“I am an earth mage.” the commoner girl raised her hand slowly.

I sent the raven to scout the army and noticed right away, they were six hours away. We weren’t on track with the army to begin with. So I believed we could establish an underground base and be safe from them picking up the scent of untrained mana control.

I stopped the ride and let everybody down.

“Start digging downward from this hill. Right here.” I pointed at the bottom of the slope.

The girl nodded and began channelling mana really crudely. I cursed and began whipping up low sig barriers. After I was sure they were up and steady, I attached them to mana pearls full of mana instead of my personal mana. This way the mana signature was at its lowest point and would naturally blend in.

Then I turned my attention to the girl who barely dug five feet down. I grabbed her shoulder and she jumped, releasing her magic. I sighed. Early stage adept.

“Call up your magic but allow me to guide you.” I demanded.

She nodded while wiping sweat off her brow. I took control of her spell and began cutting into soft ground. Harden up the walls while pushing deep down. I noticed her brows were tighten and the muscles under my hand were so tight it felt like I was holding steel. I looked at the mana bracelet on her hand and my eyes almost exploded in disbelief.

Adept range from five to ten mana pearls. Meaning around five thousand to ten thousands units of mana. Six and half mana pearls were dimly lit. She was down to two and half and I only went ten feet down.

I switched to using my mana to hold the spell and allowing her to be the conduit in which the spell happens.

Her shoulders sag. I pushed the pace but kept the thread of mana going through her small. I made several rooms within three hours and got us more than ten feet down. Plenty of vents to keep it oxygen free without smell or scent slipping out. By the time I finished my mana was down to seven pearls.

“Go down, the scouts are not even an hour away.” I barked.

They didn’t hesitate and I covered the entrances with complicated illusion from an artifact I bought a while back. It has helped me plenty on scoping out my targets. Very low key mana signature and had the capability to pull energy from the world around.

I walked into the lobby to see the group splintered off. Nobles, on the left. Commoners on the right. It was standard. Nobody could not be prejudiced. You would feel superior to someone in some way or some means.

“There are rooms. Pick one.” I gestured at the open doors leading from the lobby.

I pulled out a table and put the gem holding out the barrier into notch in the center. It lit up the room in a myriad of colors.

“Before you guys ask any questions. This needs to be constantly charged. The table will let you know the levels. Everybody should make sure it stays above fifty percent.” I gesture at the glowing rings around the gem. Right now, it was at ninety-six percent.

“Next, I don’t know the goal. I know like most of you, what my siblings before me went through and it varied greatly. Some went through survival, others went through tournament style, others went through free for all. This might be a survival exam.

They didn’t seem like they were overwhelmed, which was good. So I continued.

“On that note, if you are going to shower, or do complicated magic. Keep it simply. Nothing that shakes the ground, no vibration magic. No sound magic. Don’t send communication spells out. I would never underestimate my enemies and I hope you will consider this as well. Though I must say. There are two exit tunnels.

I gesture to the north and south. “If this gem sends out a mental alert. Pick a tunnel and run down it. Now questions. Do you have any?” I asked, pulling out some food and drink.

I set it on the table and turned to the commoner girl who was shivering like she had experienced mana withdraw.

“Come eat.”

She gave me a grateful smile and dug in. Good thing it was finger food.

I turned to the noble girls, about four in total. Most of the class was male dominated. So it was impressive for females to want to attend a previously all-male academy.