I walked into an unfamiliar room, where everyone was sitting. As more people streamed their way in, the atmosphere got more and more tense.
I wasn't quite sure what the practical examination would be like, and Fredric didn't tell me much when I asked, mischievously dropping a "you'll see," every time I asked.
Thus, I went into this exam with absolutely no idea what would be tested. If it was my throwing accuracy or casting speed, those were two things I had absolute confidence in. As an A-rank Mage of the Society, they were things I absolutely had to be confident in. Even if it was inscription or arias, they were still things I could show off if given adequate time.
As Lynne finished her test last, she bounded up to me.
"So," she started. "How many questions did you skip to finish that quickly?"
She asked that so loudly, while I was trying not to draw attention! Can you really not read the atmosphere here? It's so tense!
I stayed silent.
Do you know what you just did? We've been marked as useless now! If this turns out to be a combat challenge, we'll be the first to go!
"I only left around half of it blank this time," she giggled and sat down, clearly satisfied with herself.
Those questions were really quite easy though, except for history... I guess some people really just don't get it.
"Attention!" a voice yelled. "We have drawn your lots for the Battle Royale."
There were around fifty applicants this time around. It seemed that we would be separated into five groups of ten, and the top 2 of every group would be placed in the A-class, the next 3 in the B-class, and the next 4 in the C-class. That left one person in every group that would be stuck in the D-class. Of course, if one person were to knock out all nine of their opponents at once, they would all be placed into the C-class. This was, quite unfortunately, an extremely common occurrence.
These class assignments weren't final; the paper examination would factor into your class as well, though it really did seem that this battle royale would be the main deciding factor, as the paper examination could only move you up or down a single class, at most.
Me and Lynne were separated for the Battle Royale, unfortunately. She had managed to mark me as a target, but she marked herself even more brightly.
At least I could take care of myself.
Ten of us stepped into a ring, ready for the starting bell to ring.
I was relatively hesitant to show off my spells, since I would have to explain away how I learned them, though I suppose intuition could be an answer for most of these.
As my head ran through the list of conjuration spells I could cast without any preparation, the bell rang.
One individual—specializing in the fire element—reacted instantaneously. He first charged for me, and I heard him speak an incantation that covered his fist in a thick layer of flames.
Instead of scorning Lynne for marking me as a weak target, I should actually thank her instead.
Right before he reached me, however, I dodged and cast a simple water conjuration spell that completely extinguished his flame. While he was surprised, I landed a solid kick on his back, lamenting at how the skirt I was currently wearing was much less comfortable than my usual pair of jeans.
Immediately, he was out. It didn't really matter to me, though, anyone who charged in like an idiot deserved to be in the lowest D-class.
In the Society, I once had to claw my way from the bottom as well.
I glanced around, and no one seemed brave enough to make another move. Kicking the fainted body aside to be sent to the infirmary, I turned to return to my starting position near the wall. Before I could take two steps, however, I heard a familiar incantation.
A chant for an entanglement spell. Child's play, really. Entanglement was such a simple spell that I practically considered it a prestidigitation spell.
Since the girl who was chanting found it so necessary to use a long incantation for such a simple spell, I played along amusedly while no one else seemed to notice. After a few steps, vines erupted out of the ground near my position and attempted to entrap me. Seeing them coming, I quickly jumped into the air with the help of a physical augmentation spell, and cast two spells in quick succession. One was the same water conjuration spell I had used earlier, and the second was a freezing spell that froze the thin layer of water surrounding every vine into fragile ice.
With that, it was a simple matter to crush every vine that attempted to entrap me simply by walking over them.
The mage that had cast the spell looked extremely surprised that her spell had been countered in such a way, but I simply brushed it off. Somewhat amused, I slowly stepped back to my original position, with not another individual daring to utter another incantation.
It seemed likely that we would all be stuck here for quite a while. Every individual wanted to be placed in the A-class, but only the final two survivors would make it. Thankfully, the one D-class spot had already been taken and the reckless boy hauled to the infirmary, but the four C-class spots were still open. Even those willing to take the B-class evaluation and hope that their paper examination scores landed them a spot in the A-class were unwilling to move at this moment.
There was no set time limit on this battle royale, so all ten of us had been deadlocked here.
The others had finished far before us, and by the time every other survivor had gathered to observe us, we were still deadlocked.
"Pfft," one girl laughed with a magically enhanced voice. "If it were me, I would just destroy these idiots' thoughts of entering the A-class."
Arrogant. Probably rich too, born with a silver spoon in her mouth.
The residents of this world were all so lucky, being able to use magic without prosecutors breathing down their necks every second.
"I know right?" another boy laughed in reply. "They're all scaredy-cats, none of them deserve to be at the top."
They must have someone with the air element, if they're able to amplify sounds like that. I spotted the culprit to the left, who was channeling a spell of the air element.
I couldn't speak for the others, but I was incredibly certain I could destroy everyone here if I wanted.
I wanted to avoid standing out too much, but that conversation has been broadcasted so loudly that everyone in the arena heard it.
The girl that had cast the entanglement spell earlier became frustrated at the deadlock, and so she cast the same spell again. Unfortunately for her, another girl who specialized in the fire element burned the vines before they could reach her, and the original grass girl fainted.
I immediately extinguished the fire with a fire destruction spell, though I masked it with a dual-cast water conjuration spell that flooded the entire floor. Since my specialty was normally in quick eliminations, I had spent quite a bit of time contemplating how best to eliminate the others without drawing too much attention or outright killing them.
The simplest of water manipulation spells—movement and freezing—were likely able to do the trick.
Fire elemental girl fell quickly to the water portion of the spell, while the remaining individuals all chose to gang up on me.
No matter, this just made it even easier. I didn't even need to execute the second part of my planned sequence as they all gathered in front of me and I encapsulated each and every one of my opponents in a giant cube of water. Some of them tried to cast spells to escape, but as they were sinking in water, it proved difficult to speak the incantations they somehow found so necessary.
Incantations were merely a focus for a spell. If you were skilled enough, it was unnecessary for the simplest of simple spells that were being used today.
Seeing that most everyone had surrendered helplessly in my suspended bubble of water, I dropped them lightly to the ground and left the arena as victor.
Before I walked out with my A-rank placement badge, I looked up at the girl who had scorned our group for being too slow earlier, and smirked before making my formal exit, her face of absolute surprise etched clearly into my mind.
Arrogant, perhaps, but I feel somewhat entitled after being talked down to.
Maybe, my ambitious nature wasn't the best fit for trying to fly under the radar.
Immediately after I had so arrogantly won the competition, I was summoned to the Dean's office.
I had already held back a decent amount. If I had gone full out, there were many hundreds of spells I had ready at my fingertips, and dispatching them was immensely easy. However, from the little information I had gathered, it would still be easiest to stick with using spells at least vaguely related to water.
I was currently being escorted to the Dean's office. Immediately, when we reached our destination, the guards knocked on the door and I was let into the office.
Inside, I saw a man whose face I was extremely familiar with.
"Long time no see, Erhardt," I greeted.
"I was told you had amnesia," he said.
"I do," I lied through my teeth. "It was a lucky guess."
I hope he doesn't...
"Funny you say that, Miss Mendoza," he said. "Because I've never met you before."
Shoot, it slipped my mind.