The test had already begun, and thirty minutes had already passed. All the participants were focusing on the sheet that appeared in front of them. Some considered cheating, but they couldn't do a thing with the mages' eyes upon them.
This was a once-in-a-year thing, and to jeopardize it was out of consideration.
The theoretical evaluation was very tough and complicated for those who didn't revise anything from the program they studied, which was why people who had just graduated from the school had a better chance than those older participants.
In those early minutes, a lot of participants lost their right to continue the test because they wrote down some wrong answers and wanted to change them forcibly, which made the sheet burn automatically after attempts like that.
The look of panic in their eyes was priceless; they wanted to cheat the system, but with their limited abilities, they failed and caused their own exclusion.
The questions were a mix of all the subjects they studied at school and weren't necessarily very hard, so anyone who attended school regularly and studied hard could answer them with minimal effort.
But that wasn't the case with everyone. Richard was sweating from the beginning because he was afraid of writing the wrong answer, while Samuel was very comfortable writing his answers.
One hundred and fifty-seven participants had already failed the test because they tried to change their answers, while the rest of them waited for the results impatiently.
Ethyl was sitting confidently and writing down her answers comfortably, as if she were the queen of that place, sitting there with no worries at all.
As the mage had said, there were a hundred questions covering the four subjects, which meant there were twenty-five questions for each subject: brief, direct questions about literature, history, botany, and alchemy.
For most participants, alchemy was the hardest among them, but it was still manageable for the majority.
When the test ended, those who had completed less than half of the questions or gotten less than half of them right had their papers burned right in front of them, eliminating them on the spot.
After that, everyone who still had their papers in front of them felt a wave of relief, and that was when the official responsible for the evaluation spoke up: "Well, the rest of you passed."
He didn't say anything more. He was acting completely arrogant and didn't even want to look at them. He simply said what he had to say and left the huge hall.
Richard began to look around him with a big smile on his face, counting all the people he knew who had passed the test.
He wasn't entirely happy, but he felt as though a massive burden had been lifted from his shoulders, because if the criteria had been any stricter, he would have failed just like the others.
Three hundred participants was the grand total of those moving on to the second evaluation.
They weren't even granted time to rest; immediately after finishing the first test, higher-ranked mages led them out to a huge field for the practical exam.
The rain was still pouring endlessly, but they didn't cancel the test, delay it, or move it to a covered location.
Ethyl created a shield that resembled a massive green leaf to protect herself from getting soaked; after all, she had worn her favorite dress for the evaluation.
The higher mages lined up at a covered desk and began calling each contestant by their code number for the practical exam.
The mage responsible for the test addressed them at the start: "Using magic is not enough, and you know that. If you do not use at least two elements of magic, just leave now without being evaluated."
Right then and there, a total of one hundred people lost their eligibility. The official said once he had a total of two hundred people remaining in front of him: "Now, there is a series of spells you need to perform: basic spells that everyone should master. After that, you must pass through that room, which will measure the exact amount of divine energy your body can hold. This measurement will give you your exact ranking among all mages, not just a random, non-specific rank. This ranking will tell you if you are ready to level up when you ascend to Emperium."
The required spells for the test included shifting spells, into animals, other people, or objects, fighting spells, healing spells, summoning spells for divine energy, holy animals, or combat tools, and a spell combining two different elements of the user's choice.
The test was not overly difficult, and Ethyl finished her turn faster because she had mastered the practical side of magic. Richard faced a lot of difficulty, especially with mixing two elements, but he eventually pulled it off, as did Samuel and many of their colleagues.
The practical exam took a long time to complete, lasting almost eight hours. For Ethyl, who had passed among the very first participants, waiting for the process to end was extremely boring.
She shifted into a cute little animal just to mess with the mages' interpretation of her abilities. She didn't want them to view her as a threat or compare her to Lucas, so she deliberately threw away a few points to stay within the average range of the other participants.
The only thing Ethyl truly feared was getting the final results of her divine energy measurement. She had already measured her divine capacity once before, so she knew what to anticipate.
Those mages would eradicate her on the spot if they ever discovered her true ranking.
She had to do something about it, but dwelling on it now wasn't helping, and she was far too nervous to make a clear decision.
Sure, she was prepared but no one told her that they were going to measure divine energy specifically.
She had to level up but that was not sure at this point.
"Calm down little girl, give me a part of your skin and i will help you pass the measurement room"