Chapter 63 Skills Assessment [ 3 ]

—Asher Frostblade's point of view.

Asher looked around the combat arena. He was still looking quizzically at that guy named Grey, who was sitting next to him. Strangely, they both spoke at the same time, which took Asher by surprise.

Of course, it wasn't that they were thinking the same thing or anything. It was simply that they both spoke in a way that seemed as if they were connected, and their thoughts about the cadet combat they were witnessing were some sort of link between them. They both analyzed the movements of the two cadets and assumed that the fight was decided.

Asher thought so, but Grey surprised him by thinking the same thing he did.

It was some kind of connection between the two.

Or maybe they both thought alike, at least as far as combat was concerned.

On the other hand, Grey also thought the same as Asher.

"What the hell was that?"

Were his thoughts as he watched the combat in the arena.

Flames filled the combat arena, it looked like a flood of fire spreading throughout the arena. On the other hand, the other cadet was at a great disadvantage due to his affinity for air.

It is such an abysmal disadvantage. Air serves as fuel for fire, of that everyone was sure, and Grey and Asher knew it perfectly.

"They're almost done," Asher spoke, folding his hands.

"That's right," Grey replied, knowing Asher was right.

As they watched the combat of those two cadets, Gloriana was listening intently to the conversation between the two.

"They look like brothers," she thought. It was a simple thought, but it seemed to be the truth.

"But... he looks cute..." Another thought came into her head.

Her face turned tomato red as she thought to herself.

"No, no, why do I say these things?" she put both hands to her cheeks as she narrowed her eyes, her face slightly flushed.

She felt embarrassed.

Looking around the combat arena, Asher thought to himself.

"The fights are interesting, but it's not what I expected."

"That's obvious, you faced powerful monsters and yet none of this impressed you," Encrid said in Asher's head.

On the other hand, Isabella spoke up.

"Ah, that was more than expected of you."

"..."

Simply put, Asher knew anyway.

He knew that he wouldn't be impressed by the fights unless they were third to fifth year cadets, who are very strong.

"But don't you think it's getting boring watching these fights?" suggested Isabella.

Asher was well aware of that, but they had only just arrived over twenty minutes ago.

Sighing, Asher continued to watch the fights for a few more minutes.

"How about we go to the campus," Luna suggested at that point to the whole group.

"Yeah, that's better."

"I think the same."

"Me too."

"It's getting boring, so let's go."

As expected, the five of them accepted Luna's offer.

After several minutes, bout after bout, all the time Asher spent in the combat section was getting duller. They were bouts with a very low level of fighting, especially since they were fighting some first year wizards who could barely use magic.

No wonder some people who know Asher ask him why he is a wizard at such a young age.

Really, it's strange to see wizards his age, and Asher completely understood. Being a young mage means talent, but it also means being very inept when it comes to using magic, barely being able to handle mana.

***

—Scene change.

The five continued walking until they left the academy premises and were now on the academy campus.

Its long cobblestone paths were a good place to waste time on relaxing walks.

Asher felt the cool breeze in the air sweep across his face.

Beyond, brick walls were visible, and behind those walls, a dense forest of tall pines.

After all, the academy was in the middle of the forest known as Laosa.

Beyond that, Asher was used to hearing strange names.

"What time is it, does anyone have a watch?", Luna asked as she looked at the rest.

"..."

As expected, Asher was uninformed on this matter. All this time he had been reading the time by the position of the sun, not knowing that clocks existed in this world.

His face went blank.

Grey, at that moment, pushed aside a little the long sleeve that reached to his wrist of the black academy suit.

It revealed a splendid gold watch that encircled his wrist.

"It's 9:38," Grey replied to Luna's question.

It was strange for Asher; it seemed to be past ten. Perhaps it was the weather or his thoughts.

Anyway, the five of them walked along the campus paths, observing every part of the campus on their way, encountering several cadets, some waving to Gloriana, Luna, Emilia and, strangely, Grey.

"It's someone famous."

"But why doesn't his name ring a bell?"

Thinking to himself, Asher glanced at Grey.

"I'm not familiar with his first name, so, his last name?"

Perhaps the only way to know who he is would be through his last name; maybe he's from a famous and well known family, or even a member of the big ten families.

"Excuse me for asking, what is your last name?" asked Asher bluntly to Grey.

"Grey Elaris," he replied instantly, without looking at Asher.

"So he's from the Elaris family, earth element mages, huh," Asher thought as he rubbed his chin.

At that moment, Asher was surrounded by important people: one royalty, and the others, members of the ten great families.

A smile broke out on Asher's face. It was curious to see that he had friends with such high status, although he couldn't say that about Grey; he barely knew him and they didn't even speak to each other.

It was undeniable to Asher.

"Mmm, what's the test going to be, you guys think?" spoke Emilia.

Luna answered instantly.

"Maybe it will be to demonstrate our abilities."

"Like showing what we're capable of doing with mana and how we use it," Gloriana added after Luna's words.

"Makes sense, it wouldn't be weird if the test was that," Emilia said, looking at Gloriana.

Indeed, all three girls were right. The test would be, in essence, a demonstration of the competence and talent of the new first-year cadets.

"Of course it will be a test of skills."

At that point, Grey spoke up.

"That's true. Normally, it would be a test to let the professors know which cadet is the most suitable and talented."

Asher spoke up, knowing more or less how obvious the test would be. After all, the briefing section had talked a bit about it, though they didn't specify what it would be about, but it was more than obvious that it would be about skills.

"Yes, but why a difficult test? We're barely newly awakened wizards," Luna said.

Indeed we are to them, but I have almost a year's experience in magical combat, though I spent more time using the sword than magic for six months.

"Look, over there we can sit for a while," Emilia suggested, pointing to a spot with spacious seating right in front of a flower garden near a water fountain.

Quickly, the whole group of five sat down and gazed at the wonderful flowers. Some were pink, others large, there were some purple, yellow and violet, each flower placed in a special spot, creating a beautiful combination. The water fountain, located in the center of the garden, dropped drops that reached the petals of the flowers, creating a small rainbow.

Asher looked at the garden in front of him with a smile, thinking to himself:

"I think this is the first time I've ever liked a garden like this."

"Great, we have the same tastes, little guy," Isabella said instantly.

In fact, it's annoying to Asher that Encrid and Isabella can hear his thoughts.

It's annoying, and very much so.

"I don't see any sense in that."

"That's coming from an idiot like you, I expected that."

"Uh, no, that's not what you think, I know it's the flowers, it's really..."

"Yeah, yeah... I believe you, you fucking asshole."

"..."

Hearing Encrid and Isabella arguing over something relatively stupid, Asher smiled brightly at what had happened. Funny, in a way.

At that moment, Luna stood up and stood in front of the group, lips pursed.

"There's a drink tent, do you guys want anything?"

"Uh, well, I'd like a strawberry milkshake."

"Same for me."

"Same to me."

All three girls asked for the same thing.

"I'd... Just water."

"And for me, a coffee."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Looking at the expression of the three girls, Asher went blank, unable to understand why the three of them looked at him and Grey that way.

"Pft."

"Prf..."

"..."

"..."

Grey and Asher watched the three girls covering their mouths as a sound came from them. It was clearly a small giggle from all three of them.

"What was that?"

"I don't know."

Grey and Asher exchanged words at the reaction of the three girls. It was very strange for both of them.

Relatively strange.

***

—Scene change.

—Oriana Mengral's point of view.

Walking through the halls after finishing a meeting with the academy's teachers, Oriana's footsteps echoed as she wandered aimlessly through the halls.

It had been a busy day for her: meetings, working in her office, organizing the test, and so on.

With her eyes half closed, Oriana walked until she stopped at a store. Something caught her eye; no, in fact, it was something she loved to eat on a daily basis.

As she entered the store, she stared at a mint candy.

"I'll take five... no, better make it twenty," she said with a smile as she looked at the man in the store.

"..."

The man looked at Oriana strangely.

Who in their right mind eats that many mint candies? Not even a child would, but Oriana has a problem with candy. Of course, it's her habit to eat them every chance she gets.

"O-Okay..."

After a few seconds, the man handed the mint candy to Oriana.

"That's 25 credit points."

"..."

She didn't think it would be that expensive, actually.

After paying the 25 points, Oriana continued walking.

She popped a light blue mint candy in her mouth. At that moment, an icy, refreshing sensation ran through every part of her mouth as she slowly savored it.

"It's soothing."

It was a habit to eat peppermint candy just to relax from all the stress at work. Peppermint candy was her favorite, and had been since she was a child.

As soon as she finished one candy, she would quickly take the wrapper off another and pop it in her mouth instantly.

"Mmm..." As she looked out the window, Oriana watched a group of cadets chatting amongst themselves.

"Heh," a small chuckle escaped her lips when she spotted one cadet in particular.

"You look like a fool."

He definitely thought so as he observed the cadet. The others were making fun of him. Who knows what they were talking about, but from the cadet's reaction, Oriana had a vague idea why they were making fun of him.

"He has a strange coffee-drinking habit..."

Actually, she shouldn't say that herself. Just like the cadet, she also has her strange habit of eating a lot of sweets a day.

"I shouldn't say that," she reflected on her words as she looked at the plastic bag full of mint candy she held in her hands.

"Hehe..."

But it's funny; no, in fact, it was so funny he couldn't contain his laughter.

"Pft... No... I mustn't laugh."

He paused and then returned to his normal state. For something so simple he was about to lose control of his emotions.

No, he decided to let it go, and so he looked away from the group of cadets and kept walking.

As he entered through some doors, he saw that on the other side several cadets were wandering all over the place.

He was in the halls of the classrooms where, from now on, he would be teaching magic.

Entering one of the classrooms, she stood in the middle of the podium.

Directly in front of her, the seats went up in tiers, and the last few offered a great view towards the podium where Oriana stood.

The podium area was spacious, large enough for demonstrations and other activities.

"It will be interesting."

A thought about a cadet crossed her mind.

"How good will you be?"

She thought about the cadet, knowing that he had unparalleled talent, and a smile appeared on her face as she surveyed the entire room before leaving....