Shortly after, I joined the other kids who were taking the magic exams.
Instead of having the exam at an open field just like the physical combat exams, the children who signed up for the magic exam were taken to a stadium—the style reminds me of a colosseum.
The number of children participating in magic exam… is way fewer than the ones signing up for the physical combat exams. I guess it has something to do with how only a few parents trained their children’s magic before they turned 6? From what the children talked about, I quickly understood that most of us here are from a magician family.
There are also some children older than 6 years old who just enrolled. No wonder they would take the magic exams.
Ah right, since there was the first batch of children who took the magic exams during when I took my swordsmanship exam, that also contributed significantly to the few number of children I’m seeing.
When we entered the stadium, we saw some teachers with magician robes eagerly waiting for us.
“The next batch of the magician world’s future is here!”
…the most eccentric lady lifted her hands up in the sky and announced happily.
Uh, thanks?
She then adjusted her glasses—ah, since her hair is short, I can see how her glasses has chains equipped on it. She is wearing a hat typical to a witch… yup, could she be the head of examiners here?
“Greetings, our future children! We are happy to welcome you here! This colosseum is equipped with magic barriers so there’s no need to worry. The exam will be held simultaneously based on the type of magic you want to demonstrate. I believe all of you are trained at some degree in magic, so you should have figured out which is one is your forte. The offensive magicians will be with me, the defensive magicians will be with the teacher on my right, and the other type magicians will be with the teacher on my left! Now, go and get lined up!!”
The same lady quickly announced and clapped her hands to hurry us off.
…Uhm, I will pick the offensive one, I think…
For now, I will put aside the lady’s eccentric-ness…(?)
“Ah, welcome, future offensive magicians!! I’m happy to be with you right here, right now! Now, let’s go to the rule—”
Before she managed to say the rule, the teacher who was assigned to lead us—let me call them the assistant—whispered something to that lady.
“Hmm? I haven’t introduced myself and the other ones? The others are introducing themselves now? Ah, okay!” She gestured the assistant to go away as she understood what the assistant meant…
“Ahem! You can just call me Miss Norma. Now, off to the rules… There will be several targets of your attacks, most of them are not moving, and there will be a few moving targets. All you need to do is to focus on attacking the targets. I will observe your power and aptitude in magic. Oh, the targets are made using magical devices. Understood?”
…I understand, but you spoke too fast…
Some of the children only stared blankly at Miss Norma, who is definitely not normal.
The worried assistant gestured to Miss Norma so she could repeat the whole thing in a slower speed… and so, she did.
“Ye—s!”
After she slowed down and explained it again, all of us said that in unison.
“Now, line up!”
Oddly enough, all of the children here knew how to behave and lined up quickly. Could it be that they are now covering their naughtiness just in case, as it’s an entrance exams? No, kids won’t be thinking about that. …But it’s possible that their parents have advised them very strictly.
Afterwards, I saw how Miss Norma clicked some buttons on a device and that triggered some targets to appear on the field before us.
There were around 10 inanimate targets, their statures mimicked goblins, the easy-to-encounter monster. Meanwhile, there were 4 lively animate targets, they looked like a ghost-kind of a monster, the one that looked like a small flying blanket.
Since they are produced by a magic tool, they resembled a holographic projection, but they might have been programmed somehow to mimic the real thing’s endurance.
“Okay, now, first kid, come to stand to the designated spot near me and use your magic to hit the targets after my cue. Use your strongest magic that you could control well. Remember that I will be monitoring your power and control over that power. How many do you have to hit? Hmm, well… just do your best and leave the scoring to me. Now, go!”
Stand at the spot near Miss Norma, that she just pointed?
Ah, yes, the distance between our position and the targets isn’t that close, but it isn’t that far, too. It’s just perfect.
Furthermore, she also made sure that the distance from the designated spot to the other children in queue and to herself was of a safe distance.
“Miss!”
One of the children raised his hand.
“Yes?”
“My magic specializes in close-ranged battles. Can we dash closer to the targets after your cue, or must we hit the targets somehow from that distance?”
“Good question. Yes, you can. I do not discriminate against those who prefer close-ranged magic, after all. Your starting position should be here, however.”
Ah-, I see, makes sense.
In any case, close-ranged magic…? It’s not like I can create another ice sword and try to hit the targets with that, right? It would be categorized as a major display of my swordsmanship instead of magic…
To be honest, close-ranged magic also comes with the requirement of having a good physical ability to dash and get close with your enemy, plus a good reflex to dodge the enemy’s sudden attack up-close. I was concerned about it, when Miss Norma continued to explain. Oh, so it’s no problem as the targets here won’t attack us. Good. I could see the kid who asked that question also sighed in relief.
The next second, I watched as the other children in front of me displayed their various ways of destroying the targets.
For examples…
Creating arrows or scythes of wind and showering the targets with those arrows.
Emitting a heat wave of fire that hit the targets.
Dashing forward and blowing the targets with the thunder sparks’ impact.
Destroying the ground below the targets.
Summoning the plants to bind the targets tightly.
And so on.
Some managed to destroy many targets including a few of the moving ones, while some didn’t even manage to scratch the targets… They lacked control of their power and misdirected it…
Some of the children who displayed a clear failure quickly turned pale and some even cried.
“Come on, I told you to do your best and let me calculate your score. Whether you missed or not would be considered in the scoring, but failure to destroy the targets doesn’t always guarantee your failure to enroll here,” Miss Norma said to assure the children who panicked after feeling they messed up.
…Yes, but it might guarantee our failure to be in the special class, right?
“There were some instances of talented small magicians who failed to destroy the targets during past entrance exams but they still got to the special class in the end. I considered their talent and skills to be potential, so…”
…Let me analyze it. They probably managed to get into the special class because their scores in other exams could cover up for their lacking scores in magic exams. Or that Miss Norma genuinely saw the unpolished diamonds inside the said children.
Moving on, I continued to watch various displays of magic that I hadn’t experienced before.
There were some who displayed the rare affinities like [Light], [Dark], and [Life], but their amount could be counted with only your hands. Not to mention that they were not pure humans. Some were mixed breeds, and some were even the pure-bred elves or onis!
Yup. Obviously, there were members of other races participating in this enrollment exams.
Oh, Iris was perfectly a human… I think. I didn’t think of asking her about it…
Just like before, after some display of magic, Miss Norma could stop the children from trying to give another attack as she was done with analyzing their power and control over magic.
So far, the record was destroying all inanimate targets and three moving targets, leaving one surviving animate target.
While observing the examples given by the children who performed before me, I contemplated on which attacks should I display. It’s not like I’m completely unprepared, as I had my family members to give me some clues about how the exams would be like.
First… I decided it would be nice to display just one element strongly, instead of displaying all of my elements right here.
Ah well… there were some children who tried to brag their dual-elements or triple-elements.
But hey, I just wanted to live a peaceful and normal life, so I should try to preserve it while I could. I may need to display my other elements during future classes to train my magic, but for now…
Okay, [Ice]’s it.
And since I only saw less than 5 children who used Half Incantation or Nonspraec Incantation to brag but with less impact or power output, I decided to stick with Spraec Incantation.
My turn came very quickly and just in time after I finished immersing in my thoughts.
“Next up!”
I stepped forward and stood at the designated spot.
Okay, I have finished coming up with a strategy, so I just have to go with it and everything will be okay.
I think I will be able to set the same record, more or less. Yes, that should be my standard.
After all… remember, Lyra, the Head of Royal Magicians trained you directly! You can’t disappoint her teaching~!
“Ready?”
I nodded at Miss Norma.
“Then, go!”
I quickly implemented my strategy.
[Gicela snîðung] (Ice shards)First, to destroy the inanimate targets, I summoned ice shards and controlled them to hit straight to the targets and destroying them all at once.
Mission accomplished. That should display my power and control over my own magic as excellent.
Just as my ice shards hit the inanimate targets, I have already started on my next strategy to destroy the animate targets.
Obviously, it was still hard for me to control the ice shards to fly around to chase the lively animate targets as time could be up first when my ice shards were still chasing after them, so I needed to freeze them.
So I did. I froze the animate targets—induced a frostbite, more precisely.
[Forst ofslîtan] (frostbite)My ice quickly trapped the animate targets and after it completely enveloped them, the ice quickly started to be shattered, alongside with the content (which means, the targets inside).
Yup, I really missed just one animate target, so I set the same record.
When I thought that Miss Norma would stop me after this, I noticed that everyone was quiet—uhm…? Miss Norma seems a bit dazed…?
…How rude, daydreaming right now? (; ･`д･´)
Hello to Miss Norma? I’m taking an exam here, you know!! Pay attention to me!! No mind wandering to somewhere else!
I caught a glimpse of something’s movement from the corner of my eyes, so I turned at that something.
There, the last animate target moved so smoothly, gliding and turning over in the air in front of me when its friends all have been killed.
Ah—-its movement!! I feel like it’s taunting me, saying things like, “Hey hey little girl, come and get me if you can! Ahahaha, you can’t, loseeeeerrr!!”
…well, since my expectation of being stopped at this point was betrayed by how dazed Miss Norma is, and since I love to set the new high score in a game, so why should I stop?
Life is a game to conquer, right?
My former self’s main objective to conquer wasn’t the slightest bit entertaining, it was boring, even.
But this time, I’m free to set my own objectives to conquer in this life.
Let’s start with setting a new high score in this stage.
If the liveliest target was hard to freeze, then I had to resort to another strategy, so I quickly dashed forward at the target, jumped, and—
During that time, Miss Norma decided to snap out of her daze and was about to shout, “Ah, stop—”
But Miss, you’re too late! (✖╭╮✖)
I can’t stop here at a moment’s notice!!
I have already jumped and aimed my fist at the target—yup, I enveloped my fist in the ice and induced another ice magic to blow the target during when my icy fist hit it. And so, with that blow, this Lyra managed to land a new high score!!
I turned over to look at Miss Norma when I noticed that her jaws already dropped.
…Did I overdo it, when I just planned on being a little bit above average?
And it was my perfectionism acting out when I saw a chance!!
It’s not like I displayed my full skill, right?
I only used ice and used the incantation properly. And it wasn’t quite a high-level ice magic spells like creating an avalanche or hail…
Okay, so perhaps she was astonished that I won’t stop at her late notice.
“Sorry, Miss, you stopped me a bit too late, I couldn’t stop at this point…”
Miss Norma blinked and shook her head lightly.
“No, no… that’s not it… Ah well… Okay, thanks for the spectacular performance and for cleaning up the field! May I know your full name, number 21?”
“Uhm… I’m Alrescha Lyra Hartmann… and you’re welcome…”
“…!! Ah, Ophelia-sama’s daughter!! No wonder!!”
Just like Meredea, Miss Norma’s eyes now sparkled.
“You know my mom…?”
–I reflexively asked a rhetorical question.
“Of course!! Ophelia-sama is my idol!! I believe all magicians in the world—no, in the whole Riviera at the very least—would know and idolize her!!”
…thank… you?
I opened my mouth, but before we could exchange another word, the assistant teacher quickly interrupted us so the exams could continue.
“Ah, please deliver my greetings to Ophelia-sama, little one!!”
Miss Norma’s frantic voice could be heard and I turned over to smile and wave my hand to gesture her that I understood.
And that marks the end of my entrance exams!
To be honest, I am quite confident that I would enter the special class. If I didn’t, then I would start doubting the meaning behind my 13 years life as Reinst.
After that, I reunited with Mom and we quickly returned home (I properly conveyed Miss Norma’s greetings!)
When night fell, I shared my experience with my family—something quite novel for the old Reinst inside of me. I never really bothered to share my day with my family members other than a report on my achievement or what I did. This experience sharing as Lyra was more of me telling my family on what impressed me, what incident happened, how I felt, and how I thought I may have made a new friend even before I enrolled.
“Yes, her name is Iris and she’s so adorable. I hope we can enroll to the same class, and…”
I noticed my childish attitude when I shared my experience in my excitement and stopped. How embarrassing, I even moved my hands reflexively as I told the whole experience. I didn’t convey it calmly like how I reported something as Reinst.
When I stopped, my family thought that I simply was confused on what to talk about—or that I forgot my words midway, and they only smiled.
Dad patted me, “Good! You must make lots of female friends, Lyra!”
“Iris is cute but you thought of a ghost when you first saw her trembling?” Altaire asked.
“Oh, Cyan, how preposterous. You prefer Lyra making friends with girls than boys, to obvious cause. Lyra, let me rephrase that. Make lots of friends, both boys and girls,” Mom reacted to the hidden meaning behind Dad’s words that was also quite obvious to me.
I smiled as I felt the surge of warm feeling inside of my chest and continued to tell my story, albeit I must admit that I felt slightly embarrassed by my childishness back then and this time, I tried to act calmer. It felt weird doing this, and I felt slightly awkward as it was not something I’m accustomed to, but I feel like I want to tell this to my family.
It was an awkward change, but since it was also pleasant at the same time, I didn’t mind the awkwardness.
After that, I also shared my experience with Luca and Kiri when we met again, and they also told me their experiences. When I told a bit of it to Clavis-nii, he seemed to suddenly recall something, but…
“Iris? Hmmmm, I wonder why did I feel like her name was familiar… Hey, Alt?”
“Hmmm? I can’t really remember but it’s not like Iris is a strange and rare name.”
“But, I think there’s some kind of significance of that name—Iris…”
“Really? I can’t recall anything. Maybe it’s just your feeling,” Alt-nii just shrugged his shoulders.
“Ah, whatever it is, you definitely can’t tease Iris, okay? She’s quite shy and while her trembling figure might seem cute, but you can’t!! She’s my friend!!”
I have to set this straight to them before it’s too late! I don’t want my brother and his friend to destroy my friendship with my first female friend!!
As the youngest and the only girl among the three of us, on top of my overly friendly face, Alt-nii and Clavis-nii didn’t feel intimidated at all and laughed at my attempt in warning them off. I suffered from a messy hair and cheek pinch after that.
After the hype of my entrance exams calmed down, I spent my days as usual.
All I need to do is to wait for the result, then~ the good result, obviously!
※And so, Lyra was completely oblivious that she didn’t chant anything when she dealt her finishing blow to the last remaining target as she was too caught up in the heat of the moment—and that she was the only one to display two forms of offensive magic at the entrance exams, one ranged magic and the other was close-ranged magic. All with great power and control.※
