Chapter Four - Entrance Exam

The examination started promptly after Nagisa's arrival. A short recap was briefly held, re-explaining things for him, since he had arrived late. Afterwards it moved quickly underway with the first task, the written part. This part would be where one would show their knowledge of core magic and abilities, it was a standard part that covered multiple scenarios; whether it be combat, survival tactics and efficient usage of your own magical power.

Nagisa mischievously smiled once the material was given to him. Even the advanced section appeared to be easy. Basic magic covered. Advanced magic covered. Magical circuits and training covered. Battle techniques and strategies. It all appeared to be a walk in the park for Nagisa who had bookworm all the books he could find in his old village's library. After having the papers briefly flicked for a sneak peak at all the questions his hand and pencil never stopped to rest a second.

It took a couple of minutes for Nagisa to finish all the examination questions. He walked up to the teacher's desk and handed in the paper.

"Are you really done, or just playing?"

The teacher asked with a frown, since only a mere ten minutes had passed.

"Yeah, where is the next test?"

It gained everyone's attention. The teacher shook his head.

"There is no way you are already finished, this would set a record within the academy's entrance exam…"

He continuously shook his head and then reached for Nagisa's test papers. He flicked through them in the same fashion Nagisa did earlier and dropped his jaw. All questions were filled, and from the slight glance of it, they were remarkably done.

"... Wait in the area down the hall, the next test shall be held there."

The teacher sighed in response and held a regretful hand over his face. Nagisa walked across the examination room, and when he reached to walk past Sakaki's desk, he exerted a small grin as to tell him, 'I just beat you'.

This made Sakaki put on an infuriating and cold face with an added late twisted smile, both knew he was cracking up inside, laughing at this endeavour.

Nagisa made way through the hallway and reached a secluded area. Once he entered it, a new supervisor greeted him and told him to proceed to the enclosed room within the area for the next test whenever he is ready. Without much further ado Nagisa did not raise any questions, and proceeded as instructed forward. Once he entered the room, it immediately closed and a voice radiated throughout the room.

"Initiating target practice, please hit the targets with both efficient power and accuracy if possible. Also dodge as many hits as you can. Your results will affect your final score!"

A voice spoke out and a noise was heard throughout the room, alike gears grinding together, building something up. Magical illusions of various silhouettes appeared throughout the room.

"3… 2… 1… Go!"

Numbers appeared and vanished before Nagisa's eyes, and the silhouettes started rotating, moving in one by one. Each silhouette had an indicator of a precise slice of how they would like you to cut the target.

[Wind Imbued Weapon, Rank One]

Nagisa blessed his weapon with wind to help break the enchanted armor. It now had a misty white glow around it, as if wind was coating it.

[Wind Enhanced Armor, Rank One]

He blessed his own armor versus hits and made it slightly glow. Each element had an unique feature to blessings or enchantments. Wind helped further your mobility, and speed up your movement speed, whereas other elements would enhance different attributes.

There was no time to really think, however there was one vital question Nagisa had to ask.

"Can you guys see me in this room? Or just the results of the practice targets?"

The system came back on and answered him.

"Only the AI system can view you, however the rest will only have your results available to them, as there would be magical interferences if more than a person was in here due to magical coating on the walls and how the system runs."

Nagisa smiled instantly.

"Excellent."

[Arcane Awakening], [Arcane Imbuement]

The Arcane power within Nagisa awakened, allowing him to view things differently. Everything felt like he was back home; training cutting the fallen leaves from the trees he would kick hard on occasion to practice with his sword. He could anticipate how the wind blew and drifted the leaves for a perfect cut wherever he saw fit on the fallen leaves. The Arcane imbuement furthered a rank each on his wind enchantments, and both the armor and weapon developed a further glow as they were buffed to Rank Two.

After Nagisa had finished it, he dashed towards the targets who responded in a similar fashion to his. The various magical embodied silhouettes aimed at different spots for him to dodge precisely and were not easily targetable. However there were few gaps between each thrust or attempted blow, that Nagisa found to exploit and made precise cuts on his own.

Target by target fell. Diagonal shoulder cut. Deep thrust into the knee cap from an above angle. Sever the torso by its side. One by one, the targets approached Nagisa and fell. It was up to his final target that an additional appeared behind him from the shadows as he was occupied striking mid-air by the target in front of him with no other alternative to finish the first one.

"Ah… shit!"

Nagisa screamed as he tried to outmaneuver and deal the blow to dismiss its summon before he was hit. A resounding sound spread through the practice room.

"Test complete! Final score, 103%!

He scratched his head. That score seemed a bit off. Was the final target he managed to deal with a bonus one?

The teacher applauded him by the exit and the rest of the examinees had finished their paperwork by the time Nagisa was done as well.

"103%?! Is your system faulty or something?"

Daiki protested. The teacher informed them, that if you managed to complete it, there was a hidden mechanic which was deemed unavoidable and turned to Nagisa.

"How did you manage to deal with the blow from behind?"

The teacher asked him up front.

"It is a family secret."

Nagisa smiled and asked for the next examination part. This put back the expression Sakaki had made earlier when Nagisa yet again decided to smugly pass him with the same smile as previously.

"Your next, right?"

Nagisa asked, challenging Sakaki. This made him laugh out uncontrollably and then head in to the room with an unyielding focus. Coming from a noble house, it would be expected from him to perform well.

Sakaki went in and asked the system immediately to authorize the hidden mechanic no matter the results. He was informed by it, that it could be lowered if he acquired a ninety percent ratio by the end. No matter what happened, Sakaki would not try to allow a mere outsider be the only one who beat the hidden implemented mechanic of the exam.

Meanwhile Nagisa asked around a bit.

"Hey, your name was Daiki right? What is the deal with your friend."

Nagisa casually approached him.

"Deal? He is the third noble son from his family, the Kanno family. He does not have time to deal with twelps like you!"

Daiki rudely answered and gestured back. After a few minutes had passed, Sakaki had finally reached the final stage and smiled.

"This ought to show him!"

Sakaki self-declared as the system informed him of the final target approaching at rapid speed.

"Piece of cake!"

He swung his sword inside the practice room alone to make sure he hit the final target before it hit him, however the hidden target now appeared from the shadows.

"Oh, shit!"

Sakaki finished the swing and tried to flick a panicky flick of an attempt, to try and block the one approaching his rear from behind.

"Test complete! Final Score 100%!

An infuriating Sakaki exited the room and walked up to Nagisa.

"How did you do it? There is no way! And I have the Fire Element awakened, my reactions should be bolstered higher than yours!"

Sakaki grabbed immediately Nagisa's shirt and pulled it up, looking down on him, being slightly a few centimeters taller and caused a scene.

"Well… Let's just say, I have my own tricks up my sleeve?"

Nagisa smugly smiled. The teacher broke them loose, and the rest of the students went in one by one. During this time, Nagisa chose to take a break and was informed he could attend to the cafeteria and eat. He ordered some light bread and ate bits by bits of it while walking back to await at the final room.

In the final examination room there was an orb, and a magical enhanced dummy besides it. It was held in an open area outside the academy, it looked like a practice ground.

"Alright, now that you are all here, I would like to thank you all for participating in the exam so far. Your results will be instantly informed as soon as you strike the dummy behind me, please use the wooden sword next to it for an accurate measurement."

The first examiner was back and informed them.

"The results will go as following, you will need in total a combined points of a 200 out of 280, plus the three hidden that were available. In the two previous exams the max score was a 100. In this final one you may only receive a total of 80. That is all, good luck to you all!"

Sakaki went first and took charge. He held his hand over the orb as instructed before. It showed one's affinity, Sakaki's being fire and how high his aptitude for magic was. A strong glow was shown for both, making the orb turn into red. This showed that he was indeed a Fire Elementalist and with a high aptitude for magic.

Sakaki braced his sword and enchanted it.

[Fire Imbued Weapon, Rank Two]

People began to discuss his back.

"Already rank two?"

"As expected from a noble stemming from the Kanno family!"

He concentrated deeply then stroke the target with a beautiful diagonally cut from the right shoulder all the way down through the bottom of the torso.

"Test complete! Your final score is; 87, 100, 80, a total of 267."

People applauded. Anyone who reached a score over 260 was considered a prodigy. Afterwards one by one went, but they could only range scores of 220-240. Over half of the examinees had failed. In the end only about one third was left behind.

It was finally time for Nagisa's turn. Sakaki relaxed, loitering with his back against the wall with a face saying 'Try to beat me now!'.

"Relax… Nagisa patted him on the shoulder."

And smiled again as he passed him by. He held his hand over the orb. It gave a white and weakened mist. It showed that his element was Wind and that he had low aptitude for magic. Sakaki immediately burst into a laughter.

"Wind?! How did you manage to score higher than me! It must be a joke! Even your aptitude fails you! Did you cheat or something?"

Nagisa shook his head in response.

"Tss.. tss…"

He shook his finger.

"Watch and learn!"

[Arcane Awakening], [Arcane Imbuement]

Nagisa imbued his weapon again, and he whispered first the Arcane spells before imbuing his weapon, concealing it was Rank Two.

[Wind Imbued Weapon, Rank One]

His focus became unyielding, and an aura was felt throughout the room, then he stroke the dummy in a similar fashion of Sakaki's on purpose to piss him off further. Sakaki dropped a small drop of sweat.

"There is no way this guy is beating me!"

Sakaki mumbled to himself.

"Test complete! Your final score is; 100, 103…"

Everyone gulped and started discussing.

"Wait he did 100 on the first test as well?"

"He was the one who completed in the 10 first minutes right?!"

Sakaki tightly enveloped his hands into two fists in anticipation.

"3, a total of 206."

The same system AI voiced as in the second examination room. A small moment passed in pure and utter silence, then it all collapsed.

"3?! 206?! You have the lowest of the people passing!"

A guy started laughing and others joined in.

"3? How can you be so pitiful!"

Sakaki put his palm over his face in a dreadful gesture.

"To think I was worried for a second!"

Sakaki started walking away from the open practice grounds with Daiki laughing beside him.

"3?! Is that not like… the lowest in the history of this academy?!"

A lot of people began discussing. It made no sense to the whole lot of them. The teacher managed to quiet everyone down minutes after the event had passed.

"Ahem… Congratulations to those of you who have passed, you may enroll into the academy. You will find your belongings have already been transported to your new dormitories that are on the right-wing on this academy."

Nagisa was unable to utter a word. How could he only score 3 at the end? His mind was shattered and going through the motions as he replayed the smug smile on his face and how it all had broken down. It was perfect during the two first exams, however the third one had failed horribly. He had even imbued it to Rank Two just like Sakaki did! On top of it he managed to hid his Arcane spell abilities.

Nagisa was still in slight shock until the teacher snapped him out of it, by a simple pat on his shoulder.

"It happens, at the very least you have very fine skills you have hovered to make up for your aptitude being poor. Everyone else have left, I suggest you do the same and meet up with that werebeast girl of yours."

The teacher tried to consolidate Nagisa slightly. Nagisa took his leave and the principal arrived from the shadows.

"Greetings Principal Ito"

He bowed once he realized the principal had appeared behind him.

"Spare me the greeting, and call me Ozora. Now tell me, were the crops fine this year?"

The teacher nodded.

"And who was that last young boy, he seems promising, his technique was phenomenal, I believe he was the highest scorer?"

Ozora inquired about the young boy who left last.

"Sorry to disappoint you, he was the lowest scorer of the ones that passed this year, despite scoring perfectly on the two tests, his last one only scored a low 3 at the end."

The teacher corrected the principal in a respectful manner. This made Ozora laugh.

"Look at the dummy! One touch and it will shatter in pieces!"

A still laughing principal pointed at the practice dummy.

"That can not be right…"

The teacher walked up and touched the dummy which instantly shattered into pieces.

"But how… it is magically enforced to not be able to break by below Rank Three Magic?"

He gasped in shock, looking at the tattered pieces which used to constitute a perfectly fine practice dummy.

"He magically severed its magical bonds and hit it in on the sweet spot!"

Ozora explained to the dumbfounded teacher who was still in awe.

"... Is that really possible?"

He asked and the principal nodded.

"The machine did not recognize the number, the 3 is a faulty, I believe it should have been a 83 which is an error from the AI."

The principal explained further.

"83?! He would have then scored a total of 286! That is a perfect and unheard of score! He cleared both secret levels on the two final exams! Does that mean we have a prodigy on our hands Ozora?"

The teacher said yet again flabbergasted by his own cluelessness at the result of the student which was thought to have a low aptitude.

"Make sure to not to alter the test results, in reality he should have been the rank one student coming in this year, but keep him at last for now!"

Ozora demanded and the teacher nodded.

"But what kind of magic did he use?"

He asked Ozora a final question who was already leaving.

"That is for him yet to reveal, I have a slight clue, but it will be more entertaining for the rest to have the young boy come forth himself and unravel his magic before us!"

Ozora laughed and disappeared instantly, leaving the teacher still shaking his head in disbelief to what the future had still in store for the young boy.