"Name?" The student registrator asked without looking up from his papers.
"Koál Rahul." The boy straightenes, which made the registrator grimace.
"What kind of name is that Koál?" He mumbled.
"Koál is my family name, Rahul is my name taken before God. You better remember that, the seven behind me also have the same type of name." Rahul nodded over his shoulder at the team. The registrator just looked at Rahul, then nodded and started to scratch.
"Sign it." That's all he said as he pushed the paper in front of Rahul, which the boy did immediately. "Hand on the ball." The next statement came, and Rahul put his hand on the crystal ball, but nothing happened. The registrator just pulled his lips in a mocking half smile and wrote something again. "That's it. Next!" He shouted and now Citar repeated the same thing as Rahul, then every member of the team, but the crystal ball didn't do anything to any of them. Unlike the other tables, where they flashed every time someone touched them.
"And now?" Citar asked when they were all finished.
"Now we do what we want, nothing will happen here until the weekend." Rahul shrugged.
Thanks to this, the team decided to play tourists in the city until the weekend. Of course, they didn't get to see much because the team stuck to one place every day from morning to evening, but at least they had a good time. And they didn't notice that the young people loitering in the city, who had also applied to the Floating Air Barracks, side-eyed them wherever they turned.
Then the day of the test came, the Athamanas were of course up early and showed up at the designated place long before the announced time of the test. They stood in a small pile as usual, silently waiting for the test to begin, not paying any attention to the young people milling around them.
"There they are, the wretched team!"
"I heard that none of them had a crystal flash!"
"How did they think they could apply if they didn't even have the strength to do so?"
Similar growls, whispers, and ran through the crowd as it grew. For some strange reason, however, no one dared to approach the group. No matter how far humanity develops, they have some ancient instincts in them, they recognize when they see an opponent stronger than themselves. And the members of the crowd, although they said the opposite with their words, knew deep down that the Athamanas were too strong to be faced by them.
"Welcome everyone to this year's entrance test of Floating Air Barracks. My name is Mark, as some of you know, I am the Deputy Director of Floating Air and I have the honor of opening this year's admissions." A man stood on the podium in the middle of the square, with a ribbon embroidered with the silhouette of the floating school tied to his upper arm. "As always, the participants must pass three tests to be admitted. All three tests will take place today. The first one is right now, the second one at noon and the third one at sunset. The test is open to anyone to watch, please do not disturb the participants while they are taking the test." He explained in a serious voice. "I will now give the word to Emma, the test administrator, to explain the rules. I wish this year's first-year students the best of luck." He nodded before stepping back to allow a young lady to take his place.
"Welcome, young lords and ladies. I'm Emma and as Mark said earlier, I'm running the entrance tests today. The rules are simple, everyone takes the test alone, you can't ask for outside help and you can't harm another candidate taking the test. If we catch anyone cheating, they'll be immediately disqualified from the entrance exam." The lady said, straightening herself up and looking at the candidates with her eyes that resembled frozen water. "The tests will get harder and harder one after the other. The next test can only be taken by candidates who have successfully passed the previous test. Your results on the tests will later influence what classes you can take, so I recommend that you solve the tasks to the best of your ability." She smiled faintly here. "I think you'd all like to start the entrance exam by now, so I won't drag it out any longer. The first test is terribly easy. Get to the school. You have time until this hourglass runs out." She announced and gestured towards the huge hourglass placed in one corner of the platform, next to which stood two students who were already ready to turn it. "Time strats, now!" The lady shouted, and the students turned the hourglass.
The crowd of applicants immediately started moving in all directions, the noise became unbearable. Only the Athamanas stood still and completely calm, but this did not attract the attention of anyone except the teachers.
"Is that really all?" Benkó grimaced.
"Well, if that's what they said." Rahul shrugged.
"This is not as exciting as I thought." Citar grumbled.
"It can't all be Bolacsuk." Suk patted him on the shoulder.
"But at least it could be a little challenge." The boy whined as he looked around at the candidates climbing up the houses.
"Challenge or not, the task still needs to be done." Razvan sighed, then turned to the new Atahmana. "Will you be all right, Rahul?" He asked in a much kinder tone than he had spoken before, but this only made Rahul snort.
"You don't have to be afraid for me, Tapló boss." He announced, then added more quietly. "But if I collapse up there, catch me." He muttered under his breath, making Razvan smile.
"Okay, boys, we'll jump on three!" He gave the order, and the Atahmans all stood ready. Razvan also turned to the floating school, then took a deep breath. "One!" He began. "Two!" Here, the muscles of every member of the team tensed. "Three!" As the last number left the mouth of the leader of the Athamanas, the eight hegins simultaneously pushed themselves off the ground and rose into the air.
All eyes on the square were on them, teachers, students, and candidates alike looked in disbelief at the team, who simply jumped into the task. Several of the candidates began to giggle mischievously, not believing that the team would reach the height of the school, since they could not jump that high, even if they had the chance. However, the laughter quickly caught in their throats when the eight friends, instead of starting to fall, as logic dictated, rose higher and higher.
The Athamanas arrived at the ground level of Floating Air Barracks at the same time and did not even look back at those below, but turned to each other again and continued their conversation, as they had done before the test began. The hourglass had barely ticked down, the Athamanas were the first to pass the test.
"Aren't they the ones you said were the weakest?" Emma asked the student standing next to her, but she wasn't looking at him, but rather narrowed her eyes at the eight boys in the schoolyard.
"Yes, they are." The student answered. "None of them had a crystal flash." He explained feeling that he had to excuse himself, even though he had no idea what he had to excuse himself from.
"We'd better pay attention to them, wouldn't we, Emma?" A man also walked up to them.
"As you say, Mark. If it comes to that, we have to report it to the principal." The lady said.
"They cheated? But then they should be expelled." The student was stunned, and the two teachers shook their heads.
"That's exactly the problem." The deputy director spoke seriously. "None of them cheated. The crystal didn't flash, they should have been weak, they should have been eliminated first and yet they got up so easily, as if nothing had happened. Something is wrong with them, something is really wrong." He said thoughtfully and with narrowed eyes looking at the team talking above.