Genius Wizard Hides His Sword Skills [EN]: Chapter 27

27. What Happened During the Test (2)

“Hoo. I’m nervous.”

Drew’s sigh tickled my ear.

“Don’t be too nervous. At least the first test is a written exam.”

The first subject was Professor Andrei’s ‘Introduction to Attributes.’ Since it was a theory class, there was no need to use magic separately.

“Okay, take one sheet each.”

The young professors, acting as instructors, handed out the papers. Once all the students had their papers and were seated on the floor, Associate Professor Midran activated amplification magic.

“Professor Andrei is not present, but he has passed the questions on to me. From now on, I will recite them, and you are to write your answers on the paper.”

The eyes of all the students sitting on the floor were focused on his mouth. After taking a breath, Associate Professor Midran looked at the note in his hand and announced, “Fire, Water, Wood, Earth. Describe the correlation between the four attributes.”

The students began to buzz at the question.

‘Correlation, huh…’

It was difficult to grasp the true meaning of the question. Andrei had posed a tricky question without even explaining what the correlation was about.

Seeing the students struggle to write down their answers, Associate Professor Midran, feeling a bit sorry for them, spoke again. “As a hint, you can write about the superiority between attributes.”

Only then was the intention of the question understood.

‘Which attribute wins against which, that’s what he’s asking.’

The students hurriedly began writing down their answers.

‘Of course, water is superior to fire, and fire is superior to wood…’

That’s what Andrei intended, and that’s what the other students would be writing.

‘That’s not enough.’

But my answer couldn’t be that simple. My goal was to get first place in Andrei’s test.

‘I can’t catch him off guard with a typical answer.’

After a moment of contemplation, I carefully wrote down each word.

[Huh? If you write it like that, you won’t even get last place, let alone first place, right?]

Oberon tilted his head, puzzled by my answer.

‘I have to write at least this much to get some attention, right?’

Only one sentence was written on the paper.

– There is no absolute correlation between the Fire, Water, Wood, and Earth attributes.

Instead, I cast a spell on the test paper. A small pattern sparkled on the paper, then was soon absorbed and disappeared. It was a magic I had seen in an ancient language book.

[What are you doing?]

‘I have to prove to Andrei later that what I said is correct.’

It was a means to prove my logic. While the other students were diligently writing their answers, I finished the first test by secretly planting a spell.

“Okay! Stop now! I will collect the test papers. Professor Andrei will do the grading. If you have any complaints about the score, go and ask him directly.”

* * *

The second test was mana manipulation.

‘Finally, a practical exam.’

Alois stepped forward, replacing Associate Professor Midran. As expected, he had amplification magic active on his neck.

“The stones you see in front of you are all mana stones. As you all know, they are stones containing mana. We will test your mana manipulation ability with these.”

He pointed to the mana stones in front of him. Forty blue stones were lined up in a row.

“I’ll show you an example first.”

With that, Alois closed his eyes. He stretched out his right hand and released mana.

Whoosh!

The first mana stone reacted to his mana and turned blue.

Whoosh!

The second and third mana stones also turned blue.

“Wow…”

Soon, all 40 mana stones were glowing blue. The students gathered in the outdoor training ground let out a low exclamation at the sight.

I didn’t know how difficult that was, but everyone could tell that his skills were top-notch.

“Hoo. Did you see that? Now you have to do the same. The more mana stones you light up, the higher your score.”

Alois distributed 20 mana stones to each class.

“It would take all day to test 100 people individually, so let’s do it by class.”

That’s how a total of four rows of mana stones were created. At the end of each row, young professors stood guard for scoring.

From then on, a blue mana wave swept through the outdoor training ground.

Whoosh!

Mana stones vibrated from all directions. However, not many students could create a spectacle like Alois. Most of them were only lighting up about 10 mana stones.

‘Oh, this one might be worth watching.’

Next was the turn of a student named Tony Glun, who had a talent for the wind attribute.

“How many can he do?”

Even Drew and the other students were paying attention to the situation.

Whoosh!

The mana stone reacted quickly. A mana manipulation ability that was clearly different from the other students.

“Wow!”

The cheers of the classmates erupted loudly. In the end, Tony lit up all twenty mana stones.

‘I think their family was founded not long ago [referring to a newly established noble family].’

A fairly decent magical talent. Alois, who was standing in the center watching the overall situation, was also looking at this place. Then, Alois shifted his gaze slightly and looked at me.

‘He’s putting a lot of pressure on me.’

It was as if he was saying that I had to do at least that much. But his gaze didn’t stay on me for long.

“Wow!”

“That’s amazing!”

It was because of the cheers coming from the side.

‘Oh, did that side go all the way to the end too?’

I checked the student who had just taken the test. I didn’t know the skills of the other classmates well, so I needed to know which student had outstanding talent.

‘……Oh ho. That guy deserves it.’

Only then did I nod my head. It was McDuff.

[That rascal’s skills have improved quite a bit. It seems like practicing mana with Liu helped.]

‘I guess so. He doesn’t have talent to be ashamed of anywhere.’

Thanks to that scene, I felt more comfortable rather than anxious.

‘I’ve always won against McDuff, so this means my skills are good enough.’

It was the first time I had tried this method, so I was a little uneasy. But I didn’t think I couldn’t do what McDuff had done.

“Okay, next. Ian Delema!”

The young professor standing in front of our class called my name.

‘Let’s give it a try.’

After taking a breath.

Whoosh!

I immediately released mana.

‘What is this? Is it really this easy?’

The blue light emanating from the mana stones spread rapidly. The stones were being dyed a much deeper color than Tony had managed to achieve.

Wooong!

Eventually, the twentieth mana stone shone, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Wow! Did you see that guy?”

“So fast!”

“And the light was so intense!”

The cheers that started within our class quickly spread throughout the outdoor training ground.

[That’s a bit overwhelming, isn’t it?]

‘I’m confident in my mana control, at least.’

Of course, I hadn’t expected it to be this easy. Maybe that’s why.

[Why is he acting like that again?]

Oberon pointed to a spot. There, I saw Alloy [the professor’s name] with his mouth hanging open again.

‘Our Professor Alloy seems to be in shock… again.’

My lips naturally curled into a smile at his changing expression.

‘This means I’ll probably be in first place, right?’

Even if we both resonated with all twenty mana stones, there was a clear difference in intensity.

‘Now I can relax and watch.’

McDuff, visible in the distance, seemed to have sensed his defeat, sighing and hanging his head.

* * *

The test ended quickly.

“Everyone is more skilled than I thought. To think that five people resonated with all twenty stones.”

As Alloy said, five students had managed to resonate with all the mana stones.

However, none of them had caused as strong a reaction as I did. With Alloy’s closing remarks, the test seemed to be coming to an end.

“Professor Alloy! How will first place be decided, then?”

It was Tony Glun who raised his hand and asked the question.

“Huh? First place?”

Alloy furrowed his brow, looking puzzled. It was obvious to everyone that I should be in first place, so he must have found the question strange.

“Yes. Since five people reached all twenty, is it a joint first place?”

“Hmm….”

“The scoring criteria you mentioned at the beginning was the number of mana stones resonated with, right?”

That was a valid point. After all, the scoring criteria Alloy had mentioned didn’t include reaction speed or intensity.

“Alright. That’s a reasonable question. Then let’s have a separate additional evaluation for you five.”

As Tony suggested, Alloy gathered all 80 mana stones and lined them up in a row.

‘That little brat is being annoying.’

[This should settle it.]

The five students gathered in front of the mana stones. The other students crowded around to watch.

‘Alright. I’ll show you who’s on top.’

The first to step forward was a silver-haired girl from another class. The mana stones reacted gently, stopping just past twenty.

“Oh! Well done. You managed to resonate with twenty-three.”

With Alloy’s encouragement, the next turn came. It was a boy, also from another class.

“Hmm. That’s a bit of a shame. You got twenty-two.”

The boy with particularly dark skin looked disappointed as he returned to his seat.

[Next up is the troublemaker.]

McDuff stepped up for his turn as the third one.

Woo Woong!

The mana stones reacted much more violently than they had for the previous students.

[Wow. The troublemaker is doing well!]

The vibrations spread quite far.

“Oh! You did twenty-eight! You’re in first place so far.”

Alloy gave him generous praise.

“Hoo….”

Tony seemed nervous at McDuff’s performance, taking a deep breath. As the next in line, he strode forward.

“Alright. Tony Glun. Show off your skills to your heart’s content.”

With Alloy’s words, Tony unleashed his mana.

‘Oh, he’s good.’

Woo Woong!

In an instant, he surpassed the number of the two students before him, reaching the twenty-fifth stone.

“Ugh…!”

However, that seemed to be his limit, as cold sweat poured down his body.

He was exerting himself so much that his body trembled, but he couldn’t move forward any further.

Woo… Woo….

At that moment, the twenty-sixth stone flickered. But that was the end. Tony had already exhausted all his mental strength.

“Well done, Tony. I’ll acknowledge the last one as a success.”

Tony hung his head, seemingly in despair. Since he scored lower than McDuff, even if I didn’t do well, first place was out of the question for him anyway.

‘Hoo. Your big brother will show you how it’s done, so watch closely.’

I walked past the dejected guy and approached the mana stones.

“Ian, start.”

There was a strange expectation in Alloy’s eyes as well. I was also curious about how many I could resonate with.

Woo Woong!

I extended my mana and began to resonate with the mana stones. I approached not as fast as before, but carefully and deliberately.

Naturally, I easily surpassed twenty, and the twenty-sixth stone, Tony’s record, wasn’t too difficult to reach either.

[Oh, if you go a little further, you’ll surpass McDuff.]

‘That’s enough.’

It still felt too easy.

Woo Woong!

Beyond twenty-eight, even reaching thirty didn’t require much effort.

[Are you going to do better than Alloy at this rate?]

It might be possible. This wasn’t an area of implementing magic, but simply an area of resonating with Ki [life force/energy]. Perhaps I, who am sensitive to Ki, could demonstrate even greater ability.

That was when everyone’s attention was focused on me.

When the thirty-second mana stone was vibrating.

The clear sky darkened slightly.

Perhaps because the surroundings darkened, the glowing mana stones seemed to shine even brighter at that moment.

“It’s, it’s the Circle [a protective magical barrier]!”

With someone’s shout, I understood why the sky had darkened.

Koo-ooo!

It was because of the dozens of magic bundles pouring down onto the outdoor training ground.