7 Chapter Six

Right after William completed his announcement, his grimoire opened up and the sky darkened. In between the gaps in the clouds hovering above the capital city, roots of a giant tree descended downwards.

"World Tree Magic: Magic Tree Descent!"

It was one of William's spells which made roots from the heavens descend to the ground. From the tip of the roots, magic brooms were formed which were handed off to the examinees. Once every participant had received the brooms, the roots retracted back to the skies before completely disappearing from sight.

"We will now have you take several tests and the nine of us here will evaluate your performances and then select the candidates that we deem suitable to be in our squad. If chosen by just one captain, then you will have to join that particular squad. And if by luck, you are chosen by more than one captain, you are free to choose the squad you want to join."

"And those of you who fail to join are simply not qualified enough to be Magic Knights yet." William added on. "But do not be disheartened as there is always the next year for them to try again."

The Captain of Golden Dawns took a brief pause, letting his words sink in the crowd. The basic rule of the Magic Knights exam was pretty simple. The examinees had to show off their magic prowess in the variety of tests laid out for them, showing how diversely they apply their magic in day-to-day activities and how knowledgeable they are about their own attribute.

"For the first test, you will have to use the brooms to fly." William resumed, quickly going through the rules of the first test. "Mages who have proper control over their magic are able to do this on instinct. It is the basic mode of transportation for mages."

Having said that, William walked back and sat down on his seat. The first test has always been the simple test of flying on the brooms, something a mage is able to do even before they receive their grimoires.

The difference in evaluation comes in at the height one is flying at and the duration of their control. Mages with low control over their mana have erratic flying patterns compared to those who have proper control. The height at which a mage flies on a broom sometimes also varies depending on the person's mana reserve. The higher the reserve, the higher they can fly.

"It is pretty easy for the first test from what I think." Altria commented as both her and Varre were flying at the same height and slowly ascended even higher than most of the participants.

"This is to test our control and our reserves. Both of them are important during combat so even the little things cannot be taken lightly." Varre explained with a shrug. "Though there could have been other methods of doing so. This one is simple and guarantees success."

"There's also the fact that they can't have a shortage of magic knights since you never know what might happen." Altria added. "Makes sense they would choose a method with the highest success rate."

"That aside, let's have a mini competition on who can fly the highest amongst us, what do you say?" Varre challenged, his voice loud and clear enough to be heard by all the participants. Simply flying on the broom wasn't very interesting so to add some spice he just threw in a competition among all the examinees.

All those who heard him exchanged glances with one another and decided to give their fullest in winning this mini competition. They had nothing to gain from it, knowing full well that the majority of them would pass the test. It was just to boost one's morale and also to challenge themselves to their limits.

"You had to do this, didn't you?" Altria couldn't help but sigh at her friend's behavior. He had recently developed a habit of provoking people just to satisfy his boredom. It didn't result in any mishaps or accidents as long as Varre had it under control but sometimes she wished he would tone his reckless behavior down.

'Doesn't look like I have much of a choice.' The girl thought, seeing the participants quickly catching up to their height. Varre took this opportunity to fly even higher. Sighing she made up her mind to get into this friendly competition.

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William watched on as the participants soon got themselves involved into a friendly competition among themselves on who would fly the highest. This competition was thrown by the hazel-eyed boy, someone whom he or rather 'he' had his eye on the moment his gaze landed on the boy.

From 'his' consciousness, William could sense a feeling of respect and admiration. He figured that the boy, just like he himself, was another one of those people connected with 'his' memories.

"The boy harbors the soul of Licht." A voice William had got used to hearing ever since he turned nine, spoke. He hadn't heard from him in ages and this was the first time since he became a captain that 'he' decided to speak up. "He was able to reincarnate too. What more could I ask for?"

'I will try to get that boy in my squad, even if he is a commoner.' William reassured. They were able to hold a proper conversation after years and now are able to know what the other is thinking. Having seen through 'his' memories, the captain of Golden Dawn felt an obligation to help the spirit.

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A while later William rose from his seat, motioning the examinees to descend on the ground. It was now time for the second test. He waited for the participants to descend before snapping his fingers. Several mages clad in blue cloak and grey pants walked out from the inner halls of the colosseum and stood in front of the examinees.

The cloaked mages thrusted their palms on the ground, creating several plain-looking rock tablets from the ground. The mages then stepped backwards, waiting for further instructions.

"The next test is the Magic Ability Test. Here you all need to destroy these rock tablets using your magic." William explained. "This test is to evaluate you all on the basis of your offensive capabilities."

The mages were slowly lined up in rows and made to destroy the targets in front of them. Most mages used Magic Bullet, a basic offensive spell which is known and used by every mage. It is a condensed sphere of mana which can be used to attack at high speed with bare minimum casting time. While the effectiveness of the spell isn't much, it still counts as a basic combat spell.

Then there were those contestants who destroyed the targets by showing off their inherent attribute's offensive capabilities. In this manner, they were able to show both their offensive capabilities and the control over their attribute at the same time. This sort of gave them an edge over those who preferred using magic bullets to destroy the targets.

"Spatial Magic: Fallen Angel Wingbeat!"

One of the mages created a mass of spatial magic in between his palms before thrusting it towards the rock tablet. When the mass came in contact with the rock tablet, the center portion disappeared completely, letting the entire structure crumble at one go, due to the missing part. The mage wiped the sweat off his forehead, relieved that everything went smoothly.

'He would become a perfect pair of wheels!' Yami thought from his seat, looking at the spatial mage who appeared to be capable in his eyes but there was also this air of nervousness around him. 'His attitude needs a little refurnishing.'

'Well that was smart.' Varre noted before shifting his gaze to his own target. 'Normally Origin Flash is quite the destructive spell. Using it here might endanger the other examinees. Maybe I should try and reduce the output.'

Instead of forming a mana blade required for the spell, Varre drew out his rapier and held it with his left hand, pointed backwards. The red gem on the hilt glowed and a strange symbol appeared on the gem. A layer of mana covered the blade while Varre took a deep breath.

His plan was simple. It was to use Rune Magic, his second attribute to adjust the output of mana in his spells to the required frequency. In this manner he would be able to show his control over his magic and not endanger anyone else at the same time.

"Sword Magic: Origin Flash!"

He swung his rapier, releasing a slash of mana which blitzed through the field, completely destroying the target in the blink of an eye. Putting the rapier back, Varre walked back in the line, content with the fact that his calculations weren't off at all.

"That was quite an impressive display of mana control." Fuegoleon commented. He was the wielder of Flame Magic, an element with the highest level of difficulty when it came to controlling it. He had risen to the ranks of Captain only by being able to effectively control the destructive nature of his flames, which was why he was able to tell that Varre was controlling his mana output at one glance.

"It is as you say." Nozel added. It was one of those rare cases where he would agree with the Captain of Crimson Lions, the man he calls his rival. "The boy has refined control over his magic that most of the beginner knights lack. His sense of fashion on the other hand...."

"Oi! Stop judging me Braid-Hair!" Yami countered, feeling Nozel's mocking gaze on him.

Having walked back, Varre looked up at Altria to see it was her turn to take a shot at the target. She brought her hands together, her palms facing the target while her grimoire opened up, surrounded by a pure white glow.

"Twinkle Star!"

White mana gathered in her palms, taking the shape of a cross-star before shooting out in a beam of white light, destroying the target completely, leaving nothing but dust behind. Closing her grimoire she sighed in relief as she walked back in the line.

'That was similar to Ark in so many ways..' Varre internally gulped, maintaining a straight face. His eyes met with Altria's, both signaling each other with a thumbs up. "Man, she's OP!"

"What's OP?"

"Overpowered in terms of strength. You are too."

"I am?"

"Yes."

The second test soon came to an end and the arena was cleaned up by the cloaked mages. After that William stood up to explain the rules for the next test.

"The third test is the Creation Magic test." The masked captain went on. "With effective control over one's magic and with a human mind's imagination, a mage can create a variety of shapes, tools and even vehicles and weapons with their magic. This test is to judge you examinees on the basis of control and how far your imagination goes."

The examinees began murmuring and whispering with one another. Those who had Creation-type magic went ahead to show off their prowess and those that didn't possess such magic were being left behind in confusion.

And Varre was one of them.

His attribute was Sword, which automatically limited his room for creation. For all he knew, he could only create various variants of the sword. It would still count as creation if he makes them from his imagination, or particularly in his case, from his memories and vast knowledge.

Before he proceeded with whatever he had in mind for this round, he shifted his gaze to Altria to see how she was faring up for this round. Seeing her conjure star-shaped saucers in her hands, he refocused to his own task at hand. Deciding to keep it simple, he quickly made a mana greatsword, showed it off and dispersed it quickly, thereby putting an end to the round.

After the completion of the third test, the cloaked mages from before made their way to the stadium. They quickly distributed seeds to the now perplexed examinees. Having distributed they went back to the hallways, a cue for the Captain of Golden Dawn to explain the rules of this round.

"The fourth test will be the Developmental Magic test. As we are aware that mana is a life force in itself and it can perform miracles and do wonders." William held one of the seeds that had been distributed to the examinees. With a tiny bit of his mana put into the seed, leaves and branches began sprouting. "Following that very same concept of life force, you all will be sprouting this seed with your mana."

Varre glared at the seed as if it were his sworn enemy. He didn't even need to look over at Altria's direction, knowing full well that with her nature of magic, it would be easy for her to grow a tree from a seed even without her having to try.

'I need to improvise here. What these captains are testing is improvisation. They don't want to see my magic skills right now.' The brown-haired boy glanced up to the captains for a split second before refocusing his gaze on the seed. A memory of him watering the plants in his garden flashed up in his head.

A plant doesn't grow overnight from just a seed. After it is buried in the soil, water is provided to it at a constant rate and not at an excess amount right off the bat. The other nutrients it receives from the sun and the soil also play a crucial factor in the growth of the tree.

'In this scenario, the nutrients are mana but the crux remains the same.' Content with the logic he came up with, Varre knelt and placed the seed on the ground. "A plant's growth takes time due to the absorption rate of all the nutrients. Instead of overdoing it, all I need to do is slowly input mana at a low quantity."

Pressing his palm over the seed, Varre slowly supplied it with mana, trying to copy what William demonstrated. Soon enough, his efforts bore fruit as leaves and branches began sprouting from the seed. Satisfied with the result, he stood up and walked back in line after dusting himself off.

'Now only the last round remains. The combat round.'

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