Most of the class' students stood to participate in the test, with only a handful staying seated.
Like most of her classmates, Vivienne excitedly stood up and took out her wand. Before stepping forward, she looked back to Kedra, expecting her rival to be as enthusiastic as she was during the previous examinations.
To her surprise, Kedra had remained seated. This fact had not gone unnoticed by the rest of the class, but Vivienne was the only one with enough courage to question her.
"Why aren't you participating, Kedra?"
Kedra let out a half chuckle. "I'm not too confident in my channeling magic; I think it'd be better for me to reinforce my basics before taking such a class."
Vivienne raised an inquisitive brow. "You might as well try no? You might discover a hidden talent."
"Don't worry about me; just go and take the test; I've secured my seat in more than enough classes after all."
"I wasn't worrying about you. I was just..." Vivienne mumbled.
"Argh, forget it!" She shouted, marching towards the group of test takers.
Once all the participating students had gathered in front of Isaac, he pointed to a set of archery targets around ten meters away from them.
"I will designate each of you one by one; once designated, you will call out your name and perform a basic attack spell of any kind with the intent of hitting any of the targets."
Isaac produced a wand from the sleeve of his jacket and pointed it towards the targets. "I am grading you on precision and efficiency, not power; your spells should look similar to this."
He then fired a weak bolt of energy out from his wand that hit the center of the target, barely leaving a mark other than a few strands of singed straw.
"Of course, I am not expecting you to cast spells with the same ease as me; you may concentrate and chant for as long as you need as long as you produce the required spell."
He quickly stowed the wand back into his sleeve and clasped his hands together. "Very well then, any questions?"
The group remained silent, prompting him to point out a random student. "You there, why don't you have a try?"
Stepping forward was a boy with short, neatly styled black hair and dark brown eyes. He was surprisingly short; even for a twelve-year-old, most of the boys and even a few of the girls were taller than him.
The student took out a wand from the inner pocket of his jacket and announced himself. "I am Marshal Croisac of the Croisac Viscounty; it is an honor to meet you, Sir Isaac."
Marshal stood on the line that marked a distance of exactly ten meters from the targets. He then pointed his wand forward and closed his eyes in concentration.
He began to mumble under his breath. "A small arrow; no need to make it fancy; just a little bit of mana, just enough to get it to the target."
After twelve seconds of silent concentration, a bolt of energy, similar in size and power to the one Isaac had fired of previously, shot out of Marshal's wand and hit the bullseye.
Isaac, along with a few of the students, began to lightly clap. "Very well done; you followed instructions accurately and efficiently; the only advice I could currently give you would be to learn how to cast without needing to close your eyes. Despite this, you pass this portion of the examination."
Marshal put away his wand and bowed his head. "Thank you very much, instructor." Then he quickly found himself a seat on the sidelines.
Soon after, Isaac designated one student after another, each passing the test with little difficulty. Every successful student was met with words of praise and advice from Isaac.
He knew very well that this initial evaluation of skill was easy; he was merely using it as something to bolster the confidence of the students before the rest of the tests.
After the first round of evaluations had ended, Isaac immediately moved on to the next. He had tested the students' ability to cast efficiently; now he wanted to see how well they would fare in a combat situation.
He began calling out their names in pairs, instructing them to stand prepared in one of the many dueling arenas, casting protective spells on each of them.
Slowly, he observed the duels between each of the students who, for the most part, had their spellcasting completely break down once faced with real combat.
Certain students quickly set themselves apart from the rest; among them, Marshall, Vivienne, and Selena shone the brightest.
Eventually, the time for the final duel had arrived. Isaac called the final student to the arena and realized that the group was uneven.
He pondered for a second. "Well, since you're the last student who hasn't fought, I will allow you to pick your opponent."
The student, Callow Murleigh, smirked and pointed to someone in the bleachers. "You! I want a rematch with you!"
The whole class turned around and noticed that the only person sitting in the bleachers was Kedra, who was up until then playing around with the wooden sword she had been given at the start of the day.
Kedra looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Huh? I'm not a part of the examination, though? Go fight someone else."
Isaac took a few steps towards her. "Well, I understand you want to sit this test out, but I don't see why you wouldn't be able to participate in a quick duel. Please? I'll allow you in the class if you perform well."
She felt the intense stares of the students, as well as Vivienne's excited gaze. 'I feel like refusing might be more trouble than it's worth right now.'
The girl sighed. "Alright fine, but someone will have to lend me a wand; I don't have mine."
Selena quickly marched over to Kedra and handed over her wand; it was made of cured redwood and decorated with golden inlays. Within the wand, a solid rod of pure silver went from the tip and exited out of the bottom, wrapping itself around the handle.
Kedra thanked Selena and grabbed the wand, sneakily wrapping a piece of paper around its handle. 'I'll just pretend I'm casting something and throw an ice knife at him.'
Once the two had received the professor's protection spell, they stepped up to the arena and prepared themselves.
Isaac gave the signal to start, and Callow immediately began concentrating on a spell, closing his eyes and standing perfectly still.
Kedra stared at him in disbelief and began pretending to concentrate while running towards him.
She chanted some gibberish under her breath and activated the magic circuit engraved onto the paper. Suddenly a dagger made out of ice appeared from the tip of the wand. Kedra quickly grabbed it and planted it into Callow's chest.
The professor's protective spell ensured that Callow was unharmed, the dagger simply shattering upon contact.
Callow jumped backwards in shock and surprise while Isaac quickly stepped into the arena and stopped the fight.
"Very well done; as for you, mister Murleigh, you still have much to learn."
With the end of the duel, Beatrix made her way to the students and announced the end of the evaluations; without wasting any time, she quickly led them back out of the academy and dismissed them for the day.
Kedra made her way to the gate, only to find that Maria had in fact not come to pick her up.
She stared off into the distance for a moment. 'Well, guess I'll go ask for directions.'