"Time's up," Vice President Helene's voice rang through the grand hall, sharp as a cracked whip. "Put your pens down immediately."
Across the rows, the quiet scratching of pens stopped instantly.
"Step away from your desks. Papers will be collected automatically," she instructed, her grey eyes coolly scanning the room as stacks of completed answer sheets floated from each table toward her podium. "The written exam results will be posted on the notice board or sent to your mana watches after your practical exams are finished. You are dismissed."
She didn't stay. She gathered the thick stacks, turned with a sweep of her dark coat, and walked out through the side doors.
The second the doors clicked shut behind her, the silence in the lecture hall shattered.
A collective groan erupted from hundreds of throats at once. Students collapsed across their desks, buried their faces in their hands, or stared blankly at the ceiling like men who had barely survived a nightmare.
