Aziel could feel the judges' oppressive gazes weighing him down.
"Well, I just answered the three questions on the paper," Aziel answered.
"See, there's a problem. If you weren't a mage, you couldn't answer the questions. You would only see blank paper in front of you. That was the point of the exam: to break the Ink Veil spell and get the questions to appear before you."
Aziel furrowed his brows; he had to play his role perfectly.
"I… I don't understand. When I got the paper, three questions were written on it, and I simply answered them."
The elderly man smiled sinisterly, revealing his yellow teeth. Suddenly, the weight on Aziel increased twofold, and pain shot through him.
Arghh, Aziel dropped to his knees, clutching his chest.
I understand now. That old man is somehow pressuring me, so I would reveal the answer.
"Tell us the truth," the old man urged.
Aziel struggled to think straight with all the pain in his body. He barely managed to open his mouth to defend himself.
"It is the truth. Since you have all my data, you should know that I'm not of a noble family. How could I possibly have awakened on my own?"
The yellow-haired woman patted the old man on the shoulder.
"Stop torturing the young man; a mistake might have really occurred on our end. We'll inspect his mana core to see if he has awakened or not."
-
The old man hesitated for a moment before relieving the pressure on Aziel.
Huff, huff, Aziel breathed rapidly, his body still shaking.
Aziel had not even recovered yet when the yellow-haired woman said, "Come here, young lad."
Seeing that Aziel hesitated, she smiled and urged him again, "You have nothing to worry about.
Like I'd believe you after you literally tortured me.
Aziel felt immense anger, but he had to restrain himself. These people could kill him without a touch.
Taking that into consideration, Aziel slowly made his way to the judges. On the way, none of the judges spoke, as if they were afraid that they would scare him away.
When Aziel got close to the desk, the yellow-haired woman stood up and approached him. She then put her hand on Aziel's stomach and closed her eyes.
Sweat soaked Aziel's back, yet he stood rigid, afraid that the smallest move would put him in danger.
After a while, the woman opened her eyes and turned to the other two judges.
"I sense no traces of mana inside him; he can't be a mage."
Aziel let out a long breath of relief.
Fck, that woman really is thorough, the voice cursed in Aziel's head.
What do you mean?
Are you really that dense? The voice sneered in his head.
Ahh, never mind, I'll tell you everything when the time's ripe.
What?! Not this again. You live inside my body, you should tell me everything! Aziel flared up.
At this moment, the old man interrupted, "It seems that we have really made a mistake. You will retain points from the written test. You can leave now."
Aziel was happy that he could keep his points, but the future was bleak. He was bound to fall down the leaderboard.
Aziel made his way back to the Grand Hall, receiving many mocking gazes. He was physically exhausted, and of course, these people never failed to seize the chance to ridicule him.
They didn't even try to hide their insults.
"Hahah, look at this idiot. He looks like he has returned from war, yet he didn't gain any points."
"Naturally, the commoner stands no chance against us nobles."
I don't understand… Do they truly feel so endangered that they have to constantly push me down?
Aziel ventured to a faraway corner away from those annoying people. He tried to recuperate as much as possible because he would need to be in top shape for the physical exam.
As time passed, the exam continued. Many people rose through the ranks while Aziel kept sliding down.
When the top three candidates' turn came, the crowd reacted in a similar way as in the first part of the exam. Everyone was interested in what they could do.
Gabriel, Lucien, and Amy walked in one by one.
In the end, the top of the leaderboard remained unchanged with Amy taking the lead. When all the points from both the Written and Magic exams were added together, Amy stood at the top with exactly a thousand points. Closely behind her followed Lucien and Gabriel with nine hundred and seventy and nine hundred and fifty points, respectively.
Aziel scoured the list. He sighed when he finally found his name. He had fallen even lower than he had anticipated. He was currently in two hundred and eleventh place with three hundred and eighty-one points. The candidate ranked thirty had seven hundred points, so Aziel estimated that he had to get more than four hundred points. This was to ensure that he would stay within the top thirty, even after considering that other people would also gain points in the physical exam.
The atmosphere in the Grand Hall turned tumultuous, voices crashing over one another. Exultant roars cut through the room, creating the impression of a festive ambiance when in reality many candidates were crestfallen, expressing their sadness with silence.
Amidst all the ruckus, one voice pierced through. It was Alaric's.
"Everyone, calm down," he shouted, his voice overriding all the others.
When people realized to whom the voice belonged, the silence spread, and before long, all was quiet.
"Good," Alaric continued. "It is time for the last exam. Everyone follow me."
Quickly, a long line of candidates formed, with Alaric at the front.
Alaric led the group through the same exit as before, arriving outside, to the place where the first part of the magic exam was held. However, he didn't stop there, but instead continued past, making his way behind the academy. To everyone's surprise, he didn't stop there either, continuing towards a large mass of black that stretched as far as the eye could see.
Only when the group was at the forest's border did Alaric come to a halt.
He waited for everyone to gather around before speaking.
"We will now hold the physical exam."