I was woken up early in the morning by Teacher Xiu, who repeated the exam details to me again before taking me to the gate of the Royal Intermediate Magic Academy.
"Teacher Xiu, why are we here so early? The exam is still a long time away." I said, yawning. These two days have been annoying—Teacher Xiu has been telling me the exam rules and details countless times, making my head spin. I originally wanted to try hatching my Phantom Beast Egg to see what it was, but Teacher Xiu wouldn't let me. He said I needed to maintain full energy and physical strength before the exam. Teacher Xiu was more nervous about this exam than I was.
"Let's come check the situation first. Elian, as long as you follow the steps I arranged for you, you should pass smoothly."
"Alright, I know."
An hour of waiting felt like a year to me. (Thanks to Teacher Xiu's endless nagging.)
"Okay, you can go in now. Elian, come on!" Teacher Xiu gave me a thumbs-up.
"OK!" I replied with a thumbs-up too.
Walking into the academy, wow, it really lived up to its reputation as the top school. The big playground was over 15,000 square meters, and there were so many people! Teacher Xiu had said that about 10,000 candidates applied here this year, but only 200 would be admitted—it was a 50-to-1 ratio. At that moment, the magic broadcast (transmitting sound through special magic crystals) sounded: "All candidates, please line up from east to west according to your registration numbers, with 600 numbers per column. Please follow the order and go to your corresponding column to prepare for the first test."
I was number 1503, in the third column. I stood in the middle of the line and looked around. Almost all the candidates were wearing gorgeous magic robes—hardly anyone was dressed as plainly as me. The surrounding candidates looked at me with disdain; some even curled their lips and said disdainfully, "How dare a commoner apply here."
Hmph! So what if I'm a commoner? Am I not human? Just because their families have some power, they think they're great.
"Alright, everyone, please be quiet. The first test starts now. Candidates in each column, please go to the invigilator in front of the line one by one according to your exam numbers." The broadcast sounded again.
There were 20 columns in total, with two invigilators per column—one to guide the students and the other to record scores. The first test was actually very simple: just go to the teacher and have your magic power measured with a magic crystal. The entire entrance exam had four parts, with rankings based on total scores. The top 200 would be admitted.
I waited boredly—why was it taking so long?
An hour passed.
"Candidate 1503, please take the test." Finally, it was my turn.
I walked up to the teacher. "Hello, teacher. I'm candidate 1503." This was what Teacher Xiu had taught me—be polite to leave a good impression on the teacher, which might get me a higher score.
"Alright, start the test!" The invigilator nodded at me with a smile.
I began to gather magic power, placing my right hand on the magic crystal. Light elements quickly gathered between my eyebrows before flowing into the crystal through my right hand. The crystal emitted a faint white light, which grew brighter as I poured more magic power into it.
"Alright, that's enough, young man."
"Thank you, teacher." I stopped releasing magic power.
"Strong magic power. You study light-type magic, right? Study hard—light-type magic is very powerful for Advanced Mages and above. Go to the rest area and wait for the next test."
"Yes."
I felt good—this test should be fine. Looking at the previous candidates, none of them had released as much magic power as I did. Hehe, I smiled triumphantly.
The next test was on magic comprehension. The method was equally simple: just cast your most proud magic within a set barrier. It would be held in the afternoon. We weren't allowed to leave the academy at noon, and lunch was provided by the school. After eating, I wandered around the academy. It was really big—besides the main playground, there were many small training grounds and teaching buildings. The entire campus was beautifully landscaped, with green grass everywhere, as well as small woods, rockeries, fountains, and more. It wasn't bad—studying here might not be such a bad thing.
The afternoon exam began. All candidates were divided into 10 venues, with 5 main examiners per venue. Each examiner would give a score, and the total was the candidate's score for this test.
Wow, it was crazy. For an intermediate magic academy entrance exam, the test magic from candidates was at least intermediate-level, and a few were even advanced-level. The main examiners often whispered to each other, and their smiling faces showed they were satisfied with this batch of candidates.
It was my turn.
"Candidate 1503, you can cast your magic now."
"Yes, teacher." I bowed, then stretched out my left hand.
"In the name of Elian Rayner, great light elements, gather before me and block and reflect all evil!"
Why haven't we heard this incantation before! Amid the doubts of all the main examiners, a light shield formed on my left arm.
"This is... Light Shield??? No, Light Shield is an all-around defensive magic." The main examiners discussed for a moment. The teacher in the middle said: "Young man, please explain the characteristics of your magic."
"Okay. This magic is my original creation based on Light Shield and Light Prism. By combining the two characteristics of defense and reflection, these two primary light-type defensive magics have been fused and compressed. Now it can block level 6 non-all-around offensive magic."
All the main examiners looked at each other in surprise. Finally, they reached a conclusion—genius. (Fusing magic itself is very difficult, especially single-element magic. They were naturally shocked that I could fuse two primary magics to achieve the effect of advanced magic.)
Haha, passed another level.
I walked out of the academy excitedly (due to the large number of people, the remaining two tests would be held tomorrow). It was so simple! Haha, thinking of the surprised expressions of the main examiners, I couldn't help laughing.
As soon as I walked out of the academy gate, I saw Teacher Xiu. Seeing his anxious expression, I felt for the first time that Teacher Xiu was actually quite endearing.