The journey to the academy was something of an interstate travel and not just a journey from one town to another.
Since Leon took a nap for the most part, he would just open his eyes occasionally to catch a glimpse of where they were at the moment, not that he knew the places or anything.
When he finally woke up, it was because someone had woken him up. Unsurprisingly, the girl sitting beside him didn't bother to wake him up once they arrived, it was just some random person he didn't know who did. 'Well, that's not as a good comrade would…' He thought to himself.
He thanked the guy who woke him up and after taking his bag, proceeded to come down from the bus. Once they came down from the bus, they weren't even allowed to take their luggage any further and were ordered to place it at a location shown to them.
"Before you are let into the school proper, you have to undergo a compulsory evaluation that will determine your future in the academy. On my mark, you all gathered mover over there."
Leon listened, ideas of what this could mean budding in his head from knowledge he was familiar with from novels he had read.
The evaluation was to give the academy the rough estimate of the student's abilities. There was nothing like those who performed excellently would get sent to a different class, no, the only thing that would happen is the students with excellent evaluations would be provided with better means to grow even stronger and improve on their strength. It was a world where the strong got recognised and the rest were left to try their best with just sufficient help or nothing at all. Anyone who hated the system could just work hard and they too would enjoy the privileges. The way it was, there was no need to waste limited resources on those who had an obscure future.
From there, once they all gathered, all the students were taken to run the evaluation.
'This is also where our future will be decided, and our connection with the Akashic Records will be established,' Leon thought in his mind as a random piece of information surfaced.
With establishment of the connection with the Akashic Records, people are able to awaken and be connected to a plethora of creatures from which they are summoned, which would ultimately determine their future.
"Alright! We'll begin the evaluation now!" Someone standing on a raised platform said in a loud enough voice.
More than a thousand students were present, it was sure to take some time before it was the turn of the last set to arrive, which was Leon's.
'That's one long line that cannot be cut.'
"First, Raul Kings, step forward." The sergeant handling the names called out before a young boy around the age of sixteen climbed the platform and walked to the middle where a huge blue orb was kept. He was asked to place his hand on the ball which he did, then moments later, light was released from the orb, and another moment later, several whisps of flames spun around him faintly before quickly dying out.
'Well, guess that one awakened a weak ability and has poor talent, with that fire's strength,' Leon thought to himself. He already knew how these things were supposed to work after all, who wouldn't? The stronger the affinity and talent of the person, the grander the phenomenon. In this Raul's case, just some whisps of fire appeared, that had to be amongst the worst perhaps.
After that was over, Raul was asked to initiate his summon, and when he did, he summoned what looked like a maroon coloured lizard chameleon mix. The beast looked cute rather than ferocious, and after seeing it, Leon could only wish that these summons grew stronger and evolved, if not that would be miserable.
Time passed quickly, there were some people who caused quite the phenomena and summoned some fearsome beasts and monsters, but nothing major or big.
"No. 703, Linda Storm…"
'Linda Storm? Of course, this is the sort of name a major character will have, I mean, who bears storm as a last name?' Leon pushed his way forward until he was at the second line from the front.
Linda was a very beautiful girl, and she definitely had many boys blowing smoke out their ears for her already, and not out of anger.
Once she placed her hand on the orb, a light flashed, then just a few moments later, the clouds covered everywhere and snow began to fall seriously, it lasted for an entire minute, which was the standard for powerful phenomena, then it all went away in a moment.
Everyone was stunned, because she was the first person to have such a phenomenon. They all looked at her with gazes filled with amazement and admiration. Suddenly, the boys who looked like they would jump in front of her to make some conversation retreated, they had seen just how out of their league she truly was, not only in looks, but talent and prospects also. Alas, a bird is simply born to do what a rabbit cannot.
"Next. No. 704, Ashley Woodwind."
Her phenomenon was special. After being showered by light, an angel descended upon her while a bright light shone from the sky. It was interesting to see that the same sky that was covered with clouds just now was so clear with the sun shining ever so brilliantly. Of course, when she brought out her summon, it was that same angel, a stark difference from a cute flame lizard.
"No. 920, Ray Stone."
Ray stepped out with grace, allowing the countless chatter from his fellow mates drown in the background as he took to the stage. Placing his hand on the orb, the phenomena that followed was a brief but heavy downpour of rain that covered the entire academy, intense, just like a few others so far.
After Ray had wet everybody just after some guy dried the air with a strong fire phenomenon, there didn't seem to be any more surprises to be had.
"The last person, No. 1001, Leon Carter, come forward. Finally, I can rest." The sergeant said the last part under his breath. He felt over shadowed, even he didn't have such a powerful phenomenon during his evaluation, and his summon hadn't really progressed either over the years, yet here were five youngsters causing havoc like it was nothing… life.
Leon walked forward with a neutral expression on his face, he had really high hopes for himself. In this world, if you were weak, that was the beginning of your downfall. He was eager to find out what his summon would be, maybe a powerful dragon, or perhaps even a mighty godly battle figure, he really couldn't wait. Even then, he couldn't behave like these youngsters and act all shaky and scared, no, he had to keep his composure.
"Place your hand on the orb and calm your mind. After the vision ends, you will know how to initiate your summon," he was instructed.