The exam hall was huge. Multiple examiners were testing at least half a dozen people at a time. It was fascinating. Spells flying around, fireballs, some icicles, and bolts of lightning. There were applicants undergoing combat training, and I guessed that their artefacts would be on the physical side.
Then, an examiner called me over, along with 5 other applicants.
"Alright, you lot. I'm your examiner, call me Sir, Mr Dean, I don't care. I've got all your information here, and all of you are magic based mages." He turned and pointed at a set of targets. "Use your artefacts and destroy those, don't worry, they'll reappear so you won't be charged in damage."
Everyone nodded in understanding and stood in front of their respective targets.
How much power should I use? I asked Orebrul in a confident tone.
Use about... 20%... maybe 30%? Up to you, I guess.
Grinning widely, I activated the {Fireball} skill.
I controlled the level of mana the ring sapped from me and let just enough out, such that the fireball was around the size of a basketball, or maybe a little bigger.
I raised my palm and the fireball along with it, leaving a thin trail of flames in its wake, aiming straight for the target. Engrossed in my task, my eyes sharpened to a point, and my vision tunnelled. All that I could see now was my arm, the fireball, the target, and the distance between them. Everything else blotted itself out, and my eyes burned into the target, shaped like a person, which I thought was a little cruel. In a short and controlled burst of magical energy, I blasted the fireball at the target, and at the moment right before contact, I closed my fist, and the fireball exploded in a loud and deafening rumble.
My vision and hearing allowed for the return of my surroundings, and I turned to the examiner who was staring at me slightly wide-eyed and his hand, holding a clipboard, was trembling ever so slightly, however not small enough that my sharp eyes didn't pick it up. I didn't comment on it, nor did I draw attention to it as I stepped up to him.
"Did I pass?" I asked, feigning ignorance in regard to my level of skill. "Y... Yeah..." Mr Dean replied in a startled and questioning tone. "You... you're a beginner, right?"
"Well, I've had a bit of training from a friend back home." I responded matter-of-factly.
Mr Dean nodded, shakily, but still with what little confidence he had left and guided me to another room. "Welcome to Aurora University. Here, you can select your courses and request a specific timetable should you need to do so." He told me, his eyes never leaving me.
"Thank you," I replied as I gave him a shallow bow, and he walked back into the examining hall.
My curiosity won out, and I peered round the corner, back into the examining hall, and I saw Mr Dean talking to a more, well-dressed man who had a stern look. His eyes widened as Mr Dean, rather reluctantly, jerked a thumb towards the courses room, which is exactly where I was. Smoke was in the air, and my gaze was drawn to where I'd undergone my test, and my eyes shook. Not out of fear. But with unbridled excitement as what I saw amazed me despite knowing my true capabilities.
The week it took to travel here, I'd used it wisely. I'd trained my mana reserves and learned to control the output levels. It wasn't easy, and it took a lot of explaining on Orebrul's behalf to get me to understand the sensation since I'd never had an artefact before. The training had benefitted me more than I could have ever hoped, the potency of my fireballs had increased and I'd discovered that the next skill in the {Destruction} path was {Yellow Flames} which was a much more powerful and potent version of my current skill. It climbed all the way up to {Violet Flames} which I couldn't wait to achieve.
The thoughts of my travel drifted away as I regarded my work of art with proud eyes. The target had been blown off completely, leaving only the metal stump holding up the previously whole target. The metal was singed and white-hot and had begun to melt to molten metal. The rate of melting was only just below the rate at which the target was regenerating, which caused it to be slower than usual.
Yeah, keep that ego nice and high, I heard Orebrul remark inside my head.
Quiet you. I countered as I looked away from the hall and continued deeper into the courses room.
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Approximately 2 hours later, I'd managed to get through everything that needed doing. I'd chosen 2 courses: History of Artefacts and Artifical Combat. The first course was almost a given for me since this would make it easier to track powerful artefacts down so I could take them and sacrifice them. The latter, however, wasn't necessarily needed for me due to my previous training in the military. That said, however, I chose to do Artificial Combat because I didn't want to get rusty, and it would serve a secondary purpose.
That purpose would be, that I would train myself to recognise different types of artefacts in mere moments, and during combat when I needed to be able to assess my oppnents strengths, and weaknesses, in the time it takes me to blink a couple times. Though these were high expectations for myself, I had no doubt that I could do it. Orebrul had offered me words of advice too.
Don't be weak and take the hits from the different artefacts. You regenerate anyway, don't you? So use your Alchemy and steal some skills for yourself. This is your chance to become stronger than all the professors here!
Mumbles and rants were what followed after that as I'd complained to Orebrul that I didn't exactly enjoy pain. He'd then countered me by reminding me of my joyous and painful time receiving the insight of the ring, to which I'd told him to shut his mouth out of nothing but embarrassment at that fact.
Classes were due to start in the next 20 minutes, but I didn't have a clue as to where I was going. That was until I heard a voice behind me...
"Hey, are you ok?"
Spinning on my heel, my shoulder-length hair flicking behind me, to face the source of the voice, my eyes must have deceived me.
For a split moment, in the initial stages of my eyes focusing, I thought I saw Lillie from my battle squad. But I knew that wasn't possible. This girl had similar blond hair that fell to her waist, instead of having Lillie's shoulder length hair, and had azure eyes like my own. She had a fringe that spiked between her eyes, creating a look that I couldn't help but be dazed at, and she stood around my height. I had to admit, she was incredibly beautiful.
My eyes finally adjusted, and I blinked a couple of times before reacting. "Yeah... actually, though, I'm a little lost."
The girl smiled at me, "What class are you looking for?"
I responded, still trying to figure out what was going on with me. "Um, I'm looking for the history of artefacts."
Someone's in loooove...
I will kill you later if you keep going... That was all I had to say to Orebrul as he teased me.
"Oh really? I'm in that class too, want to come along with me?" She answered back. I nodded and followed along.
"I'm Jessica Black, by the way. Nice to meet you," she told me, even though I hadn't asked.
"Nice to meet you too, I'm Lough. Lough Freed." I countered.
There was something about her, a feeling I had. It was almost as if this conversation wasn't just a normal one, but a way of assessing me, despite the fact we both took the same course.
Maybe she heard about your little incident in the entrance exam. Orebrul offered up.
Maybe, but if she has, why is she doing this? I thought. Would there be any reason to interact with me if she knew that?
Who knows, man. Either way, she's a pretty one, Orebrul replied to my thoughts.
"Lough?"
I snapped back out of my thoughts as Jessica said my name. "Huh? Yeah, sorry, what were you saying?" I asked, a little startled.
Jessica giggled, "You just looked so deep in thought, I was asking if you took any other courses."
I rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment. "Yeah, I took Artificial Combat. Did you take any others?" She nodded, "Yeah, I took Artificial Formulation."
The words confused me. As a simple boy who only really knew how to fight and get out of doing work, I didn't understand anything that required true intellect. Due to this very fact, I stumbled on my words.
"Artificial Form... what?" I asked incredulously.
"Artificial Formulation, it's just about taking artefacts and reading the spells and skills they provide and then being able to replicate them," she said.
My eyes sharpened, and Orebrul gave me an acknowledgeding mental nudge. At the same time, we both thought the same thing.
That's the {Alchemy} path!
I laughed a little and responded to the best of my ability, obviously faking the fact that I had a bit of deep knowledge about it. "That sounds crazy. You'll have to show me some time."
Jessica had a surprised look on her face. Whether she was actually surprised or not, I couldn't tell until she spoke. "Really? No one from the combat classes has ever said that before... you might not know, having only just arrived, but there's quite the divide between the combat and formulation classes."
Involuntarily, my brows raised, and I had to ask more. "In what way?"
She shifted slightly as we rounded a corner, and she caught back up to me. I slowed my pace so that she could keep up, not that I was in a rush anyway.
"Well, the combat class thinks they're superior to us, and vice versa. I couldn't care less about the conflict, but..." she looked at me and nervously clasped her hands together. "Either you're the same or a really good actor."
I was a little taken aback. No one had said I was a good actor before. This, unfortunately, raised my suspicions.
"I appreciate the compliment. As for the conflict. Well... personally, I can't have a say since I just got here." I paused and let my words sink in. "No matter what class they are... if someone proves to be a friend, then I'll stand by them and be their friend. At the end of the day, relationships are built on trust."
My eyes focused ahead, and they sharpened. I didn't care about anyone here. I was here for my own reasons, and no one else needed to know them nor get involved with them. With this in mind, I strode towards the classroom door, which was now right ahead of us, and continued my declaration of friendship and perhaps war.
"However, the same goes for anyone who thinks themselves above me and wants to get in my way."
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