The First Test

1

After making it to class in the nick of time Tatsuya enters the class and goes to his seat.

"Today for sure I thought I'd be late... All because of that idiot!"

Then Sieg enters the class and sits in front of Tatsuya.

"I remember whatever you taught me yesterday... I'll keep my end of the deal!" says Sieg to Tatsuya while holding his thumb upwards.

Then Goro comes in their class and says-

"Alright! No need for attendance today... Get your asses on the lawn right now... It's time for the test!"

No one wastes a second and everyone goes out to the lawn. Tatsuya and Sieg like always at the end and together walk behind the crowd and Sieg says-

"When will they accept us?" and he sighs.

"Don't act cocky just because I'm behaving friendly towards you... You bug slayer."

"Oye. That last word was unnecessary..."

"Let's just walk."

"You're right. I have to pay for sensei's food today... When will he receive his salary?" says Sieg while sobbing.

"My salary? I got it a month back."

Sieg and Tatsuya stop and turn around asking-

"What!?~ why didn't you tell us about it then Goro sensei?!"

"Why should I? It's none of your business anyways."

"IT IS! You've been living off of our money...."

"And now we're kinda broke."

"No... It's just that last month you were so persistent on making me eat with your money that I had to accept the offer. Hahaha."

Tatsuya pulls Sieg's arm and follows his class.

"C'mon now... There's no way we'll win this argument."

"Hey! Wait! Let me... let me go!"

Tatsuya smacks him on his head and says-

"Shut up! You wanna be late for the test now?!"

"Tch... Ok! Let me walk on my own!" says Sieg and Tatsuya leaves his arm.

They reach the lawn and see many students from other classes including theirs.

"That's a lot of students..." says Tatsuya while looking around.

"You're right. Maybe this is some important test after all."

Tatsuya then spots a bunch of girls looking their way while smiling and talking with each other. As soon as Tatsuya looks at them they look away and continue talking.

"Hm? What is up with these people...?"

"All students are present here, I presume?" A voice from the front echoes through the crowd. The whole crowd gets quietened down and everyone pays attention to Edel, the principal of the 'Magic Academy'.

"Oh! It's old man Edel..."

"This is an important test after all..."

"Good morning all students from the first year! I am Ede..." and he starts to cough up blood.

"Principal! Are you ok?!" says the lady next to Edel.

"Yeah! Yeah! This is nothing..."

"As I was saying... Today is a very important day for you. I mean it's one of the most important days in your three years! Each student from every class will enter these tents behind me one by one.... What's in those tents you ask? It's your test!" says Edel while pointing at the three tents behind him.

"What does that mean?"

"What is he saying? Does that mean we'll have to fight or something?!"

"No way... maybe it's some examination?"

Then suddenly Sieg hits Tatsuya's shoulder and says-

"I knew it...!" and laughs.

"HUH?!" says Tatsuya with an intimidating face while staring down at Sieg.

Then Edel continues-

"Now let me tell you the rules of this test... there are three tents here and three pieces of paper in this box. You all will take the paper pieces from this box by putting your hand in it. You can exchange the pieces of paper with each other if you want... But no stealing! Now... I shall give you a hint to finishing this test."

Then he takes a pause and takes few steps in the front and says-

"One of the pieces of paper will make you take part in battle... Not with each other though..."

Everyone was shocked on hearing this and then they start to whisper among themselves.

"Now! Now! I've not yet finished... The last thing you have to remember is... The ones who can finish the test can increase their savings..."

Everyone hears this and gets hyped up.

"Now we're talking!"

"You sure took the words outta my mouth!" says Tatsuya and Sieg while looking ready to face any challenge.

2

"Hey look! I got the P.E paper."

"... Why did I have to get the written examination one...?"

"I got the P.E one too... But I don't know if I'll pass..."

Tatsuya puts his hand in the box and takes out a piece of paper. While opening the paper he says-

"Let's see... What did I get?" then he reads the paper and says , "Okay! P.E it is! At least it's better than the written one!"

Then Sieg puts his hand inside the box and takes out a paper piece. He starts to shout with excitement after reading what was written on the paper.

"What did you get, bug slayer?"

"Shut up! I got the battle one!"

"What?! Is that so...?" then Tatsuya starts to sulk.

"What's wrong, Tatsuya?"

"Nothing... You got that one right? Must be nice right?" and starts to laugh.

Then Edel suddenly says loudly-

"The paper pieces with battle written are limited and are not as easy as the other two..."

"It really is challenging then! I'm gonna enjoy it!"

"Is that so... well, have fun..." says Tatsuya while still sulking.

After a while everyone finishes taking the paper pieces from the box they start to exchange it with one another. Tatsuya then looks at Sieg and stares at the paper piece in his hand.

"I'm not gonna give it."

"Tch... At least it was worth a shot!"

After exchanging everyone started to go into their respective tents and so does Tatsuya. Since the tents looked big they all thought that the grounds would be too. The inside of the tents were created with stone. The surface and the ceilings had a smooth surface and they could walk perfectly fine without stumbling upon anything.

"Right... I forgot that magic can be used for making this."

There were close to 25 students in that tent out of which most were girls and there were only a handful of boys. They all walked to the centre of the tent and then Imryll walked inside the tent.

"Now let's start the test. Believe me... You don't wanna spend too much time in here. Once you clear this first test you can move on to your second and final test for the first semester."

"First semester? We were just told that this would be a class test..."

"But this could have also been something else..."

"Doesn't matter. All we need to get is the prize right?"

"Yeah... But it won't be easy with that guy around." Say the boys while pointing at Tatsuya.

Tatsuya was already bugged as Sieg got the paper with battle written on it. Now after hearing these boys say stuff like this he was starting to get pissed off. He looks at the boys in the tent with rage and they just look away. Then, he notices the girls staring at him again. It was the very same girls who were staring at him on the lawn.

"What is it?"

"Um... Nothing. We were just wondering something for a while now."

"Okay. If it's anything about me just ask."

"Really! Ok then. We were wondering who is on top and who is on bottom."

Tatsuya just walks away in regret and he asks the teacher-

"I'm feeling kinda sick... Can I take the test fast?"

"Oh okay! But if you bail out on the next one then you'll be failed immediately no matter how you performed on the class tests."

"...Okay." says Tatsuya while looking sick.

Tatsuya then follows Imryll away from the students.

"Principal told us to take your test keeping some distance between you and the other students."

"I know why... He probably knows too..." says Tatsuya and sighs.

After reaching the other end of the tent Tatsuya looks at the distance between him and the other students and then asks her in shock-

"Is this much really needed?"

"I know you're not sick... I just want to finish off your test before everyone elses'."

"Sensei... Are you maybe scared?"

On hearing that Imryll-sensei flinches and says nervously-

"Is it okay if I tell you what to do from a distance?"

"...Okay..." says Tatsuya while smiling awkwardly.

Imryll-sensei and Tatsuya now stood 10 metres far from a target. Imryll-sensei walked to the rest of the students and after reaching there she said-

"The first test is using all your basic elements on the target!"

"Alright sensei!" says Tatsuya and aims his finger at the target.

A small flame appears in front of his finger and he grabs that flame with his hand and makes a fist. Then he opens his palm and the flame in his palm starts to grow slowly.

"Just a little more... and done!" says Tatsuya after creating a ball of fire the size of a basketball.

Then he throws the ball of fire as if he were playing baseball and after it hits the target the target blows up to pieces and a part of the stone wall behind a target also takes damage.

After a few seconds, another target appears out of nowhere and then Tatsuya taps his feet on the ground twice. A strong gust of wind starts to blow around him and then Tatsuya holds his hand as if it were a knife and swings it in the direction of the target. The target gets perfectly sliced in half and slides off. The wall looked like it was gonna shatter any minute.

After another target appeared, he concentrates and coats his hand with a layer of water.

"Okay! Now let's try this out..." says Tatsuya and holds his hand like a knife once again.

Then he swings it multiple times in the direction of the target and thin blade like waves of water slice the target and the wall behind it. Now, everyone could see outside the tent though the gap in the wall.

"Sensei?"

"Um... He has only one more left."

"Don't know if he'll destroy the tent with the next one..."

"Can't expect anything else with the A-class..." and some of the boys starts to snicker at Tatsuya.

Few girls from Tatsuya's class were present in that tent as well. One of them goes to the boys and slaps the one who made that comment.

"How dare you slap me?!"

"Huh? I slapped a vermin. Was there anything wrong with that?"

"Tch..."

"He's the pride of our class... Your magic couldn't even compare to his." Says Celestine while looking enraged.

"Whatever is going on there... It's better I don't look."

Then Tatsuya backs off a foot behind and raises his hand. The ground shakes a bit and a huge rock impales the target and also destroys the wall.