Just as Reynard started counting the gold plates, they called out to the squads that had survived to the end, even if only one member was left like Helen's squad.
Ronald walked up to Aiden, demanding Aiden's gold plate again. Aiden gave him an indifferent look, then looked away without regard for Ronald.
"Hey, Aiden! Are you listening to me?" Ronald snapped, being the loudest among the other members.
"What's happening?" asked Clarissa, not knowing what the problem was.
Ronald turned his head and looked at Clarissa, "He got 42 gold plates and they're all held by his friend. If we don't get them soon, we'll be in Silk class."
"WHAT?!" shouted Clarissa.
The dispute in the 71st squad sounded loud and noisy among the other squads, everyone's attention was drawn to the 71st squad until Allana had to come there to settle the matter.
"Hey, your noise is being heard by everyone. Can you stop?" asked Allana.
"How can I stop? We lost our chance to get into Iris' class because we lost Aiden's gold plate," Ronald replied, complaining to Allana.
"How many gold plates did he get?" asked Allana, as Ronald told his team mentor everything.
Allana looked shocked; she hadn't expected Aiden to collect more gold plates than Ronald and the others.
The woman walked up to Aiden, asking him the name of his female friend while in the artificial dimension.
"Ah, I remember her. Her name was Helen," Clarissa said, remembering their first meeting.
Aiden squinted at Clarissa, then sighed softly as his arms crossed over his chest.
Allana went to committee chairman Reynard, asking for a minute to find the whereabouts of the woman named Helen. Reynard helped by announcing it.
Through Aiden's eyes, he saw Helen panic as her name was called. Helen looks back at Aiden, Aiden gives a nodding head gesture, as if to say that everything was fine.
Allana and Ronald saw Helen, she was standing with her mentor. As a result, the two immediately walked fast towards Helen while demanding Aiden's gold plate.
"Hand over the plate to me!" said Ronald, stopped by Helen's mentor, Jesse.
"You can't take another team's gold plate after the main test is over. You should know that," Jesse insisted.
"I didn't snatch it, I took back what belonged to our squad," Ronald replied.
The dispute intensified, with Jesse arguing with Ronald and Allana. That made Aiden rush over to Helen to protect her from their intimidation.
Reynard saw the fighting in the center of the main yard, he and the head of the academy flew down and were at the location to see and hear firsthand where the dispute started.
"What's happening here?" asked Noran, the head of the Astralis Magical Academy.
With everyone reflexively bowing their heads in respect, Allana began to explain the case chronology, in which Helen had taken 42 gold plates belonging to the 71st squad.
Helen denied that she had stolen them. But, before she could explain further, her words were cut off by Aiden.
"Those are my gold plates. When I was at the circle altar, I left them with Helen for a while until I forgot about them," Aiden replied.
"It's not Helen's fault, it's purely my carelessness. All gold plates become the possession of the squad after passing the main test, the rules say so. Am I right?" asked Aiden.
Reynard nodded. If the 71st Squad picked it up while at the circle altar, then the gold plate could belong to them completely.
"That's right, once the teleportation is done, the gold plate belongs to the owner's squad," Reynard replied.
"If you were the previous owner, then you should see a change in the participant status on your white plate," Reynard said.
Aiden nodded. He activated his white plate and saw that the participant status panel showed that the number of gold plates he had had changed to 0, from 42.
[Astralis Magical Academy Main Exam]
[Squad: 71]
[Name: Aiden Aswald]
[Number of gold plates: 0] [-42]
Reynard smiled. Everything was clear, the gold plate in Helen's hand had fully belonged to Helen's squad.
When Helen activated her white plate, she saw that the number of gold plates had increased to 42. That meant the gold plate belonged to Helen.
"This case is over. The 42 gold plates belong to Helen and her squad, you have no right to take them now!" said Reynard.
That angered Ronald, he brought up his wind magic aura and pointed it at Aiden, wanting to finish him off.
[Magic Element: Flaming Spear]
Aiden wasn't afraid. He also summoned the Flaming Spear magic spell in his right hand to counter Ronald, the dispute getting even more heated between them.
"Stop it!" said Noran.
With Noran's power, he brought gravitational pressure to Aiden and Ronald. Both of them fell to their knees with their bodies felt very heavy as if a large object had fallen on their shoulders.
"There cannot be any fighting here. Reynard's decision is absolute, every team must abide it," Noran emphasized.
Allana apologized to Noran and Reynard for the ruckus in her squad. She promised to resolve this internal squad problem properly and quickly.
Noran nodded, dispelling the magic's pressure. He told Aiden and Ronald to return to their places.
The gravitational magic pressure gone, Aiden felt his breath catch in that moment before completely recovering.
Noran and Reynard returned to their places, as did Aiden and Ronald. Aiden's relationship with the three members of the 71st squad became extremely tenuous, potentially leading to eternal enmity.
"You'll see, Aiden. I'll make you regret your decision!" threatened Allana, whispering to Aiden.
"A servant like you has no right to threaten me like that."
"Tsk!"
The squad's gold plate count resumed. Ronald walked up to Reynard and handed over all their gold plates.
Since the number did not reach more than 50, the entire 71st squad would be joined as Silk class students.
"71st Squad qualifies to be a Silk class academy student," Reynard explained.
Ronald was really unhappy, getting into the Silk class with his current abilities was an insult. However, Aiden was quite satisfied that his goal had been achieved.
The man continued to stare intently ahead, looking at Aiden with malice. It had not been a day since Aiden had become an academy student, but he had already gained an eternal enemy.
Helen's squad rose. She handed the gold plate to Reynard and he counted it immediately. The number was exactly the same as what was being disputed.
"89th Squad has qualified as a Silk class academy student," Reynard said.
Helen smiled happily, she hadn't expected that she would become an academy student thanks to the gold plate Aiden had given her.
The woman came down from the stage, her gaze starting to change at the sight of Aiden, a feeling of fondness and comfort slowly building in her heart.
The counting finished, Reynard announced that there were four squads that had become main students, 24 squads became Iris class students, and 48 squads became Silk class students.
"Thank you for your trust in us. Welcome the new students and don't give up for those of you who failed, there are other options you can try," Reynard explained.
Those who failed the test slowly stepped away from the academy, including Lisa. For those who passed to become academy students, they were asked to remain in the main hall.
"You will teleport to your own place in turn, starting with the main students," Reynard replied.
Reynard brought up a small magic ball and threw it into the center of the main hall. Instantly, a teleportation pillar appeared in white, anyone who entered would be instantly teleported to the Hall of Light.
One by one, those who qualified as the main students stepped into it, including the man named Aleksei. All of them had entered and now it was the turn of Iris students who would teleport to the Hall of Sky.
Until it was Silk's turn, they would teleport to the Hall of Earth and get their rights there, such as jobs and individual level activation.
Ronald, Clarissa, and Melinda entered with disappointed hearts. Helen stepped up to Aiden after seeing that three of Aiden's squadmates had entered.
"Thank you for your gold plate, Aiden. I didn't know you were planning on handing them over to me," Helen replied, her face flushed red.
"You've helped me quite a lot in the artificial dimension, that's enough reward for you," Aiden explained.
"Let's go," Aiden said, Helen smiled and stepped inside with Aiden.
Right after Aiden stepped into the white pillar, they arrived at a spacious hall with high roofs.
Hundreds of people were there according to their squads, though soon their squads would be officially disbanded.
All around the hall, Aiden saw box-shaped seated podiums, with the shape of this place being like an arena.
Right in front of the students, there was a large stage occupied by the Elders of Earth Hall, the people in charge of the Silk class.
"Welcome to Earth Hall, new students of the Silk class."
"I'm Hun, the main elder of Earth Hall. I will be in charge of you," Hun explained.
"Although the Silk class is the lowest, you still deserve the same lessons about magic as the Iris class," he said.
"Before that, you should accept this," he said.
Elder Hun turned his head and nodded. The staff began to distribute blue magic balls to each student, he asked them to insert the magic balls into their bodies.
One by one, they began to do so and a white light magic aura emanated from each student's body. A holographic blue panel also appeared in front of them.
[DING! Congratulations, you have opened the Level, Rank, and Job section]
[DING! Congratulations, you have leveled up]
[Level: 1 -> 2]
[Level: 2]
[Rank: First Apprentice]
[Job: Mage]
[EXP: 130/250]
[You gain base points: 10pts]
Aiden saw the level, rank, and job sections had changed from the default. The EXP results obtained previously were saved until the section was actually opened.
Some people leveled up drastically, while others did not. Helen was the student who didn't level up because during her time in the artificial dimension, she hadn't killed a single C-level monster.
'Base points can be used to increase status in the base stats menu.I'll allocate them later,' Aiden replied.
Hun again explained that the learning in Silk's class was different, conducted with an open learning system with many students, unlike Iris's class which had a separate learning classroom.
"Please accept this," Hun said, handing back the library slip and magic pouch.
"With the library slip, you can enter and search all the information in the Earth Hall," Hun replied.
"By using the magic pouch, you can store your items more easily. The maximum limit of items in the pouch is 100 different items," Hun explained, bringing up a teleportation pillar to him, "For more details, the instructors will teach you."
"Welcome to the Astralis Magical Academy. May you become talented mages in the future."