n

n

n

"...

"

nEven though the red light was perfectly visible, both the blue-haired and the gold-haired teachers stood up and went to check the dummy, confirming the damages caused by the black-haired student.

n

"Do you want to proceed to the middle-range test?

"

n

"I do.

"

nThe blue-haired woman confirmed with Zoemi, and the boy nodded with a determined expression.

nAnd so, student Zoemi repeated the exact same actions just with the combat dummy placed at one hundred sixty feet away from the starting position.

n

"...whew...

"

nAfter he was done with that one, Zoemi discreetly breathed out with relief as all of his calculations ended up being accurate.

nIf he didn't drink the second mana potion halfway he would end up with an exact one-hundredth of his mana and suffer from the mana depletion, but thankfully he now had exactly five-point- one-tenth of mana left!

nHe was obeying the order of drinking the mana potion when his mana would fall under half of the overall amount and the sobering effects of the potion were keeping his mind clear.

nThough his head was hurting as if he had a migraine.

nZoemi was suffering from a phenomenon that would be later named a mana hangover but also managed to save a single mana potion for the dreaded what-if scenario!

n

"Student Auequas, you seem to be doing very well - do you want to try pushing yourself a bit harder and give the long-range test a try?

"

nThe blue-haired female teacher asked enthusiastically as this was her first real contact with the darkness attribute, and she wanted to learn about its capabilities.

n

"No, I'm sorry teacher Perserios. In the best-case scenario, even if my mana would be enough to send me that far, the second it would run out, the two halves of my body would remain disconnected.... which would at least be a quick death...

"

n

"...!

"

nZoemi breathed out and started massaging his forehead, not really looking at the stunned teacher.

n

"And in the worst-case scenario, I would get stuck inside my shadow and slowly melt by the acidic darkness mana, dying in agonizing pain.

"

nThe black-haired boy finished his explanation, turning his left side to the woman and smiling lightheartedly.

n

"I... see... I apologize...

"

nTeacher Perserios nodded and backed off, with an apologetic expression, clearly feeling very guilty about asking her student if he wants to 'push himself a bit' while in fact, the consequences of doing that could be quite severe.

n

"No, no. It's okay. You see, shadow gate is basically just the shadow jump with a few more steps and is supposed to take only a little bit more mana than shadow jump by itself – but that is the case if I wanted to just pass through it. As you could see, the gate can transport parts of my body without disconnecting them, but while doing so the mana is constantly drained to keep that connection. To tell the truth, I used exactly the same amount of mana I would if I have just shadow jumped back and forth four times over.

"

nZoemi explained the details – revealing probably more than he should if he was hoping for a really good grade - and waited for the decision of the examiners.

n...meanwhile...

nHigh in the sky, Miriette was hovering hidden between the clouds right above the examination grounds and keenly watched her attendant's performance.

n

"Ohohoho!

"

n|Be amazed at how cool my Zoemi is!|

nMiriette put up the back of her hand to her face and laughed without being noticed.

nWhen her attendant was bowing down to the examiners she hurriedly landed a bit further away and straightened her clothes.

nAfter all, she needed to look good when she will go and praised him!

nBecause there was not even a speck of doubt in her mind that he did well.

n---

nMost of the morning had passed with no unexpected situations occurring.

nMiriette was asked a few times to come and watch the performance of a few girls from her cult which she gladly used as a way to spend some more time with her attendant while they stood together observing the examinations.

nMiriette was so complacent with being close that she did not realize that whenever tested student used their spells, Zoemi's eyes would momentarily turn lifeless.

nBut, truth to be told, Zoemi did not realize that either.

n---

nMiriette's turn came about an hour before the lunch break.

nHonestly, she wasn't too excited about this whole magic examination.

nIf it was another normal schoolday she could switch off thinking and instead be sitting in the classroom and watching Zoemi's serious expression when he was taking notes, and his broad back, and...

n

"You can start the close combat test.

"

n

"...tsk...

"

nAn elderly light magician disturbed Miriette's daydreaming and the dark-haired girl got a little, tiny bit, annoyed – and clicked his tongue at him as she faced the target.

n

"Automatic wind slash!

"

nMiriette called in an annoyed voice and a green orb the size of the basketball ball appeared in front of her chest - its surface was distorted as if something violent wanted to burst out from the inside.

n

"Deploy.

"

n*click*

nShe commanded, snapping her fingers, and hundreds of wind blades - that an average wind magician could use thirty at most before their mana was depleted - started pouring out of the orb and cut the enchanted armor into clean thin pieces...

n...as well as as the stand it was placed on, and the ground below it...

n

"!!!!!!

"

nThe examiners were stunned, to say the least – the red-haired male teacher literally dropped his quill and stared at the pitiful remains of the armor still gloving with red light because of the few bits and pieces of the mana crystal still functioning properly.

n

"Hmph!

"

nThe dark-haired girl scoffed and without waiting for the permission of the teachers frozen in place - she turned towards the ranged targets.

n

"Cumulative wind blade.

"

nAt the call of her incantation - the air in front of her quaked and started boiling over.

nThe activating spell created a fifteen-foot wide diagonal blade of compressed wind to appear amidst the mana quake.

n

"?!?!?!?!?!?

"

nKros Rule Shuze stood up from his seat and stared at the girl wide-eyed in disbelief.

nAnd Miriette...

n*THUMP*

nCushioning the PHYSICAL RECOIL that her offensive spell had with a stealthy utility spell she unleashed the green crescent that shoot out with devastating force.

nThe shockwave that was caused by it flying by has shaken the table the examiners were sitting at, sending their papers into the sky.

nBut not even one amongst the three of them combined – they were left speechless after all.

nEvery target except the one prepared for the light magicians extreme-long range test dummy has got cut cleanly in half, emitting a vibrant red light as they fell to the ground.

n

"TSK...!|

"

nMiriette frowned and clicked her tongue especially loud - the wind blade dispersed a few hundred feet before she expected it to.

nThe dark-haired girl squinted her eyes at the only target left.

n

"Free flight.

"

n

"HUUUUH?!

"

nShe said and shoot up into the sky like a rocket, making the shocked teachers cry out in disbelief.

nFlight?

nActual flight and not just levitation?!

n...and while it was just levitation – it was a very hard spell to master and only a few wind magicians ever bother with it – but an actual flight...?!

n---

nWhile Miriette was about the level of the clouds she reached her hand down at the place she estimated that the target was supposed to be – she had a rough estimation thanks to the glowing red points that her earlier targets created, as all were perfectly aligned.

n

"Maelstrom.

"

nShe spoke with cold indifference, reaching her hand and spreading her fingers open towards the ground.

nIn an instant, the clouds that were nowhere to be seen before – gathered, covering the sky, and created an eye-catching pattern that looked like tens of eggs ready to hatch.

nAnd one of them did hatch indeed.

nThe air swept the cloud and swirled down extending a tentacle of wild winds.

nOnce the tentacle reached the ground...

n*RUUUUUMMMBLLLLEEEEEE*

nThe low bellowing sound resounded in the vicinity even before the winds began to whistle and a threatening hurricane formed, connecting the heavens to the earth.

n

"...passable... I should have made more just in case...

"

nMiriette furrowed her brows as she watched and waited for a few seconds before releasing her spell, forcing both the hurricane and the clouds to disperse into nothingness with a benevolent wave of her slender hand.

n

"(Let's get it over with this farce, teachers, please, start the defense test and try to hit me – if you may.)

"

nShe has sent a polite message through the communication spell to the examiners beneath her.

n

"Wind wall.

"

n

"Wind wall.

"

n

"Wind wall.

"

n

"Wind wall.

"

n

"Wind wall.

"

n

"Wind wall.

"

n

"Wind wall.

"

n

"Wind wall.

"

n

"Wind wall.

"

nAnd as she did, she instantly raised her defenses and began flying around dodging the spells coming at her from below.

nThe few that managed to be accurate were ground down by the nine layers of coiling winds around her.

nWhen she landed the elderly light mage hurriedly walked up to her, greatly moved.

n

"Lady Espine, do you mind telling me who was your teacher? Who helped you create those spells? Or did you do it by yourself?

"

n

"Pffft. Myself? Sir, you can't even imagine how hard it was to construct a spell that would compensate for the sudden change in the pressure!

"

nMiriette gave the man a taxing look and snorted.

n

"No, I did not do that alone. First I was aided by sir Vatlo Jora Erest. My fiance, first prince Horeo also helped a bit..

"

nThe dark-haired girl shrugged her shoulders and explained with an indifferent expression – but then her face lighted up with a bright smile.

n

"But the one who spend months and years teaching me about the physic was my attendant - Zoemi Auequas, there isn't a single spell in my arsenal that he didn't help me come up with and test.

"

nShe declared.

n