Three months have passed since the announcement of the Inter-academy tournament, which will be held in a month, but at this moment, it is time for the selection of candidates for that tournament.
Every first-year student was present on the grounds, none were skipping this.
Skipping this means they would miss the opportunity of participating in the Inter-academy tournament, where the rewards for the winners would be very generous.
Even if they can't win in that tournament, as long as they were selected as a candidate to participate from the academy, the academy would invest a lot of resources in them, so that they could perform well in that tournament.
Who would say no to such a chance of getting generous rewards?
Only an idiot would say no to such an opportunity. So, every first-year student was present at the grounds, where the candidate selection would take place.