Just like that a week and a half flashed by, and it was time for the Magic Academy's assessment test.
The assessment test was to be held in the Inner City, which was separated by a massive wall.
Renouard went up and joined the small line that formed ian front of the Inner City gate. Kane didn't come as non-mages without special permission were not allowed in the Inner City. Although somewhat uncomfortable with such a strict segregation, he decided to ignore it for now and just hoped it was not their arrogance that led to such a decision.
After showing the guard the card that was given to him by the Mage that had assessed him, he followed the person preceding him into the city.
As soon as he stepped into the Inner City, Renouard was startled. This time not by the architecture - those were not very different from the one outside. No, it was the atmosphere. It was as if the very air was different. It felt incredibly fresh. With each breath he took his body felt more invigorated, his mind sharpened and a generally very comfortable feeling all over his body. Even his mood was subtly improved. All of which was a stark contrast to the others around him, who all looked somewhat pale and weak. Some were even holding buckets in their hands and emptying the contents of their stomach from the wrong side of the digestive system. He even noticed a few who were being carried away. Only a few were able to remain unbothered.
Renouard was confused again.
"You surprised, junior?" Renouard heard a pleasant female voice. Turning to the face the said voice, a beautiful girl who looked to be in her late-teens.
Without waiting for Renouard to reply she continued, "That's Mana Sickness. Most candidates will feel nauseous or dizzy or both when they first make contact with the Mana-dense environment. They'll get used to it soon enough however.
"You could call this a preliminary test of sorts. Those who manage to remain mostly affected are the ones with high Mana Affinity."
"I see, thank you for your explanation, my Lady. May I have the honour to know your name?"
The girl just chuckled, "You'd do well to toss out those noble manners. It will do more harm than good. Here, your previous status means utterly nothing. Even if you are a Royal. I learned that the hard way.
"But if you should know, my name is Kristina V. Aelon. You can just call me Miss Aelon though."
"Princess?" Renouard was surprised that he met the royalty of his country just like that.
"Hehe, let me guess; you're from the Zephyr Family, right?
"As fellow Aelonians I should take care of you! Come to me if you have any problems. This big sister will take care of it for you!" she declared proudly while patting her chest.
Renouard thanked her while feeling quite disappointed at the lack of bounce.
Unaware of Renouard' impure thoughts, she gestured to him to follow, "Come with me. Let's get you to the assessment centre."
She led him towards a building, which was apparently a sort of bus stand for strange carriages, strange as in that it lacked any sort of harness to fix to a horse or bull or any other animal.
As Renouard followed her in confusion, she gestured to the person sitting in the front of a carriage.
"Newbie Assessment." she tossed a glowing stone that had a cool blue tone to it.
The driver nodded as she got into the carriage and gestured at Renouard to get on.
As soon as he got on, he heard Miss Aelon query, "Confused?"
Renouard nodded.
"I was too, when I first saw them. These are called Magic carriages, they don't require any animal to pull, are faster and more durable than ordinary carriages owned by nobles.
"Normal carriages can't be used since horses or bulls will definitely die if they are in extended contact with the Mana-dense environment here and magical creatures are too proud, intelligent, powerful or violent to be used to pull carriages. Thus this invention became popular. You'll find this sort of carriage in any Magic City."
Renouard had a question that bothered him very much, "Is Mana very harmful?"
"You'll learn about this soon enough, but since you are curious, I'll give you a short explanation." Miss Aelon giggled and raised a finger. "To ordinary people without Mana Affinity it is very harmful. At least in such high concentration. In the outside world, where the density is normal, it is actually really beneficial.
"In high enough densities, however, it can instantly kill normal people. A First Order Mage's Mana Radiation, when unchecked, will kill every ordinary person in the radius of ten metres in under a day.
"Though, the higher your Mana Affinity, the less harmful it will be."
"First Order Mage?"
"You will learn soon enough. I won't explain it to you since the instructor will explain it far better."
Renouard accepted the explanation, but the curiosity in his heart burned even brighter.
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