud at how much progress he was able to make with them in such a short time span. The game system could not improve the spells he gained, and only he himself could increase their effectiveness with hard training until he was able to gather enough experience to make his system undergo an upgrade. His spells were limited in their uses, however, could still be used effectively as long as a good plan was thought out by Favian.

His most powerful spell was his Net of Shadows, however it costed half of his whole mana pool to cast. He had used it multiple times to catch some rabbits, however each use would leave him worn out. On the other hand, bend light seemed a lot more like a utility spell, and its uses could come in handy if he needed to quickly distract his opponents. Necrotic touch seemed pretty useless to him. It was a spell that required his target to be within punching distance of him, which didn't seem like it would be likely to occur with his current skillset and body stats.

Spells of a higher level from the book he discovered were currently locked until he reached upper initiate level. The book did bring more boons to him as he had expected. Aria had been pleased with his finding of the book, and didn't even bother questioning him on the subject of how he found it. She was more than willing to take it out of his hands for 'safe-keeping'. Favian believed that she would probably go on to sell it to the academy, however this didn't matter to him a tiny bit. As long as it was out of his hands, he didn't have to fear for his life over it. Aria had even been so pleased with the book that she fed him some magical herbs which had resulted in the increase of his body's vital stats . *strength, agility and constitution will be known as the vital stats*

Aria was currently stood tall next to Favian, enjoying the weather and the wildlife surrounding her. She would usually spend most of her time meditating in the carriage, however Favian noticed that ever since the attack on their travel group happened, she would spend the nights acting as a sentry for the camp. She did not seem fatigued at all, and her skin looked as flawless as it always did. Her face lit up in smile suddenly, as she joyfully exclaimed, "They're here. Took them long enough".

Electrical currents surged through the air, and it abruptly became very windy. The heavens aggressively parted as a group of figures warped into existence in the clouds 100 meters upwards from the clearing in the cliff. Slowly these figures moved down to the ground in their own unique ways. One lady, with bright blue hair was the epitome of calmness, and levitated towards the ground as if she were strolling through her back garden. Conversely, a boulder of a man with striking flames of red hair soared to the ground like a meteor, creating a small crater as he landed.

"Attention everyone. We, the big 6 academies would like to thank you all for making the voyage here to Culling's Cliff. We know that the journey hasn't been easy, however the journey onwards for you all as a magician won't be easy either. Many of you will not have what it takes to even graduate your first year, so we throw this initiation in order to strengthen your wills, and show you exactly how difficult it will be to become a master of magic." A bald old man, with a long grey beard, who had a slight hunch in his back boomed this message so that all roughly 1000 people present could hear. Despite how frail this man looked, Favian could sense that he was booming with vitality.

"Your journey is only just beginning, is what my dear old friend Azul is trying to tell you all. Now, let us get this whole process over quickly, I know how much you all want to finally settle in the academy of your choice. Let me be clear with this. You will all have your magical talent assessed, if you haven't already." As that last sentence left his lips, he quickly gave a glance to Favian and the 5 other individuals who seemed to be with professors of their own.

"This testing process is to decide on the resources we will put into every individual student. You are free to choose from whichever academy you wish to join." He explained.

Taking a closer look at all of the academy representatives that had just appeared here out of thin air, Favian could notice that there was a dwarf (the man who had just spoken), an elf (the calm lady with blue hair), and four men, which included the old man and the red-haired man with the oppressive aura. The two other men stood more inconspicuously to the back, making their presence unknown.

A slow process of testing the talent of all the initiates took place, with them all waiting patiently in line for the school they wished to join.This process was completely foregone by Favian as he had already been chosen to be a part of the Dusk Academy, one of the big 6. Instead, Favian decided to bid his time by chatting with Aria.

"So, you've finally decided to take on a student Aria? I'm impressed little one." A voice emerged out of nowhere.