Two weeks had already passed and Luna did her best to help them improve their magic powers. It could be said that they exhausted themselves to the brink they couldn't stand up to eat dinner anymore. Nonetheless, Luna did not let that happen. She would have doubled their training if they didn't accompany her to eat.
Moreover, the training ground they were in was in a new location, a far better place with more privacy and far away from the busy streets of the Magic Academy.
She also didn't forget her Goddess' Authority spell which she still couldn't grasp the second part. The only thing she was able to do was to increase the first spell's punishment to a week and chant it shorter than usual. It was her ace spell so she could only practice it alone.
Meanwhile, she and her classmates could be found at the training ground. They were having a yearly magic test to check if they were capable of taking the promotion to a senior student for this year. It was said that the students in the special class had the probability of being a senior student in less than five years of attending the academy.
The people in Vermillion had 400 years of life span so 5 years seemed meager to them but such results were too long for Luna who was aiming to graduate within a year. For now, some guessed that there were only two who could pass the yearly test. They were the students that mocked Luna on her first day of classes and she still didn't like the sight of them that seemed to scream of pride.
Others had guessed that Luna would not be able to pass this test as she was a newbie even though she's the student of the Honorary Master Mage.
'They seem to forget who blew up the room huh,' Luna thought.
She had also found out that they were couples according to others' murmurs and her classmates looked like they were influenced by them as they began to look at her in disgust as if she did something wrong. She just ended up shrugging her shoulders as she had more important things to do than pick up a fight with them.
Luna began to focus on the teacher that started calling their attention.
"May you do well in this test. I wish you good luck," he said.
Advanced Mage Quinn walked in front holding a silver staff with a big sky blue crystal at the top. Its cuts were elegant and the staffs' magic signs pattern was too eye-catching. It was the first time Luna had seen him carrying such staff as it continued to release a strong magic blue-colored aura. Seeing that, she had a hunch as to what kind of test they would be doing.
"The test will be done as usual. I, an Advanced Mage should be you and your partner's opponent in a duel. Both of you should show cooperation and stand your ground against me. You didn't have to defeat me as that would be impossible. Just withstanding attacks from me would be enough and I will be the one to decide how long you should fight. The most will be half an hour so be ready," he said.
The Advanced Mage said it with a wide smile plastered on his face as if he wished for them to do well but Luna could clearly see his excited laughs that showed how he wanted to torment his students.
Luna's faced twitched. 'Huh, saying good luck looks meaningless,' she thought.
When it began, the unlucky first students had been bruised badly by the Advanced Mage. They did well on the first phase but the unending ice and water attacks made them freezing cold thus failed to last the battle. The rest of them followed with their trembling hands and feet. They always forgot how relentless Advanced Mage Quinn was whenever they did this yearly test.
"It sure is hard huh," Blair said.
Luna looked at him with a raised brow and said, "Oh, it's shocking to hear it from you, huh."
Then he shook his head slowly. "I'm not scared, just saying the truth. Advanced Mage Quinn is pretty strong but I shall slash my way later," he said.
She ended up smiling awkwardly and thought that she should have expected it already since Blair only knew to slash enemies in a battle.
"Miss Mane and Sir Demeter come forward," Advanced Mage Quinn said.
They were the couple that had so much free time to contend with Luna. The man held a spear weapon in his right hand while the woman had a thick hardbound book that continued to float above her hand.
They were doing well defending and supporting each other for almost half an hour then the Advanced Mage told them to stop.
"You passed, good job!" he said.
Her classmates clapped and cheered for them. They didn't seem to remember that they had failed the test. The couple wasn't contented with that as they looked at Luna and Blair with a condescending gaze before walking back to their previous position.
When it was Luna and Blair's turn, all of them were just silent. She looked towards Blair and smirked.
"Let's do our best Blair," Luna uttered.
Blair nodded and took up both his swords at his back which he didn't usually do. He deemed the Advanced Mage as a worthy opponent to use both his swords.
Luna raised an eyebrow. 'You're really serious, huh though you only use one when we battled on the single battle round,' she thought.
After they entered inside the huge red circle mark on the ground, Luna was on the back while Blair was positioned at the front.
"Do well to both of you, as you're new students, I'm eager to see how much you have improved," Advanced Mage Quinn said.
He wore a slight grin on his face but Luna ignored it. She deemed him to be a creepy guy sometimes despite his dashing looks. Then Advanced Mage Quinn started to summon a large icicle of ice together with drops of water that were starting to fall towards them.
Luna immediately summoned her white flames enough to melt the ice in an instant. While doing that, Blair ran towards the mage and the red blazing fire had turned blue when he reached him but Advanced Mage Quinn had stepped backward and avoided his attacks.
With the use of the speed potion, Luna was able to somehow match their speed and fired several white flames towards the mage while healing Blair's injuries from the icicles' cuts. As it got longer, it wasn't only them who were tired. Their teacher breathed heavily as he swiftly avoided the white flames that appeared beneath his feet from time to time. He even underestimated it at the beginning of the duel.
'It hurts badly!' he thought.
They continued their battle as if the three of them had an unlimited source of magic. The students stared at them dumbfoundedly. They felt ashamed as the new students were doing better than them. It was clear that they would pass the yearly test. After half an hour, Luna stopped even before the Advanced Mage told them. She could still take notice of the time despite the stressful situation they were in.
"Good job, good job! Lady Mendelevinn and Sir Rosenheim passed the test. You really are geniuses," Advanced Mage Quinn said.
Then they walked outside the circle and listened to his announcements.
"As you have seen, four students have passed. Congratulations! You will be able to enter the senior advancement level and I will announce when it will be held later. For now, give me your badges," he said.
After taking their badges, it all floated above his hands and a red small gem appeared at the top.
"Here you go, this will be the sign that you are eligible to take that test. All of you may now rest," he continued.
Luna took the badge in astonishment.
'Finally, I'm taking another step forward,' she thought.
--To be continued--