The feeling of hundreds of bodies pushing against his back as they walked in various directions caused the stumbling boy to perch himself against a marble pillar.
There had been no mention of his own personal task, leaving him confused and irked by the disarray that had followed the exam's beginning.
After Cam had left the podium, the crowd descended into chaos as they rushed for the exit, attempting to be the first to complete the mission, which would grant them a top spot.
Aaron himself didn't see the rush, and with the recommendation mission being undisclosed, he could only wait.
His shoulders relaxed slightly as he sighed heavily; however, a tap on his arm shocked his mind back to reality.
Spinning around quickly, he was face-to-face with the black-haired Ezra, who grinned at him lightly.
"Special treatment from the proctor, eh? You're more of a cheat than I am!"
His gravely voice, caused by the marks that coated his neck, left him coughing as he laughed with his smile not fading for a second.
Aaron simply returned the grin with one of his own, speaking quietly under his breath out of earshot of anyone who could be listening.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. No clue what it is though, so there's that… Anyway, I heard you got to bring back the core of a terror magnitude two or above. You think you can do it?"
The black-haired boy widened his grin as he moved closer to the blond boy's ear, whispering his plan to him.
"That Marshal woman told you about my curse, right?"
Aaron nodded calmly as Ezra continued speaking.
"Well, turns out most low-level sea terrors near the Oceanic Edge use mana to infect their victims. I ain't got none of that funky juice, so it'll be like fighting a stray dog!"
Excitement and amusement coursed through his words, leaving Aaron questioning if he had ever fought strays before.
Moving on from that point, the two continued talking in hushed tones, discussing the logistics of the exam and the challengers.
It was only after another tap on the blond boy's shoulder that he stopped his conversation with Ezra.
He turned around, craning his neck oddly to witness a short man who was dressed like a steward.
"Mr. Grimstall. The proctor wishes to discuss your special examination inside the office. I shall guide you, so please follow along."
Without waiting for him to absorb the words or even think, the man began to walk back inside the building.
Aaron just blinked twice, confused, before being shoved gently by Ezra, causing him to stumble forward.
"You got somewhere to be, oh, so great Angel. Get to it."
His snarky remark left the blond boy annoyed; however, with a sigh, he patted the black-haired boy on the shoulder before following the quick-footed steward inside.
The halls were eerily silent, with not a single challenger in sight, leaving the two men to just walk alone.
Opulent chandeliers hung high above with something called a 'fan' blowing air around in circles.
Aaron had never heard of such an invention; however, in a disapproving voice, the steward had halfheartedly explained the concept to him as they moved.
Another product of the so-called electricity that baffled the blond boy and left him grasping at the memories latched behind the iron gate of his own mind.
Each attempt to dig deeper led to harsher and harsher migraines and headaches as whatever locked them away kept them hidden from the boy.
His internal meddlings led to the unfortunate consequence of the Apex terror inside him stirring awake, beginning its infernal muttering again.
With both factors draining his mental capacity, he groaned, stopping his dig and switching his focus to the approaching doorway stretching from ceiling to floor.
Its grandeur was far superior to anything he had seen before, with the engravings written simply as the proctor's office.
Once they reached the entrance, the steward stopped, looked at the boy, and then ran away like a dog fleeing from a sea terror.
This left Aaron to stand awkwardly at the door, where he contemplated his decisions.
I guess I should open it, but what if I'm late? It would be embarrassing if I were the last to show up when I'm probably not even the strongest…
His eyes darted between the large handle and the hallway behind him, leaving him to only sigh and make his choice.
Grrroooaannnk!
The wood scraped against the floor, creating an awful melody of sound that grated his ears, yet he strolled forward unfazed, finally viewing the room.
It was a small office in the shape of an oval with beige wallpaper and a crimson carpet, the same color as blood.
In the center, there was a hardwood desk with a padded chair where the proctor obviously sat, and three more chairs on the opposite side for the recommended candidates.
Walking inside cautiously, the boy glanced around further, noticing portraits of various famous Marshals of history lined up.
Some were ones he had never even heard of, while others, like the Multimage who holds the record for the highest magical prowess in the seas, hung proudly displayed next to the desk.
Above all, at the highest reaches of the chamber was a portrait of a familiar face that Aaron knew quite well and one he would be seeing quite shortly.
The apparent prodigy of the world, Camilla Buckley.
It was still a surreal feeling for the boy to know that the person who had trained him was of such status, even after being in the presence of many impossibly important figures or beings.
Grrroooaannnk!
Whipping his head around to face the doorway, Aaron watched as the white-haired boy who had reminded him of Stein walked in with a posture worthy of a noble.
His clothing had changed ever so slightly, with his family crest front and center, denoting his status for any commoner who might cross his path.
Under his breath, he mumbled something rude to the blond-haired boy, causing him to furrow his brow in annoyance.
As he sat down, he adjusted his crest in the direct line of sight of Aaron, making sure that the boy knew his place.
Much to his dismay, the blond boy just blinked at the strange dragon-like symbol with not even a fragment of a lost memory pushing to the surface.
The Apex of Life made a strange sound that resembled laughter, almost taunting the noble boy who thought he was high and mighty.
Penelope, who had been slumbering, awoke for a moment as she sensed heightened anger from Aaron; however, as she scanned the white-haired boy, she just scoffed, murmuring about a wannabe, then fell back asleep.
Each of their reactions made the blond boy nearly release a snort due to the sheer comedy of their opinions.
Even these two think you're an idiot…
His thoughts were cut off as a sudden face appeared in front of his own with two bright blue, flowery eyes staring straight into his soul.
Long cherry-pink hair drooped down from her scalp, blocking off the sight of the white-haired boy from Aaron, who blinked as he tried to move his face away from hers.
Nearly falling backwards in the chair, the girl squinted hard, almost trying to scan his features with a look of concern.
In the farthest depths of his mind, the screams of the Apex faded for a brief moment, allowing him to dig through the shadows of his memories.
Through the pain, he saw one image that struck him as odd.
It was of a girl around the same age as him walking past him on the roads of his homeland of Strava in a black suit.
The thought only lasted a second as the pink-haired lady gasped, stepping backwards with her cheeks turning the same color as her hair.
"It really is you!"
Her face lit up like the sun as she fell backwards into the chair closest to Aaron, clinging to his recently healed left arm tightly.
The blond boy just blinked silently as the sheer absurdity of the situation coursed through his teenage head.
W-What the actual hell!?
To his right, the white-haired boy leaned forward, glancing between the extremely uncomfortable Aaron and the pink-haired girl who clung to his arm.
This scene was something that no sane person could've predicted, much less the brown-haired Marshal who had just entered the room.
Her face contorted into a mix of shame, disgust, and confusion as she stared at the girl and the boy.
She looked between the three, noticing the apparent frozen expression on the blond boy's face and the similar one on the golden-eyed boy's face as well.
Slowly, she walked in front of the three, taking a seat in the nicely made chair across from them.
There was a deafening silence as both men and Cam all stared at the oddly obsessed girl who had her eyes closed in glee.
Finally, after one agonizing minute, the Marshal spoke up.
"Ahem… Miss Ayaka…"
The pink-haired girl's blue eyes popped open in concern as she looked at the worried gazes of everyone else in the room.
As her eyes darted around the area, she finally looked downward at her hands, which were clasped around Aaron's.
There was a pause before she turned her attention back to the brown-haired woman ahead of her.
"What's the problem?"