The end of the first year of the Apprentice Program had arrived.
With it came the term-end examination that many freshmen dreaded from the bottom of their hearts.
STEP
STEP
STEP
Cæ walked towards the examination hall silently with a relaxed gait and a calm expression.
He stood out amid the sea of tense, nervous freshmen with anxious expressions.
The air was heavy.
The noise that their chatter generated on a day to day basis was absent, replaced by soft whispers and faint murmurs.
"…I'm screwed." Kelton's grim voice broke the silence, drawing momentary glances from students all around them.
"Ssh!" Natana put a finger to her lips, shushing him harshly.
"This is why I told you to study when you had the time," Sorenon chided him with a low voice. "How will you score well in theory if you don't practice?"
Cæ simply ignored the conversation.
His concentration remained on the task at hand.
The time was nigh.
"Please leave your bags in the lockers," the invigilator sternly remarked with a serious expression. "Leave your magiphones on silent mode and take your seats in your exam rooms as per ID numbers."
"Good luck," Cæ told his three young friends before heading off to his exam room with his necessary stationery.
"IDs on the table and pouches open," the invigilator instructed. "We will soon begin the exams."
Cæ closed his eyes as the invigilators swiftly went about confirming ID cards and student numbers, ensuring that everybody was where they were supposed to be.
And soon enough, it was time.
FLAP
Several sheets of paper were placed on his table.
A question paper and answer sheet.
Cæ read through the paper with a composed expression.
The exam was on the History of Magic foundational course that explored the different phases of magical history with the Pure Ages, the Magical Awakening, and the Magindustrial Revolution.
A course that Cæ enjoyed learning about but had no interest in pursuing.
"Begin," the invigilator instructed students.
Immediately, the students began writing furiously.
The sound of scribbles echoed within the exam room as deafening silence overtook the entire exam hall. Many a student stressed as their expressions grew grim and their eyes wandered about with uncertainty.
Because the magic aptitude test was based entirely on natural talent, it didn't necessarily select students who were the most studious and disciplined. Unlike other fields, those who got into the top magicademies were not the ones who put the most effort into scoring high on an academic entrance exam with an excellent GPA in high school.
No, it was all talent-driven, which meant that the university naturally gained students who were not the most disciplined, especially among sixteen-year-old boys and girls who, while not lazy, were not exactly the most known for their self-control.
While the other test-takers stressed about the exam, Cæ calmly and swiftly jotted down all the answers to all the questions.
He closed his eyes, recollecting the entirety of all textbooks of this particular course. His imagination and memory were so vivid that he could recreate the textbook with perfect accuracy, skimming through the pages in his mind as he found what he was looking for each particular question.
And just like that, three hours passed.
"Time is up. Put your pens down."
A wave of tired relief washed over the students as the invigilator walked by all of them, collecting all their papers one by one.
Cæ huffed lightly once the exam was done, stretching his stiff body, before collecting his stationary and departing from the exam hall. Students conversed with each other with tones of relief and worry, exhausted all the same.
"How did it go for you, big brother?" Sorenon asked with a curious expression, readjusting his spectacles.
Cæ shrugged lightly. "Great."
"I…" Kelton murmured with a worried tone. "I might fail."
"This is why you should have studied," Natana chided him, shifting her pigtails behind her shoulder before turning to Cæ with a curious expression. "You must have gotten full marks, big brother."
Cæ huffed. "Hopefully. I don't think I got a single one wrong."
He knew he didn't get a single one wrong.
"Urghhh…" Kelton groaned with pain. "This hell for the week is going to be brutal!"
"You should consider yourself lucky," Cæ lightly commented. "I have two weeks of exams."
The three of them stiffened at his words, gazing at him with concern.
"…I still think you're a madman for choosing to give all the exams in one go," Sorenon muttered with an uncertain tone. "Do you really think you can pass the Apprentice Program in one year?"
The question turned the air solemn.
"Yes," Cæ simply replied. "I will be a Senior in a month or so."
"Heh, I have faith in you, big brother," Kelton smiled confidently. "Do you have faith in me?"
"…No."
"Wha—"
A small smile appeared at the edge of Cæ's mouth uncharacteristically. "Work hard, kid. It helps. For now, I'm off. I need to prepare for my next exam."
And just like that, he returned to his dormitory to study.
He had completely put all matters as a low priority for the time being, including business development, much to his chagrin. But he had no choice, and he couldn't afford to botch up his magical mastery.
Good marks, in theory, didn't necessarily guarantee that, but good marks were necessary for getting into the Senior Program of the Elendir Institute of Magic, which was necessary for his agenda of magical mastery.
And thus, in the following days, Cæ took one exam after another in rapid succession, day after day. Exam after exam, he aced all the theory courses, relying on his gifts to nail them down without even the slightest hint of failure.
And then came the practical exams.
"Gather around."
In a large combat hall, a large number of apprentice students were gathered. Their attire was different from the standard institute, comprised of skin-tight combat suits checkered with glowing runes across the entire attire.
A standard-issue magicademy wand was tucked away in the holsters attached to their utility belt. If students were allowed to bring their own wands, the rich students would dominate the poor students each and every time, thus the Institute took it upon themselves to equalize things.
"Combat exams work differently from the theory tests," Professor Lioxin smiled mischievously, "as I'm sure you all know. Not all of you will pass this test."
It was difficult to measure combat prowess objectively, for it wasn't a singular parameter, and no singular test did it justice. Compatibility differences made it impossible for a universal test to benefit some students against each other.
"And thus, your combat skills will be judged relative to other students," Professor Lioxin's tone was mischievous. "Each student will fight every other student. More than a hundred battles per student. The bottom twenty-five percent will be failed."
The students stiffened at her words.
That was an absurd number of battles to subject students within a single session. It would be extraordinarily grueling physically and mentally and truly push students to their very limit.
And thus, it began.
STEP
Cæ arrived at the little arena with a steely expression and a driven intensity.
The boy who was made to take the stage against him gulped as he could barely contain his wobbling knee. The boy shifted his glasses nervously, drawing his wand with a shaking hand.
Cæ's combat prowess was infamous.
Although he had fallen short of breaking records, he had gained proficiency in magic at an astounding rate. His combat magic was so great that he had essentially been undefeated in his class ever since he began partaking in the combat magic course.
Almost none of the students thought they could deal with him.
"Begin!"
THWOOM!
From the moment the battle began, a magic circle appeared before Cæ and almost instantaneously, a powerful gust of wind outside of his opponent's interference field blasted into his opponent, flinging him away.
"Waaah!"
THUD
He landed outside of the arena, skidding away with a groan.
For a moment, nobody could move.
The battle had barely lasted a second.
Cæ could have effortlessly killed him before he could even react had that been a real battle. What especially stunned people was how quickly he could weave a magic circle together and cast magic.
Magic circles were the triggers for associated memories that served as eidos templates for the magic spell, but magic circles themselves were cast through direct memory and imagination. The act of casting a magic spell was a multi-layered mental process.
And yet, Cæ cast magic spells at blinding speeds and was almost entirely unrivaled in that regard.
Almost.
BANG!
"Aaah!"
Another student was knocked out of the ring simultaneously as Cæ's opponent was.
Cæ raised an eyebrow as his gaze fell on the student who achieved a victory as he did.
His eyes sharpened as his eyes fell upon a familiar face.
He was visibly older than he had been when they ran into each other.
A growth spurt had lent him several inches of growth. His body was more developed than it had been, and his flowing brown hair had gotten even longer. His sharp green eyes sparkled with greater intensity than Cæ remembered, filled with hatred that was directed towards him, of all people.
"…Silian Sylvester."
The kid who had tried to murder Cæ even before the academic year even began. He had failed, of course, and had even been penalized with a credit loss, requiring him to work much harder to make for it.
It didn't take a genius to figure out that he resented Cæ for what had happened.
Even though he was the one who had tried to kill Cæ.
His expression was crumpled with murderous anger.
He was itching to fight Cæ.
'Well, isn't that convenient?' A cold, perilous light flared in Cæ's eyes.
He was not in the habit of sparing people who had tried to kill him.
If it weren't for the fact that they were on campus under the supervision of the magicademy that day, Cæ would not have allowed him to get away as easily as he did. And if they were in the slums, he would have burned him alive and watched him writhe and scream as the flames ate him alive.
Shivers crawled down the spines of those around as just a spark of the wrath and hatred that Cæ kept buried deep inside him came out.
A terrible malevolence and malice.
The sheer depth of his hatred.
It inspired fear.
Silian didn't back down, glowering at him with thinly-veiled bloodlust.
Professor Lioxin watched with an excited smile, coolly allowing the two students to bear their ill-will against each other.
She was confident in her own ability and the security measures of the Elendir Institute of Magic that would protect each other from each other even if they themselves forgot their restraint.
A part of her was hoping that they would.
It was better for them to go through this experience now in a controlled and safe environment where they could learn from allowing their emotions to take control without having to suffer from the consequences.
And thus, the battles continued.
Both Cæ and Silian achieved an undefeated streak of domineering victories. Silian displayed a degree of magical mastery that was truly amazing for someone who was merely seventeen years old. He had gotten rank five on the same magic aptitude test in which Cæ had gotten rank two, leaving no doubts about his talent, and had been practicing magic even before he had gotten into the magicademy.
It was impossible to say which of the two were stronger as they were now, making the impending match-up that much more shocking.
One after another, they dominated all the opponents that came their way in an undefeated streak of victories.
And soon enough, it was time.
STEP
STEP
The two of them arrived before each other in the battle arena.