Chapter 2 Part 2
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The magic academy is located in the ‘Central District’ which is said to be the most prosperous district in the Royal Capital.
When I arrived there, the luxurious and splendid school building was the first thing that I saw.
“Your examinee’s number is 99. Good luck!”
I was given a name tag with ‘99’ written on it at the reception desk, so I stick it on my chest.
Now…it’s time for the exam.
I can’t afford to fail the exam and return to the village where Harold and Cyril are.
And so I re-motivated myself and walked into the school building.
It seems that the Rosanlila Magic Academy entrance examination is divided into a written exam and a practical exam.
The written exam came first, so I headed for the designated classroom.
“The time limit for this exam is 90 minutes. Everyone, please do your best!”
At the order of the examiner, everyone in unison started to look at their papers.
The practical exam should be fine, but I’m somewhat worried about the written exam.
After all, this is a world where a thousand years had passed after my previous life, so it wouldn’t be surprising even if the common sense I had inside me were obsolete.
For every common sense I have had in my mind has been entirely betrayed at every turn since my reincarnation.
I steeled myself, grabbed the pen and read through the questions.
…Hmm, I think I can manage this one.
The history field could be a little difficult for me, but I’ve done some light research beforehand, so I should be able to manage it.
The questions were centered on the history of the past two hundred years or so.
I wonder how was the world I lived in a thousand years ago being portrayed?
I read through the literature in the village and found nothing about the magic revolution that took place a thousand years ago.
Was it because it occurred so long ago? Or was that village so rural that there weren’t enough books on the matter?
While thinking about such things, I answered the questions smoothly.
Now comes the magic field of the written exam.
So it seems the questions in this section here are meant for students in a world where magic is already on the decline. That’s why, there simply isn’t anything to worry about in this section.
In fact, when I looked it over, as one might expect, there were questions that are way too simple for me.
‘Question・Please state one wrong part of this magic formula’
Hmm?
One wrong part…? That would be difficult.
Because—the magic formula was almost entirely wrong. It is hard to narrow it down to just one.
I wonder how one can form proper magic with this kind of magic formula?
A cursory count showed that there were twenty-eight mistakes.
Rather, it’s easier to just rewrite the magic formula from scratch, and so I did just that.
This way, the person who set this question up would realize their own stupidity as well.
And so I ended up solving the question that way.
But when I got to the last question, I had to stop my pen for a moment.
As to why, that’s because the difficulty is clearly different from any of the questions so far.
“Oh?”
I couldn’t help but blurt out.
After all, the magic theory I formulated a thousand years ago was written there.
But the contents are wrong.
Does that mean it was misrepresented over the course of a thousand years?
However, among the magic theories I formulated, even the children could easily manage this one.
After all, it’s not even that difficult.
It may be slightly more difficult than the other questions, but it’s safe to say that this falls within the levels of students as well.
…Okay! I guess that’s all of them.
And there’s still…sixty minutes left?!
So it has only been thirty minutes?
When I looked around, I saw everyone is still writing silently.
I guess they intend to review it until the end.
But it’s hard to think that one could make careless mistakes on such low standard questions.
So I plopped down on my desk and decided to sleep for the remaining sixty minutes.
“The exam is over…! Please stop writing!”
I was awakened by the examiner’s voice.
After the answer sheets were collected.
“Everyone is to gather in the schoolyard for the practical exam”
said the examiner before leaving the classroom.
While heading to the schoolyard where everyone else is heading too, I listened to the voices around me.
“As expected of the prestigious Rosanlila Magic Academy entrance examination”
“Yeah, it was difficult…I might not have gotten through even one fourth of it”
“Especially the last question, what was that? I’ve never seen anything like it before”
It seems that everyone has no confidence.
But this is a trap. They are probably deliberately underestimating themselves in order to put everyone off guard.
Because it’s hard to imagine that those who take the magic academy entrance examination can’t solve questions of that level.
After all, it’s fundamental in a fight to put your opponent off guard.
“Hmm. They are a force to be reckoned with”
Anyway, the next practical exam should be more pleasant.
I followed the others to a spacious schoolyard.
“Here, you are going to hit the Mud Doll with magic. It’s a ‘Targeting’ exam, so to speak”
The examiner told us as we were gathered in the schoolyard.
A short distance away from us, multiple Mud Dolls can be seen wandering around.
They seemed to be controlled by magic.
But based on the analysis of the built-in magic formula, it doesn’t seem to be of good quality.
It’s like a doll that simply goes back and forth to the same spot.
“Mud Dolls…! As one would expect of the Royal Capital’s magic academy”
“Aren’t those expensive?”
“Yeah. Just one of it would cost dozens of gold coins”
The examinees were chatting with each other when they saw the moving Mud Dolls.
“Now, let’s move on to the exam’s contents. I need everyone to stand on this line”
When I looked down, there’s a visible white line near my feet.
“Cast the fundamental magic, Fire Spear, without crossing this line, and aim it at the Mud Doll”
I see.
An exam where one has to shoot at a moving target with magic.
It’s simple, but profound.
“At the Mud Dolls over there…?”
“Is it even possible to hit a target that’s moving around like that with magic…?”
The surrounding area suddenly buzzes with noise.
Seeing this, the examiner continues in a relaxed tone.
“Rest assured. Even if you can’t hit the Mud Doll with magic, the grade for this exam will be determined through the speed and power of your Fire Spear. In other words, even if you can’t hit it, you won’t get a zero, so please do your best”
Hearing this, the examinees around me let out a sigh of relief.
Hmm.
So it will be fine even if we can’t hit it, huh.
But with a target of this level, I can’t think of anything other than to ‘Hit’ it from the start.
“Then let’s start with examinee number one—”
Thus began the practical exam.
In turn, the examinees stood in front of the white line and cast their magic.
“Gather yourselves together in these hands, O flame. Be a spear, pierce the enemy and burn them”
I think Cyril was blurting out something similar as well, but what are those embarrassing phrases?
Could it be…chanting?
Well, that’s all I can think of.
It is a method used before the magic revolution, and is so outdated that I had forgotten it existed.
The feeble Fire Spear released from the examinee, was heading for the Mud Doll.
“Shit…! I was so close to hitting it!”
But it didn’t even scrape the Mud Doll and landed on the nearby ground.
“That is to be expected. If you’re using the chanting magic, you wouldn’t have much control over it”
After all, the chanting magic is basically a pre-built magic formula.
It’s less applicable than constructing a magic formula from scratch.
So it wouldn’t be surprising to have missed the target with chanting magic even if the Mud Dolls are just simply going back and forth in a pattern.
“Next!”
One after another, the examinees casted their magic.
“Gather yourselves together in these hands, O flame. Be a spear, pierce the enemy and burn them!”
“Gather yourselves together in these hands, O flame. Be a spear, pierce the enemy and burn them!”
The magic is released one after another.
But…none of them seems to be particularly outstanding.
Most of the Fire Spear casted by the examinees didn’t even manage to hit the Mud Doll.
“Next! Examinee number 50”
“Yes!!”
A lovely voice was heard, and a girl stepped out of the crowd.
Oh.
Isn’t that…Lara?
The girl who I helped yesterday.
Now, let’s see what she is capable of.
“……Gather yourselves together in these hands, O flame. Be a spear, pierce the enemy and burn them!”
Just like everyone else, Lara used the chanting magic.
Hmm…I analyzed her magic power yesterday, and it seemed that Lara has Red Magic.
Red Magic excels in offensive magic.
As Lara was using the chanting magic, her magic power reacted with the ring that she wore on her finger.
Then, flames gathered in Lara’s hand, and soon a Fire Spear that was much larger than the other examinees’ was formed.
“Eh?”
The person in question, Lara, looks surprised.
The large Fire Spear went flying forwards with a roar.
It didn’t hit the Mud Doll, but it landed on the ground nearby, causing a loud explosion, and a lukewarm blast reached here.
Everyone who saw it seemed surprised.
“W-What the hell was that magic!”
“Was it really a Fire Spear? It didn’t hit the Mud Doll but if it’s that strong…I bet it can annihilate the enemy”
“She did well despite having the Unfortunate Magic Power”
They said, while looking at each other.
Since it was a chanting magic, it probably couldn’t be equipped with a tracking function, but its power was very different from the other examinees’ Fire Spear.
“E-Eh? What just happened? I’ve never casted such powerful magic in my entire life…could it be the effect of this ring? But…it wasn’t like this when I tried it out at the magic equipment store…”
Lara looked puzzled and stared at the ring on the finger of her right hand.
Witnessing that, I muttered to myself.
“I knew Lara would make a fine mage”
Her magic quality is good.
The magic that I had enchanted on her ring is a mere [Magic Power Output + 200%]. It’s not much of an effect.
Right now, she is still using the inefficient chanting magic, so it’s inevitable for her to miss the target…but if she trains from scratch, I think she will be a fine mage.
“Then…next! Examinee number 99!”
It’s my turn.
I take a step forward and look at the Mud Doll.
“Good luck, Kurt!”
Looking back, I saw Lara waving to me and cheering me on.
As she did so, everyone was looking at Lara and me alternately.
“This is quite embarrassing”, I said while scratching my head.
Well, it doesn’t feel so bad.
Okay. I can’t show them my lame side.
While analyzing the Mud Doll, I formed a magic formula.
There were a few examinees who were able to hit the Mud Doll, but none of them went so far as to break them.
So it’s hard to grasp how robust it is…but let’s go with [Strength + 1000%].
There are ten moving Mud Dolls in sight.
…Analysis complete.
“This should do the trick”
I formed ten Fire Spear.
Naturally, I’ve also granted a tracking function to the Fire Spear so that they won’t miss their targets.
As soon as the preparations were completed, I fired all of them at once, and the ten Fire Spear flew straight towards the Mud Doll.
Zudōōōon!
All of them managed to hit the targets.
A chain of explosions occurred, and a deafening blast can be heard.
“Wow!”
“What just happened!?”
The screams of the examinees echoed throughout the schoolyard.
And when the smoke had dissipated….
“H-Hey! All the Mud Dolls…are broken!”
“Moreover, those Fire Spear seemed to have flown towards the Mud Dolls as if they had their own will…?”
“And that Gold Magic…isn’t that a Defective Magic Power? No, I must have imagined it. I’ve never heard that the Defective Magic Power could perform such a feat!”
Still, it looks like the Mud Doll was made of a more brittle material than I had imagined.
I didn’t expect it to be completely destroyed by this level of magic.
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen a Mud Doll break!”
“Yeah, I second that. According to one theory, from what I heard, it’s supposed to be as durable as the armor made in Orichalcum…”
Orichalcum?
Oh, do they mean that brittle metal?
“Kurt, that was amazing!”
Lara ran up to me and grasped my hands tightly.
“A-Ahaha…all the Mud Dolls are broken. What am I going to do about the exam…?”
Meanwhile, the examiner, whose glasses were out of alignment, was at a loss when he saw the broken Mud Dolls.
I felt sorry for the examiner, so I later restored the Mud Dolls with my magic for him.
