What? Zane Isn't Weak, He's Perfectly Average!
As the dust cleared, revealing the lack of the remaining half of the gymnasium, everyone stood there in shock. Lanius, with a smile on his face, lowered his hands, turning to the stunned crowd behind him.
"That was good, right?" He looked between Leo and the rest, still smiling like an idiot.
Lisa, seeing his carefree attitude, ran up to Lanius, grabbing his ear and pulling him down.
"Are you CRAZY!?" She screamed in his ear.
"Ow ow ow ow!"
"Give a warning next time!"
Lisa let go of Lanius' ear, the latter immediately going to rub it. Leo stepped closer to the two before clearing his throat.
"Well, um, Lanius Ashrule," Leo peeked at his list. He was definitely still a little shaken. "You get a perfect score for this test."
"YES! Ow ow ow!"
Lanius cheered, about to celebrate, but Lisa started pinching him.
Back with the rest of the crowd, Zane was just watching the events unfold, while Firenze was seething.
'How the hell does someone like him exist!' He thought, turning around and punching the bleachers, leaving a big dent in the metal. 'He doesn't even look winded after casting that spell!'
Sydney was just staring blankly at the scene. She thought she was showing off, but turns out there were showier people present.
"Alright, one last person to take the test. Let's finish this so we can move on to the next test and they can start fixing this place." Leo called out to the crowd. "Zane Syne!"
Leo raised an eyebrow upon seeing the final name on his list. He recognized that family name.
Zane felt all eyes turn on him. He could feel the suspicion, the malice in the gazes of those that recognized his name. He felt someone shove him from behind, making him stumble out in front of everyone.
'Don't do it, Zane. You don't want to start a war against the kingdom single-handedly just yet.' Zane bit his tongue and resisted the urge to fucking murder everyone in the room with him… not including Sydney.
Composing him quickly, he walked up to Leo, who didn't offer any polite words.
"Go on." He told Zane flatly. Zane smiled a fake smile at him.
"You think he'll cast some Dark Magic?"
"What if he tries to hurt Sir Leo!"
Zane ignored all the murmurs of the crowd. He stuck out his hand.
"Mana Utensils." He spoke.
In the air above his hand, a spoon, fork, and knife appeared, all made of a blue translucent energy. He displayed it for a few seconds before deactivating the spell.
His showcase finished, Leo only nodded and wrote something on his list before turning to the crowd, who seemed a little disappointed that Zane didn't do something crazy like casting Dark Magic.
'You're kidding me.' Zane thought upon hearing the disappointed murmurs.
"We will now head to the 3rd test." He then walked off, leaving the crowd to follow.
Zane frowned. "He didn't even ask me if I wanted to showcase a spell. Dick."
A little annoyed, Zane joined the back of the crowd. Unlike earlier, where only those that recognized him stayed away, now everyone was keeping their distance, except Sydney, who was one of the few that didn't care about the whole Dark Mage parents thing.
In the middle of the crowd, Firenze came to a realization. He remembered how Zane was the only one who saw through his spellbooks. Could that have been because of Dark Magic?
'I don't want to jump to conclusions…' Firenze thought. 'But I'll keep my distance just in case.'
The crowd walked across the courtyard, heading for another building. At least that's what they thought.
In the middle of broad daylight, right out in the open, the crowd of test-takers disappeared, unable to react.
Zane, who was following the crowd, blinked and realized he was now in a different area. He was in some sort of dimly lit room, with fog all around.
Some distance in front of him, Zane noticed one of the other test-takers standing there. It was some guy, who was staring at Zane with hate and fear in his eyes.
"Did you do this!?" He pointed an accusatory finger at Zane, looking around wildly. "Is this some Dark Magic!?"
Zane was left with his mouth open. "Are you stupid?" He questioned the guy.
"What are you talking about!?"
"This is obviously the third test, dumbass." Zane rolled his eyes.
As if on cue, Leo's voice echoed in their ears.
"Everyone, this is the third and final test. In front of you is your opponent. You are to find a way to defeat your opponent using ONLY the spell you learned from the previous test. Lethal or excessive force will not be tolerated. To pass this test, you must win, however some considerations may be made for the loser if they perform well. You may now begin."
The announcement finished, the boy glared at Zane, who rolled his eyes again. He immediately casted Mana Utensils, the three, well, utensils floating in his palm.
Before the boy could do anything, Zane made the knife fly towards his opponent, running after it. The opponent in question flinched at the rapidly approaching object. As the knife flew closer to the boy, Zane made it stop an inch before his face, startling him.
"Ouch!"
Feeling a sudden pain in his hand, the boy looked down to see a blue translucent fork sticking out of his left hand. It had gone deep enough to draw a little blood. While he was distracted, Zane arrived in front of the boy, immediately punching him in the face.
Knocking him to the ground, Zane punched him a couple more times until he was knocked out. He was 100% letting out some of the anger he bottled down from the gymnasium.
"I win."
Zane stood up and deactivated the spell, stating his victory. As if to agree with him, the room lit up, revealing a white room. The exit was located behind Zane.
'I'm so done with this stupid exam, just let me in already.' Zane REALLY wanted to be over with this exam. He knew he passed all three tests, albeit barely, which was kinda the point of all this effort.
Unfortunately, there was one more hurdle before Zane would be given peace.
Exiting the room, Zane saw Leo waiting outside. Looking around, Zane noticed that he was in a hallway lined with doors left and right, which was most likely where the other test-takers were having their fights.
Upon seeing Zane, Leo crossed his arms.
"You finished quick."
"That I did, Sir Leo." Zane smiled at Leo, who didn't look convinced.
"While the others are still having their tests, why don't you and me have a chat? Consider it as a… bonus test."
"Certainly, Sir Leo."
Zane answered politely, but on the inside he was screaming in frustration.