Sitting back with the rest of their family members to eat, Yuiko and Erina spent the banquet chatting with each other, and in Erina's case, stuffing herself with cake, before the Queen announced that the banquet was over.
"Well... I didn't eat that much this year Yuiko... I think because my nervousness is lessening my appetite..." sighed Erina while getting out of her seat.
Patting Erina's back, Yuiko replied, "Well, that's understandable. It's good too because you shouldn't be eating that much cake anyway~ I know you don't see your weight change, but it can't be healthy for you."
Walking out of the dining hall, Erina mumbled, "But it tastes so good! I don't know why... it just calls to me… its charms are irresistible!"
Chuckling, Yuiko countered, "Well, cake calls to everyone, so that's not a good excuse. It's just you don't ignore the call of the cake."
Falling into silence, being unable to retort, Erina swiveled her head every which way marveling at the decorations around her. Walking down the ornate halls holding Yuiko's hand, Erina commented, "Every time I walk down these halls I feel like they are more beautiful than last year..."
Looking out the windows, Yuiko added, "The gardens outside the windows are also always immaculate. I feel like the colors accent each other so well, plus they're so vibrant."
Nodding in agreement, Erina turned to Yuiko as they walked into the testing site, "See on the stage in a little bit!" before walking off towards her own table.
Sitting down at the Noragi family table, Erina zoned out while waiting for the Queen to call the test participants onto the stage. Ignoring the usual formalities the royal family went through, Erina whispered a 'see you later' to her family after the Queen called the participants up, before walking onto the stage to wait for her turn.
Standing next to Yuiko, Erina whispered, "So Haizaki is going first?"
Nodding Yuiko replied, "Yup, the Hanamiya family is the first family alphabetically after all. Also, turns out there are six people today… wait for a second… oh my god my math is bad… yeah it's just us 5 and then Haizaki… I totally forgot about counting myself."
Giggling, Erina shook her head before fixing her posture as the Queen was about to begin the test.
Looking down at the name sheet, the Queen shook her head ever so slightly before calling out, "Would Haizaki Hanamiya please walk up to the testing machine?"
With a predatory grin prominent on his face, Haizaki sauntered up to the machine before setting his hand on it. Moving through the different machines, Haizaki finished the final test when he stood at the front of the stage waiting for his results.
Not moving at all, Erina whispered to Yuiko, "I forgot that they stopped the machine from reporting after each test, instead only at the end..."
Still looking towards the stage, Yuiko whispered in reply, "How...? It's been going on for 3 years now... you know what, we should concentrate on so don't answer..."
Standing at the front of the stage, Haizaki's grin widened upon hearing the results of his test,
{Overall scores of the subject are:
Magic Power: A+ Ranked
Magic Type: 75% Enchantment type 25% Release type
Magic Affinities: Fire S rank, Earth C+ rank, Water D rank, Air D- rank
Complex Magic Affinities: Lava 3rd level}
Walking back to the other participants, Haizaki taunted, sweeping his hair to the side as his smile widened even further, "I bet I beat every single one of you! I got Lava 3rd level!"
Seeing that all the other participants ignored him, Haizaki turned away and walked back to his designated spot, "Tch, plebeians, all of you!"
Waiting for her turn, Erina watched as Vladimir Kuznetsov went. Watching him go through the tests, Erina muttered under her breath, "At least he's nice, unlike Haizaki..."
Standing at the front of the stage, Vladimir was thinking, 'I hope that I get a complex element... I don't even care if my affinity is worse than that Hanamiya... Hanamiya is a b*tch though, he has no respect for the people...'
Looking at the crowd below the stage, Vladimir listened as the machine listed out his scores,
{Overall scores of the subject are:
Magic Power: A- Ranked
Magic Type: 70% Release type 30% Enchantment type
Magic Affinities: Earth A rank, Fire B- rank, Water D rank, Air D- rank
Complex Magic Affinities: Metal 4th level}
Flashing a brilliant smile towards the applauding crowd upon hearing his results, Vladimir walked back over to his spot while giving Haizaki the stink eye.
With an ugly expression on his face, Haizaki replied, "Well that's just one of you plebeians! I'm still better than the rest of you!"
Chuckling, Yuiko waited until her name was called, "See you after Erina~, wish me luck!"
Smiling, Erina wished her the best of luck while adding, "I believe in you! I think you'll get the best results so far!"
Happy that Erina was cheering her on, Yuiko walked up to the first machine and lightly set her hand onto the designated area.
'Huh... there really is a sucking feeling, just like what Shousuke said...' Yuiko thought, remembering what Shousuke had told her after he took the test.
Looking around, Yuiko took her hand off the testing area when she heard a loud *BING* sound while the machine powered itself down. Walking over to the next machine, Yuiko gently put her hand on the testing site before continuing her visual exploration of the area.
'Of course... of course, Shousuke is making weird faces right now... why wouldn't he be making weird faces...' Yuiko thought when she made eye contact with Shousuke.
Hearing the machine power down, Yuiko walked over to the third machine, the machine that would measure her Magic affinities.
Feeling the pulling sensation, Yuiko prayed while keeping her eyes closed, 'I really hope that it makes the sound that allows me to take the complex element test... please make the sound!'
*BING BONG*
Letting out a sigh of relief, Yuiko walked over to the complex element affinity measurement machine. Setting down her hand, Yuiko calmly passed through the rest of the tests without a hitch. After finishing her tests, Yuiko walked to the front of the stage to await the announcement of her results.
After several seconds, the mechanical voice reported,
{Overall scores of the subject are:
Magic Power: S+ Ranked
Magic Type: 85% Enchantment type 15% Release type
Magic Affinities: Fire S+ rank, Earth C- rank, Water D rank, Air D- rank
Complex Magic Affinities: Lava 5th level}
Hearing her test results, Yuiko was stupefied, '5th level?! Amazing! That's practically unheard of! Very few magicians have 5th level complex elements!'
Walking back to the side of the stage, Yuiko ignored the hateful expression that Haizaki had while hugging Erina.
Smiling like crazy, Erina whispered, "I knew you could do it! See? You were the best one so far by a lot! You even got one of the really rare 5th level elements!"
Tears forming in her eyes, Yuiko replied in another whisper, "I know! I didn't even expect that! Erina, can you pinch me to make sure I'm not dreaming?"
Hearing Yuiko's words, Erina's face had a teasing grin as she discreetly pinched Yuiko as hard as she could on the thigh.
Surprised at where she was pinched, Yuiko swatted Erina's hand away before scolding her in a quiet but harsh tone, "Not there! What are you? Taking lessons from my mom or something?!?!"
Giggling, Erina replied, "No~" before straightening her posture as the applause died down.