Emily loved magic.
This was an undeniable fact, no matter what anyone said.
Ever since she was little and first encountered magic, it was natural for Emily’s interests to gravitate towards it. As the heir of a family of wizards, she had a natural talent for magic. However, Emily was a little different from most wizards of this era.
She preferred to lock herself in her lab and conduct research rather than focus on combat magic that was profitable or practical.
When her sister used a single spell to freeze two trolls and earned the family’s praise, Emily stayed in her room, freezing various liquids instead of trolls, completely engrossed in experiments.
People around her would say that such things were useless and that she should spend her time building stamina through exercise instead, but Emily persevered and did what she loved.
As a result, despite so many events happening that are hard to explain briefly, Emily was content with the way things were going. After all, she was doing what she loved and managing her time as she pleased.
“Hmm, this is a bit too twisted…”
SWISH-SWISH
With each problem she solved, Emily felt a sense of achievement and became even more absorbed in her work. The previous problem had been twisted twice, but this one was twisted three times.
It was better to carefully solve each problem one by one rather than attempt shortcuts and risk having to start over.
SWISH
Emily continued carefully solving the problems.
“Hmm, still easier than the problems Aunt used to give me.”
Emily remembered the problems her aunt would give her when they lived together. They appeared simple at a glance but contained hidden traps that would lead to wrong answers if not discovered.
Compared to those, the academy’s problems were much simpler, with obvious traps clearly marked.
“Here, if I substitute this…!”
“Got it!”
This was the toughest problem she’d solved so far, but with confidence, she entered her answer.
POOF!
Indeed, it was correct. The board lit up, announcing her success, and Emily’s mouth curved into a satisfied grin.
“Will the next one be even harder?!”
POOF!
“Uh…?”
“Ooooh?!”
Expecting the next problem, Emily was surprised when none appeared. Instead, a bright message on the board startled her out of her concentration.
<First Exam Complete>
“Wow, it’s over!”
“But, but it’s already done?”
Emily muttered unconsciously in a disappointed tone.
She was deeply engrossed and fully focused, and it seemed too soon to end. But her disappointment didn’t last long.
WHOOSH!
“Hey, you crazy or what? What is this?!”
“Uh, uh!”
Suddenly, someone hugged her from the side, and turning around, Emily was startled to see Ryu cheerfully putting his arm around her shoulders.
He looked extremely pleased.
Emily felt an unfamiliar sensation not from the shoulder contact but from seeing Ryu’s bright smile.
He was genuinely happy just because she’d solved some problems—no flashy magic involved.
“Man, I kinda expected you’d be good at this, but you exceeded my expectations! Although at some points, it was a little nerve-wracking!”
“Uh, yeah… hehe.”
“You’ve worked hard! That was really impressive!”
“Wow, you’re really smart.”
Not just Ryu, Elaine and Cynthia who were watching also joined in, making Emily feel her face heat up as she didn’t know how to react.
It had been such a long time since she had experienced this feeling—being truly appreciated and praised for doing something she loved.
“Umm, can you… let go…”
“Eh? Oh, sorry.”
‘Ahhh…’
Any disappointment about the exam ending vanished with her friends’ reactions. Freeing herself from Ryu’s arm, Emily sighed inwardly.
She was a little disoriented but felt an overwhelming sense of pride and happiness seeing her teammates’ joyful faces, grinning without realizing it.
“Anyway! You’ve done more than enough, Emily. Your work is already acknowledged!”
Nod-Nod
Seeing Elaine and Cynthia nodding in agreement with Ryu, Emily couldn’t help but burst into a goofy laugh.
“Ha, hehehehe…”
Though unaware, Emily had a silly grin on her face.
<Soon to move to the second exam location>
With a smile that never left her face, Emily awaited the move to the next exam location.
*
“Was the written test 20 questions?”
“Yes, Vice Principal.”
Most of the professors in the academy had gathered in one place, watching a large video screen hanging on the wall and chatting away. This was the official broadcast of the second exam site for the grade competition.
There was no class scheduled today for the grade competition, and students were likely watching the live broadcast in their lecture rooms.
“Vice Principal, why are you here?”
Amillion sipped his coffee, glancing sideways at Vice Principal Landgar who was staring at the wall, then quickly returned his attention to the video.
Thirty minutes had passed since the written exam began, but no team had been teleported to the second exam site yet.
“Twenty questions, so by now the third years should be almost finished, right?”
“Yes, they probably are. Though, since the participation is so low this time, it might take a little longer.”
“Hmm, that’s true. After all, only four students from the first year entered.”
Amillion felt a slight sting as if the Vice Principal’s comment was directed at him, yet kept his eyes on the screen without flinching.
While Amillion hadn’t personally checked the difficulty level of the written exam, he had anticipated it wouldn’t be easy.
“Phew, I don’t know. Whatever.”
With a half-giving-up attitude, Amillion sighed inwardly while staring at the unchanged screen.
Bringing forward the competition schedule and subdividing it into three parts based on the talent of their top student, Ryu from the 158th term, seemed promising at first, but now seemed like a mistake to Amillion.
Showing movements faster than mana had excited him, but that excitement had dulled day by day.
All Amillion saw now was that Ryu lacked talent in magic except for teleportation.
He was embarrassed by his recent excitement over the secret lineage of the first emperor.
“Hey!”
“Someone seems to have finished the first exam!”
Everyone’s attention turned to the video screen as light began to shine at the starting point, indicating the activation of the teleportation spell.
The figures that appeared in the light were two students: Garret, a third year with his bangs swept up, and Berte, standing expressionless and observing the surroundings.
“Hmph.”
With the arrival of the third years, Professor Cassius St. Claire’s satisfied laughter was particularly noticeable to Amillion’s ears, irritating him.
“So it starts.”
“Top and second-best students from the third year. Good combination. Balanced with a knight and wizard.”
“If only the other first and second years could finish the first exam before the third moves on to the third round.”
Watching the calm third year students, who had just teleported and were scanning their surroundings before continuing forward, Amillion thought.
Though not expecting much, he still hoped his students would somehow keep up.
POOF!
“Wow! The next team!”
“They’re at almost the same speed as the third years. The second year students are doing well.”
Seeing the rising light in the video, all the professors assumed the second years had finished right after the third years.
Amillion thought the same.
“What, is this too big a… Uh?”
“Eh?”
“Whaaat?!”
Suddenly, the murmurs grew louder.
Instead of three, four figures emerged from the light in the video.
Four first-year students.
“1, 1st year?!”
“How could the first year finish so quickly?!”
“Aaaaah?!”
No one was more shocked than Amillion, the professor in charge of the first-year group.
Amillion jumped out of his seat, wide-eyed in disbelief.
Surely he must have seen wrong, but the distinctive jet-black hair in the video could belong to no one but Ryu.
The murmurs turned into loud buzzes.
The fact that the 1st years, instead of the 2nd years, finished almost immediately after the 3rd years created quite a stir.
The vice principal watched with an intrigued expression, while Cassius’ face momentarily froze upon seeing the 1st years finishing second.
The rest of the professors were all shocked.
“Is… this even possible…?”
GULP!
Amillion stared into the screen as if about to dive into it, looking at his students in disbelief.
Who would have thought they’d finish the first exam so quickly?
“Well done…”
The words slipped out of Amillion’s mouth unconsciously, without any filter amidst the shock.
