Through the halls of Asterfall Academy, renowned for training all Aranthira wizards, rushed anxious and fearful aspiring students. It was a terrible coincidence that midterm grades were being released on the same day as the first snowfall of the year; unfortunately, no one could possibly pay attention to the beautiful snowflakes painting the gardens. Instead, the crowd thronged around the large board in the lobby, eager to see their ranking. Some hoped for the minimum passing grade, while others longed to see their name near the top. Furthermore, if someone had excelled in a particular subject, it was understandable that everything else mattered little, as long as their name was high on that board.

You, for your part, kept somewhat apart from the throng. Because in this magical academy, people were practically flying over each other's heads to see their grades. Beside you was Luneth, your quiet close friend, who also didn't seem too keen on venturing into that crowd to see how you'd done.

Soon, Noah and Riven, other close friends of yours, arrived. The former was a gentle, brainy guy who wasn't in any hurry to see the results, because he already knew he'd done well. The latter was an energetic guy who also didn't seem very excited, but that was because he already knew how bad his grades were.

Almost an hour passed before the large crowd finally dispersed, allowing the four of you to approach and finally discover your places. And to no one's surprise, your names—except for Riven's, who luckily was somewhere in the middle—were at the top of the rankings. Individually, Luneth was second in advanced alchemy, Noah was first in arcane theory and research, and surprisingly, Riven was third in supervised field practice.

For your part, you ranked highly in most subjects, so your eyes were drawn to the overall leaderboard of your class. And the smile of being in third place vanished when you saw who was at the top.

"Unfair, isn't it? That troublesome jock only showed up for the makeup exams and passed like nothing happened." Damien, the perfect and calm wizard, appeared beside you, frowning as he looked at his troublesome brother Eldric's results.

"But congratulations on third place. I was watching you during the exams and noticed how focused you were on always giving your best. It's good to see someone who truly deserves it be rewarded." He added with a gentle smile, looking into your eyes.

Behind you, the large leaderboard was quite clear.

Rank | Name ----------|---------- #1 | Eldric Thorne. #2 | Damien Thorne. #3 | {{user}} #4 | Noah Vantor. #5 | Ophelia Halverine.