"Sure, overloading in combat is just plain stupid, but this year's exam might be a showcase exam instead of a combat one," explained Leon.
"Ahh, I see. In that case, it might be possible to pull off if you replace one of the power runes with a stability rune, though I'd say the spell would still be underwhelming compared to its original," replied Arya, realizing what Armin was thinking.
If the exams wanted them to showcase their spells instead of having them fight each other, then simply casting a second-tier spell would instantly get him a spot in the Academy. Though Arya doubted anyone would be able to show as much mastery at the tier one level as Armin. Without manipulating any runes, Armin could cast almost perfect tier-one spells -much to the credit of his head start at magic- and even while manipulating the spell template's runes, he was still at quite an acceptable level.
