Mikhail stood ready at the starting point for the test.
Turning to the instructor, he looked him in the eyes, nodding to indicate he was done.
The instructor nodded.
"We will begin now."
He gestured forward to the empty space in front of Mikhail.
"The first test is simple. I'll tell you some shapes and the faster you mold your spell to that, the more points you get."
Mikhail nodded, already knowing the process.
"Okay. In 3, 2, 1.."
The black-haired boy focused on his front.
"Begin. Solid Circle."
Mikhail wasted no time, raising up his spell diagram.
There was no pre-spell for simple spell shapes so one had to form them by themselves.
"Norvalis." He spoke.
The use of Dragma for this challenge wasn't allowed so he couldn't use signs.
Not like he would reveal his card for a petty challenge anyways.
As he spoke, the first node on the spell circuit lit up like a black wispy marble.
The young man quickly moved to the next node.
"Solivex."
The second category that came after elements in a spell structure.
Its state.
And as said by the instructor, Mikhail chose Solivex, the runic name for Solid.
The second node lit up instantly and the spell segment that connected the first node with it also shone in a black glow.
Mikhail heard a multitude of gasps escape from behind at how seamlessly he transitioned.
He even felt the instructor looking at him impressively.
When forming a spell, there were several other factors that came into play.
These factors played a minor but important role in how the spell would turn out.
As an example, the first was mana input.
Overloading or underloading a node with mana could cause the whole harmony between the spell to break.
The mana resonance frequency between all the nodes had to be the same so the structure would hold up.
Any minor mistake and the spell could go into a failure and blast in the caster's face.
It was one of the reasons why maguses often opted for pre-spells.
Spells took time and focus to be casted and a moment of distraction could cause their whole node structure to break.
A perfect input of mana into the nodes and a stable resonance frequency would allow seamless and faster connection of the nodes.
Just like how Mikhail did, adjusting his mana input to the perfect frequency for the spell.
It was the same tactic he used in the fight against Silent Pact.
As a Warden, Mikhail only had access to a 3-nodular spell framework.
As you advanced through the ranks, the number of nodes you could add would increase, allowing you to adjust further aspects of the spell.
Resulting in more complex and powerful spells.
It was both risky and advantageous.
A lot of tweaking could again, cause a spell-malfunction as well.
Being a certain rank didn't mean he was restricted to only 3 nodes.
He could definitely add more. However, 8 times out of 10, he would be unable to tune the spell.
And even if he could cast it, he would definitely lose control of it.
So he wasn't going to take the chances.
Turning back his attention to the spell, he moved to the third node.
Taking care to take care of all the factors, he completed the spell with the third node.
"Circora."
Runic name for Circle.
"Norvalic Circorium."
And sure enough, the moment he said it, the third node lit up and connected with all the nodes.
As the spell was completed, the diagram disappeared and a solid black circle formed in front of him.
No more than 4 seconds.
A collective gasp was let out in the air from behind him and even the instructor was surprised at his speed for a second.
Composing himself, he nodded with satisfaction and moved forward.
"Fluid Square."
"Norvalic Squalius."
"Gas Triangle."
"Norvalic Gossius."
And there on, it continued back and forth.
Mikhail performed the said task in literal seconds, not even taking time to understand or tweak the spell structure.
It was muscle memory for him. All the variable values in the nodular structure.
After a minute long back and forth, the instructor finally realized he had to move on.
He had gotten too immersed in the test with Mikhail.
Everyone could see how intrigued and impressed he was with the black-haired boy.
Coughing, the old man quickly moved on to the next test.
The second test was an extension of the first one.
He had to form a spell and move it to any desired spot the instructor told him to.
It was to show he had control over his spells.
There was no problem for Mikhail though. This was all child's play to him.
"It should land here." The man pointed to a spot.
Nodding, Mikhail immediately formed a large black circle, sending it flying to the desired spot.
A second later, it crashed perfectly on the target.
Even for the aim, speed and precision of the spell, the caster had to tweak the aspects of the spell so they wouldn't override each other.
Spell Physics was a major subject taught in everyone's courses.
Mikhail had it on his fingertips. There was no need to think about it in his mind.
When forming a spell, his mind automatically adjusted all the values accordingly in his mind.
It was like a machine, showing how used he was to it after years of experience.
The tests continued like water, Mikhail breezing through them one after another.
He wasn't perfect as his completion was still delayed in some tasks.
But it was still the best the instructor had seen till far.
After 5 tests of control, precision, aim, durability, the instructor moved to attack tests.
Multiple earthen structures were raised in front of him by the support staff.
With the instruction to break them, Mikhail quickly made short work of them.
He didn't have the [Monarch] rank in Norvalis for nothing.
As the tests continued, the instructor posed several restrictions on him for the tests.
He had to adopt various paths and sometimes even destroy them all in a specific order.
It required a little more focus and input from Mikhail but overall, it didn't pose much of a problem for him.
At this point, the whole crowd behind him had turned silent, even tired of gasping.
They got used to Mikhail just demolishing the task in a minute or less.
It was the same for the instructor who uttered one exercise after another.
Finally, after a mind-boggling performance of 8 minutes, Mikhail was finally done.
BOOM! BOOM!
Where Cynthia previously used claws to destroy the structures, his bullets ruptured a clean hole in their heads.
"That's it." The instructor said, indicating the end.
Mikhail relaxed, wiping the sweat from his face as he finally relaxed.
The fact that was gasping slightly after all that showed that he wasn't all that strong.
But he was definitely a monster.
Mikhail turned to the instructor, waiting for him to announce his results.
Looking at the sheet in his hand, the instructor raised his brows.
"Impressive. You tore through them like a breeze."
Mikhail nodded, accepting the compliment.
"Thank you."
The instructor nodded, before finally moving to his score.
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