n

n

n

"Oh? Why would you think that the equipment is broken? The measurement's result seems pretty much correct to me, though...?

"

nStudent Zoemi tilted his head even more with an innocent expression, well, as innocent as the scars were allowing him to make.

n

"Eh?

"

n

"Huh!?

"

n

"Pardon...?

"

nAll three examiners exclaimed in shock and student Auequas started fidgeting from the embarrassment.

n

"The truth is, that I actually shouldn't have even awakened in the first place. It just so happened that I was present when the first prince Horeo awakened and - in words of lord Lazaram – that event forced my dormant magic ability to awaken because of the correlation between the attributes of light and darkness.

"

n

"Ah! I see I see! Very intriguing indeed!

"

nThe blue-haired teacher started writing something on the papers in front of her with incredible speed and with a flushed face.

nThe red-haired teacher sighed and took only a short note – at which, Kros glanced over his shoulder.

nExtremely weak mana - the note said.

n|Well... as expected... only one three times the amount of a commoner... Maybe this won't be so bothersome as I thought. What could he possibly display with only this much?|

nThe elderly teacher nodded to himself.

nAlthough, something wasn't sitting well with him about what the boy has said.

nThe black-haired student might have not realized it himself but the words of the royal magician weren't as simple as he took them for.

nFirst of all, the darkness was the absence of light – that's the only correlation, even with the element created by mana, the only thing those two attributes had in common was that they were the opposites of each other in nature.

nAnother example of that could be water and fire – but there was no evidence of a fire magician's awakening prompting the awakening of the water magician...

n

"Let's start with the combat exam.

"

n

"...!

"

nKros flinched as his red-haired colleague who certainly did not share his curiosity waved his hand dismissively and hasten the boy.

nHe clearly wanted to be over with that, unimportant student as – just as Kross and the young Perserios - he was far more excited to see the transcended wind magician, and this weak boy was dampening his mood.

n

"Before we start. Am I allowed to use something called mana potions?

"

nThe black-haired student straightened his back and asked in a cautious voice.

n

"Hmm...?

"

nKros raised his brow.

nMana potion?

nWasn't that just the recent fad - a useless gimmick that could only replenish a minuscule speck of mana?

n|Ah... no, wait, for him even that would be a lot...|

nThe elderly magician realized and leaned back on his seat.

n

"There's no rule forbidding them explicitly, hence they are allowed. Feel free to use as many as you want. Now start already.

"

n

"Lord Shuze...!

"

nThe elderly light magician waved his hand dismissively, but his red-haired colleague seemed o mind that for some reason.

n

"Oh, shut it. If this was someone from the important family you would have licked his boots already.

"

n

"...!

"

n

"...pffft...

"

nKros scoffed and didn't allow the red-haired teacher to reject the aid of a mana potion – which left said red-haired teacher speechless while also getting a chuckle barely concealed chuckle of the blue-haired woman from the Perserios family.

n...the red-haired teacher wasn't particularly liked by either the elderly light magician or the water-magician...

n

"...

"

nSince it seemed that there was no problem, after all, student Auequas nodded to the trio of teachers and walked towards the close-combat dummy clad in enchanted armor.

nSince the tuition costs were high the academy hasn't skimped on the equipment either.

nEvery armor that will be used in today's evaluation could withstand a moderate spell with only a scratch and would only dent when faced with a strong spell – to make it even more accurate, the damage that the person wearing such armor would be indicated by the light emitted by the mana crystal the equipment had installed on the inside.

nWhite light – no damage.

nYellow light – a scratch or light-wound at most.

nOrange light – a serious wound very much likely to distract or even incapacitate the target.

nRed light – instant death.

nThe last one was expected to be seen only during the tests of the fire and light attribute students - and the transcended wind magician student too, of course.

n

"...

"

nStudent Auequas breathed out and closed his eyes concentrating on the mental image of the spell he wanted to use.

n

"Darkness blade.

"

nThe scarred boy muttered, barely loud enough for the examiners to understand him.

n

"...this is the feared darkness blade...? I expected more...

"

nAfter the incantation, the black-haired student's attack spell activated and a pitiful four-inch blade emerged from the base of his right palm – prompting the rather unnecessary comment from the red-haired middle-aged teacher.

n

"...?

"

nThe other two might have not noticed anything strange, but Kros had far more experience than both of them combined.

nAs far as he could tell, student Auequas's darkness blade looked...

n...defective...

nKros Rul Shuze had encounters with the darkness magicians in his prime – far more than he ever wished for – and each time any of them would call forth that terrifying spell, it would leave a deep impression on the light magician.

nThe pitch-black darkness that looked like the most intense jet-black silk.

nAnyone looking at it would inadvertently start fearing that their soul might get sucked out if they would not turn away.

nIt was the very spell that the treacherous Ghosts used to massacre the royal family and all the important figures of the Bellcephora kingdom three centuries ago.

nThat spell which was actually supposed to be a condensed darkness attribute mana pushed out of the body of the magician – completely ignored any and all magic defenses of its target and well as most o the physical ones too - and the shape it would take could even be influenced by the magician themself - but that required a much greater amount of mana than an average darkness magician possessed.

nKros Rul Shuze had seen with his own eyes as a much bigger darkness blade cuts through the enchanted armor as if it was paper – and it was a horrifying sight that he wished to forget since the live demonstration he unwillingly witnessed was not done to a test dummy like the one they had prepared for a test, but rather performed on an unexpected living human who happened a dear friend of Kros.

n...and it was a 'demonstration' that resulted in the death of that friend of his...

n

"...

"

nThe elderly magician shook his head to get rid of the unpleasant vision of the past and focus back on the student in front of him.

nThe black-haired boy's darkness blade wasn't anywhere near as dark as the one in Kros's memories.

nIts color was murky and it seemed to fluctuate and it almost seemed that the blade itself would wobble at times as if the mana had troubles staying condensed enough...

n|Is it because he has so little mana...? Will he even be able to deal any damage at all...?|

nThe elderly teacher furrowed his brows, resting his chin on his fist.

nAs far as Kros knew, the secret behind the destructive power of the darkness blade was the corrosive nature of darkness attribute mana that was extremely hard - basically impossible - to counter at close range - but it had to be concentrated - and one created by student Auequas was imperfect in that regard....

n