After my landing, I flew back to get my workshop. The workshop with everything I put in it was already 20 kilograms, too heavy for me to fly with, so after a short ride on Orin, we arrived at my dorm, it was already late and I had the first benchmark tomorrow, I was asleep in minutes.
I woke up the next morning and donned my uniform and glider.
'I've wanted to do this ever since I got the glider.'
I jumped out of my dorm room window and deployed my wings, and when I landed at the testing hall it took only moments for me to hear a familiar nagging voice.
"That was SO unnecessary! And dangerous!" Teacher clearly saw what I had just done
'Tell him, brother, you should see what he did during testing.' Spirit added despite Teacher being unable to hear.
"I can't distrust my inventions, otherwise these" I pointed at my closed glider "are just canvas and wood decorations."
"This isn't about trust in what you make, it's about jumping out of a fourth-story window at six in the morning."
"Ok, fair, but at the same time, how could I resist? Plus I hate the stairs."
Teacher's facepalm was loud enough to hear inside.
"What am I supposed to do with you? Get inside."
At Teacher's orders, I went inside the testing hall and waited for the benchmark to begin, this time I was taken to a separate room from the rest of the students because I was suspected of cheating with Spirit.
"Let your fox out of your spirit core and he will come with us."
I obeyed, if I resist then it will only pin more suspicion on me. All I had to do to clear my name was to get a good score.
"You will likely feel tired for a moment, it will pass."
Everyone left the room before a red light filled it. I found that I could no longer use Eneru nor talk to Spirit.
"Zoom to thirty percent."
My glasses also were unable to function as a spirit item.
'No biggie, I didn't use them for the last test anyway.'
I was finally given the test, I finished it and left.
"The effects of Eneru suppression will end after the next test. You will be forbidden from leaving school grounds until then."
I spent the rest of that day reading about metal weaving
I tested the second day without issue, I even took the stairs instead of annoying Teacher. I got my scores for the written exam and smiled.
Eneruology II: B
Enchantment: A (Top Student)
Physics II: A+ (Top Student)
Metal Weaving: D
Runic Language II: A
Math II: A+ (Top Student)
Self-Defense: C+
Aptitude: Second Stage 10% (Top Student)
Needless to say, they cleared me of the cheating suspicion. Most of the rest of my day was me tinkering with my grappling hook, only managing to add one feature to my grappling hook, making the hook compatible with my Eneru.
I had one more experiment to do, I had noticed something with my staff. Since it's Eneru conductive, I think I can cast from the tip, this means that my effective range could be increased with a longer weapon. To test my theory I put my staff up against a tree, well outside my range, and tried constructing Skeleton Armor. To my surprise, it actually worked, and more than that, it didn't cost any more Eneru than usual.
"EUREKA! Yes! I can have range now!"
'Calm down, it's like a two-meter range, you're still leagues behind other student's range.' Spirit was back to his usual nagging again.
'party pooper.'
I went back to my room and started thinking of possible inventions that could help my friends in the future until I fell asleep.
The day of the practical exam was finally upon us. The professors brought all the second-year students to the edge of the forest.
"Alright, now that you have all assembled we will explain the rules and the match-ups. First, the rules of the practical exam are as follows, you and three of your comrades will be tasked with bringing this" Professor James showed the class a fake spirit core "back to the school grounds. When in possession of the pseudo-core you will be vulnerable, the opposing team will be able to touch you, knocking you out of the game. Any use of force is forbidden, you may only use your weapons and Eneru to slow down the enemy, you will have protective charms and if they are damaged, the one who damaged them will be out for the rest of the game."
The professors rolled out a board with teams and match-ups. I was with Yomo, Devin, and Laura up against Ben, Teo, some ice mage I hadn't heard of, and Vincent
'This is going to be interesting.'
"Oh, and one last thing, I forgot to tell you where the core will be."
Professor James handed a golem the fake core. The golem's arm telegraphed backward and threw the core very far. Professor James pointed towards the treeline to show the ten other golems holding fake cores.
"The other Professors will lead you to your starting locations. Team A and Team B are up first."
My team is Team J and our foes are Team I so we are last.
The rest of the teams did well according to the professors, we weren't allowed to see them because that could give us an advantage. The practical exam went on for hours, it was nearly dusk when we were called.
"Team I and Team J please follow your professors to your starting area."