The class schedule was split up so that the academic courses were covered in the morning while magic, combat, and other practical classes were covered in the afternoon. The class was lined up in a room with a large clear orb floating in the center while waiting for their first aptitude test.

“This test consists of three portions,” said the second instructor. “The first is a simple measurement of your mana output, the second is a check of basic magic skills, and the third is a test of your combat prowess. I am Instructor Jane Howitts, and I shall be your proctor for the first portion. As I call your names, step forward. The test is simply to place your hand on the orb and allow it to draw upon your mana. It will measure you and display two numbers. The first number indicates your output per second and the second indicates your capacity.”

Instructor Howitts began calling out names. One by one, each student stepped forward. Doran went first and placed his hand on the orb. It read 1425K and 150B.

So, it truncates with letters. That does make reading the results easier.

“That’s quite high,” said the instructor as she recorded the result. “Next.” Michelle went next and received a result of 1475K and 180B. “Oh, yours is even higher.” The instructor recorded the result and called for the next student. “You Drachenheim royals seem to be setting precedence.” Danielle scored 1290K and 135B, Michael scored 1270K and 140B, and Elizabeth scored 1460K and 165B. Liliana and Aliana each scored 4630K and 700B.

“Wow...” several in the class were outright shocked at their results compared to the others.

“Oh, my. The bar is quite high now,” the instructor said.

Once it was Alethea’s turn, she approached the orb and began to channel white mana, but it only showed “???” briefly before it shattered.

“Uh...”

“If I were to hazard a guess,” Instructor Howitts said. “I would say that the orb is simply not able to process your white mana. Your profile shows you have all affinities, so for now, use whichever one you are most proficient with. Instructor Line, if you would please.”

Instructor Line nodded and cast a quick spell to transport another orb into the room.

Alethea nodded and channeled neutral mana into the new orb. It read 18925K before shattering again.

“At least we acquired one measurement. I’ll consult with the other instructors on what to do about this. For now, we must continue. Last is Lady Kye Akari, please step forward after Instructor Line summons another orb.”

Kye nodded and waited.

“Wow, your control of neutral mana is that high?” Doran said. “I can only imagine how powerful your white mana must be. I must admit I’m quite jealous of it.”

“Yes, my capability with white mana is much higher and I’m certain that my high score in neutral mana can mostly be attributed to that as well. My body is accustomed to white mana, so everything else comes easy as well.”

“Lucky,” Danielle mumbled.

After Line summoned another orb, Kye stepped forward. The highest so far after Alethea was Lily and Ally, and none came even close to them. Alethea’s score was rather significant as expected, but that’s nothing compared to her white mana. She probably won’t be too happy if I go too much higher... but if I wasn’t already sure about easing the attention around her... She’s been getting pestered all day! I’ll take some heat off her no matter what. Kye touched the orb and received a result of 95000K before it shattered.

“Heilige scheiße!” Isabel exclaimed. Others echoed similar reactions.

While she maintained the outward illusion of a proper royal, Kye mentally smirked. That’ll do. Alethea gave her a look that was unmistakably saying “I’m gonna get you for that.”

“Are you the second white mana user?” Michelle asked bluntly. “Your score is far too absurd for a sixteen-year-old under normal circumstances.”

“If you’ll recall, the second white mana user wishes to remain anonymous,” Kye replied. “Regardless of if I answered yes or no, you wouldn’t know for sure until the second user is observed in the act.”

“So, you are then.”

Kye sighed. “Believe what you want. The fact of the matter is that I’ve trained since I was three with Lady Allison Barrett. She’s my maternal aunt, as I’m sure you’re aware.”

“Princess Kye has also invented a new method of enchanting manasteel,” Liliana said.

“Yes, there’s that, too. Just enchanting those ingots with regular mana was taxing enough, but I over-enchanted them with divine mana to create a more durable weapon.”

“I cannot accept that that’s enough to account for such a massive difference,” Elizabeth said. “You far exceeded what the known white mana user scored. In fact, you exceeded the rest of the class combined by nearly double!”

“That’s eno-,” Instructor Line said.

“Michelle, Elizabeth, cease this at once!” Doran commanded. “You are royals, act like it. We know very little of her abilities and it’s already evident that she is formidable. Rather than putting her on the spot and demanding answers to what you deem ridiculous, you should instead ask how you can improve. It’s clear that she’s done something right that the rest of us haven’t.”

Kye was shocked at Doran’s defense. I already think you’re cute, now you’re defending me?

“Indeed,” Instructor Line said. “The individual circumstances of any one student are nobody’s business. Whatever Lady Kye went through to manage a score like that is none of our business. The only fact that matters is that she is both powerful enough to manage that score and shatter the orb before it could measure her capacity. And as she said, the second white mana user wishes to remain anonymous.”

Michelle and Elizabeth glared at Kye, unwilling to accept her denial. Kye paid them no mind, and the instructors didn’t want to linger on the topic.

“Moving on...” Instructor Howitts said. “I need to go to the next class for measurements. Instructor Line will be your proctor for the remaining two tests.” Howitts teleported.

Instructor Line cleared her throat and explained the second phase, “The next test will be in the training grounds. How quickly you arrive will be included in your scores. I will teleport there ahead of you.” She formed a ball of mana in her hand and left it suspended in front of her. “Once this disappears, you may begin. Good luck!” She teleported.

“That was rather abrupt,” said one of the noble students.

“I like it simple,” Doran said.

“It’s fizzling out, get ready!” Danielle added.

The ball disappeared with an audible pop and the class instantly rushed out. Kye, Liliana, Aliana, and Alethea simply teleported to the training grounds after the rest of the class ran out of the room.

“I expected you two would be among the first to arrive,” Line said, looking between Kye and Alethea. “Though, I didn’t expect more than you to be capable of teleportation.”

“My attendants have trained with me. They are quite capable,” Kye replied.

“I see. That combined with their impressive mana scores has earned them a spot on my higher expectations list.” As she glanced between the four students before her, Line noticed Kye had attendants present but Alethea did not. “Alethea, where are your attendants?”

“They are around. I imagine at least one is watching from atop one of the buildings. They are not students, so they must keep their distance while I am in class.”

“I see.”

“In my case, my attendants are students, the same age, and have been all but inseparable since we were little, thus they’ll be here all the time,” Kye said.

“We are Princess’s attendants, training partners, family, and closest friends!” Aliana spoke with stars in her eyes.

“You’re my only friends,” Kye said. She glanced at Alethea, who was bothered by that comment. “Well, not anymore.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Line said, “I’m curious as to what your relationship is. One of you is a white mana user and the other has mana capabilities unheard of for a first year. And, I’ve noticed you four have been together everywhere today.”

Without skipping a beat, Kye said, “We occupy two of the large suites on one end of our dorm. We got to know each other yesterday and dueled this morning. We hit it off right away.”

“So, you are the center of gossip from this morning’s duel. I’ve been hearing about that all morning. Some of the older students said there was some girl akin to a Goddess of Light that was able to hold her own in a match against a white mana user. Considering your scores, it makes sense now.”

“...they’re calling me a...” Kye sighed, not bothering to even repeat it. Alethea gave her a sympathetic smile while Aliana asked for permission to correct the gossiping students. Kye told them to leave it alone just as the Drachenheim quintet arrived.

“How the hell did you get here so fast?” Michelle blurted out, not even bothering to mask her displeasure.

“We teleported,” Alethea answered with a shrug.

“You already know how to do that?” Danielle asked. “Your mana is insane, and you can teleport...? What kind of training have you had?”

“Lady Astarte has put me through rather rigorous training since I was three years old.” She gave her an apologetic smile, knowing that wasn’t the answer she was looking for. The Drachenheim group all eyed Kye next. She felt daggers coming from their eyes.

Kye shrugged. “Same, but with Lady Allison.”

“Hmm, Lord Drangan trained us, but we didn’t start until age seven,” Michael said. “Three years is quite significant.”

“You’re also lazy, Michael,” Michelle said. “You saw my score. You just didn’t work hard enough. Though, even my score is a far cry from any of their scores.”

Michelle and Michael bickered like the siblings they are and carried on until the rest of the class arrived. The instructor coughed loudly to interrupt them. “The last of your classmates are arriving.” The two nodded and waited quietly for the next phase of the test. Now that everyone had caught up, Line directed the group toward the training grounds. Inside were several target dummies resembling scarecrows. The class stood near the door.

“This must be the magic casting phase,” Michelle said.

“Indeed,” the instructor replied. “As I call your names, you’ll step forward and unleash a single offensive spell. As you’ve surely noticed, there are many targets. You may unleash a single massive attack on one or a wide area attack to hit them all. This isn’t a competition, and I don’t need the school blown away, so those of you that are more capable... keep it manageable.” Kye, Alethea, Liliana, and Aliana all froze in their tracks. “Any volunteers to go first?” A handful of students stepped forward. “You may go first. State your name and cast your spell.”

“Rika Tachibana of Nippon Sekai.”

I wonder how much she’s progressed since we last sparred. Her mana is comparable to most of the class, but Rika was trained by Lady Ginchiyo and is quite clever with her spells.

“Show us what you’ve got.”

Rika stepped forward and raised her hand. Electric sparks appeared around her body as she prepared her attack. Once she was ready, she quickly lowered her hand with her index and middle fingers pointing at the target dummy. “Ikazuchi.” A bolt of lightning shot out from her fingertips and hit the target dummy in the center before splitting off and hitting all the other targets. Nothing was left but mana residue.

She opted for a simple spell with precise control. That’s very like her. I was hoping she’d do something more flashy, but since this is just a she went with control rather than power.

“Well done, you destroyed them all.” Line snapped her finger and more target dummies appeared as if out of nowhere to replace those that were destroyed. “Next. State your name and have at it.”

“Colton Becker,” said a brown-haired boy. He formed a rock between his hands and after a few moments of concentration he launched it above the center target dummy. “Rain of Stone.” As the rock flew over the central target dummy, it exploded into shards that shredded all of the target dummies.

Impressive. No shards flew in any direction that had no target. He’s clearly practiced that spell.

“You are one of the commoner scholarship students, according to your profile,” the instructor said. “I’m quite pleased seeing a commoner control magic so precisely.”

“Yes, Ma’am. I hail from the countryside beyond the mountains to the west of the capital.”

“Keep up the good work.”

He bowed and stepped back into the crowd to make way for the next student.

“Luka Romanov of Alcanus.” He formed a blade of water in front of him. “Blade Dance.” Suddenly, he shoved his hand forward and the blade rocketed forward, splitting into several smaller blades and slicing each target dummy to shreds.

“Well done.” The instructor noted his performance and then added aloud, “This class seems to be setting a precedent of destroying all the targets. The bar is rather high right from the start. Next”

Liliana stepped forward next. “Liliana Venturi of Nippon Sekai. Flare.” She held out her hand and launched a simple, yet powerful, ball of golden fire at the central target dummy. The ensuing explosion incinerated all of the targets.

“Alaira Marshall of Alcanus.” She threw the same golden fireball as Liliana.

The rest of the class went before Kye and Alethea. Each of the Drachenheim royals used a different element to complete the test. Doran used an explosive fire spell, Danielle used a water blade spell, Elizabeth casted a ball lightning spell, Michael threw a boulder that grew until it smashed everything, and Michelle used a simple wind spell. Aliana went after the Drachenheim royals and disintegrated them all with a dark mana attack. Kye and Alethea elected to use the same basic-tier Flare that Liliana and Alaira had used. Kye’s was with light mana and Alethea’s with white mana.

“Very good, that’s everyone.”