Mana Reasoning I — Ambrosya

After Lily and Virion, the rest of the examinees arrived. They all lied down on the grass nearby, completely exhausted and out of breath.

Some of them even collapsed, unconscious, the moment they arrived.

Of the four thousand who went in, around three thousand got out. The others were likely rescued by Deuzetai's squadron of assistant wizards. They were considered "dead" since they were unable to survive on their own.

They were then most likely sent to the failing batch with the other 50k+ examinees.

"Congratulations on completing my first three tests," Deuzetai closed his book as the shine of thirteen kinds of moonlight cast a multi-coloured glow on his figure. His assistants handed him a stack of documents.

I opened my eyes, feeling the cool night breeze around me. The scent of blood lingered in the air from those who were either wounded, had tough fights, or had weapons soaked in beast blood.

I wrinkled my nose. The smell wasn't pleasant. Thankfully, a strong gust of wind blew through the area, washing away the scent temporarily.

"The next test will be Mana Reasoning." Deuzetai stood up while he gestured to his assistants and addressed the examinees, "Divide yourselves between physical mana users and spiritual mana users. The latter on my right, and the former on my left. Move."

A momentary dilemma fell upon me. Would it be weird for the assassin-type to move towards spiritual mana that is designed for wizards?

It would, wouldn't it?

Still, that was what I did. Under the confused gaze of many, I walked towards Deuzetai's right. I joined the spellcasters who were all decked out in robes and cloaks. I fit the image, making my assimilation seamless.

Supposedly seamless.

I was still getting those amusing looks every now end then. Indeed, choosing spiritual mana was the right choice. I could make them ever more confused.

Swiftly, Deuzetai's assistants distributed our papers. I held the enchanted page in my hand. Mana Vision told me of the intricate movement of mana within it. Circuits and programs were embedded within the page.

"Spiritual mana users, you must know how to operate a simple enchanted page, yes? If you don't, it would be best if you drop the examination now. What I want you all to do is to figure out the underlying principle behind my mana programming as well as figure out the purpose of the interface itself. Bonus points for those who can then use the interface to execute the task that I had hidden within the test paper's programming."

Hearing this, I glanced at the page and recalled the basics I knew. I place my finger at the top-right corner of the page and poured spiritual mana into it. My mana flowed into the ethereal mana programs and supplemented it with power.

Instantly, an interface appeared before me.

It looked like a pilot's cockpit, but with more knobs and circles.

"Damn," I cursed in awe.

Since Virion was mainly a physical mana user, I was able to focus more on the test that he would take. The details of the spiritual mana test were a lot more vague.

Nonetheless, I still knew the final answers as well as the idea that Deuzetai had. All I had to do know was fill in the gaps by experimenting with all these controls.

Deuzetai really was worthy of the title [ Comprehender ] and [ Spellcrafter ]. This mana program here was unique to the test itself and had no other practical use other than to measure an examinee's ability to comprehend mana concepts through reasoning and intuition.

Behind all these programs were calculations and formulas that could be a book in and of themselves. Aelthrie's Magic Tower would surely pay a lot to obtain these test papers.

"This... this is going to take me a while." I smacked my lips.

This would be a great learning experience. If I could figure out more about the mechanisms behind this interface through deconstruction and reconstruction, then spell crafting could be placed in my repertoire of abilities.

I would have to ask Deuzetai if I could keep the test paper when the test was finished.

"As for you physical mana users," Deuzetai continued speaking after seeing that the wizards, mages, and spellcasters weren't idiots and knew how to at least switch his test papers on.

"You will have this technique to comprehend and evolve. Just like the mana interface I created, this technique has no value in actual combat but tests you on your talents and manipulation abilities. The efficiency of the evolved technique will determine your grades."

I glanced at the other group and I saw that each of them had been given a skill book. I inwardly chuckled. Even Lily could only barely evolve the supplied technique.

Deuzetai was primarily a wizard, after all.

The nature of wizardry and its manipulation of knowledge and information was drastically different from the applications of physical mana.

Though mixing the principles of the two would indeed help any student who learned it, it was still going to be hard for those warriors to suddenly start thinking like a wizard.

In fact, even the mages and spellcasters were going to have a hard time with the interface. After all, they weren't as keen on knowledge as wizards.

The nature of their jobs were different.

Deuzetai was not unfair with his tests, however. Since the nature of the task was advantageous for wizards, he gave each of them a much harder variation of the test.

Thus, this was the test that many would cry over. Excellence was supposedly impossible. Passing was the only option.

"You have the whole week to finish the test." Deuzetai spoke as he turned around to leave.

I looked at my test paper once again, taking in all the blue-tinged circular formations of mana. All the rings, the spheres, and the programs.

It was sensory overload, especially with my constantly-active Mana Vision.