“A test?” The rest of the students grew restless. The announcement was so unexpected, even for Kane.

“Several tests, to be precise. Don’t worry, students, the tests are to measure your magic capability and your mage specialty, meaning that there are no papers involved.” Vauren switched his gaze to Calypso. “I’m sorry, Calriss. Immediately taking a test right after transferring must be too sudden for you.”

“I am grateful for your concern, but I do not mind, teacher. Let us proceed to partake in the test,” he said with a smile, followed by a cheer from female students.

“I’m glad to hear that.” Vauren cast a glance at everyone, then turned around. “Follow me.”

---

They arrived in a wide-open field that was located in the northwest of the main building. There lay several rectangular elevated platforms made of clay, surrounded by paved floors. Their functions were mainly as an arena for sparring and sometimes events. Every freshman gathered in front of the entrance, facing Vauren and other homeroom teachers.

“Welcome to the training ground. We will be conducting four tests. First, to measure your mana capacity. Second, to judge your spell proficiency. Third, to assess your combat ability. Fourth, to tailor your best role as a mage: offensive or support,” a female teacher with a circular pointy hat explained.

She continued, “The score of each test will be announced next week. Please keep in mind that the score will affect your class promotion or demotion for the next semester. Any questions?”

“What will happen if a student performs poorly but is already in class E?” a female student from another class asked.

“They will be expelled,” she said with a gentle tone. There were no other questions asked.

“That’s unnecessarily harsh. I guess that’s normal for an elite school,” remarked Kane

The students became noisy. Most of them were excited to prove and brag about their skills while the rest, including Brian, were anxious that they wouldn’t be able to perform well enough. Kane belonged to neither group; he couldn’t care less about the test except for the third one.

The first test was conducted in each respective class. The procedure was rather simple: A teacher called a student’s name to come forward, and then instructed them to place their hands on a tall cylinder tube. After a moment passed, the blue liquid substance rose from the bottom of the tube. The amount depended on the maximum amount of mana that they possessed.

Most of the class E students’ mana were at below half of the tube, which was the required amount. As for Brian, he barely passed the test.

“...Kane Foxsnove, please come forward,” called Vauren.

As soon as Kane stepped onto the arena, everyone including students from another class began talking, gossiping about him. They were watching while mocking Kane at the same time.

Vauren rubbed his chin, looking at the half-oni up and down. “Say, Kane Foxsnove. I’ve heard Vice Headmaster Reynar has placed great hope upon you. He told me to look after you.”

“Why is that?” asked Kane.

“Why, indeed? I too have no slightest clue. What achievement could he expect in a mere half-oni? Laughable. I’m not even certain that you have mana,” snarked Vauren.

“You are about to find out.” Kane grasped his left hand on the tube.

“I will be more than glad to be proven wrong.” He stepped back.

Kane could feel his mana being probed by the tube. He was uncertain of how it works yet he knew. Slowly, the blue liquid substance began to form, rising from the bottom.

“T-this can’t be happening! How can a half-oni have mana!?” Vauren flinched, his eyes bulging.

As time passed, the substance kept rising. It then reached the minimum threshold, which triggered the reactions of many students. However, it did not stop there. The liquid substance rose again until it finally stopped at slightly below the middle.

The people who were mocking him were silent, and the crowd became less noisy.

“46… Quite a high number for a 13 years old,” said Vauren. His hand trembled as he wrote down the result.

“That’s disappointing. I thought that blue liquid would spill over. I guess that’s because my mana is not refined yet?” Kane thought to himself. As he stepped down, he received unfriendly stares from everyone. Brian then wrapped his arm around Kane’s shoulder and said, “Your mana capacity is so high! How did you achieve that?”

“I will tell you later,” replied Kane. He did not want to answer the question now since there were many people.

“Alright.” Brian nodded and gave him some space. “You can tell me whenever you want.”

“The last one to be called is Calriss Layward. Please come forward,” called Vauren.

The crowd gave Calypso a path as he walked. He was emanating a noble-like prideful aura. Everyone was watching him full of curiosity. Did his appearance match his talent? They were excited to see the answer. After he placed his hands on the tube, the substance rose at a fast pace. It easily passed the minimum, then the middle, passing Kane’s. The speed slowed down from that point onward. It then stopped at the three-fourths of the tube.

“75! What a talented child!” shouted Vauren.

Everyone was restless and excited, especially class E. They were proud of having such a genius in this lowest class grade. Of course, not everyone had the same feeling. Some were expressing their envy toward him yet they were too afraid to confront him. When Calypso descended from the arena, his eyes met Kane’s. He flashed a smirk in his direction before being pestered by other students.

What’s that supposed to mean? Kane squinted his eyes.

“Man, he’s sure stealing the attention,” remarked Brian.

“Are you jealous of him?”

“What? Of course not. I should be the one to ask that question to you,” he said.

Kane shook his head. “Rather than envy, I feel relieved that he took all the attention. I explained the reason yesterday.”

After everyone finished the first test, the second test began. The students were instructed to cast their best spell on a dummy target. The teacher would judge their score based on several criteria: the quality of the magic circle, the time taken to finish the chant, and the efficiency of mana usage.

Most people were using offensive spells as their best spells. Summoning spells were less common and support spells were even less so. As for Brian, he cast an unranked lightning spell, [Lesser Bolt]. It was a tiny lightning bolt that traveled at high speed. It was one of the most used spells, based on Kane’s observation. He concluded that one of the reasons why it was so common was due to high speed, which almost guaranteed it to hit the target. The drawback was, however, that its narrow point of impact made hitting small targets difficult. He knew that information from Brian himself.

Kane’s turn was up. He stood on the arena and was given brief instructions from Vauren. Pointing at the target, Kane began to chant his only spell.

“Unranked fire spell: [Lesser Firebomb]!”

The flaming black sphere was lobbed at a slow speed. It hit the ground then bounced back to hit the dummy, resulting in a small yet loud explosion, shaking the dummy. The crowd was silent before they exploded with laughter.

“Hahaha! Is that the joke spell!?”

“Who in the right mind picks that as the best spell? Hahaha!”

“What a clown!”

Most of the class E students were laughing out loud, followed by the students from other classes.

“Silence!”

The chattering ceased immediately. The students, including Kane, looked toward the source. They did not expect that the person who shouted was someone that they least expected. It was Calypso.

“Ahem. I’ve had enough of this bickering. Let’s not waste any more time,” he said with a calm tone. Despite that, Kane noticed that he was angry based on his shaky voice.

“Thank you, Calriss, for your disciplinary action. Next is your turn,” said Vauren.

While Calypso was walking onto the arena, Brian nudged Kane’s back and said, “Seems like Calriss isn’t bad after all, seeing how he defended you.”

“Perhaps.” Kane wondered why Calypso hushed the crowd. The prince was the last person Kane could think of that would defend him. Had he genuinely been annoyed by the crowd?

Calypso stood in the arena and began chanting. A spinning large magic circle formed on top of his palm. It spun gradually faster and faster, generating air current. Everyone nearby was affected by the wind.

“Rank 1 ice spell: [Icy Spear]!”

A long javelin made of ice was shot from the magic circle. In the blink of an eye, the javelin pierced the wooden dummy all the way to the other side. It matched [Lesser Bolt] in terms of speed. Before the spell went outside, Vauren managed to prevent the spell from traveling further by creating a barrier that surrounded the arena. The javelin shattered into ice pieces upon hitting the barrier.

Everyone was still silent with their mouth gaping open. With an indifferent expression, Calypso turned his head toward Vauren. “What’s my score?”

“I suppose I can make an exception. You have achieved the highest score available, Calriss,” he answered.

“Woah!”

“I can’t believe someone around my age can cast a rank 1 spell!”

“Amazing!”

The crowd cheered and became restless once more. They praised Calypso even more, especially the girls.

“What a monster…” mumbled Brian.

“How did he spin the magic circle like that, Brian?” asked Kane.

“He exerted some mana into the magic circle. Then, you have to be very focused on imagining the circle to spin. It’s one of the advanced techniques that is usually used by adept mages and above,” explained Brian.

“That sounds simple enough.”

“In practice, it’s really hard. First, you need to be able to do the spin. I have been trying for about three years and I can barely do it. After you master that, you need to be able to focus on making the circle spin while battling the opponent. It’s like drawing two different things with both hands at the same time!”

“Hm, I can do that. I mean the analogy,” said Kane.

Brian raised his brows. “You’re ambidextrous, Kane? I thought you’re left-handed after all this time.”

“Before I got injured, I usually did everyday tasks with my right hand. I’ve trained my left hand so that I can relax when an event like this happens.” He pointed at his right arm. The truth was, he used to wield dual weapons, so both hand coordination was required.

“Wow, I didn’t realize that you’ve prepared for everything. Looks like my impressions of you are off again,” said Brian.

The training dummy was removed from the arena, along with the residues from the spells earlier. Vauren stepped on the platform and spoke. “It’s time for the third test. Prepare yourselves because the next test is…” He took a deep breath before continuing.

“A duel.”