Morning came and Merlin woke up, fully rested. She slowly went to the toilet to wash her face and rinse her mouth. She then slowly went down the stairs, still not fully awake rubbing her eye and yawning.

Her mother was in the kitchen while her father was outside cleaning the garden. She went out to breathe fresh air and as she was standing there on the porch, her father realized she had woken up and called to her.

“Just woke up? Merlin.” he asked. “Did you sleep well?”. “Ah, morning father. Yes, yes I did.” she replied. “Anyways come here, I have something to tell you”.

Hearing this, Merlin walked to her father’s place where he was pulling out the weeds. “You see, the entrance test for the institute is gonna be held 5 days from now. So you came home at the perfect time.”. Hearing this, Merlin now understood why there were lots of travellers in the front gate.

Mavis’ Institute of Magic was considered to be among the top three magical schools in the whole of Gaia. And compared to the other two schools on that list, the institute accepted all types of people without discrimination. Both talented and average individuals could pass the tests of the institute. Be it a noble, royalty or commoner, everyone was equal inside the institute. Also, to top it all off, every student accepted in the institute becomes a quasi-citizen of Magna city.

“Umm dad, can you tell me the tests they conduct for the entrance?” asked Merlin. “Ah yes, I nearly forgot about that, how about after breakfast? We’ll talk about it in the studying room.” replied her father. “Okay, then I guess I will go help mom prepare the food.” she said.

Inside the kitchen, Nenevi was gently preparing breakfast when Merlin came in to help. “Ahh, honey. I saw you outside with your father. Did he tell you anything?” she asked while at the same time gesturing Merlin to prepare the table. “Yes, he told me about the entrance test.” “Oh, that’s good. How about the contents of the test, did he tell you?”. “No, but he said I will tell you after breakfast.” she replied. “Aw, if I still worked there I could’ve told you. But that was years ago so things probably have changed.”

While they were simply talking with each other, the table had been filled with food and after calling her father in, they had their breakfast.

A few minutes later. “Merlin, come follow me. Let’s talk about the test shall we?” told Nevil. On hearing this Merlin quickly followed him upstairs to the studying room.

Inside the studying room, there were multiple books related to magic, stories and other knowledge books. And in the middle of the room was a table with 6 chairs, and near the window was a round desk with 2 chairs. They both went to the desk and sat down.

“Now then, there are 2 tests you have to get through. The first is a literacy test where you will be asked 10 questions using the Question Box. You will have to answer 5 questions correctly to advance. Even if you fail, you still have a second chance in the form of a magic circle evaluation although I think you will easily pass the test. The second test is a magic test where you will be tested based on your profession. Since you’re a summoner, you will have to take a mock battle with a battle doll. You don’t have to win, just show them your abilities and based on their evaluation, you will either pass or fail.” said her father. “How strong is the battle doll?” asked Merlin. “Probably around rank C². You just have to last a minute with it.”. “Hmmm, so is it only summoners who do mock battles dad?”. “No no, every combat oriented profession does mock battles. Anyways, there’s still 5 days so there’s no harm in reading these books again. You can also increase your magic aptitude using the mana stone outside. Me and your mother will help you if you need anything” said Nevil. Merlin thanked her father as he went outside the room.

As such, within the remaining 5 days till the test, Merlin decided to study the books in the room while giving herself enough time to train her current magic bases.