Chapitre 7: Trial of Strength and the Mistress of Lightning (1)
Before delving into the main books, I took another glance at the necromancy book. It contained something that the others lacked – warnings against recklessly expending one's magic. Every person has their limit, and the closer you get to it, the worse it is for your body, but the greater the spiritual uplift you experience. That's why many young mages met a bad end when, in a burst of euphoria, they became victims of their own magic. I must remember this for the future.
The books were quite detailed; some contained spells with transcriptions in the common language, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't read the spells until my magic dissolved. However, there was another method described: if you had a well-developed imagination, you could cast spells simply by envisioning their effects. Though, this required significant concentration and understanding of the process. Surprisingly, the same necromancy book... something there helped me with that. Strangely enough, while studying the remains of elemental mages, necromancers also delved into the study of spells they themselves did not possess. I'm not sure when I zoned out, but I tried to remember as much as possible from what was written there.
Heh-heh, he's asleep. Should I help him? He'll manage on his own.
The warm rays of the sun gently pulled me out of a pleasant reverie. "I really don't want to go anywhere," I said, glancing at the clock tower visible from my window. "It's already half past ten. At home, I would have been up by now, but there I wouldn't have gone to bed so late." My home... it was burned down, and they brought me to the feudal lord... And then...
"It seems I'm running late." After quickly washing my face, I rushed to the training ground where students were dispersing to their respective class departments. I was late, but I had to make it to my own group.
"Thank you, great spirits, for making this healthy fellow so conspicuous," I recognized Grain in the crowd and swiftly sneaked into the polygon assigned to us before the instructor closed the door.
Truthfully, I wasn't the last, and a couple of minutes later, the door opened, revealing the old man with a sly smile whom I saw at the opening ceremony.
I heard that teachers themselves choose which classes to participate in during evaluations, so a visit from the rector was quite an unsettling sign. If he was here, it meant that someone must have outstanding abilities, and that meant the other students might be assigned to lower-level classes.
Following the rector, a figure draped in a black cloak slipped through the door. Familiar to me from the first lesson.
Among the trio of judges were only familiar faces. The annoyingly toothy master of fire magic... Kiram, I think. The much more amiable librarian. Seems like someone in my head mentally squealed. Well, sorry, the instructor of earth mages, Levris. The high-pitched female squeal in my mind changed to a relieved sigh.
And the old man with a sly look... eyeing the young female students! He's the rector! Someone tell him that's inappropriate!!
Well, the rector and Kiram seemed to expect a serious performance, but Levris... Could this giant of a woman have such promising abilities, or was she planning to recruit one of the specialty-less mages into her branch of magic? She had complained before that her department was almost unfunded due to the smallest number of students. But it's better not to speculate about the future; let's see how everything turns out.
The polygons were organized quite simply. Two rows of open spaces, separated from each other by earthen ramparts and protected by powerful magical barriers that prevented accidental spells from flying to the neighbors. A shelter with a railing was designated for the students, where they were to release their spells toward the rows of mannequins standing against the far wall.
The first students didn't show themselves too impressively. There were both mages of low origin and those arrogant ones sitting in the front rows. None of them could cast even a moderately complex spell. True, those who could demonstrate weak elemental control were assigned to only the second class. Most were placed in the first class.
I heard that the power of young mages had sharply declined in recent years, but not to this extent. It feels like there's a disconnection with the spirit world, but even children from noble families could hardly conjure a couple of magical arrows.
Now, the shy girl, Kurone, it seems, stepped onto the field. I wonder what she's capable of. So far, no one from the common nobles has distinguished themselves with outstanding achievements.
The girl timidly turned to her classmates and closed her eyes. Small clusters of magic gathered in her hands, even smaller than what other mages could gather, although she didn't use staffs or other magical amplifiers, so it was quite natural. Usually, after this, it's enough to throw them like stones at the target and that's it. But the girl simply extended her arms forward and concentrated even harder. The magical flame shrank to the size of a candle flame but didn't extinguish. I even thought she wouldn't be able to shoot it like a normal magical arrow, but in the next moment, the sorceress dispelled my fears. The flame split into dozens of even smaller balls and rushed forward. The effect wasn't very powerful, but these tiny arrows easily pierced through the targets. Though right after finishing the spell, the girl leaned on the railing, visibly struggling to catch her breath.
"Hmm, interesting," the rector thoughtfully followed the trajectory of the projectiles.
"What's so special about it?" Kiram snorted in dissatisfaction. "Any of my fire students could cause much more damage with a fire arrow. Yes, her arrows are fast, but they don't inflict significant harm. They're only effective against unarmored people. Nothing more than a first-class performance."
"Well, not quite. Compared to the other students, she hit quite a few targets accurately, including those in the back rows," the rector said.
I looked at the results of her seemingly chaotic shooting once again. Most targets were hit in the chest or head, and if you stepped aside, you could see that even the targets hiding behind the front ones were hit.
"As you wish, but without elemental affiliation, it's still not something substantial," Kiram said.
"But I would give her a second class," the rector replied.
"Fine, it's your call," Kiram grumbled, while Levris nodded approvingly from the other side of the rector. "If you have nothing more to show us, then maybe make room for more promising students?"
"Well... I can still do something," the girl said shyly, staring at the floor. "I can become invisible and sometimes read minds."
"Hah, don't make me laugh," Kiram grinned maliciously. "If you knew a bit about magic, you'd understand that such powers don't exist among the known magical abilities. And I doubt you're the founder of a new school of magic. But if you want, read my mind; it shouldn't be difficult for you."
"I... can't, you're too agitated, and it interferes with it," the girl replied.
"Pfft, well, anyone would say that. Be content with what you've achieved," Kiram said.
Kurone hurriedly left the field, and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.
"You really are..." Levris cast a hostile glance at her colleague.
"What? Don't like it? You can go and comfort her; I have no business with weaklings. Next!"
A massive guy, for whom I'm grateful for orienteering, stepped onto the field. Levris noticeably got excited, apparently, earth mages interested her the most.
"Is he really in the right place? Maybe he should have been sent to the grey mantles?" Kiram couldn't resist making a comment about the appearance of the mage.
I heard that most mages were of slim build not only because they didn't have time for physical training but also due to some physiological reasons. However, this guy disproved that theory; it seemed like he carried boulders for several kilometers every day.
"Alright, show us how you can throw stones."
Grain stomped lightly, and several pebbles soared into the air from the ground. The stones hung in the air, and the mage sent them precisely towards the target with swift strikes. The impact was strong, and four dummies fell to the ground. The earth mage didn't demonstrate anything else; it didn't seem like he had run out of power, but perhaps he didn't possess any other abilities.
"Is that all? It doesn't even look like magic," Kiram yawned disdainfully, "are we really supposed to evaluate him as a mage? He simply threw a couple of stones at the target."
"That's not true!" Levris tried to defend the student, "he used magic to extract pieces of earth for the attack, but that's not all."
"And it seemed like everything," the condemning glance from the fire mage made the teacher fall silent.
I didn't like this mage; I really wanted to put him in his place.
"I think the earth on this field is too loose to be thrown so easily," I interjected, earning an angry look from the teacher.
"So what? At least it didn't crumble, and that's good because otherwise his performance would have looked even more pathetic," Kiram retorted.
"You're wrong," the rector decided to join the discussion, "his gloves and boots have small metal inserts, I assume he uses them instead of a staff. Before throwing the stones at the target, he compresses them to inflict greater damage. Otherwise, they would have crumbled in mid-air."
"Nothing more than petty tricks," Kiram said.
"But I would give him a second class if he has nothing more to show," the rector gave the massive guy a sly look.
"No, that's all," the student peacefully left the field.
"Too bad, I thought it would be more interesting," the same cunning look from the rector followed the student.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone