I entered the exam room and was greeted with the view of a massive space with tall white walls. Several medium-sized areas were sectioned off by glass barriers in the back, and just up ahead was a group of examinees gathered in front of a slightly elevated podium. A man with light green hair tied into a ponytail stood at the podium, staring at down his phone and occasionally looking up at the group.
I took another glance at the glass rooms evenly placed throughout the area. There were a few proctors scattered here and there. Before I could analyze the exam room any further, an uncomfortable presence from behind compelled me to make my way into the small crowd. However, I could still feel a gaze watching me.
After ten minutes passed, the man at the podium conducted a couple mic-checks before finally addressing the group.
"Okay, looks like all 24 examinees of E2 are here." He spoke in an uninterested voice, as if he wanted to be anywhere but here. "I'm your main proctor, Kaldwin. Without further ado, let's get right into it."
A loud, reverberating crack echoed throughout the room at the snap of his fingers. Before I realized it, a small wristband wrapped itself around my left wrist. It had a small monitor, and when I tapped it, a bigger hologram that looked similiar to the status window appeared. On it, a bit of my basic information was written, along with the text "Group C".
"These are the exam versions of the PDAs we hand out here at Nineheart. They'll monitor your health and protect you with a special magic barrier if the exam gets dangerous. On them, you'll find you've been delegated to a specific group. There are four groups of eight: A, B, C, and D. If you look behind me, there are eight glass rooms, which are reinforced with arcane arts. We will be going through each group one by one for each type of exam. I will now announce the first exam: magic externalization."
I had to stop myself from groaning. Magic externalization: the thing I can't do right from the get go. At the very least, I can get this embarrassment over with.
"The contents of the first exam are as follows: you must utilize any type of external magic you can to destroy a series of moving practice targets. Your grade will be out of 60 points: you can get up to 20 based on accuracy, 20 based on number of targets hit, and 20 based on time. There are 20 targets and you have three minutes to finish. After the first minute, you will lose a point in time every 6 seconds. While any magic is acceptable, large-scale magic will not grant you accuracy points, so think wisely."
I zoned out halfway through the explanation. I was getting a 0 regardless, after all. While I did get around to learning the arcane arts, they were all internalized magics like physical enhancement, along with something else.
"Are there any questions? No? Then Group A, please enter one of the testing rooms. Everyone else must wait here. If you want to watch their exams, you can see them through the monitors above me." He pointed to eight monitors hanging from the ceiling, each showing the perspective of a camera looking into each testing room.
I absentmindedly stared at the screens before seeing a familiar face enter one of the rooms. Of course, it was Sera Adelmann, the adept. Needless to say, I wasn't interested in her as a person, but her skills were likely the real deal.
After a few minutes, Group A's exams began. On the screen, I watched as several target circles appeared in the air around Sera, some moving slowly while others moved erratically. It seemed that not all 20 targets appeared at once—right now, there were only five floating around.
It didn't take long for her to satisfy my curiosity: in an instant, a brilliant flash of light bloomed from her right hand, causing a myriad of sparkles to burst and scatter. In her grasp was a beautiful rapier formed from light.
I frowned. While a weapon formed from magic was certainly externalized magic, I wasn't sure how she planned on striking the targets with it, especially since there's an accuracy grade. Surely she's not going to try and pierce their centers one by one? Given the speed of some of the targets, that would prove to be a difficult task if her physical capabilities weren't up to par.
However, what she did went beyond my expectations. She kicked the ground, release a small burst of glimmer that sent her flying towards the first target.
That was one down.
Without wasting time, she maneuvered herself in the air and kicked at the empty space, causing another burst of sparkles. She repeated this motion to rapidly pierce through the targets with impeccable accuracy.
It had to be one of the most inefficient ways of clearing the exam. Projectile-based magic, which you can create multiple projectiles and strike multiple different targets with, was obviously the optimal method. Of course, not everyone can calculate the trajectories of each target and control multiple projectiles at once with pinpoint accuracy, but that method had to be the best way regardless.
Is she trying to show off?
That seemed to be the case, but I also kind of doubt it. There are many types of arcane arts that exist, and the most basic is elemental magic, which was what most of the other test takers were using. Sera, however, was utilizing a light-based arcane art, which is characterized by its incredible speed but weak output. While researching arcane theory, I learned that light-based arcane arts are notoriously difficult to utilize because most arbiters can't handle the speed.
The only reason she would be using light is because she has already fully committed herself to it. It's said that arbiters who utilize an unconventional arcane art tend to be one-tricks, so they lack proficiency in even the basic art of elemental magic.
The crowd's attention was drawn to one screen, and I was no exception. In 47 seconds, she finished the exam with a perfect score, eliciting a round of cheers and applause from the crowd. While she didn't finish first, she was the only one so far to get all 20 points in accuracy. It seemed that the other person who finished before her didn't care so much for that.
Before long, Group A's first exam finished. While I don't doubt that there are excellent arbiters in Group B, I find it hard to believe that any of them can lift a candle to Sera's performance. As such, I began to zone out again, until one of the monitors caught my eye.
A man who looked to be a few years older than me was utilizing ice elemental magic to freeze multiple targets at once, but he didn't immediately destroy them. Instead, he completely encased them in ice, then focused his magic on the center to force the encasing into the middle of the target, allowing him to destroy every active target at once with perfect accuracy.
At first, I didn't think it counted, but the proctor was nodding his head in approval, so I guess it does.
While his method was nowhere near as flashy as Sera's, his technique was still incredible. It was slow and probably not viable in a one-on-one fight, but it was definitely lethal if he's given time activate it on a living being. In 58 seconds—11 seconds slower than Sera—he finished his exam with a perfect score as well. He took roughly 15 seconds to immediately wipe out five targets at once.
Who is that guy? I wondered.
Group B finished their exams after a bit, and finally it was time for my group. As I went up, I felt Sera's intense glare on my back. I don't know what she wants from me, but she's going to be disappointed if she has expectations.
I approached Kaldwin, the proctor, and told him about my condition.
"You have mana reversion?" he said loudly. He wasn't trying to mock me, he was genuinely just in shock from what I could tell. Still, I felt pretty annoyed. I noticed a few condescending gazes directed towards me, accompanied by a few giggles and whispered insults. There was a bit of pity and sympathy mixed in there as well. However, what most stood out to me was the fact that I no longer felt Sera's eyes on me.
Sorry not sorry. I'm actually pretty glad about that, since it means I no longer have her interest. This isn't an issue with my sociability. She's just really intimidating.
With that, my first practical exam was already over.