Adam's and Quintella's eyes widened at a hall of pure magic and wonders.

Magical gems hovered like miniature suns, brightening ancient tables that stretched for dozens of meters. The antique wood, engraved on their sides and legs, carried the residual scent of processed magical materials of the highest rank despite their age. And it was in such abundance that Adam began to doubt his own mythical eyes.

He saw pulsing veins of mana snaking beneath the white tablecloths, felt the gargantuan vitality of the wood.

An idea pierced his observation. How many artifacts could he build if he repurposed these tables? He shook his head and sighed—useless to think about the impossible... for now.

After a deep breath, he gazed at the outrageous number of dishes. Magical fish, beasts, plants, pastries, and goblets filled with refreshments sent a savoury blend of spices to his nose.

Seated around the three tables were students. They drank, ate, and chatted about the new semester's courses, their goals, or achievements in personal research.

But what drew Adam's gaze was the different emblem featured on their elegant blue-marine robes. Then, he turned toward Quintella, brows twitching after counting them—three. How had she got the number right?

He massaged his brow before focusing on the standards towering before each table.

The first was the same he had seen on the student's robe last week: a horned mask floating above a summoning circle, with chains spiralling outward and "We call, and the world answers" engraved in broad cursive letters. The second was a serpent devouring its tail, encased in a shifting triangle, with "To change is to master" as its motto. The last represented a silver sword piercing a coiled black serpent, surrounded by a glowing ring of runes and inscribed with "Through our will, we cleanse."

They were clearly the Houses mentioned by the student, and he could already notice glaring differences. When enough students sat at the first two tables to give them a crowded feeling, more than three steps separated each group of students on the last one. After a rough calculation, he realised they didn't account for even one-tenth of the other two Houses' students.

"Amazing..." Quintella let out an overwhelmed gasp. "There are more pastries than in all the cafes we visited!"

Isold, who had guided them, chuckled. "Welcome to the college's common hall, where you'll dine every day with your House's comrades." She pointed at a long table facing the students. "The rector will arrive in half an hour with the other teachers. You'll wait here, standing, in the meantime." She left through the doorway, giggling. "Since you arrived first, grab something to drink and eat."

Holding Quintella's hand, Adam moved to the third table, grabbed two steaming goblets smelling of infused herbs, and put pastries on a plate. He smiled at the girl, handing her the plate. "The first thing you're amazed about is the food?"

Quintella nodded as they returned to wait before the doorway, already stuffing a sweet slice of strawberry pie in her mouth.

Adam sipped the warm liquid from his goblet, sourness filling his mouth as time passed. With each minute, students arrived, some waiting with him, while others wearing their uniforms, sat at their appointed tables.

The contrast between the three Houses became even more blatant. Hundreds of new arrivals sat at the first two, while less than a dozen joined the last.

Why?

Before he could ponder, the doors rattled against the ground behind him. The moment they closed, a loud clap echoed, and where there was no one at the table facing the student, he now saw dozens of elemental particles. They swirled, coalescing into humanoid forms. Somber robes unfurled, and hats appeared on stern-faced teachers, who stood straight with the pride of nobility. Adam's pupils constricted. They were each much more powerful than he.

The chatters instantly died down, each student snapping their gaze to the teachers as they sat. Then, reality cracked like glass, dark matter filtering through a swirling portal. A man emerged from it. Every teacher bowed their heads as he leaned on a staff of impossible, magical complexity.

The enchantment matrices, the leviathan's maw bearing a pulsing jewel—they overwhelmed Adam's crafter's soul. For a fleeting moment, only the staff existed.

Then, he focused on the man, who brushed his gray beard, his single eye darting through the students. Though he knew the man was one of the oldest humans he had ever met, something in the man's features made him feel he was both young and old.. No wrinkles, only an ageless face. And his strength... Adam had never felt mana so thick. There was no doubt. The rector dwarfed the magic world magus by far.

"Welcome, students, to this new academic year ceremony," the man's voice boomed through the hall, not forcefully, yet impossible to ignore. "And as every new year calls for, I shall help our new knowledge seekers settle into the House most fitting for their talents."

His eyes lingered on Adam for a second too long before he continued. "Of course, these are my recommendations. Feel free to ignore them if you think yourselves wiser, but keep in mind that choices have consequences none other than yourselves can bear."

The older students puffed their chests as if to show their respective Houses' emblems.

"Now, you." The rector pointed at a random new student. "Come, child."

The new student took a deep breath as he stumbled a few times between the long tables. Once in front of the legendary rector, he gasped, breath catching in his throat.

"Don't be so tense," the Rector smiled, waving his hand. Where it passed, mana drew patterned magical circles. They buzzed for two beats before vanishing into his eye patch. He nodded, his voice even like someone who hadn't found anything worth remembering. "Curiosity for the unknown doesn't drive you enough, and individual power isn't what you seek, yet you're ambitious and strategic. The House of Invocation is the path you should tread."

The student bowed, lips curling into a broad grin. "Thank you, rector. I'll strive to summon the most powerful creatures to overcome my flaws."

Behind them, watching the boy rush to the House of Invocation table under the older students' applause, Adam scratched his head. Didn't the rector just call him an untalented, lazy, and ambitionless mage?

The next student received a different assessment.

"You're curious enough, but courage is an abstract concept overshadowed by your desire for wealth," the rector said, his voice still even. "House of Transmutation can help you develop your talent."

Adam held his laughter, the assessments beginning to amuse him. It felt like a free insult session from the rector. So this one was a greedy coward. And House of Transmutation applauded him for it.

To be fair, he also understood that insults weren't the rector's goal. Instead, he offered an unbiased opinion. Whoever was smart enough to work on their flaws would grow, while the others would remain fools.