{Main Entrance, Mage Academy of Efthimia, Kingdom of Solovok}

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She was beautiful with a gentler visage than Dareia. Her features were softer, and her breasts were smaller. With a more angular face, she was a serene beauty, untouched by the filth around her; at least, that's what she felt like from far away.

'She's an elf too, maybe from the royal family.' I thought. Even though I was tempted, I didn't want to be caught staring at the royal family. Not without knowing what kind of power and temperament they had. Still, if the last number on her information window means what I think it means, then she is a target. One that I need to be very careful about approaching.

I looked around at a different throne. This one had a similar, gentler feel. Water would be the element of choice as the blond human laughed at something someone said. Her entire outside persona was calm and happy, and just looking at her made me feel a lot better about myself. It seemed my continued attention didn't go unnoticed as her eyes shifted for a brief moment to look at me with curiosity.

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'They can tell that I'm looking at them.' I realized as I suppressed my desire to peek more. I don't want any problems on the first day of my academic life. After I decided to check on the remaining two leaders later, I focused back on the person in charge of our announcement and determining our factions.

She was an elf, that much I had gotten in my first look, but as my eyes took her in once again, I realized that I didn't have any recollection of her face. Her back was turned toward me, with her robe covering almost everything except for her ass which still protruded through the thin fabric. Still, I was finally able to read her stats as the window above her hovered in plain sight.

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'Another high value. Does the elf or the royal family have an advantage that I don't know about or something else?' I thought. Before I could dwell on this, her voice rumbled through the large hall.

"Leonidas Lavrentios. Tier 4. Earth. Tier 2. Fire" 

My eyes instantly snapped to the incoming teen. He looked to be my age, barely above 18, and standing over 6 feet tall. With his physique and confident gait, he cut an imposing figure. Thankfully, his expression slacked for a moment, the same that had happened to Alex and likely to me as well, as he was swallowed by the presence in the hall.

"The nobles are here-" I heard someone say behind me. I focused on their conversation to get more info.

"The Lavrentios Family once again produced a Tier 4, huh, and he looks like he's from the main branch-" another voice replied.

"Yeah, blond hair, blue eyes. He's a Lavrentios, alright." The first voice replied with a sigh in the end before he continued, "Times are going to be tough this year if he is going to want to establish his prestige." 

"Don't worry about it. With Dareia in charge, even he would not dare to make too much trouble," the conversation continued.

"Leonidas Lavrentios, to the Gaia Faction!" Gianna's voice sounded throughout the hall as everyone around me started clapping. I was a little late to react, not knowing this was supposed to happen, but not enough to stand out.

Leonidas strutted over toward me, and I could tell that the conversation behind me stopped. The bond-haired teen looked me over as he sat down beside me. He made sure to leave a little gap between us as he turned to me and asked, "Name and grade?"

His voice was calm as he asked the question as if it was only natural for him to do so. I decided to humor him, "Emilios Charis, Tier 3."

His eyebrows rose as he looked at me once again. He scooted a little closer, and then he whispered, "You're not from the capital, are you?"

I shook my head no as Gianna's voice once again interrupted us, "Evra Chrysa. Tier 4. Water. Tier 3. Fire"

Both Leonidas and I turned to look at the teen in question in interest. She was a walking contradiction. While most of the women I had seen in this world were busty and quite gifted in the breast department, she was quite petite. She barely reached 5'2'', and her flaming red hair was in sharp contrast to her blue dress and her affinity.

'That's an interesting set of combinations.' I thought, although my eyes were focused on something else entirely.

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Her number was much higher than that of the Karolos sisters who rode with me. So either affinity had something to do with it, or it was a combination or something else entirely.

"No, I'm from Sotiris. It's a small trading outpost a couple of days away from the capital." I replied as Evra walked over to the Water faction, known as the Achelous. The names didn't make sense to me; why couldn't they have gone with something more common, like Aqua or something?

"Ah, Sotiris. I went through there once. It's a small town, but I liked it." Leonidas smiled at me before he turned to watch the ceremony in the front. Another kid walked through the doors; his attire resembled that of the previous two attendants.

'Our group was first for some weird reason, and after us, the royals and nobles from the capitol arrived. Now it makes a little bit more sense why Agathi was hurrying us along. But why was it necessary for us to be the first? Was the bet really necessary?' I thought as Gianna continued with her brand of introduction.

"Theodoros Yiorgos. Tier 4. Fire. Tier 1 Earth..."

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"Zinon Vaso. Tier 4. Lightning..."

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"Niki Aliki. Tier 4. Wind. Tier 3. Lightning..."

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"Emilia Lavrentios. Tier 3 Earth. Tier 2 Wind..."

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The names blurred together as I tried to keep track of them. Each of the nobles was accompanied by at least two members of their family, but their names and appearances differed so much that I could only assume that they were not blood-related. 

When Leonidas turned to me, I assumed that the noble families were done. Now that the ceremony had lost his interest, Leonidas likely wanted to know more about me. With the limited number of Tier-4 people who have joined us until now, I assumed that having a Tier-3 affinity must be good enough for someone like him to want to talk to me.

"So, how was the journey? I'm guessing you lucked out that your birthplace is so close to the capital. Quite a lot of our fellow batchmates would have to travel for a week to reach here." Leonidas started a conversation.

Till now, he didn't feel like a massive douche, so I didn't mind replying; plus, there were some questions I wanted to ask as well, "Yeah, but do they really have to travel that long. How long will this ceremony last then, because we just arrived here?"

If there is a delay in some of the carts, we could be here for hours.

"Don't worry about it. You were part of the opening ceremony, so you had to arrive straight at the academy to ensure that the bet was not tampered with." Leonidas waved my concern away.

"Why is the bet so important? Surely it has a bit more significance than just being purely for fun and money?" I asked. That part didn't make sense to me. Leonidas looked at me for a moment, looking like he was having an eternal debate, before he sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, there is more to it. Each year the Royal family gives a {Drop of Eternal Water} produced by the divine tree. It is a legendary item and is supposed to help with the academy's financials. But the academy is self-sufficient, so the {Drop of Eternal Water} is given to one of the leaders of the factions. The result is dependent on luck as one of the 21 trading stations located around the capitol is selected as the anchor. This time it must have been Sotiris." Leonidas finished.

At the mention of something that would be classified as a major power boost, I looked back at Dareia and found her smiling, her eyes looking in our direction. It seems like she was listening to our conversation or at least had an idea of what she was talking about.

I turned back to the ceremony as another member joined our faction. There was a lot to take in, so I waited for Leonidas to move the conversation forward if he wanted. He seemed satisfied with his inquiry as we both watched teens get divided among the five factions, one by one.

"Eirini Fevronia. Tier 5. Earth." Gianna spoke. Her voice was already overwhelming, but the words she spoke this time caused everyone to pipe down. My eyes instantly snapped onto the figure of the next person as she walked through the door.

Her green legs were the first thing I noticed, followed by her green-white flowing dress and white robes. She walked through the doors. Her gait was confident. Her narrowed eyes scanned everywhere, seemingly reveling in the attention as she turned to Gianna. It was like a small movie as it happened. Everyone watched with bated breath as Gianna's eyes snapped to someone behind me as Gianna spoke.

"Eirini Fevronia, to the Gaia faction." Her words were rewarded by a loud cheer that burst from my faction, as even the rest of the academy clapped their hands politely. I looked at her once again, looking at her enticing form and the words above her head before I turned to look at Leonidas. I did not want to be near him after he had just been upstaged, but the blond man was finally showing some real emotion. 

Beside the lust and hunger on his face was a look of greed. He schooled his features quickly, and I looked away, not wanting to be seen spying, even if we were out in the open. I looked back at Eirini, and couldn't help but agree with Leonidas's expression. Aside from the fact that she was a Tier-5 and the meta effects of her affinity, she was quite beautiful.

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'...and way out of my league... for now.'

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{Main Entrance, Mage Academy of Efthimia, Kingdom of Solovok}

{Dareia's POV}

"Eirini Fevronia. Tier 5. Earth." Gianna's loud voice reverberated around the hall. 

'Finally, I was beginning to get worried.' She thought as a grin stretched across her face. This day couldn't be any better. Not only did she luck out on getting the {Drop of Eternal Water}. But with a Tier 5 Earth affinity student in the latest batch, she wouldn't have to worry about keeping them in line. 

'They would all flock to her to plead their allegiance. Even the Lavrentios brat wouldn't dare go against someone like her while she is in the academy.' She grinned and looked at the face of an annoyed Rafail.

'Heh, this would be fun.' She thought as she turned back down to look at her faction. This was her last year in the academy, and with the last of her worries solved, she could focus on pushing her magic to the next level.

'Let's see if I could push myself to Tier 3.'

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AN—The introduction arc ends here. In the next couple of chapters, our MC will begin attending classes, learning magic, and trying to find a way to use his unique cheat!

Eirini Fevronia-