The Decision of a Lifetime

"That wraps up the first round, those who have been disqualified, you have been notified by Fenrir of the Beast squad. Those who have passed, step forward for your next task." Gilbur seemed to be the most involved in the choosing of squads, of course his squad is known for its amazing balance in magic. His squad wins every year in the tournaments that take place, or at least when he involves his squad in the tournament because he must be busy from the missions he is assigned. He's basically the Kings right hand man.

The squad leader of the Electric Eels stood up. "Your next task will be how you manage yourself under the pressure under intense magic. For those who fall down, you will be disqualified. You may not use spells from your Grimoire, but you can use your mana. That concludes it, you have five minutes to get ready." Just thinking about failing brought chills down his spine, but this was something he practiced in the mountains near his home. They were rich with wind and ice magic, so hopefully whatever they threw, he could handle it. Mad focused on gathering his mana around him and maintaining the form.

"This task will now begin now, and will last another five minutes." A large amount of mana broke from the Squad captains body and filled the room. The rooms became hard to breathe in and the air became almost thick enough to cut with a knife. Marx just focused on keeping his magic barrier on around him, as he stood there people around him fell to the ground barely being able to breath. Marx looked like he was shining there as the light magic surrounded him.

As the minutes passed, Marx felt his mana slowly deplete, but it never reached to a point where he had to worry. Out of the five-hundred kids that were once here, it looked like there were only around one-hundred now.

Gilbur said "Congrats on those who have passed, I will have Catherine of the Golden Hawks explain you're next task." Gilbur looked over at Marx and whispered to the leader to his side whispering "Hey, do you have your eyes on that boy too?"

The leader of the World Tree squad replies with "He does look especially useful. Depends if he's able to pass this next test. You do know that out of these one-hundred, thirty will be left most likely."

Gilbur nodded and agreed with captain, but something about that kid felt off to him.

"The last and final test will be whether or not you can break this pot with your magic power. Simply place your hand on the pot and transfer your magic into the pot. If your mana is great enough, it will shatter in an instant." Marx didn't seem eager about this. He wondered maybe his magic wouldn't work on this because of its only support speciality.

Marx stood in front of the pot and touched it. He put his magic into it, but nothing happened. He kept and kept putting magic into it, until he had no magic left, and it was still yet to break. 'I failed, it seems that my training was simply not enough.' Marx began to walk away from the pot which was on the ground disappointing, but everyone started gasping as he did. Behind him the pot didn't only shatter, but a huge dark ball fell to the ground and exploded, leaving a huge crater where it happened.

This seemed to even hit the squad leaders by surprise. They whispered to each other about this. "He didn't seem to have his Grimoire open, but what the hell was that." "He did that with his mana alone, without a spell. That kid is amazing." The whispering was driving Marx insane as he saw that he passed the exam. Tears welled up in his eyes. 'I did it.' He couldn't hold it back. He truly thought he managed his first loss.

He watched as the other kids struggled, and like Kito said, the Leader of the World Tree squad, there was about thirty people left, thirty-one to be exact.

"We will call you all up in order. If a leader stands from his chair, it means he wishes for you to be on his squad. From there, you will decide who you may wish to join. If no one stands, you can propose and offer to join one, and the leader will think about it. Now number one, step forth." Gilbur was fast to stand up. Marx stepped forth in amazement as he watched every leader stand up, but one. The leader of the Golden Hawks remained sitting.

Gilbur looked over "Charlotte, do you really need to ruin the mood? I know he's a guy, but you have to agree, that magic seems incredibly interesting and useful."

"My whole squad is filled with girls, how do you think they will feel if I manage to let in one guy. Maybe lustful, but also they would hate me. I must stay true to my commitment. I'm sorry boy, but I cannot stand for my own reasons. I do acknowledge your magic." Charlotte nodded at Marx and he felt some sort of proudness in his chest.

"So, what is your choice?"

The Iron Golem squad, known for its attack magic as well as its defense magic. Incredibly remarkable in battle, and has excellent team work, but would be a hard place to get your name out there, for its the largest and has the greatest mages out of all the squads.

The World Tree squad, the squad of energetic members who are always ready to battle. There name doesn't suit their personalities at all.

The Beast Squad, they're as plain as they're name. They love to hunt and do bounty missions, that's about it.

The Bloated Whale squad, well to be quite honest they're whole group is about food, and that's not really Marx thing. Just the though of eating all day long exhausted Marx.

The Lighting Wisp squad, quite remarkable with magic swords, but Marx knew nothing about about sword play and he doubted his Grimoire would ever give him a chance to use a magic sword.

The Third Eye Squad, they looked like a bunch of cultists, easy pass.

The Baron squad, not really that good in magical strength, but they make up for it in their success in mission they are sent on. They're leader seems to be incredible, and although they may not win tournaments, they definitely have a solid leader.

"The Baron Squad." Marx didn't even look at the other four that raised their hands as he managed to pick this one.

The Baron Squad leader laughed "I think I already like you kid, you pick me over that damned golem for a human being over there." He pointed at Gilbur.

"Yes, it may be a bit disappointing that he didn't pick me, but I'm surprised he would pick your bird brained squad in the first place." Gilbur shot back an insult of his own.

"Hey you watch your mouth, you rock being. I won this time." He flexed his muscle as if it had anything to with it. Marx couldn't help but laugh. "Hey kid, what are you laughing at." The Baron Squad leader stared at him with a deadly look. Marx instantly regretted his decision.

"Uhm, do you know what, I think I'll just go with..." cut off almost instantly.

"You already chose my squad kid, your stuck in it till you're old and grey. Oh, my name is Ray." He laughed again.

"Alright kid, we have thirty more people to go over. Wait for me outside this building and I'll bring you to our base." Marx walked out and waited for everything to get over with. "What the hell did I just get myself into." Marx muttered to himself and he face palmed himself. 'Why do I always get myself into things I'd rather not. He seemed rather a scary captain.' He thought. Preparing himself for whatever is to come next, he saw the captain walking from the room with on more member.