The Path 043

"Alright. Who's up next!?" shouted the Coach, raising his voice to jar the remaining First Years to their senses.

"I will go!" responded Ahmad, an expansive smile adorning his face as he raised his right hand.

"Then get up here," said the Coach, prompting Ahmad to stride through the crowd of First Years rather than going around. Will's performance had motivated him considerably, so he hurriedly placed his hand against the obelisk to have his Mana and Aura evaluated so he could punch it with all his might.

[1,593]

"Not bad," said the Coach, nodding approvingly. 1,593 was far from the highest Mana or Aura recorded by a student, but it was excellent for a First-Year. The gold and blue gradient of the characters also indicated Ahmad had dual elemental affinities, specifically Earth and Water.

"Haaaaaap...!!!"

Without acknowledging the Coach's words, Ahmad got into what his people called a water-break stance; his feet spread apart and back perfectly straight as he threw a straight punch like a Karateka. His fist contacting the obelisk produced a loud, metallic thud, but when his score appeared, a disappointed frown adorned Ahmad's face.

[1,747]

"Don't be too disappointed," said the Coach, smiling wryly as he pointed out, "Most First-Years struggle to exceed even a thousand points. 1,747 is an excellent score."

Regaining his smile almost instantly, Ahmad placed his hands on his hips, laughed loudly, and shouted, "This just means I have much room to grow! Splendid...!"

With Ahmad making his way off the stage, the Coach again opened the floor to volunteers. This time, none other than Sylvia went up, causing a bit of a stir as she placed her hand against the obelisk, prompting bright blue characters to appear.

[5,492]

Following her initial assessment, Sylvia calmly took a few steps away from the obelisk before removing the navy blue gloves that concealed her porcelain white hands and fingers. Each glove was inlaid with a silvery-white Magic Circle that augmented her casting ability, so she had to remove them before striking the obelisk. Once she had, she closed her eyes, spread her hands slightly, and chantlessly gathered water droplets from the air to form five three-meter-long spears of water that promptly froze when they took their penultimate form, causing a chill to permeate her surroundings.

Sweeping her hands forward, Sylvia sent the spears of ice crashing into the obelisk simultaneously, ostensibly to increase their overall force. The average weight of each projectile was only around 20kgs, but by sending five crashing into the same target at relatively high speeds, she ended up with a score of 1,019. That might not seem all that impressive in a vacuum, but as it took her less than two seconds to materialize the spears, anyone with insufficient reaction time would find themselves skewered.

"Are we only permitted a single attempt...?" asked Sylvia, turning her head to face the Coach, her expression unchanged.

"We still have a lot of people to go through," replied the Coach. "Besides, a thousand points is plenty."

"Then I shall take my leave..." stated Sylvia, turning to depart. However, before she could get off the stage, Iode surprised those around him by leaping high into the air, momentarily stabilizing himself by spreading his wings and shouting, "Out of my way...!" as flames began to swirl around his body.

Without waiting for a response, Iode descended toward the obelisk like a meteor, ramming it with durable, spine-covered wings and the full weight of his body. He knew he couldn't defeat Will's ludicrous score, but he was determined to surpass at least Sylvia.

[3,438]

"Haaaa...haaaa...haaaaa..."

Though he had exhausted most of his Mana and Aura to accelerate and protect his body, Iode couldn't help smiling as he saw his score. He was pretty sure he had broken one of the bones that allowed him to fold and open his wings, but it was worth it to more than triple Sylvia's and nearly double Ahmad's scores.

"How was that...?" asked Iode, grinning like a Demon as he turned to the Coach for validation. He also cast a fleeting glance at Sylvia, but as she had continued her departure from the stage, all he saw was the back of her head as she stepped down the short flight of stone steps leading to the field below.

'Damnned witch...' thought Iode, but he managed to keep his smile as the Coach responded, "Power like that puts you on par with a Second-Grade Initiate. But it's pointless if you can't continue fighting afterward."

"I can still fight...!" Iode asserted, holding up his clawed right hand and producing red and black flames as if he were prepared to prove himself by fighting the Coach directly.

"And you'll have your chance once everyone else has completed their evaluations," affirmed the Coach, smiling as he crossed arms. He could tell Iode was trying to avoid having his Mana and Aura values revealed, but since they had measured everyone's potential during the practical, specifically when they were transported to the Labyrinth of Corridors, it didn't really matter. The current evaluation was more for the scouts and sponsors than the students.

"Go ahead and step down," said the Coach. "Use the time between now and when we begin mock dueling to recuperate."

"Understood," responded Iode, crushing the fireball in his hand and doing his best to appear composed as he made his way to the edge of the stage and jumped off. Spreading his wings caused pain to shoot through one of his 'fingers,' but his expression didn't change as he made his way through the crowd of students, parting them with his presence...

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As neither of Iode's friends, Dorne and Sebas, had any interest in fighting, the trio split off from the larger mass of students and stood off to the side as the remaining First-Years took their turn on the stage. Half decided not to go up, but they were just being realistic. More notable was the situation with Madeen, Ishyll, and Alessandra. Each performed reasonably well in the first test, scoring between 2200~3700, but their force measurements were less than stellar. Ishyll and Alessandra were archers, and while they could empower and manipulate their arrows utilizing Aura and Mana, their striking power was 293 and 415, respectively. As for Madeen, she was far more skilled at using Aura, but as she almost always channeled it through a blade, her score was even less than Alessandra's at 365.

"This test is biased..." grumbled Madeen, returning to Will's group with a sulky expression, discernible even with her visor. "It completely ignores things like speed and technique. If I were allowed to use a sword, I would have scored much higher..."

"I wouldn't worry too much," replied Will. "Your Mana and Aura values are the second-highest so far, so there's no way you won't be given a chance to prove yourself in actual combat."

Feeling better after Will's assurance, Madeen's pouty expression gave way to a faint, appreciative smile. Unfortunately, Will promptly undercut himself by adding, "Since we're on the subject of temperamental blade fanatics, I wonder where Aisha and her shadow are? I can't imagine her 'not' signing up for the Duelist League."

"Aisha...isn't that the girl who kept starting trouble during the practical...?" asked Ishyll, frowning. He knew Aisha would probably win if he faced her directly, but since her only real feat during the practical was beheading an already downed monster, he felt he was more deserving of the Elite Class.

"Something like that," replied Will, looking around. The last he had seen of the twins, they were moving in the opposite direction of everyone heading to the cafeteria. However, as Aisha had mentioned during her introduction that she came to the Academy to establish the superiority of Deisceart's warriors, it was a little peculiar that she hadn't shown up to try out for the Academy's Duelist League.

"The tribe Aisha and Azir belong to is similar to my family," commented Alessandra, drawing Will's attention as she explained, "They're expected to earn their keep and are advised against accepting handouts, so if I had to guess, they're probably helping out in the kitchens, sweeping the halls, or picking up litter around the campus."

"Ah..."

Recalling how seriously Aisha's people regarded things like debts, Will didn't need to ask to understand why the dark-skinned duo hadn't come to him for financial assistance. Aisha was determined to defeat him on her terms, so if he were to offer to finance her, she would undoubtedly take it as an insult.

'Well, that's one fewer headache...' thought Will, the corners of his smile curling upward in amusement. Alessandra immediately noticed this, but before she could comment on it, Will drew everyone's gazes back to the stage as he remarked, "Oh? Check it out. Looks like Ohta's up next. This should be interesting."

Following Will's gaze, the group spotted Ohta exhaling an exasperated sigh as he approached the obelisk with his hands in his pockets. Then, instead of immediately striking it, he looked up at the Coach and asked, "Are there any other restrictions for the striking component of this test? Like, if I were to pick up one of these rock fragments lying on the ground and throw it, would that be considered a weapon?"

"It depends," replied the Coach, explaining, "You can't pick it up directly, but if you're able to use Phantom Hand or Telekinesis, that's regarded as offensive Magic."

"So, as long as I don't touch it, it's fine?" asked Ohta, causing the Coach to feel uncertain as he responded, "It should be...?" with the inflection of asking a question. He and every other staff member at the Academy had seen Ohta blast away Báirseach with an invisible force, but as they hadn't been able to identify the technique used, he wasn't sure if it violated the rules he laid out beforehand.

"Whatever..." muttered Ohta, rolling his eyes before turning to face the obelisk. From there, he just stared at it, unmoving and with a bored look on his face for several seconds. This left the Coach and nearly everyone else confused, but things became marginally clearer when a handful of people in the crowd noticed the obelisk's shadow becoming blacker than pitch. A few seconds later, the Coach noticed a perceptible backdraft as the surrounding air started being sucked into the shadow.

'This fucking idiot...' thought Will, facepalming on Ohta's behalf. He didn't exactly consider himself a paragon of reason and sense, but for someone purportedly trying to lay low, Ohta continuously did things that drew a shit ton of attention.

As the shadows near the obelisk's base began to spread like an inky black liquid, the force of friction and the stone keeping it upright soon lost their influence. Instead of immediately falling over, however, it slowly rose from the shadows, causing tiny beads of sweat to begin materializing on Ohta's brow as the giant slab of dense material weighed nearly 2,000,000kg.

"Now fall, dammit...!" shouted Ohta, pushing forward with his right hand as the obelisk neared the pinnacle of its emergence. The inky shadows on the ground immediately disappeared, but the invisible force from his palm, aimed at the obelisk's cap, was enough to cause it to tilt back, preventing it from sliding back into the hole produced by its landing.

With nothing to keep it upright, the obelisk invariably fell over, causing a thunderous boom as it impacted the stage and split it like a chisel. Then, to the surprise of everyone and no one, the face of the obelisk lit up with crimson numbers, specifically the value 21,726,440, before going dark, no longer supplied with the Mana it needed to sustain its functions...

Thinking he had successfully gamed the system, a smug, punchable grin developed across Ohta's face. Unfortunately, his smugness was exceedingly short-lived as he turned around and immediately noticed everyone staring at him as if he were a monster. Only then did the realization that he 'might' have gone overboard enter his mind...

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