Chapter 120 The Cutdown

Richard surveyed the gathered crowd of thousands with indifference as he spoke. “over the twenty years I’ve spent as the Dean of magical combat, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend. When I attended DIOM over half a century ago, we considered it an honor to get accepted into any university. Now the current generation expect easy admission as long as they meet the minimum requirements of awakened grade 4.”

Richard paused for dramatic effect before continuing, “to combat this disturbing trend, we have implemented harsher procedures to filter out those undeserving of the honor of enrolling in the magical combat division as most of you desire. However, don’t become complacent just because you aren’t planning on enrolling in my division. My fellow Dean’s have their own plans on filtering the best and brightest among you.”

Upon mentioning the other Dean’s plans, signs lit up above several hallways stating enchanting division, alchemy division, magical research division, and many more. “Those planning on enrolling in a division other than combat or healing division make your way towards your desired hallway.” Richard directed.

Within five minutes, ten percent of the almost 10,000 prospective students, including Maylin, filtered out through their desired hallway, led by their Dean, leaving only Richard, Thomas, and Elizabeth, the Dean of healing on the stage. As soon as the last prospective student and parents left, Richard continued, “now you’re probably wondering why prospective healing students stayed while all other divisions left. This is because the first step we have planned to cut down on the 8500 prospective combat division students to 1000 is a single dual. Some of you may argue you are here to learn how to fight with your magic, so why fight now? Well, as many of you know from prior years, prospective students went through a series of testing, trying to gauge their potential both magically and mentally. However, even with our extensive testing, we found even if the prospective student score high on all tests, that doesn’t guarantee they have the aptitude to put their potential to use in an actual fight. Hence our desire to pit you against your fellow prospective students to showcase your fighting capability.”

Bored, Evernya glanced toward the ceiling to find Aya staring at her from the rafters. With renewed vigor, Evernya wiggled out of Meira’s grasp, but when she looked up while aiming to jump, she found Aya gone.

Overwhelmed by helplessness and despair, Evernya’s emotions went haywire, causing ripples of force around her trembling body. Why is Aya avoiding me? I can’t atone for my mistakes if I can’t even talk to her!

Meira peered down at her kitten nearing eruption with a frown. She made a wind barrier protecting the surrounding audience, attracting the attention of Elizabeth and Thomas while Richard continued to talk, oblivious to the developing situation.

Gashes formed on the rubberized floor as the storm of force picked up steam only kept at bay by Meira’s wind barrier. With a strained face, Meira sent a warm, comforting wind blowing toward her kitten, but without success as the storm continued to mirror Evernya’s unstable emotions.

With no other choice, Meira coated herself and wind magic as she approached her kitten. Blood dripped from several cuts as Evernya’s storm overwhelmed Meira’s barrier, but she continued forward the last step, embracing her kitten in a tight hug.

Almost instantly, the force storm died as Evernya broke down in sobs, clutching tightly to Meira. Meira comfortingly rubbed her kitten’s back as Evernya wailed into her chest, finally drawing the attention of the surrounding crowd.

The embraced pair ignored the glares of disdain and annoyance as Meira comforted her suffering kitten. As she sobs into her big sister’s shirt, Evernya mumbled, “why won’t she talk to me? All I want to know what’s wrong, but she keeps avoiding me.”

Unbeknownst to the sobbing Draecath, Aya reappeared in the rafters, staring down at the scene, tears freely flowing from her anguished face. Immediately noticing her presence, Meira glared up at Aya mouthing fix this or else. However, all she received was a teary-eyed headshake before Aya disappeared once again.

Unaware of her surroundings, Evernya cried her heart out until the tears ran out almost fifteen minutes later.

Upon noticing her kitten calming down, Meira pried her off, crouching down to her kitten’s eye level as she spoke. “I do not know what is going on between you and Aya, but for now, please focus on the exams. I know it’s hard, but please bear with it. I’m sure everything will clear up. Until then, the most important thing right now is passing the entrance exams with your outlaw status. Otherwise, we will have to make a run for it.”

Evernya closed her eyes while stroking her tail, trying to calm her trembling body. Meira’s right. I can’t catch Aya, but I can focus on the entrance exam. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stay here, but if I don’t pass, I’ll spend the rest of my time in Sespina on the run. Speaking of entrance exam, where is everyone? Evernya thought as her senses only picked up a few presences nearby.

Evernya opened her eyes and scanned the near-empty gymnasium with confusion before Meira filled her in. “ten minutes ago, Richard sent the prospective students to the changing rooms filled with provided dueling suits. As for the parents, they went to the stands.”

“Why didn’t you tell me! I’m going to miss my dual!” Evernya exclaimed in panic.

Brushing off her kitten’s worries, Meira assured, “don’t worry, you have time. I’m sure most people are still standing in line just to get into the changing rooms. Besides, I already have your dueling suit, and I gave Aya hers before we came here.”

At the mention of her mate, Evernya questioned as tears form in her eyes once again, “Do you know what’s wrong? Did I do something wrong?”

While staring directly into her kitten’s eyes, Meira insisted, “You did nothing wrong. From what Kya told me, you had very little choice in what happened.”

“Kya? How do you know Kya?” Evernya questioned.

“I’m sorry if I offended you, my lady, but I filled in those you trust while you were chasing Aya,” Kya revealed.

“I’m not mad. I planned on telling them anyway, but I was a bit preoccupied. How did you do it, though? I thought you were just in my head.” Evernya replied.

With a proud smile, Kya explained, “Easy, I found their numbers and group called them.”

Used to her kitten talking to someone in her head, Meira patiently waited for Evernya to return to the outside world.

After glancing around the empty gymnasium, Evernya asked, “So you know what I am and where I was?”

Meira mirrored her kitten’s scan for eavesdroppers before speaking. “if what Kya says is true, then yes, but that topic is for a more private place. For now, let’s find some privacy so you can change.”

Evernya nodded her head in agreement before following Meira back toward the hallway leading to the room she awoke in. A minute later, Evernya found herself in the small room, which she now knew as a recovery room for injuries in the gym or arena. While ignoring the elf eyeballing her petite body for future involuntary dress-up sessions, Evernya shifted away her natural armor for the provided dueling suit. The dueling suit was black, but with white Manarite printed down her thighs, both sides of her torso, upper back, and just above her breasts.

Damn, this thing is itchy! Why can’t I use my training suit? It’s not as comfortable as my beloved clothes from the facility, but still a lot better than this crap. I can already feel a rash forming! Plus, what’s with all the branding? I feel like a damn billboard. Though I suppose it makes sense since they are probably sponsoring the duels. Still, could they at least provide decent suits? Even the suit computer is practically useless, if you can tell it that. The thing can only seal mana and link to a duel node, nothing else. Though anything this suit can provide beyond sealing, I’m sure Kya can do better.

Unable to take the itchy fabric covering most of her skin, Evernya activated the suit, causing a familiar sticking sensation, but unlike her suit, the process took several minutes before her skin numbed to the suit, finally freeing her from the itch.

Evernya breathed a sigh of relief, only for her breath to catch as she felt another attack coming. While swaying on her feet, Evernya materialized a jug of mana, chugging it down in one long gulp. One cute little burp later, Evernya took a short strained breath but remained steady.

Meira frowned at her kitten’s state, but when she checked the time on the wall clock, she put the thoughts aside as Elizabeth gave her a clean bill of health. “Time to go. The duels will start in five minutes, and I have no idea when you will fight or who. Just be careful. Most teens will be novices, but a few have training from their families.”

Evernya followed Meira back out of the room towards the gymnasium, now humming with activity. The once large open area with a stage now had hundreds of ten by ten-meter arenas with packed stands flanking each side, one for spectators and the other for prospective students. Oppose the main entrance to the gymnasium sat a raised stage with Thomas, Elizabeth, and Richard seated on chairs with a middle-aged man wearing a gray suit standing in front of a microphone looking ready to start at a moment’s notice.

Meira stopped at the end of the hall and turned to her kitten. “This is where I leave you. But don’t worry, I’ll be watching from the spectator seats, ready to help at a moment’s notice. Good luck, my kitten, I’m sure you will do great.”

After a quick hug, Meira turned right, following the barricaded off area leading toward the spectator seating. Now alone, Evernya trotted across the gym to the perspective student seating, but one look at the packed stands told her very few if any empty seats existed. I don’t want to sit packed in like a sardine, anyway. I may be small, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want space.

While ignoring the typical sneers and stares, Evernya sat cross-legged on the cushioned rubberized floor near the end of the stands, just as the man at the microphone spoke. “Welcome to the fifty-seventh annual entrance exams! I will be your host, Stefan Kelsen! As our Dean of magical combat revealed, this year will be different. This year’s perspective, magical combat students will have the chance of proving themselves in one-on-one combat with a perspective healing student assigned as medical support. To keep duels as fair as possible, Manarite has kindly sponsored the duels by lending dueling suits to all prospective students. With these suits, we can assure all participants have equalized mana grade at awakened grade 4 and the ability to monitor the participant’s physical state in real-time, allowing for a safer dueling experience.”

A ding from her suit computer distracted her. Evernya looked down to find ‘Duel 3823, arena 3,’ displayed on the screen. “The message sent to all prospective students dueling suit is your duel order and location. However, don’t worry about keeping track when your duel will happen. As your duel approaches, your suit will notify you, so feel free to immerse yourself in today’s duels.”

After a brief pause, Stefan announced, “now without further ado duels 1 to 150, please make your way to your designated arenas. Failure to do so within five minutes shall result in automatic forfeiture eliminating you from enrollment.”

Evernya glanced up at the stands watching 450 teens work their way down towards the arenas, most of which had a nervous, fidgety demeanor countered by a few arrogant teens shoving their way through. At least I’ll have something to keep me distracted from Aya avoiding me, though the vast majority of these teens are in the low to mid fours in mana grade even a few upper threes, but who knows maybe they make up for their lack of mana grade talent with control.

Unfortunately, her vantage point limited her view of the arenas, prompting her to spring upward, landing gracefully on the rail near the top of the stands unnoticed by the teens seated just a meter away. Upon finding the stands still packed, Evernya lowered herself on the thirty centimeters wide rail, only to find her slipping downward. Instinctively Evernya shifted her grippy scales on the bottoms of her feet, stopping her slides down the thirty degree angled rail. Using her newfound grip, Evernya scooted herself upward until her back rested against the wall with her knees pulled against her chest. With her new comfortable bird’s-eye view, Evernya scanned the duels beginning in all 150 arenas.

Each arena had two teens standing five meters apart, with a judge on one side near the center and a perspective healing student partnered with what appeared to be a current healing student near the center on the opposite side.

With her sensitive ears, Evernya focused in on a nearby arena, listening to the instructions. “This duel will finish either by forfeit, mana depletion, or a direct hit to a vital point. I shall allow no lethal magic. If detected, the violator will face automatic forfeiture and possible charges depending on the severity. However, don’t worry, severe injuries or death are unlikely as all dueling suits come equipped with shields capable of defending against attacks up to awakened grade 6, so don’t be afraid to use any magic incapable of breaking a grade 6 shield.” The judge explained.

With a general gist of the rules or lack thereof, Evernya focused on the instructions the healing student was simultaneously explaining to their perspective junior. “Your job is to point out any injuries that could occur depending on the magic used, no matter how minor. If an injury occurs, you will provide support to me during the healing process. Any questions?” The twenty-something blonde woman asked, receiving a headshake from the petite brunette nervously clutching her hands at her waist.

With the instructions relayed, the judge announced the beginning of the duel. Evernya focused in with keen interest, but contrary to Evernya’s expectations, the participants stood still while flailing their arms to launch pitiful attacks with their magic such as a small fist-sized fireball or a glob of water most of which missed their intended target. With disappointment, Evernya moved her attention away from the arena to scan for a more exciting duel, only to find most duels were just as pitiful as the first.

Quickly growing bored, Evernya’s eyes shifted from one duel to another, hoping to find at least one interesting fight. Seriously? These kids grew up around magic, yet they can’t even hit a stationary target only five meters away. Even I was more accurate when I first started, though I have little confidence in my accuracy at the moment, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out.

After five minutes, most of the first round of duels completed with over ninety percent decided when one participant ran out of mana. After a quick jolt of mana from the stationed healing student, both participants looked down at their suit computer with varying expressions. Most participants, whether they win or lose, slumped their shoulders as tears formed, while a select few bounced with excitement or slump in relief, including some participants on the losing end.

Interesting, winning doesn’t guarantee a passing score, though it helps. Whether you win or lose, rarer elements like lightning have a better chance at passing, but even then, it’s rare. Of the 300 perspective, magical combat students, only about thirty passed, joined with around twenty perspective healers.

The next batch of participants had a slightly higher average mana grade in the mid fours, but yet again, the duels themselves disappointed with only another fifty total moving on. Bored Evernya sipped on a mana jug while surveying the remaining six or so thousand participants packed in on the stands. They must be ordering us by our mana grades since there are at least a thousand grade 5’s and hundreds of grade 6 pluses in the stands, yet none of them have dueled. Oh well, I guess I’ll take a nap until later, since I doubt the current state of duels will change anytime soon.

After finishing her snack, Evernya wrapped her tail around the railing, giving her an extra anchor point before closing her eyes for a nap.