A silly little girl, playing a game way over her head.

That was the impression Myra Eyler got as she watched the poor girl play with magic. Her showing so far was even worse than years past, where they had just taken in students from the borderlands. And her luck was so low it might as well not even exist.

It was like she wasn’t even a Mage. That was the minimum Class someone had to be to even get past the application stage. Somehow she got past that restriction, but that wasn’t her jurisdiction to deal with. Still, seeing as she hadn’t set a time limit, Myra was being remarkably patient as she let the girl try her best.

She wasn’t like Renvi, who shattered more dreams than not. But she would be lying to herself that it was mildly irritating to see someone casting a Spell like this. This was an advanced school, not some hick country school that anyone with a recommendation could get in. Well, even Myra couldn’t lie to herself about that last part. Recommendations still carried a lot of weight, especially when countries were willing to part with resources...

Myra sighed to herself quietly. Things were much simpler when they only accepted students from the nearby border countries. Still, since there was clearly time to talk, Myra whispered to her closest teacher and friend, Educator Karen Shird. “Who is that girl?”

“Don’t know. Supposedly she has a recommendation from the Alcudian Royalty, but it was delivered by the Imperial Healer Hall,” Karen whispered back.

Myra cast her gaze about. This wasn’t a topic that they should be discussing in front of students, but they were far away enough that it would be hard for them to listen in. Her friend continued. “We were able to find out that her teacher is an Imperial Servant.”

“Another one? Whose is it this time?”

“That’s the thing; from what I heard, we have no information about who the Scion backing her is. We all heard the rumors, but Maxwell’s movements have been monitored continuously. And if our intel is right, the others have only just arrived. Even the [[Advanced Status]] formation around the school grounds were unable to figure anything out. It just lists her as a Teacher with no affiliation to the Imperial Family. It’s worrying more than a few people that she is able to get around these restrictions.”

Now that was strange indeed. Peter’s formations should have picked up what Scion the servant was indebted to. Peter’s formations were even able to distinguish which students were in which factions, a known secret to all of the Educators. It was one of the ways they kept the balance between here, by pitting student against student, faction against faction. Though tumultuous at times, it allowed the school to continue running without too much outside interference.

Still, as the minutes passed, Myra silently increased the girl’s worth. The girl in green was still casting her spell and it was rather surprising at how long this incantation was. Typical incantations for Spells were barely twenty seconds long, and that was for someone close to becoming a Mage. And this was no typical Spell either, as she really listened to the spell. Her words were carefully chosen, yes, but it didn't sound like a spell. It was more like she was describing what she wanted instead.

But the end result was disappointing. The girl's mana surged out of her staff and disappeared with just a small gust of wind.

“Well, at least it looks like she’s finishing her Spell. Do you recognize it? I'd ask Renvi, but he's off playing as a Knight again."

"I would too if I was half as talented. And no, it's not a common spell I've seen before. You think it's an imperial grade spell?"

A gruff voice echoed behind her, interrupting her conversation. "I've gleaned a few things from the Servants in my classes, but none of them chanted even half as long. Hopefully she won't disappoint."

The girl doubled over in exhaustion and Myra almost thought she would faint. At that point, the Cleric in her party did something, a bright green light illuminating from the end of her… stick. It had to be a powerful magic tool, but it looked ridiculous. It even had leaves still attached to it!

Seeing as the Cleric had healed her party member, Myra readied herself while she alerted the students. ‘It must be nice having a personal Cleric in a party,’ Myra thought in envy. More than once that would have been helpful in her adventures.

Dispelling that thought, she focused her mind and felt for the mana around her. As Myra and the three other Educators started seriously gathering the mana, the stands above shifted as the ambient maba swirled around in a sudden gale.

[Mana Condensing]. The best Skill a Lightning Mage could ask for. Or really any Specialized Mage for that matter. Sure, there were other, lesser Skills that were somewhat useful, like [Mana Sensitivity], but the Imperial Family held onto the Skills with an iron fist. Even Peter wasn’t able to teach that Skill successfully.

"Let us begin," Myra said.

Light gathered in her hand as arcs of electricity scattered about her. Throwing her hand up, a dark cloud formed above her as she focused the orb in her hand up into the cloud.

[Lightning Field]. It was one of her favorite Skills, one she had learned after she had advanced past a simple Electromancer. By gathering over eight hundred points of mana, she could create a Spell that self sustained itself and could unleash a wide area of attack; it was even possible to separate the mana to specific amounts, thus ensuring that she could control the amount of damage she was causing.

Myra smirked as she saw the dumbfounded gazes of the Mages in front of her. They all thought they were the best, and while that might be true, it was only amongst their level. Until they hit Specialization once or twice, they were nothing but children playing with magic. The sound of thunder echoed out above her as she condensed her mana, though she blinked in surprise as her own mana started seeping out of her mana core. Looking up, she blinked as the size of the cloud was smaller than it should have been at this point.

She furrowed and sent an accusatory gaze to the other Educators behind her. They had decided beforehand the order they would go, so it was quite rude for them to absorb the ambient maba before she had the chance. She had been holding back for the girl to chant, but it was still quite rude of them to gather mana before her.

“First attack. [[Lightning Lance]]”

Myra flicked her hand as a bolt of lightning as thick as her arm shot out of the cloud and rapidly dispersed to tinier arcs of lightning. She felt bad for the Mages that had metal rods since it would draw the lightning directly toward the wielder, for better or for worse. Already, she could see a couple spells flicker out of existence as her attack overwhelmed the Mages. But it was a testament to their skill that they weathered the attack and started casting another shield as they endured the pain. Her attack fizzeled out as the shields started diverting the energy toward the ground. ‘Though I don’t personally agree with that style, at least they saved enough mana to cast multiple spells.’

The scratching sound of pen on paper caught her attention as she sent a warning look to the stands above. A majority of the students ducked their heads in repentance, though a noticeable few sent a glare back. Talent Recruiters. She knew a few by reputation. The few parties whose shield had held were already being watched as potential candidates for the various factions around the school.

Looking around, she mentally tallied those whose shields had held and who she wanted in her own class and stopped at the girl in green. She stood with her head held high as the Cleric stepped out from behind her. A black scorch mark surrounded the two girl in a perfect circle, though she hadn’t seen quite how she had stopped it.

Curious. She would have attacked again, but she had limited herself to a single attack. Myra looked to her friend. “Karen, focus your spell on the girl in green. I want to see how she dodged my attack.”

Karen nodded in response. “Sure, though I’ll have to change the volume some students will defend against.”

“That’ll be fine. Spread out the difference and focus on her. Something seems off about her.”

Her friend sent a questioning gaze, but nodded slightly. As her friend focused her Spell, a wall of illusory water appeared in front of her and quickly gathered in volume.

Her friend pointed her staff down at the Mages and released her mana, the water gaining a depth and color that it hadn’t had moments before. “[[Flood Waves]].”

The water poured out of the wall toward the potential students, and the Mages quickly adjusted their stances and their shields as water battered them. Within moments, most were grimacing as the waves steadily rose, from barely ankle height to waist, then chest level within the span of a dozen seconds. It stopped at just below head height for most of them, though the smaller Mages were desperately bobbing their heads above the waves.

She hoped that none of them had anchored themselves to the ground, otherwise they were likely to drown with this spell. Karen panted as she controlled the flow of water to pound the applicants over and over. It was a good spell to use for an examination, as it tested a candidates ability to rapidly adapt to a given environment. After all, most Elder monsters were able to affect their surroundings to some degree or another.

Focusing, Myra watched as the girl in green frowned as the water rose, though the water was still circling around her. The waves parted as it came near her and a spray of water splashed upwards before the falling mist spun rapidly around her.

Now that Karen’s spell was encompassing her, Myra could spy wisps of green encircling the girl. ‘Did she encase herself in an orb of wind?’ she thought. As it finally rose above the girl’s head, she blinked in surprise as a translucent orb appeared around them, almost like a bubble of air that was trapped under water.

Comparing her spell to the other Mages that had an aptitude to wind magic, it was clear which one was better. The others had formed semi-solid shields of air by merging their mana with the air, yet she was manipulating the very air around her. Just that alone made her spell even more important; even if the initial mana consumption and casting time was high.

As the water finally rose above head height, a few Mages were swept away as they lost their footing or were forced to tread water. Marks against them, yet Myra only had eyes for the girl. The spherical, opaque orb was starting to appear with greater clarity as the girl released her own mana in an attempt to keep the spell activated.

“Myra, I’m stopping my spell. I wasn’t able to gather enough ambient mana for some reason. I’m not about to dip into my mana core for a simple test,” Karen said as she wiped the sweat from her brows.

Myra frowned. She knew that Karen could flood the entire area, but controlling it like this was costing too much mana as well. But what concerned her more was that Karen had problems collecting mana as well. Her friend was powerful, yes, but was known for being a stickler for not using her own mana. “Did everyone have trouble gathering mana?”

Larry Reigner, one of the few Geomancers in the school, nodded. “Yes. I was about twenty percent off from what I needed.”

Myra stopped and calculated how much mana she had used. Her mana usage and mana regeneration was stable, which made it simple to calculate how much mana she had used. ‘Eight hundred points to cast the spell. Another forty seven to shape the spell and another forty nine to split the spell apart and direct it. So I used…’ Mentally checking her numbers again, she cast a look at the others.

“I personally supplemented about fourteen percent of my spell's total cost. Everyone, check your mana cores.”

Karen frowned as she ran her own numbers, while the last Educator, Monster Teacher John Ingled, ran his own numbers. “Twenty three percent here.”

“I’m short about sixteen percent.”

Rounding the numbers, Myra inhaled sharply as she realized what had happened. Someone else had absorbed almost a quarter of the ambient mana before they had been able to. And it didn’t take much to figure out who had done it.

The Educators cast a long glance at one person. The Mage in green.

‘Had she used ambient mana instead of her own mana to cast her spell?’

That question was on each of their lips as Karen’s spell disintegrated, the water swiftly turning illusory and eventually evaporated around the field. A scant dozen were still in the same place, yet the girl in green and the Cleric were the only two that were untouched from the last spell.

“What is your name and Class, girl,” Larry said. His deep baritone voice echoed about the field as he amplified his voice with mana. The girl in question merely blinked as her shield blinked green as Larry’s mana hit the shield.

“Incredible! Is her spell defending against all mana intrusion? Or maybe just targeted attacks,” John said under his breath.

“Quite, John,” Larry said.

Waiting until the orb stopped flickering, the girl in green drew herself up. “My name is Lily Thompson, of Cidala, located in Alcudia’s breadbasket. Age, Fourteen and my Class is Apprentice Mage.”

Myra watched as the girl said her introduction with pride. Lily looked proud of her Class, though it was nothing much to talk about at her age, especially in this case. Some of those around her were already Mages and close to specializing, and they were scarcely older than she was. Not to mention that her Class didn’t even meet minimum standards to get in.

“All candidates, get back into your positions. You, who taught you that spell of yours?”

Lily swelled up with pride. “My Mentor did.”

Myra inhaled quietly. That solidified her as an Imperial Servant in training. No wonder she had absorbed the mana faster than they had; most Imperial Mages were able to absorb faster due to their unique skill set.

“Thank you for your honesty. It’s rare to find that in an Imperial Servant.”

“...” Her apparent confusion was noticeable on Lily’s face, though how much of it was sincere was in the question.

“My turn,” Larry said as he strode toward the mage in question.

_________________

‘Marvelous. Absolutely marvelous. Even if she is in training, few could match them in practicality alone.’

That was what Larry thought as he watched the young party get ready to counterattack. The other mages had slowly given up and started to conserve their mana for the next teacher, which had annoyed him to no end. None of them had even tried to adapt their shield spells to stop the earthen spires that he was preparing.

All but one. Apprentice Mage Lily Thompson and the Cleric. Standing in her defensive sphere, he felt how her mana was actively forcing his mana in the ground to disperse upwards. He blinked as the girl started to exhibit symptoms of mana exhaustion, yet as far as he could tell, the Cleric hadn’t tried to share her mana. He could only feel wind mana gathering around them. Had neither of them learned how to transfer mana?

Still, their frantic whispering was amusing to listen to. He confirmed that neither of them had learned to transfer their mana, which was surprising to see. That was one of the first lessons apprentices typically learned, since mana regeneration was a problem. Most apprentices could barely do six Spells without fainting from exhaustion, which is why mana transfers were so common.

“Isabella, just like the wolves!” Lily said suddenly.

‘Wolves? What does tha-‘. Larry slowed as the Cleric pulled out a few faintly glowing bottles and a miniature crossbow.

The bottles barely looked dangerous but as she combined them, he felt his senses tingling slightly. Warning. It wasn’t fatal, whatever she was combining, but it would still be a bad idea to get hit by it.

Voicing his thoughts aloud, he nodded inwardly at the Clerics response. It was clear they had more experience in fighting monsters than other people, but it was odd for anyone associated with the Imperial Family to have that experience.

Are they really from the Capital? His doubts came back in full as he saw their teamwork and daring. This was shaping up to be the most exciting test he’d done. ‘It’s been years since someone has dared to do this.

The blinding light startled him slightly as he withdrew his defensively mana around him, though he tracked both of their actions concurrently. Seeing their lack of a follow up to a surprise attack, he realized that they had probably never fought against a fully specialized opponent.

Still, he wasn’t about to underestimate the two of them.

With a slight step backwards, Larry employed two Spells to protect himself, [[Dust Cloud]] and [[Earthen Shift]]. Forcing his mana behind him, the mana he had fused into the soil abruptly pulled him back while pulling the mage forward in turn.

Seeing her own attack about to incapacitate her, he silently let out a sigh. ‘What a let down,’ he thought. He already saw the ending of the battle. Lily would soon be incapacitated as her spell exploded on herself. Isabella would shoot the crossbow and he would simply block it with an earthen wall. Lily would then be unable to continue the test, thus failing and ridding him of this curious puzzle. It was almost in writing that her mentor would be unable to join the school as a teacher, since she had so much stacked against her.

That should have been how it went.

The apprentice mage raised her hand suddenly and the spell suddenly stilled before shooting back towards him. A curious Skill. But what surprised him even more was that the girl had been able to repurpose her mana shield and change it to a blade before fainting outright from mana exhaustion. Eyeing the wind blade headed towards him from the side, he dismissed it outright by erecting a wall beside him. With her unconscious, the mana within the blade was already dissipating as it slowed toward him.

He watched as the unconscious mage fell with a thud. Depending on how much mana she had used, it was possible that her condition could be fatal. Frowning, he pointed his staff at the girl and was about to transfer his mana to her when he noticed the Cleric panicking at his actions.

“Don’t hurt her!” the Cleric yelled.

“Quiet, girl,” he said. Pointedly taking a look around, it was impossible that she didn’t sense what he was about to do. Even the most basic of mages knew what a mana transfer looks like. Gathering his mana around him, the top of his staff glowed with a hazel light.

“I said no!”

The Cleric ran forward and stepped in front of her downed party member. Her wand started emitting a bright white light, intermingled with flashes of green. In fact, Larry could swear he saw flashes of gold as well, but the Cleric’s shimmering white and gold robes made it difficult to distinguish.

‘What the hell are they teaching their Apprentices?’ Larry thought as he hesitated. Mana exhaustion was fatal within minutes. He knew he had to hurry and act, but the Cleric’s interference would be disastrous if his mana started to fight against hers.

“I need to transfer mana over to her. Step away from the girl before I force you,” Larry informed her.

“No! Lily said mana transference is too dangerous! She’ll get better by herself.”

To Larry, it sounded like she was deluding herself. He had seen it before on battlefields before when Mages had died as their mana cores imploded from the lack of mana. “No one gets better naturally. Last warning, girl. Back away before I make you move.”

“No! I won’t let you hurt my friend!” The Cleric screamed in anger as she held onto her wand. In his senses, he could already feel the Cleric’s light mana influencing her surroundings.

“Larry, if you’re going to do something, do it quick. The girl won’t survive if you keep dallying,” Myra whispered quietly behind him.

“I’m not about to get blacklisted by the Healer Hall, Myra. She’s got a read on my mana, you block her mana while I transfer.”

“Fine. I can give you a five-second window. Three, two, one, now!”

The world brightened as Myra quickly released the mana charged inside the dark cloud above her. The lightning occupied the Cleric’s attention, and Larry kicked the ground and shoved Isabella away as he moved forward. He quickly gathered his mana to force it into the prone girl as the Cleric fell to the floor.

The Cleric’s eyes hardened from where she was lying. “Lily!”

The mana around her took on a harsh light around the Cleric as her mana gathered in power. It was bright, so bright that even he had to shield his eyes. [[D-”

“[Power Till].”

The ground erupted as another voice quickly shouted from beyond the room. The floor shifted violently, as the mages around tried to keep their balance. Everyone’s mana scattered as they lost their concentration. The light around Isabella darkened as the dust enveloped the area, and the young girl’s voice caught in her throat as the dust storm seemingly distracted her. Larry stabilized the ground around him with a flourish of his hand before his mind exploded with a sudden feeling.

Danger!

Larry quickly distanced himself from where he was as the butt end of a spear spun where he was just standing.

“[[Earthen Spire]]”

Larry counter-attacked and backed up quickly as he took his place by the other Teachers. Whoever attacked him had neatly dodged his attack.

As the dust started to settle, he grimaced as he saw the faint outline of his spire. Whoever had cut it had shaved it diagonally, leaving a smooth flat surface.

“Who in-”

Larry stopped as he felt the cool sheen of metal on the back of his neck.

“Careful now. Care to tell me why you were about to kill my friend’s disciple?”

“The girl is about to go into mana shock. She needs treatment now,” Larry hissed. How could the Warrior not know what was happening? For someone to get the jump on not just him, but the others as well, must have meant his assailant was on the same level as them. Surely it would be child’s play to check how much mana someone has, even for a Combat Specialist.

“...She’ll get better naturally. A little rest and she’ll be good to go," the woman said nonplussed.

“You don’t understand how dangerous this can be for a mage! She could die!” Educator Larry was incensed, though he was wary to show it. After all, the cold steel edge of a weapon was still resting gently on his neck.

He could feel the woman behind him still slightly, as though evaluating her claims. ‘As soon as the dust settled enough for me to-,’ Larry blinked as he realized something was off. The dust hadn’t settled yet. In fact, as he shifted his weight slightly he paled when he couldn’t sense his surroundings anymore with mana. As he stealthily pushed more mana out from his core into the ground below, he watched as it combined with the ground underneath his feet and then disappear. His connection to the elements was being severed somehow! Was this person a Mage Killer?

“...Tch, she just fainted; it’s not like she overdrew her mana core or anything. Even she isn't dumb enough to do that. Jeez, you all are making a big deal out of nothing,” whispered his assailant.

He knew that was impossible. She was exhibiting all the signs of mana exhaustion, and that was the main reason Mages died in the field. But his assailant raised her voice and called for the Cleric. “Isabella! Grab Lily; you two are done with this test.”

“What makes you think they’ll become students if they leave now?” Myra said quietly from the side.

The voice was dry, yet somehow was amused by this situation. “In this room, there are only two other teams that are comparable to her. I refuse to believe that she failed a simple test like this. Either way, they’ll become students whether the school wants it or not.”

Larry paused as her words kicked in. He knew that there was little to no chance for Imperial Servant to get in, especially when there were more well-known candidates applying. Unless the students-, Larry’s eyes widened. "The final spot was to be decided by the students. Have they already voted?"

“They will be soon. Either way, the kids will become students. One way or another, this is already written in stone.”

The faint touch of steel slowly withdrew from his neck as his assailant shifted to the Cleric’s side. He frowned as he saw what she was wearing. Dusty face, tanned body, cotton clothes,.. Hell, even the spear in her hand was reminiscent of a pitchfork, yet somehow he knew it had to be a real farm tool. Everything he saw pointed to her being a Farmer, yet he could faintly sense that she moved like a Fencer, Spearman, Martial Artist, and a Ninja, rare as that Class was on this side of the Empire. How many Specialties did this woman progress through?

“Watch your manners, she’s a suspected Imperial Servant,” Myra whispered.

“Farmer, actually,” the woman said as she frowned. "Do you see me flashing an Imperial Wardstone around and strutting like I own the place? Neither do I. I'm simply here as a Farmer."

Her rant aside, Larry watched through the settling dust, ill at ease, as the Cleric half-dragged her party member away from where they were standing. In a blink of an eye, the so-called ‘Farmer’ picked up another unconscious girl from the corridor and swiftly walked away carrying the two unconscious girls awaya without a care in the world.

As the dust settled completely, Myra composed herself and clapped her hands. “Our test is done. Head back and wait for the other group to arrive.”

One of the braver students inquired. “But what about the final teacher?”

“We’ve made up our minds already,” Larry snapped. “Get. out. now.”

Myra shot him a glance as she shuffled the students out of the room in confusion. Karen waited until the room was empty before she turned. “Larry, what happened?”

“Your mana is unstable. Take this mana potion,” John said as he pulled a flask from his belt.

“Tell your worm to leave. That Farmer did something to the field. I can’t sense earth mana right now.”

Larry mumbled before he took a swig of the mana potion. He could feel his connection to the earth slowly returning as his mana recovered. Or perhaps now that the woman was gone.

John blinked, and Larry could tell that he had released his mana. Feeling better now, he could feel his mana fighting against John’s, as the man’s mana silently spread out to communicate with his beasts below. Larry felt the ground move slightly beneath him as the two of them spoke. John shook his head after a moment.

“He says the ground is normal. Even better, actually. He says he hasn’t encountered soil like this since we’ve left the former Fertile Plains.”

“Does that Farmer have a higher earth affinity than you, Larry?” Karen questioned. “That would make sense, actually. Farmer’s have some of the highest earth affinities, and if she could harness it for battle...”

"...did you see how she moved? That speed. " Larry asked quietly. At the speed she had moved, it was clear that woman could have killed them all before they knew what was happening.

"She moved faster than Renvi, that's for sure. I'm pretty sure none of the dust moved either, which is impressive for a movement skill," John said quietly. "Natural Skill perhaps? How would you even teach a Skill like that?" Larry stopped listening as John started muttering to himself. “Whatever. Just pay attention to which classes their party chooses. Something doesn’t feel right about this entire situation, and that might let us gleam what their intentions are here.”

He spared a glance in the direction of the so-called 'Farmer'. Things were about to change here, and for once, he wasn't sure how he felt about it.