“So how did you become so strong!?”

Tiffany’s eyes shone with excitement as she asked that. I, on the other hand, didn’t know how to handle this situation so I just said the first thing that came to mind.

“Survived eight years inside the maze forest alone”

“You don’t have to lie if you don’t want to tell ya know”

She pouted a little dissatisfied thinking that I lied. Well, It’s not the entire truth nor a complete lie. I did survive eight years in the forest and during that time I did become stronger. However, before that, another bunch of things happened so it’s not the complete truth either. At her words, I couldn’t help but laugh dryly. We chatted for a while until the teacher told us that we would be moving to the next set of tests.

The next tests would be the mana measuring test and the applied magic test. To tell the truth I don’t need to take the other test since I am a hundred percent sure I have already been admitted with just my physical tests. However, I want to do dose either way since I don’t lose anything by doing so. I am super confident in the mana measuring however applied magic will be impossible for me. I have no idea about magic, and even though I have tried it’s not as simple as imagining something and applying magic.

As I kept thinking about this and that we followed behind the teacher that took us to another facility. Inside a large room, there was a crystal ball connected with wires to an impossibly big magic crystal. I am guessing we will be pumping our mana into the crystal ball which will be stored inside the crystal and measured.

“This test as many of you may already be aware of is to measure your mana. You will be given ten seconds to push as much mana as you can into this crystal ball. After that, you will receive a score. Again as an example, a normal human with no previous interaction with magic will receive a score of around ten. You are expected to have a score of at least fifty. let’s begin”

As she finished, she began calling names once again. From the looks of it, it would be in the same order as the physical strength test so I would be one of the last ones. As names were called participants walked forward and pushed their mana into the crystal. Most of the muscular men that had a good score in the physical exams failed this one. Unlike them, those flimsy-looking ones that had failed previously got quite good scores.

In due time it was Tiffany’s turn. She walked forward with a confident smile, as she was getting ready she shot a glance at me. I could clearly tell what she meant with that look, it was something like: watch, me I will beat you this time. I didn’t mind so I simply smiled at her. After she was given the instruction to start the crystal ball shone. When participants pumped mana into it, it would tend to shine. However, this time it was far brighter than before. As time ticked by I could see her getting tired and at the ten-second mark she almost collapsed.

Most participants couldn’t keep it up for the whole ten seconds. However, that didn’t mean they would have a bad score. It just meant that their ability to release mana was high enough to drain them in less than ten seconds. The fact that Tiffany managed to keep such output for so long meant that she also had a massive mana reserve. Not long after the timer stopped the teacher announced the results with a joyous smile.

“Great job miss Tiffany. Your score is a hundred and seventy-eight. You have a promising future as either a warrior or a magician”

With a satisfied smile, Tiffany walked back while trying her best to not stagger due to exhaustion. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her antics as she approached me. We didn’t talk per se, but our eyes said everything. After a while, the black-hair guy went next and managed to get a score a bit higher than Tiffany. His score was a hundred and ninety-two. This time Tiffany was the one to display a dissatisfied look. I didn’t pay much attention to it since it had nothing to do with me.

Finally, my turn came and to tell the truth I was quite excited to learn about my magic score. The teacher unlike me had a worried expression as she instructed me on what I had to do. It was unnecessary since I had already seen so many other participants doing it but whatever. I relaxed and tapped into my core, pulling mana into my body. I placed my hand on the crystal ball and wait for the teacher to give me the signal. As soon as she did I pushed as much mana as I could into the crystal ball as fast as I could.

Suddenly a loud cracking sound could be heard followed by an explosion. It hadn’t even been a second since I started pushing my mana into the ball until it exploded. The shattered pieces shot out like bullets on the direction my palm was facing. Everyone was stunned senseless including me. What the hell just happened? I had done everything right. After a while of shock the teacher looked at the score the device had given before its destruction. She froze once again only to faint soon after.

All the participants panicked seeing the teacher faint like that. However, the calmer once were still able to leave the room and call for a staff member to come in and aid her. Said staff member took her pulse and carried her out of the room while instructing us to wait for another teacher. We did as told and soon after another teacher came in. Unlike the gentle-looking female teacher from before this old man looked really fearsome.

“Please excuse Miss Kathe for fainting. She tends to be surprised easily. Don’t worry we have already prepared a new measuring device to replace the broken one. Also, I would like to-”

His words were cut short as he looked at the device that held the data of my measurement. His expression contorted as he checked and double-checked the information on it. After a while, his expression changed into one of surprise with a tinge of fear. He looked around presumably trying to look for the owner of such results. However, I am currently suppressing my aura so there is no way of knowing it is me.

“Ahem, Amelia Bellevie. I assume Miss Kathe couldn’t give you your results so I will say them instead. Your score is five hundred, however, since the device broke it might be higher. This device upper limit is five hundred”

I see, well It doesn’t matter. I guess with this I pass. Looking beside me Tiffany’s eyes shone with respect and hunger. She looked at me as if I was a beast she had to defeat. Unlike her the eyes of the other participants held fear. Not like I care. Thanks to the gases of the participants this new teacher was able to tell I was the owner of such results.

After a while, the new testing device came and the tests for the other participants went smoothly. We rested for a while presumably for the participants that had exhausted their mana to regain some of it for the next test, the applied magic test. Soon enough the teacher guided us towards an indoor shooting range. In it, there were scarecrows looking dummies with runes engraved all over them.

“In this test, your magical capabilities will be measured in terms of combat. The more powerful the spell the more points. However, using the same spells will give you fewer points as well as using the same element. You will be given a minute to try and gain as many points as you can. With that said let us begin”

As expected he began calling names, but like in the physical tests, quite a few gave upright. I guess they just like me and have zero knowledge of magic. Names kept being called and magic continued to fly. Soon enough it was Tiffany’s turn as she used a combination of fire and wind spells to trash the dummy. Her score was quite high at five-hundred points. By the way, for this test, the passing grade is three hundred points. The black-haired guy did better than Tiffany here as well with a score of five-hundred and thirty-nine.

I kept going back and forth between giving up or trying something out. I have no knowledge of magic and my mana burst behaves like an explosion. Other than that I don’t know what I could try. Soon enough my name was called and I had no idea of what to do so I just gave up. Everybody present was dumbfounded at that since with my mana capabilities it wouldn’t be strange for me to be a mage already. Well, I am sorry to disappoint.

Tiffany was more than overjoyed to find she had finally beaten me in something but I didn’t really care. The rest of the participants finished their test as well and so we were moved to the final one, the written test. Many gave up straight away presumably they don’t know how to even read or write. Most of them were the muscular men that I guess were adventurers before.

I decided to present the written exam. The math part was absurdly easy for the most part. However, as expected the history and etiquette parts were a killer for me. In the end, I left two-thirds of the exam empty. Well, it doesn’t really matter, I am as good as accepted already so there is nothing to worry about for me.

After the test ended I walked out with a relaxed smile. Tiffany, on the other hand, looked like a dead fish. I am guessing this battle junky isn’t one to be on the smart side. After she spotted me she came running towards me and asked about how I did. I told her about it truthfully, she told me about her experience as well despite the fact I didn’t ask. As we walked Sophy spotted as and came running. With a teasing voice, she said something outrageous.

“Amelia! I can’t believe you are cheating on me already!”

“Wha-Wha. S-sorry I didn’t know”

Tiffany grew red as a tomato as she tried to escape. I reacted quickly and held her by the nape. I also gave Sophy a smack on the head. This idiot, why did she need to come and say something like that. After a while, I managed to calm down Tiffany and made Sophy apologise for her prank. Really this two will make my hair grow grey. I couldn’t help but sigh thinking about my future in this academy.