Serenity - 2

For the remaining days, we somehow managed to get together and work on our positioning and tactics, overall increasing our teamwork. Thankfully, I had time to work on myself too, but I still couldn't make any achievements that I can call achievements on my research. I wanted to heal others, so why was I born without any affinity for light..?

At the day of the of the first test, unlike us, the other groups weren't really balanced. So, we decided to take advantage of that. We would shift our focus to the group that poses the most danger to us, with Cassius and Lorenzo leading in front. I would protect Althea with my magic if they decided to attack our mage, since my role is more that of a supporting mage.

The test was about to start. There were three more groups ahead of us. A group full of swordsman, a group with a balanced composition, and a group with 3 mages and 1 swordsman. Just before we started, the supervising teacher handed all the groups different colored shirts. Our group was yellow. The group full of swordsman were red, the group with the balanced composition was blue, and the last group was green.

With the sound of the flintlock shooting, all the swordsman rushed towards the middle of the arena, and Althea and I supported our group from the back lines.

"I'm going to charge up a powerful magic, can you protect me?" Asked Althea suddenly.

"Are you sure? Isn't it too early?"

"The earlier the better."

"Well then, I'll try my best."

With that, Althea began charging for her spell. The first to notice the huge mana flux was the group with the 3 mages, and they directly turned their focus from supporting their sole swordsman to attacking Althea using artillery attack magic. However, I am not one to let some measly weak magic to get through me. I set up a huge wall of pure concentrated mana to block the mages attack, however this just attracted the attention of the other teams, and suddenly, all the teams had their focus on us.

"Cassius, Lorenzo, retreat!"

With a quick nod, they both jumped back to help us defend the waves of enemies. Although such a huge magic was being cast, and everyone's attention was on us, Althea changed the formation of the spell at the last second.

I think I was the only one who noticed that, so I quickly rushed to get close to her. Right after that, she shouted:

"Lorenzo, Cassius, get over here!"

Just as she finished calling for them the huge ball of fire that was meant to launch at a group of specific enemies suddenly started dispersing smaller but faster fireballs from it. It was… kind of beautiful. As the huge fireball kept launching smaller ones, it too, over time, became smaller and started heading towards enemies too. With so many fireballs to dodge, everyone was focusing on their own position and how they would avoid the next fireball. Of course, I wasn't simply going to make that easier for them. I reached for the ground, kneeling down and feeling the mana on the ground. Just like how I created that wall of concentrated mana, I would make the whole arena my playing field. Of course, any mage, with a slight focus, no, even less than that, could notice what was happening and avoid it - however, it is a different story when you are dodging countless amounts of fireballs. With Lorenzo and Cassius taking care of the swordsman that try to get close to us, and Althea supporting them with magic, I needed to finish quickly. I solidified the mana over the whole arena, and everyone was practically standing on a platform I created, a platform I could modify as I please.

Is what I thought. It was the first time my mana pool fell short. Still, I won't falter. I created ridges all over the arena, so if one isn't careful while dodging the fireballs, well, they'll fall and the next one would hit them. Of course, to avoid causing problems for my own team I would adjust it to be a clear path wherever they are standing.

And with that, I left the still position I was in and went to heal our front-liners. Seeing her Fireball become smaller and smaller, Althea decided to go on offense, exhausting her mana pool by sending different types of spells as much as she could. This of course made it so that we could finish them while they are focused on dodging or blocking - and finish them we did. Although my magic wasn't anything particularly strong, Cassius and Lorenzo managed to quickly knock out the enemies, and we were the last team standing. Our match was the quickest to finish.

And with that the first part of the test was over. We weren't give a score, but we were directly lead to the entrance of the artificially created dungeon. After waiting a while, other winners joined us. It seemed like some of them formed teams, while others went and destroyed everyone like us.

"Silence!" Said the instructor, attracting everyone's attention.

"All of you will now venture into this B ranked Dungeon. All of you will have to wear these wristbands. You can shatter the gem to alert us of a case of emergency. However, this will mark you as unable to complete the dungeon. Should the gem break while you are fighting, that will also disqualify you. Now, with all the rules in mind, GO!"

Just as he shouted, I was shocked. Perhaps it was my fault for not reading the bulletin board well. While we are currently a bigger group, no one really said about having to stick together. Of course everyone would rather hunt the big fish themselves. Although I'd hate to be left behind, I need to first inspect the structure of the cave. It seems some others have also noticed that this is an artificially created dungeon, as they stayed behind to inspect its structure too. With a quick copy of its structure, I started venturing inside the large catacomb like dungeon. Perhaps because it was just the start, there weren't any monsters, so I decided to make my way onto the deepest path as fast as I could, so I started running. Soon enough, I was isolated from everyone. Just me. And with that, the monsters also started to appear from the shadows.

"[Water Bullet]"

That was the only spell I needed to kill these weird creatures. Since the monsters have started to appear, I should keep my stamina in case something goes wrong, so I decided to continue my way with a steady pace, not wasting too much of my stamina just running around.

It was then that I noticed. The weak monster - no it was too disfigured to call even a monster - it was following right behind me. Although it was way slower than me to catch up to me, it was still following.

"I thought you were dead little guy."

So, I decided to kill it again.

"[Water Bullet]"

But this time, I didn't depart directly. I wanted to see what happened for him to have survived my spell. It piqued my curiosity. I stopped in my tracks.

The creature - in the most disgusting way possible - healed itself.

How could this measly creature heal itself?

So I shot it again. Was it because this whole dungeon is maintained by someone? Was it because of something else? I didn't know.

"[Water Bullet]"

"[Water Bullet]"

"[Water Bullet]"

"[Water Bullet]"

"[Water Bullet]"

It kept on regenerating no matter what. Then, I decided to shoot it again. But this time, I was going to heal it myself before it could heal on its own.

Just as I used light magic, it screeched so loudly that I thought my eardrums were going to burst - then it died. It didn't regenerate this time.

"Dark attribute."

That was it! Eureka! If light magic wasn't going to work - I would simply use what I am better at, not whatever to general society is good at!

How could I not ever think of Dark Magic! Of course, with Dark attribute, opposite that of Light, if I follow the exact principles in opposite, wouldn't it achieve the same effect!? I was… High. I had finally found the missing piece. The last piece of the puzzle was finally put in place. However, my happiness was short-founded, as right after that, I found myself teleported outside.

The test had ended. I had probably failed. The instructor called upon everyone one by one, and made it very clear who failed, as it seemed he never got tired of shouting "YOU FAILED" every time someone failed.

And in the midst of thinking what I would do after I return to that hell of a family, my name was called. I walked towards the instructor, still thinking about what I would do when I returned back. My skills as a mage and healer isn't really bad, even though I lack the experience, I think I can work as a mercenary if I were to run away.

"You're Serenity?"

…

"Yes, I'm Serenity."

"Good, pack up your things, you're moving to the war-site."

"So I'm not kicked out of academy?"

"NEXT! Arlin Killian!"

And with that, I went back to my dorm to pick up a few essentials, as that was all I was allowed to have with me.

I was assigned with an instructor to watch over me and help out in the process of moving. Without much help, I was able to pack my things up and was told to wait for the instructor to finish grading every student. Thankfully, it didn't last too long, as the instructor was… quick with it.

Apparently both Althea and Cassius made it to the third batch and is going to be specially trained by the empire. I guess being in the same team as them was me using all my luck in life.