Test (3)

*Clench*

Vickir was worried.

'First he got bullied by Lady Athena and now he is suffering through so much pain.'

If he could he would have broken through the walls of mana chamber and rescued his son.

'The mana chamber is at a level that I doubt it could be broken by a swordmaster or any weapon master for that sake. Just who is that announcer?' Vickir was getting annoyed seeing his son's pain and was angry at himself for not being able to help him.

'If only I was richer, I would have arranged a trainer for him.'

Vickir had a weak heart. Even when he was born, he was malnourished, the baron spent plenty of his money for Vickir's treatment.

Vickir's body could not handle mana as efficiently as others, despite that he pushed himself to his absolute limits and achieved the status of a sword warrior. Had he been blessed with a normal body he could have surpassed the limits of swordmaster and would be the youngest sword saint, however, hard work rarely ever beats luck and talent.

Vickir bit his lips in frustration.

*Drip*

*Drip*

Blood was dripping from Chrys's mouth. He was trying his best to stand on his feet. He was fighting through all the depressive thoughts that were coming in his mind, he now knew that he was a frog in the well up until now. The world was much bigger than what he had thought, however, it was up to him now. He had to decide the type of frog he had to become, he knew the story of two frogs well [1], he had two choices, to either succumb to reality and give up or to ignore everything that was going in his mind and try his level best to overcome the situation at hand.

He chose the latter option, he wanted to overcome this and prove himself, he kept trying

REMAINING TIME: 13m 14sec

REMAINING TIME: 13m 13sec

REMAINING TIME: 13m 12sec

REMAINING TIME: 13m 11sec

REMAINING TIME: 13m 10sec

REMAINING TIME: 13m 09sec

He finally managed to put one of his legs on the ground.

'Yes, I will push myself up with its help and try to maintain my centre of gravity at my core.'

He almost got up but came down on his knees again.

REMAINING TIME: 12m 51sec

REMAINING TIME: 12m 50sec

He tried again, but failed.

REMAINING TIME: 12m 08sec

REMAINING TIME: 12m 07sec

He tried again but failed again.

REMAINING TIME: 11m 39sec

REMAINING TIME: 11m 38sec

He finally gave in, he understood that the frog who gave up was just lacking in luck, just like him he should give up as well.

Indecisive, Chrys greatest flaw was his inability to stick to a decision, a pathetic weak-willed man he was. All he knows is to win in his dreams, make castles in sky, dream big but whenever it ever came to work for those, he chickened out. Yes, he is nothing but a coward, a piece of trash who cannot even work for the sake of his own mother who went through hell to raise him.

He finally gave up, he was on his knees crying with blood smeared all over his mouth and clothes, he truly looked disgusting. If Athena sees him, she will bathe three times as she had touched that filthy bastard.

Chrys circulated mana in his muscles in order to feel better. Whenever he circulated mana throughout his body he felt better, and all the pain in body would disappear.

REMAINING TIME: 11m 00sec

REMAINING TIME: 10m 59sec

*whoosh*

When he was circulating mana in his body the air around him felt warmer and less heavy. He felt lighter.

'My body which felt as if it was going to rip apart is now feeling lighter and warmer.'

*Inhale*

'Breathing is easier as well.'

He tried to circulate even more mana inside his body and tried to control mana around him as well.

'Shall I try to stand once again.'

REMAINING TIME: 10m 34sec

REMAINING TIME: 13m 33sec

He lifted his body upwards while keeping the centre of gravity around his waist.

"Hahaha. It is easier to stand now." Chrys was elated.

He stood firmly on both legs now.

REMAINING TIME: 10m 11sec

REMAINING TIME: 10m 10sec

He continued to circulate mana inside and around him. It was not intentional, but his output was increasing steadily and he started controlling more mana by each second.

REMAINING TIME: 10m 06sec

REMAINING TIME: 10m 05sec

His feet lifted from the ground by one-half of a centimetre. He was levitating in a mana chamber that had gravitational pull of 10 times than normal.

REMAINING TIME: 10m 01sec

REMAINING TIME: 10m 00sec

"The first trial is over." Announcer announced.

The big screen displaying the time duration of the test stopped at 10m 00sec.

*Boom*

As soon as the announcer stopped his magic and the stone that were levitating came down on floor again, an explosion occurred around Chrys.

"What happened?"

"CHRYSS!!!!!!" Vickir shouted.

"AAAGHH!!"

"What the fuck?"

"AAGHHH!!"

Participants around him were shouting. Participants near him fainted when the impact of the explosion reached them. Chrys however was standing straight as if nothing has happened.

"What happened here?" Announcer reached the destination of the explosion; he could feel the traces of mana.

"Ey! Boy, care to explain what did you do?" Announcer had thought that Chrys intentionally made the mana around him explode.

'It is not uncommon for rowdy warrior wannabe bastards to pull a trick like this. However, the explosion he made was bigger than what can be ignored as a mischief of a kid.'

"Ah! Sir that- it was, I do not know what happened."

Chrys really had no idea what just happened he was only circulating mana and as soon as gravity magic and mana chamber was lifted an explosion occurred.

"I was circulating mana and then when the test ended it exploded."

"Are you an idiot?" Announcer yelled angrily. "Are you even educated about only circulating a fraction of your mana when you are in a mana chamber? Your body could have exploded."

'Wait a second.' Announcer's eyed widened.

'If he was circulating mana at his full potential then his body would have exploded not the mana surrounding him. But wait? Why are we talking about mana circulation in the first place? Mages circulate their mana to form a connection with their soul. Warriors control the mana around them to help infuse the surrounding mana into their weapon. The explosion he made should be because he would have been unable to control the mana around him. Does he not know the difference between circulation and control?'

"Were you circulating your mana inside you or were you controlling the mana around you?" Announcer asked.

"B-Both?" Chrys replied with fear.

"Both you say?" Announcer was baffled.

There was no one around them as the participants around them who faced the impact were taken to infirmary by other faculty members.

"Explain." Announcer said with a smouldering face.

"I was circulating the mana to make me feel better and then I started controlling mana around me to make my body feel lighter in order to stand up."

'My god! He was doing both in a mana chamber? It is not uncommon for people to use both techniques, as magic swordsmen were a thing but in a magic chamber where the mana is dense it is hard to control mana around them. This test was a body test, people who circulate mana would have pass the test easily, this test was basically targeted towards warriors. Warriors would have difficulty to control mana surrounding them and hence had to make use of their physical strength to assist them in standing under such pressure.'

"What is your name?" He asked Chrys.

"Chrys…uck.... Chrys Yadeth, son of Vickir Yadeth and grandson of Baron of Yadeth."

"Hmm! Looks like you were controlling more mana than you should, practice more. Second trial will begin after 5 minutes. Have some refreshments and take rest." Announcer levitated himself and went to the platform he was at before.

"What happened sir?" A faculty member of ESM asked.

"Nothing! Mana exploded because a participant control of mana got disrupted." Announcer hid the truth.

"But the explosion was bigger than usual?" The faculty questioned him.

"Agh! There were a couple of other students nearby who also lost control of their mana. Let us prepare for second trial, change the mana stones asap." Announcer annoyedly answered them and changed the topic in order to stop the discussion.

*Sigh*

Chrys was tensed when announcer showed up, he was worried that he may be disqualified for his actions, however, his luck saved him.

'Luck. I was lucky earlier as well; I had no idea that circulating and controlling mana was an option that would help me. I thought it is a physical test where I had to use my physical strength. I am still a failure.'

He was ready to give up when his efforts failed. It was his luck that saved him, he had no qualities to be proud of, he did not pass the test by his efforts, it was pure luck. He did not used his mind to circulate mana before, in his eyes, he failed, both in this test and as a son.

"Oi! Peasant. The heck you did here huh?"

Chrys heard a familiar, yet unpleasant voice, he turned and saw Athena looking at him with disgust and Roman was standing beside her, with a worried look on his face.

"What? Cat got your fucking tongue? Speak you little shit."

[1] The story of two frogs, it has many iterations. One of it is the following.

Two frogs fell in a pit. Both started jumping in order to get out of it, their friends who were at the top were telling them to stop as it was futile. The depth of the pit was big and no matter how much efforts they put in they will fail and exhaust themselves. It is better to slowly wait for some miracle to happen for them to have a chance to save themselves. Their friends were telling them to wait for rain and swim when the pit gets filled with water. The second frog gave up and decided to wait for it to rain, but the first frog was jumping tirelessly. Her friends were telling her to stop but she did not bother and kept jumping, after several attempts she succeeded and jumped high enough to come out of the pit. Her friends asked her to explain why she did not stop to which she replied that she could not hear them properly, when she fell in the pit her ears were clogged, so she thought that they were encouraging her to jump. Her friends were baffled to hear her, a few days passed and it did not rain which result in the death of the first frog.