The examiner was shocked. She was completely and utterly shocked. She had covered many different types of people before for their technique evaluations, and she was relatively well travelled. But this... this was a rarity that she’d only ever witnessed once before.

Even the analysts were blown away.

Beauty and serenity.

That was all there was to it.

Lina’s Siren form carried such a cool and calm presence that even being in her vicinity was enough to bring a gentle calmness to the hearts of all those in the room.

Her once auburn hair had taken on the soft ebb and flow of the night’s ocean as strands of Lina’s hair became reminiscent of the sea’s calm waves. It had turned to a moonlight white that flowed unnaturally. Lina’s once green jade-like eyes quickly morphed into what looked like two incredibly bright pearls. Her skin shimmered as it took on a subtle scale-like quality. The final touch was the pair of gills that opened up on either side of Lina’s neck.

Amy’s Siren form was slightly different to Lina’s. The two of them together represented the suns and the moon. Amy’s divine form was bright, and awe-inspiring. Lina’s was quietly beautiful and serene, which suited her far more than she realised.

The examiner stared at Lina for a second, before snapping herself out of her stupor.

“Ahem. Miss Reen, could you start with the golem and your divine form exclusive spell?”

Lina nodded at her. Her hair seemed to disobey gravity as it floated unnaturally alongside her nodding head.

After a deep breath, Lina began whispering. Her eyes remained closed. As she whispered, the air slowly became frigid. An arcane circle began etching itself into being at Lina’s feet.

The examiner audibly gulped. She took multiple steps back. The analysts were also anticipating something big. The summoning for a golem was always complicated, but to have effects like this before it was even summoned... it could only mean one thing.

Lina’s eyes opened. Her shining pearls glowed a dangerous icy cold hue.

Zero.

The pocket dimension froze over entirely.

The examiner and analysts were fine thanks to the emergency defence system, but true ice completely covered all of the surfaces in the room.

Lina’s golem was mostly through the ceiling. Its humungous feet were the only thing left visible in the room. Shattered pieces of the roof panels lay atop the thick layer of ice that covered the ground.

Lina seemed to not realise the damage that she’d caused. She turned to the examiner and spoke in a voice that quaked throughout the room.

“What should I do next?”

“Ah... hahaha. Whew. I think... we’ll have to do the rest outside...”

Lina was surprised to find that she didn’t feel anxious at the examiner’s words. Maybe it’s my divine form... maybe it makes me feel more confident. I should use this while I can. She nodded at the examiner.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

The portal was the one thing that remained undamaged. Even the training dummy was completely unusable as it was frozen over.

The examiner gestured for Lina to go through first.

But... Lina didn’t want to just leave her golem here. It was a part of her skill, however, that as long as she’d summoned the golem once, it would remain storable and summonable for a day without any more mana usage. Lina held her hand out at the golem.

Its icy body that was too large to even see, broke into shards. The shards flew into Lina’s palm. As the shards entered Lina’s palm, a glowing crescent moon slowly formed on the back of her hand. Once the golem was fully absorbed, the crescent moon dimmed down and waited to be called upon once more.

The analysts and examiner were flabbergasted.

Lina walked through the portal.

The examiner looked at the group of analysts behind her.

“Legendary?”

They all nodded.

Quickly after, they followed Lina through the portal.

Rai pointed at the testing area.

“Look! Lina’s out already... wait... Is that her divine form?! It’s so beautiful!”

“That’s my sister!” Amy proclaimed. Then, she realised that Lina, the shyest and most anxious person she knew, was now in front of the entire student body in her divine form, which Amy felt was more beautiful than her own. She dashed to the railing, “SHIT! THAT’S MY SISTER!”

Sin was just as blown away as Rai. Lina’s beauty was so unbelievable that she’d lost the ability to use words.

The rest of them were the same. Even Tullian, who usually had something to say, had nothing to say. Feris’s eyes were wide open as he worked to mentally re-judge Lina.

Maya, of all of them, had the tamest reaction. At least, that was on the outside.

On the inside, however, Maya was completely losing her shit. WHAT THE FUCK?! SHE’S SO FUCKING HOT! SHE WAS HOT BEFORE BUT NOW SHE’S EVEN HOTTER?! Ah shit. I’m gonna pass out.

She passed out.

Feris noticed as Maya’s head slumped onto the back of her seat in his peripheral vision. He pointed at her and tried to get the others’ attention.

“Hey. This dumbfuck passed out.”

Sin clearly didn’t hear him as she began speaking.

“Hey... doesn’t she look... calm?”

“You’re... right, she does! That’s a bit different, isn’t it?”

Amy jumped back and landed in her seat. She nearly fell over, but managed to keep her balance. After hearing Rai and Sin’s words, she thought that she should explain it.

“She’s like that because of her form. Both of our divine forms are like the suns and the moon. The moon is calm and peaceful, while the suns are a mix of joyous and energetic. That’s probably why.”

Rai and Sin took her words in as they watched Lina. They both wondered what Lina would do next.

No one noticed Feris.

“Fine. I’ll do it myself.” Feris shook Maya awake so that she could watch the rest of Lina’s evaluation.

Maya woke up to Feris shaking her. She immediately turned her attention to Lina and completely ignored Feris after he woke her up.

Feris’s eyebrow twitched. But he let it slide just this once. Under his breath, Feris vented to himself.

“It’s a thankless job you know! Having to babysit you ass clowns. Tch!”

Lina looked around at all of the students in the audience. Most of them looked shocked. The audience itself was mostly quiet at her arrival back into the testing area.

Regardless, Lina didn’t feel much change in her emotional state. Normally she’d be panicking like crazy right now, but she’d grown accustomed to the confidence afforded to her by her divine form.

Lina looked back at the portal, through which the examiner and analysts came.

“We decided the rank for your golem already, so you don’t have to worry about summoning it again.”

“That’s fine. Should I use the other spells on the dummy over there then?” Lina pointed at the dummy.

“Yep! You can use your divine form exclusive spell first. Then we’ll compare your other spells to the ones from before after that for you.”

Lina walked over to the training dummy. But before she cast the spell, she looked back over at her friends. Only now, did a hint of anxiety hit her. Just as easily, however, it faded back into nothingness. Lina looked up at her friends and gave them all a smile.

She returned her focus to the training dummy.

After a deep breath, she was ready. While chanting the spell, Lina’s voice came out as a smooth melody.

Confirma cortus, Confirma mentem.

Gentle motes of moonlight shimmered around the training dummy as it took the buffs that Lina casted unto it and analysed them.

The examiner watched the data with nothing but amazement.

Lina looked over at her for confirmation to use her next spell.

The examiner felt her gaze and looked back. She nodded and shot Lina a thumbs up.

Lina cast the same ice barrier spell that she’d used initially. This time, her voice didn’t carry the same properties of cracking ice as it did once before.

Glacies Atmosphaera

The ice barrier formed instantly. Another difference was the new bumps that appeared repeatedly across the barrier’s surface. Lina lobbed a blank ball of water past the barrier.

One of the bumps instantly extended out as an ice spike that both pierced and froze the water mid-air.

Lina looked back at the examiner. She got the go-ahead to use her next spell.

After releasing the barrier, Lina recreated the ball of water in her hand like she did the first time. Only, this time, the ball of water didn’t duplicate just once. It duplicated five times. All five of the balls of water had the same golden runes floating within them as each other.

Lina shot all five balls of water at the dummy. They all caused the same effect as they had previously.

Phew. Lina took a deep breath. It’s done. I think I managed to complete the evaluation.

The examiner called her over to the table.

Lina went over and listened.

The examiner bowed.

The analysts bowed.

Lina stared at them. She was clearly confused.

The examiner rose and held Lina’s hand as she spoke really fast.

“That was truly, and I really do mean truly, one of the best evaluations I’ve ever seen. I can’t believe you’re only a student! How did you learn all of those techniques?! They’re all so incredible! You should be proud of yourself!”

Lina’s emotional state didn’t change much due to her divine form, but she knew that she must have felt happy.

“Thank you so much! You’re really kind and I’m really happy to hear you say those things!” She beamed at the examiner.

The examiner pointed at the ranking board. “Look. You did this. Well done, because you deserve it so very much!”

Lina couldn’t believe it. Shock invaded her system. Lina’s divine form withdrew itself.

The ranking board said only one thing.

In bright gold letters was her name, Lina Reen.

Above her name was no other. She was the sole holder of first place.

The number ‘4’ appeared next to the star beside her name.

Lina froze.

The examiner pointed at Lina’s friends as she gently turned Lina to look at them.

“Go. They’re celebrating for you, so go and be with them!”

They were jumping and cheering together.

Lina wanted to be there. She wanted to be together with them all.

She internally screamed at her frozen legs to move. Forcefully, Lina dragged a leg forward and took a step. Then another. Then one more. Slowly, Lina started walking towards the stairs. Quickly after, she began to run. Lina almost tripped because she tried to run too hard.

Her eyes became blurrier and blurrier. She wiped them, but they kept getting blurry every time.

The sounds around her completely drowned out. All Lina could hear was her friends cheering for her.

Her run had quickly turned into a sprint.

After a moment, she made it.

Lina leapt onto her friends who were all huddled together and jumping around in joy.

They held their arms out to catch her.

Lina couldn’t feel the floor any more. But she felt the sensation of being held up high. They were all holding her up and parading her around. Part of her wanted to actually tackle them all to the ground since it would’ve been funny, but the other part of her simply enjoyed this.

For once, Lina felt like she deserved the joy that came to her.

After her friends let Lina down, she turned to them.

Her vision was so blurry that she couldn’t even see all of them.

A gentle, caring hand met her face. It wiped away Lina’s unending tears of joy.

“Don’t cry. Right here, right now, we’re all here for you.” Maya’s voice was soft against Lina’s ear.

Lina’s lips quivered as she stared at them all. She went in for a group hug.

They all giggled and laughed together as Rai began tickling them.

Even Feris had joined in. Somewhat. In actuality, he simply leaned his hand on Tullian’s back without actually joining the group hug.

A voice boomed throughout the auditorium, pausing their momentary joy.

“Due to complications with the pocket dimension, the next time slots are being pushed back by fifteen minutes. I repeat, the next time slots are being pushed back by fifteen minutes.”

The group listened to the voice, then they all stared at Lina once it finished speaking.

Rai did his best to stop himself from laughing as he asked what was on all of their minds.

“Lina... what happened in there?”

“I... uh... I think I broke the pocket dimension?”

They all stared at her.

Then they all broke out into hysterical laughter.

Lina giggled alongside them.