“Ladies and gentle, I welcome all of you to the 496th annual appraisal proceedings. My name is Rine Quelch, the head committee in charge of today’s event. This year, in light of the arrival of the new hero, Riestallia Academy has decided to include more slots compared to all previous years. Nevertheless, with the fierce competition, I hope that you understand we are not able to grant everyone here a candidacy. I remind everyone to prioritize their own safety, and my sincere wishes for your best.”

Applauses ran through the hall, even more deafening after being amplified by the echoes bouncing back from the walls.

Stepping up to take Mister Quelch’s place is the emcee.

Some rules and regulations were noted to everyone, including the gist verbalization of the schedule. The examination had 4 parts. And those that pass all four are granted a scholarship.

The first test is a simple one to cut away the participants that came for a lucky catch. It was appraisal using an appraisal orb.

The staff on site began to test the individuals one by one.

The appraisal orb would flash bright if the individual has ability (not talent) in some area. And the different colours showcased different skills.

With the complexity of the system and magic, the appraisal orb could at most be used as a general guide. It doesn’t actually determine one’s potential in the future.

There were just so many participants here, they needed a fast and effective method to remove as many participants as possible without squandering their chances of finding that diamond in the rough.

Many people left in frustration, sparking some conflicts had to be resolved using forceful methods by the staff. It wasn’t a pleasant sight to see.

If these experienced mercenaires hoping for a lucky drop couldn’t even pass, what chances did they stand?

Alas, it was Lilian’s turn.

As requested by the staff, she placed her hands on the orb. She was asked to pick the best one magic, or one combat related skill and focus on that.

The orb sparkled in orange, flashing yellow then white.. but it was dim.

“I’m sorry miss, we will have to dismiss you here.”

“I understand..”

Another staff member came up to request for Lilian’s hand, she flinched. A symbol appeared on the top of her palm.

“It’ll wear off in a week. Until then, as long as you have this mark you are unable to participate in the appraisal a second time.”

“I-I understand..” Lilian felt dejected.

Next was Leticia’s turn.

“Choose a field you specialize in and focus on that. Magic or weapons.”

Leticia placed her hands on the orb.

‘Nature Magic.’

The orb glowed in a strong green light. But that was it.

“You pass.”

The staff moved on to Sequencee. Leticia heaved a sigh.

‘Barely huh..’

Compared to some other people, Leticia’s light was rather weak. Then again, he was glad he made it through. The standard should be quite high if Leticia only made it barely.

Sequencee placed his hands on the orb.

‘Pick one skill.. I don’t know. I’m more of a jack-of-all-trades.’

He wasn’t certain about his proficiency in anything in fact. As someone who had only focused on the basic fundamentals, he hadn’t begun training in mastery.

Focus is an incredibly important aspect in achieving success. Not only does this appraisal rule out people that don’t have the skills, it also eliminates the jack-of-all-trades.

The reality is that in the world, there is always someone better than you in something. So one of the key concepts Riestallia Academy would focus on is mastery in only one.

‘My spearmanship? No.. I lost to Yelen many times.. then..’

Sequencee stared at the orb which remained unlit.

‘Right.. they don’t know that I’m a demon lord. And they hadn’t noticed those beads around me either. I’ll go with this then.’

There was no light, but the orb’s colour began to grow cloudy– to the point where it became completely opaque.

[Illusion Magic: Universal Haze]

“Interesting. It must be a system ability. You pass.”

‘Wheewh. Great.’

Then it was Ro’s turn.

Just like Lilian, he wasn’t able to make the or glow enough for that passing mark.

“Haah.. can’t believe we didn’t even get past the first round,” Ro smiled wryly, “It’s the end for us.”

Sequencee could only nod in silence.

“Well, I’ll take Lilian out. We’ll wait for you two at the inn, Sequencee, can you pass me the map?”

“Sure…”

“Thanks. You know the way back right?”

“Kind of?”

“Um..”

“It’s alright. We’ll ask around if we get lost. You and Lilian, do take care,” Leticia said.

“Alright. Thank you. Lilian, let’s go.”

“H-Huh.. oh.. oh right..”

With heavy steps, the two left the venue first.

“I feel bad,” Sequencee said.

“Nothing much we can do,” Leticia sighed.

“I almost flunked it, I think. I was stuck between my spearmanship and illusion magic. Luckily I chose the latter.”

“Feels more like a test to see if you understand yourself enough.”

“Yeah..”

The first examination reduced the number of participants from a thousand five hundred or so down to eight hundred. It was still a huge disparity.

Onto the second examination– magic and physical body assessment.

Everyone was asked to move to a different venue.

A vast open plains which overlooked the actual academy building. The ground had been separated into many smaller fields of flat sand where numerous training equipment were laid out.

“Those who are mages please go there; those that are good with weapons please follow me,” a lean staff member announced in a loud voice.

“Magic?” Leticia asked.

“Yeah. I don’t have confidence in my spearmanship.”

“Okay.”

The ratio between mages and fighters was almost equal. To pass this examination, the panel of judges will rate the magic attack performed on the reinforced training dummy.

Of course, the training dummy wasn’t any simple dummy. It’s reinforced with many layers of defensive magic.

Hail, lightning, flame arrows, ice spikes, plasma– while most of them managed to blow a part of the dummy’s body, none was able to destroy it completely.

The participants here were each given a sticker which showed a unique identifier number, and there were multiple stations to speed up the process of evaluation. In the first station, a man with a low hood covering his face stepped up for his turn. The loose robes that garbed him hid his physique underneath.

A flat smile appeared on his face as something white condensed on his palms.

The world seemed to dim. And only for a moment, a simple white trail seemed to wick over.

The dummy was severed in half, its upper torso fell to the ground.. not only that, the trees in the far background were also destroyed. It was a wonder if anything else got hit.

“Someone check the damages!”

“This deserves a good score.”

“A unique magic. Not bad.”

“It could be a system skill though?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

Those that had come before the man had grimacing faces.

Leticia gripped her hands nervously. She recalled the fight she had with Sequencee– none of her magic got through him.

‘Something with strong firepower but..’

What exactly?

Nature magic’s strength lies in its control. Unlike the basic elementals, it did not have that destructiveness behind it.

This test not only required the mage to be proficient, it also tested their creativity to come up with solutions for each unique situation.

‘Maybe I can do that? After all, that isn’t Sequencee. It’s just a stationary dummy.’

Leticia’s turn came first, she was assigned to the 3rd station. Sequencee wished her good luck.

She went up to the stage and took a deep breath. Her eyes slipped towards the panel of two judges, then at the dummy in front of her.

/

{ACQUIRED GIFTS:

1. [Passive Trait: Commiseration Recipient]; (1st UP: 2500)

2. [Unique Trait: Nature’s Blessing]^; (2nd UP: 6000)

}

/

[Unique Trait: Nature’s Blessing]

Leticia’s golden eyes glowed.

She raised her hands in front of her, the ground trembled.

Her hands continued to rise until it reached over her head. The rumbling stopped.

She clenched her fist.

Like an orca jumping out of the sea, a giant black flower gushed out from the ground, throwing dirt into the sky, the petals closed around the dummy and ate it whole. It sank back into the ground and disappeared. Left was a crater with thick pulsing veins visible on the surface.

In a daze, she turned to the judges.

“She has a rare speciality.”

“It’s a positive sign.”

“Excuse me, is it possible for you to spit that dummy out?”

“O-Oh, okay.”

Per Leticia’s command, the flower rose back to the surface and opened the lip of the petals.

The dummy had been corroded by some acid, becoming completely unusable, so the staff decided that it would be best if they replace a new one.

Hearing that, she heaved a sigh. She commanded the flower to shrivel up and walked off stage as those around her admired her magic

‘How about Sequencee?’

Leticia, who went to the finishing group, focused on his station.

The man after him had just completed his magic. It wasn’t bad, having created a gash wound on the straw body despite the many layers of defensive magic covering it.

He patted Sequencee on the shoulder with a smile.

“Good luck.”

“...”

‘This guy just tried to use debuff magic?’

Sequencee could feel the elemental beads around him run wild the short instant his hand came into contact with him. The mana in his body felt clogged up and sluggish. It was fortunate that his illusion magic didn’t falter.

‘Is there a need to compete like that– whatever. There’s no point complaining. It’s part of the sport.’

He stepped onto stage and looked towards the dummy.

[Activated Trait: Focus]

The beads that he normally had floating around him extinguished like candles.

Sequencee guessed that the judges were there for a reason. Just as some before him had most probably suspected, they weren’t only considering the mage’s ability to damage the target. There’s likely some hidden criteria they were judging on when assessing the mage.

‘A performance that shows the judges a level of magic proficiency.’

Sequencee lifted his arms slightly.

Soon a white mass of energy formed between his palms. As he forced more mana into the spell.

The energy expanded to form a glowing white spear crackling with gold lightning.

He twisted his body into a posture as if preparing to toss a baseball. He breathed out–

And swung his arm hard.

The spear of light tore through the air, creating a vortex which sucked everything to its tip.

It made contact with the magic barrier– the spear corroded at the magic resistant barrier of the dummy, and the momentum it carried couldn’t be stopped as it drove right through and stabbed the ground on the other side.

The spear quickly disappeared into particles of light, a large hole was opened through the cavity of the dummy.

‘How was that?’

Sequencee looked towards the panel of judges. They gave a hearty nod, recording their brief thoughts on the book in front of them.

Sequencee stepped off and allowed the next entrant to come on.

“Hopefully we’ll make it through,” Sequecee said when he approached Leticia’s side.

“Hopefully..” Leticia gazed upon the field with a wary expression.