Chapter 109
“Why is that old man staring at me like that?”
He looked overflowing with enthusiasm.
He was wearing an examiner’s badge, and had been staring intently at me for a while now.
I couldn’t even begin to guess how seriously he intended to judge me.
I was sitting in the waiting room, drinking the refreshments they had provided.
This is pretty good. It tastes like fruit juice, and it’s sweet and quite nice.
Since it tasted better than what I’d had at Reinhart, it might be fairly expensive.
‘They have plenty of other desserts, too.’
There weren’t any modern-style pastries loaded with cream and sugar.
But they were the plain sort that let the natural ingredients speak for themselves.
The kind you could eat endlessly with tea or another drink.
As I kept munching my way through the waiting room’s snacks, someone spoke to me.
“You’ve got some nerve, coming to take the battle mage exam at such a young age.”
I turned around.
A broad-shouldered man with a hearty, easygoing air was standing there.
I looked up at him and said,
“Who are you?”
“I’m Kren Valtes, a Rank 5 court mage. I heard there was an interesting fellow here, so I came to see for myself.”
Hmm. Kren?
I’d seen that name somewhere before… Ah.
It was the name written on my nameplate and application form.
[Chief Examiner of the Mage Exam, Kren Valtes]
There had been a stylish signature beneath it.
Was it this man’s?
“Rank 5? Is that strong?”
“You could call it strong. At the very least, I can use top-tier offensive magic and grand magic.”
“Oho.”
Karnarof had said he was Rank 6.
Then Rank 5 below him had to be strong too; he certainly wasn’t weak.
I slowly looked him over.
Sure enough, his posture and spirit were both quite impressive.
He had a fair amount of mana, too. But...
“Something’s a little off.”
“What do you mean?”
“My professors were packed full of mana, but you feel a little light, sir?”
His gaze changed slightly.
“Could you elaborate?”
“You have a lot of mana, but... it’s somehow different.”
“Can you see other people’s mana?”
“You can’t see it?”
“Of course I can. But not in the way you do.”
You can’t see this?
“Professor Isabel said she could see it.”
“Professor Isabel is exceptionally talented in that area. She’s also a very rare Rank 6, even in the Imperial Palace.”
Come to think of it, Karnarof had said he couldn’t see it.
Could I be the only one who could?
“How much can you see?”
He asked with interest.
But I was curious about something too.
“How much can you see, sir?”
“Answering a question with a question, are we? If you answer mine, I’ll answer yours.”
“If you answer mine, I’ll tell you too.”
He hesitated for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.
“You really refuse to lose even a single exchange. You remind me of my daughter.”
“I don’t like losing.”
“Your mana looks to be exactly Rank 3. It’s blue, too. That’s as far as I can see.”
“Oho.”
Rank 3, huh? But...
“What level is Rank 3?”
“It’s mana at about an adventurer’s level. You’re a Reinhart student, right?”
“Right?”
“That’s the level of students with high mana among ordinary commoners.”
“Huh?”
Then that would be around B rank?
But my mana had already surpassed Rank A.
…For some reason, it seemed my mana didn’t show up well to other people.
“Then it’s your turn to answer.”
“Just as I saw it. I’d say it doesn’t look dense, or perhaps it feels light. The mana density is lower than theirs.”
In fact, it was lower than Aris’s or Linia’s too, but I decided not to mention that.
“As I thought. You can even see mana density. Reinhart has produced quite an interesting one this time.”
Another interesting thing was that I could see the nature of his mana as well.
At that moment, he grinned and said,
“I’d like to propose a deal.”
“Yes?”
“With your current amount of mana, you’ll have trouble overcoming the trials ahead. Mana quantity is directly tied to firepower, after all.”
“Right?”
A rank A was insufficient.
I needed at least an S.
“So, how about joining the Imperial Palace’s court mage corps after graduation? I’ll write you a letter of recommendation.”
…What was he talking about?
“Three years. Work as my apprentice for just three years, and you’ll have mana on the level of a noble. Trust this senior of yours. I’m a Reinhart graduate too.”
“Huh?”
“‘Seeing’ talent is extremely rare. That means you’re worth cultivating.”
I was stunned.
What was this old man talking about?
How could he make an offer this completely unappealing?
Elixirs? Adrian handed them out like candy. Honestly, if I asked her for some right now, she’d probably hand over an entire bundle.
Growth? Even if I didn’t want it, Karnarof was already working me to the bone. I couldn’t exactly opt out.
So my answer was obvious.
“No, thank you.”
“Yes, think it over carefully… what?”
I turned around and walked away.
It was almost time for the second exam to begin.
“I’ll show you why I’m the top student.”
“Wait, you’re that top student everyone’s been talking ab— Hey, where are you going!?”
* * *
It was the second exam.
“Encode, Leaf Stooorm!!!”
“Casting, Fire Arrow!”
I watched as the others demonstrated their magic.
‘Those spells certainly are flashy.’
“But why aren’t they using basic offensive magic?”
Power, precision, casting speed, projectile speed, and versatility.
Basic offensive magic should surpass them in every respect.
“Pfft.”
At that moment, I heard someone laugh.
I turned toward the source of the laughter.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because it’s funny.”
“Why?”
“There’s no way basic offensive magic could even scratch that thing, is there?”
It was the person who had been in the waiting room with me.
The red-haired girl with twin tails spoke to me.
“That’s tinstone, a rock much harder than iron forged by dwarves. You can’t destroy it with ordinary attacks, so they judge the contestants by how much they deform it.”
“Ohh. You know a lot.”
“Ahem. This is common knowledge.”
“But who are you?”
“What!? I’m Elena, your groupmate for the fourth exam! You didn’t even memorize my name?”
“Oh, right. There was something like that.”
According to Rowen, the fourth exam involved entering ruins in groups, completing various tasks, and returning.
So if I didn’t like my group members, I had planned to put them in my Inventory and do it alone.
After the first exam, the examiner had told me to meet my assigned group members, and I had promptly forgotten.
But somehow, she had come to find me.
‘Rowen also said that having an adventurer along would make traveling together more convenient... so maybe she isn’t bad.’
She had said getting lost in the ruins could be quite a headache.
And having someone with an adventurer’s background would save us the trouble of finding our way.
Of course, if she couldn’t pull her own weight, she was going straight into my Inventory.
“I’m Yumia.”
“I know. You’re a first-year at Reinhart, right?”
“Yep.”
It was nice that information traveled quickly.
“I’m a Grade 3 adventurer. But after taking this exam, I’m planning to advance to Grade 2.”
“Hee.”
“In other words, don’t get in my way.”
“Your way?”
Me? Wasn’t it you?
How much experience did she even have?
Should I crush her spirit before we went in?
“I heard first-years at magic school can’t learn anything except basic offensive magic.”
“That’s right.”
Anything beyond that was restricted by law.
“But I have a Rank 2 mage certification. I can learn offensive magic, including elemental magic.”
“And?”
“Tinstone is weak to fire. So all I have to do is use fire elemental magic. Watch closely.”
She took out her wand and strode forward.
She pointed her wand at the target and began chanting.
“Encode, Fire Storm!”
“Whoa.”
A fierce, blood-red blaze burst from her wand.
—Tat-tat-tat-tat-tak… Boom!!
It flew in a straight line and struck the target, leaving a fairly large gouge in it.
“Phew, not bad, right?”
“It’s decent.”
It was better than I expected.
The precision and power weren’t bad, either.
I didn’t think I needed to put her in my Inventory.
‘Why isn’t someone like her at Reinhart?’
Honestly, she seemed far better than guys like Oliver.
More time passed, and then it was my turn.
“I’ll be right back.”
“Go do your best.”
I sprang out of the waiting area.
I’d been itching to move.
With the stern-looking proctor staring intently at me.
Normally, I would have simply fired a mana bullet and punched a hole in the exact center of that large, sturdy target.
But this time, my objective was different.
My original goal was to overkill everything and bring home a perfect score.
If so...
“Encode.”
Along with highly encrypted casting, I drew the magic circle according to the formula.
Maximum precision, minimum stability, and on top of that, a quarter drop of dragon mana.
I had to fire an extremely unstable formula with the utmost precision.
But I wasn’t a novice anymore.
“Bullet, Explode.”
—Beeeeeeep… KABOOOOOM!!!
The exact center of the metal target glowed red, and unable to withstand the accumulated heat, it exploded on the spot.
“How was that?”
I turned around.
There stood Elena, staring blankly at the target, and Kren, who had apparently arrived at some point, with his mouth hanging open.