6 The First of Many Trials

As Group A arrived at the South-West track field, they found a truly odd spectacle...for dotting the track was row upon row of strange, round glass structures.

Once the last of the entrants arrived the invigilator began to explain the rules of the Illumination Test:

"The rules for the test are simple, you need to use your magical energy to power and 'illuminate' the glass orbs, the aim is to create a continuous stream of light from the starting line to the finish line which is exactly 200m away.

5 Individuals will now be selected at random to begin."

The starting line is where Shynerai stood.

And while most students seemed confident in their abilities, he couldn't help but feel the disquiet grow within him.

When the rest of the examinees got to the starting line it was clear that most of them felt completely assured of their success.

By the invigilator's command...the exam began.

Lord Harold Markov VIII stood in the third lane and was the one who went all out from the beginning...perhaps in an attempt to demonstrate the incredible power of a noble.

As he did this the mass of orbs in front of him quickly began to shine one after the other.

With excitement fast surrounding Markov, his confidence grew...and so did his magical outlet, spurring those around him to act so as not to fall behind.

But as soon as Markov's stream of light reached 40m something happened.

The orbs one after another began to shatter completely...as his confidence started faltering at the sight of this, he started to increase his magical energy output so that he could at least continue the stream till the end.

Sadly he was using far too much energy too quickly...and as all the lights were subsequently snuffed out, all he could do in his weariness was to fall to the ground in shame.

Those cheering crowd quickly realized that the task wasn't as simple as first seen and so they proceeded to tread carefully...though this would ultimately be in vain.

Two other individuals beside Shynerai were next to try their luck...but as their light streams reached 80m they were only able to hang on for a few seconds before their streams were extinguished as well.

It seems as though they could not maintain their magic at such range.

Only two students were now left, Shynerai and a young man around the same age as whom the invigilator referred to as Vauntuss Strum.

As everyone was suddenly overcome with the realization of the task at hand, the young man stepped forward with an icy chill surrounding him and began to release his magical energy.

It started with only a few faintly lit orbs but in only a matter of seconds, these faint light began spreading, in just 10 seconds, his light stream had already crossed the 150m mark...not only that but the orbs were beginning to grow in brightness.

By the time the stream had made it to the finish line, it was already bright enough to make individual lights indistinguishable from the glowing mass of brilliance.

On the far end, as Shynerai started there were a few moments of nothing happening before...soft faint lights began appearing one after another in front of him, but the stream could only reach the 50m range whereby his results were recorded.

Though for the duration of his attempt, Vauntuss's stream completely eclipsed the brightness of his own.

Once their results were recorded they made their way to the waiting crowd whilst others began their attempt.

During this time his skill and control over magic were praised and saluted...even Dr Regis himself acknowledged his talent though this did not sway Vauntuss's firm demeanour.

In the background of the swarm that was praising him stood Shynerai who stood firmly in place, shocked to the point of being frozen by what had just happened...though it was at something completely different for you see: for the first time in his life...he was able to use magic, the sensation of accomplishment washed over with such force that his score of only 19/100 meant nothing to him for he finally achieved one of the dreams that has pushed him so far, finally, all that studying, practising, meditating and discovering along with experimenting had...finally...paid off. Finally, his parents even in the afterlife can rest, knowing that they don't have to bear any regret or sadness for giving birth to magic-less Daumier.

Despite being overwhelmed by the powerful emotions of accomplishment and sorrow, Shynerai couldn't help but feel happy and excited at what's to come.

An hour passes

Both Group A and B were finished with the results for Group A being First: Vauntuss Strum, Second: Charlotte Crossbane Hercateal, Third: Vaceris Ieollevard Astembridge and Forth: Heimrill Trosck with Shynerai occupying the second to last place...which actually made Shynerai take notice of his failure in his test, all the while, there was an individual who was glaring at him from a distance.

With that, the other groups had finally finished with their exam and so a 30-minute reprieve was instilled.

The students were told that Group A and B would combine and then be split into the C, D, E, F, G designations whilst the others would do the same to become the new Group A and B, so that they can take part in the Illumination test while they start their new exam.

Shynerai decided to get food before the start of the next exam so he made his way to the cafeteria, on his way there he encountered a group of examinees that he could not have forgotten, the four who scored in the top spots in both Group A and B.

Through the way they were interacting Shynerai could easily tell that they were well acquainted possibly even good friends, the thought of which began brewing an ill sensation of jealousy which made him hang his head in shame as he passed the group through the sight of an argument between Vauntuss and Vaceris was not easy to ignore, with Vauntuss chastising Vaceris for doing not doing better considering she was royalty...to an extent.

Vaceris bore an obviously sullen look of despair though for some reason she didn't speak, as Vauntuss continued with his remarks...with an urge to intervene was overcoming Shynerai though by the time he had gathered the courage to stand in the business of others, Charlotte had already dispelled the negative air...leaving him standing awkwardly in front of the group, overcome with immense embarrassment he couldn't think of anything to say, for which Vaceris excused him with a belittling tone and high-born facial expression which was indicative of her position above him.

Completely disregarded, Shynerai quickly made off to the cafeteria to enjoy his lunch in quiet shame.

Once the reprieve was over the examinees gathered at their respective exam locations, basically this meant that the groups were trading places.

Unfortunately, this also meant that Shynerai was placed in Group B along with Heimrill Trosck and Vauntuss Strum, the "ace examinees" which meant that he would have to work even harder to stand out or risk being eclipsed by them once again.

As they entered their respective gym, they were greeted by the Invigilator who was Dr Colt, a second-year teacher and instructor.

While the group in the gym began to calm down, he too began to explain the rules for the current exam:

"All of you here will be participating in the Pillar Force Test. The rules will be as follows:

5 individuals will step in front of one of the five pillars laid out in the gymnasium, to which they are to shout the exact mass that they want the pillar to embody.

Once they have done this, the enchantment on the pillar will temporarily acquire the specified mass that has been specified without changing the appearance of the pillar.

The next step is for the students to simply follow a single command: They need to attack their pillar as hard as they can, though they are not allowed to use magic and they are only limited to a single attack. The mass you select as well as the damage you inflict will determine your score".

Once he finished, Dr Colt began calling names at random, five apiece to participate.

This test unlike the previous didn't need to be deceptively hard as the difficulty was plain to see.

With each group of names called most of the examinees would select a mass that was too great for them and inflict no damage or simply select a low mass out of a fear of failing, though things changed pretty quickly once the 10th group stepped forward.

In this group one examinee by the name of Tatsumi Kagayama selects the mass of 100t which he managed to quickly dispatch using his Soul Arm...making him the first person to destroy his pillar though his triumph would short-lived as Heimrill approached his pillar and made his selection.

He requested for a small mountain's worth of mass but before the invigilator had any time to process selection, he drew out his Soul Arm: Atlas, a truly grand halberd from which he took a single thrust that brought such force...that the floor beneath him shattered leaving a small crater around him.

The result of this attack had split the pillar down its middle leaving those around him to question whether he was even human...with the silence quickly being dispelled by praise as cheers began pouring onto him...among the cheers, Vauntuss silently made the same selection and brought out his Soul Arm: Skadi.

The individuals in the gym the sudden forced back by the appearance of a chilling blast of wind, he stood forward and made his attack...in a flash, it was already over.

Once the chilling wind had subsided the result left behind was truly a marvel.

The pillar wasn't simply cut but cut cleanly through multiple times over.

One of the students with his own pillar to face eventually decided to quit at the sight of such godly display of strength, leaving only Shynerai to make his selection, not that Dr Colt would notice considering how awestruck he was by Vauntuss though there were people who would still notice Shynerai both in the stands and amongst those that already had their turns.

So minding his own business Shynerai made his selection: "Maximum".

Hearing this Vauntuss believed that it was simply a desperate struggle so he indulged his hubris and watched.

Shynerai proceeded to close his eyes as he took a deep breath, one after the other until he finally opened his eyes and spoke these words:

"Physical Energy: WillForce".

With this statement...the air fell still before vigorously rushing towards him in a torrent, as the air got closer to him, it began to adopt a green hue as it amassed before it vanished into him.

This continued until the wind in the gymnasium was strong enough to erode the ground below him but pretty soon the winds began to slow down...when an explosion of green light envelopes him.

As the dust settled, he stood there with his eyes emanating bright green flames whilst his limbs were each encircled by two green haloes helically wrapped around one another.

As the students try to figure out what kind of Soul Arm he was using, Shynerai got into his stance with Dr Colt realizing what would soon follow, he rushed to erect layer upon layer of Protection Wards around the students in the gym...but while he was still at the 8th layer Shynerai finally attacked the pillar.

An explosion of green light torn open the roof of the gymnasium as the examinees were forced to endure the backlash that felt as though the earth was ripping apart.

When the dust began to clear, all that was left...was the sight of Shynerai standing by himself amidst a crater of his own doing...with the pillar being nowhere in sight.

Completely astonished by this feat, most of the examinees could only bring themselves to believe the circumstances of this event by attributing it to some high-level spell though Vauntuss witnessed the entire thing and did not sense a drop of magical energy.

Before he could continue analyzing he was interrupted by Dr Colt who stated that he could not grade him since there was no pillar to be seen so who is to say that he didn't use something like Invisibility magic or even Spatial magic during the test...to which the other examinees replied by pointing to the destroyed roof, subsequently revealing the shattered remains of the pillar raining down like a downpour of rubble.

While Shynerai simply stood beneath the rain...as though he was being cleansed when in reality the backlash of using too much of his WillForce at a single moment is what paralyzed him.

With the pieces of the rubble shower growing larger and larger, the Invigilator and examinees were starting to make out the various shapes of the once-whole pillar.

With the site of this kind of destruction, Shynerai was able to single-handedly bring forth, the Invigilator decided to not broadcast his score and instead label his result as 'inconclusive'.

Once everything in the gym started settling down, the facility had some quick repairs done on it while the examinees were checked for any injuries.

By 14h30, every one of them had participated and were simply waiting for the rest of the other groups to finish up.

After 15 min had passed, all the groups on the campus were now done and the examinees were now told to go to the same Assembly Hall and to once again find their seats.

At 15h00, the entire hall was again filled as the Closing for the two of three exams was about to begin.

As the Invigilators and Professors lined up on the stage, the Closing began:

"Impressive effort to you all today. You have completed the Illumination Test as well as the Force Pillar Test and have already received your results for each.

This will conclude two of your three exams.

Tomorrow morning, you will all meet by the Academy's main gate at exactly 05h00, those who are late will be disqualified and subsequently fail them in their admission.

Now before you arrive, please ensure that you have the necessary preparations made to ensure that you are capable of surviving on your own for a while, also you will be encouraged to bring your Soul Arms, this includes any attire that you might think will be of use during the exam.

This is all you will be told until tomorrow. Now everyone, enjoy the rest of your day, Dismissed!!"

With closing statement being done by Dr Ulrich, the hall quickly began its exodus, though there were notable exceptions who were still seated while most were making for the exit, among them was: Vauntuss, a young lady with snow-white hair and hazel eyes, Shynerai, a mysterious blonde-haired boy and a girl draped in red and gold regalia. Still, the style was casual.

Eventually, they too left.

As Shynerai walked out, his eyes were met firmly with those of Vauntuss who briefly paused amidst his conversation with another examinee to stare him down.

It seemed as though he was expecting something of Shynerai...and as he started walking towards him Shynerai couldn't help but feel as though an altercation was about to take place, but Vauntuss' pursuit seemingly ended when his group of friends met up with him and so Shynerai took this as an opportunity to quickly disappear.