Magic Armament Compatibility Test (3)

Even monkeys fall from trees, as the old saying went.

No matter how stellar a student's grades might be, failure was always a lingering possibility. Contrary to expectations, two members had already failed to manifest their Magic Armaments during the compatibility test, squandering their precious mana stones in the process.

Two of them...

This had caught Goden entirely off guard. Senia served as a frontline vanguard, meaning her combat style primarily revolved around channeling raw mana into her blade. She was naturally unaccustomed to such delicate internal manipulation. That was something that could be polished over time, and with enough trial and error, she would inevitably succeed in manifesting her Armament. Failing once was hardly a cause for concern.

The other person, however, was a very different story.

"..."

"Don't take it to heart, Erika. Everyone stumbles at least once."

What Goden truly hadn't anticipated was Erika's failure. Though the rest of the team offered words of comfort, Erika occupied a support role as a healer—making her failure a far more profound concern. In any case, one had to identify the cause before finding a solution. If they were to single out a likely culprit, it had to be the mana stones.

"Hmm... It might be because they used artificial mana stones. Erika and Senia were the only ones who used them, after all."

"What's wrong with artificial ones?"

"Their grade is noticeably lower compared to naturally formed stones. That's probably why the outcome differed from the others."

The moment the blame fell upon the mana stones, one member naturally bowed her head in shame. It was Charlotte.

"I'm so sorry. I should have secured more..."

"No, not at all. Mana stones were already being hoarded across the market. The fact that you managed to procure any at all is nothing short of a miracle."

"Still..."

As Charlotte reproached herself for failing to stockpile enough stones, the rest of the party quickly chimed in to soothe her.

"Securing even that much in this climate was incredible. Without those stones, we wouldn't have even qualified to take the test in the first place."

"Senia's right. What do you think, Charlotte?"

"I'll... listen to Aris-unni."

"Good girl. That's our sweet youngest."

Of course, consoling their youngest teammate did nothing to resolve the predicament right in front of them.

The truth is, the stones aren't the problem at all.

Senia knew precisely why this outcome had come to pass. Though Goden had pointed fingers at the artificial mana stones, the true cause lay entirely with Erika herself. On the day Aris had dropped to her knees before her, hearing everything had made it clear: Erika, too, was inextricably bound to Junon.

"For now, don't mind us. You guys go ahead and proceed to the next phase."

"How can we do that? You two need to come along..."

"If you just stand around fretting over us, the pressure will only make things worse. Don't you think so, Erika?"

"H-huh? Oh... right. Exactly."

Her response came a beat too late. Watching the faint impression of teeth fade from Erika's lower lip, Senia could tell just how suffocated she felt by the scene earlier.

"Come now, Erika. Shouldn't we head off to craft the mana stones we need for the next attempt?"

"Y-yeah..."

"We'll be right back. Don't worry about us—go on ahead."

Senia smiled brightly to relieve her comrades' anxiety, but her inner thoughts were far colder. Guiding Erika by the back toward the academy, Senia waited until they had put enough distance between themselves and the others before deliberately opening the conversation.

"Erika. Don't you have something to tell me?"

"Something to tell you? About what?"

"You know very well what. Or do I have to describe the look on your face back in that lab myself?"

Based on what Aris had confided in her, Erika was bound to have shared the exact same experience. Aris had presumed as much, too. Senia hadn't let that crucial detail slip, which was why she had volunteered to accompany Erika in the first place. Yielding her turn under the guise of scarce mana stones was merely an excuse; if Erika shared a connection with Junon, Senia needed to uncover it.

When Professor Dahlia offered to synthesize artificial mana stones in a laboratory within Dubhe Hall, Senia had tagged along. Right by Erika's side, she had witnessed firsthand that Erika's state of mind was anything but normal.

"..."

Erika shrank back, evading the question. Seeing this, Senia offered a stern, unyielding piece of advice.

"If you keep chasing after his shadow, you're going to break down before he does. Focus on your own duties first."

"What? Senia, what on earth are you talking about?"

"Junon. You were glaring daggers at him the entire time you were synthesizing in that lab."

"...!"

Throughout the synthesis process, Erika had been so preoccupied with Junon that she had botched the creation of a mana stone multiple times. Granted, anyone could stumble. The final stage—infusing raw mana—was an intricate step where every student save for Junon had struggled. As a result, each student had been forced to repeat the synthesis at least five times.

The problem, however, was that Erika's circumstances were fundamentally different from the rest.

Whenever a healer converted mana into holy power, they inevitably had to perform a process strikingly similar to mana stone synthesis. How ironic was it that Erika, who performed that conversion every day of her life, was struggling with simple mana stone synthesis? In short, synthesizing a stone was something Erika should have completed with ease. The fact that she couldn't meant something was gnawing away at her conscience.

"I don't know what kind of grudge you hold against Junon, but remember this: manifesting an Armament is essential to strengthening our team. You don't have the luxury of daydreaming about someone else and failing both the synthesis and the test."

Tapping Erika twice on the shoulder, Senia walked ahead toward the laboratory. Left behind in the corridor, Erika muttered under her breath in bitter frustration.

"...What do you even know? You don't know a single damn thing."

In the quiet corners of Erika's heart, that stinging voice continued to echo unceasingly.

The group that completed their tests first walked away, yet their footsteps felt anything but triumphant.

Their heavy, dragging strides led their thoroughly battered bodies back to the manor. After washing off the dust and grime, they assembled in the salon.

"Tsk. That damned fossil of a professor...!"

Cayden Norbell, eldest son of Count Norbell, seethed with venom as he chewed over his encounter with Professor Jake, who had thrashed him and his classmates without a shred of mercy. Just as Cayden spat, everyone in the room wore sour expressions of utter contempt for the instructor.

Yet now was hardly the time to simply wallow in rage.

"What did the other factions say?"

"Professor Jake was assigned to us, while instructors from the Empire handled the other groups."

"And the outcome?"

"Pretty much the same across the board. Everyone managed to manifest their Armaments, but those imperial bastards completely ruined everyone's mood."

"Why the hell does the Empire have nothing but stubborn old fossils like that?"

"beats me. Why do we have to suffer this kind of humiliation on such an auspicious day?"

"Exactly! Shouldn't we lodge a formal protest with the academy over this?"

Stifled by indignation, they voiced their grievances in an unbroken chorus of complaints. Naturally, whining would change nothing, but as noble aristocrats holding rearguard positions, their pride ran excessively deep.

"They claimed it was to test how much stronger we'd become with the Armament, so we complied. But what kind of professor beats down his own students like a ravenous beast?"

"My thoughts exactly! It felt like he was deliberately trying to crush our spirits."

"Why on earth would an educator try to break a student's spirit?! Especially rearguard casters like us!"

"How should I know? When he called us pathetic pieces of trash, I nearly lost my damn mind. Something is seriously wrong with that man."

"All he needed to evaluate was the raw power increase from our Armaments! Why the hell did he need to test our 'mastery rate'? It's ridiculous."

Students who had successfully manifested their Magic Armaments had been selected to spar with him, yet Professor Jake hadn't shown the slightest hint of approval. Seeing right through their cheap shortcuts—bypassing the orthodox manifestation method through convenience—he had raised his voice in a scathing, thunderous rebuke.

That was the sole reason Cayden's cohort had returned looking so utterly wretched.

"Ah, Cayden. I don't know if I should bring this up, but..."

"What is it?"

"Word has it the lower-class scumbags are taking the test using some kind of artificial mana stone...?"

"What? How could that even be possible?!"

"I don't know the exact details, but apparently they're proceeding without any issues."

"Then... what about what the family heads and professors discussed...?"

"Shut your mouths for a second!!"

Cayden slammed his fist down upon the table and roared. Being reprimanded by Professor Jake was trivial, as was returning in a battered state; given enough time, such indignities would fade from memory.

Then why... Why is this happening?!

He could tolerate everything else, but not this. A confidential understanding had circulated among the nobles and territorial lords: with the market thoroughly cornered, the commoner filth would never be able to sit for the test.

Yet out of nowhere, some woman named Professor Dahlia—who taught alchemy, of all trivial and frivolous subjects—had stepped in and was actively mass-producing artificial mana stones. To make matters worse, reports claimed they were taking the test without a hitch.

The sheer notion that those lowborn wretches were taking the assessment on equal footing with them was galling beyond endurance.

"So, how many of those bastards actually managed to manifest one?"

When asked for the tally, the young noble who had brought the news curled his lips into a mocking sneer before answering Cayden's question.

"Hardly any. You could count them on one hand at best."

Only then did the assembled young lords and ladies burst into derisive laughter. Of course. As if those lowborn mongrels could ever pull it off. How could such incompetent trash ever forge a Magic Armament? Contemptuous mockery and venomous slander flooded the room in waves.

"Right... Is that how it is?"

The Magic Armament Compatibility Test had been a golden opportunity. The filthy commoners who couldn't even afford mana stones wouldn't be able to step foot near the testing grounds, while the aristocracy would manifest Armaments as though chosen by destiny itself. Wasn't that the perfect script? It would cement the social hierarchy once and for all while casting those worthless bugs down into the dirt where they belonged. There was no finer opportunity.

"Everyone, get ready to head back to the academy."

"Huh? Why?"

"Do you remember back then? That phantom sparring replica or whatever it was."

"Of course..."

There was no way they could forget. Yet they wondered why Cayden was dredging it up now. It was a humiliating stain on their aristocratic pride—why bring it back to light?

"Yeah. I know. It's all because of that bastard Junon."

Cayden curled his lips into a vile sneer, instantly dispelling their confusion.

"So this time, we're paying them back in full. Dealing with a bunch of losers who don't even have Armaments shouldn't be too hard for any of us, right?"

The corners of their mouths curled upward into identical, malicious smirks.

During the Magic Armament Compatibility Test, temporal acceleration occurred within the chamber, making the perceived time feel significantly longer. This was deliberately calibrated to prevent the internal flow of mana from turning erratic or dangerous under haste. Consequently, no matter how long the test felt inside, no more than fifteen minutes ever elapsed in the outside world, with the testing apparatus simply displaying the subjective duration experienced within.

Junon had heard that the time taken to manifest one's first Armament wasn't particularly significant, but since he needed a benchmark for comparison, he dredged up memories from before the regression.

"The time it took them to manifest their first Armament was... an hour and twenty-two minutes for Senia. An hour and thirty minutes for Erika. And Michel took around forty minutes, if I recall."

Except for Michel, it might have sounded like a considerable amount of time, but that wasn't the case at all. Across the entire cohort, those three ranked near the absolute pinnacle. They weren't core members of Team Tembris for nothing. Though he had never heard the initial manifestation times of Goden, Charlotte, or Aris—who had already been treading active battlefields—he doubted their times were quite this short.

"Ten minutes."

That was the total duration it had taken him to manifest his first Magic Armament.

"Though honestly, what came out is far more baffling..."

A compatibility rating of 99%—an ideal, miraculous figure. It signified that the Armament he had manifested possessed near-flawless resonance with his mana. At the very least, it confirmed his manifestation had succeeded. The true problem lay elsewhere.

"The question is... can this even be classified as a weapon?"

Upon manifestation, what greeted his eyes was hardly recognizable as an armament. Thin, intricate threads of pure mana merely remained coiled tightly around both of his hands. A Magic Armament almost always assumed the form of an offensive ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠or defensive tool; even the most unconventional manifestations took the shape of staves or wands favored by mages. The implement Junon handled best was a shield, which had shown over thirty percent compatibility—yet what had formed around his knuckles was worlds apart from that.

"Knuckles...? No, that's not quite it. Am I supposed to use them like gauntlets? Ugh..."

What, was he supposed to engage in bare-knuckle street brawling now? Could he even bludgeon a magical beast to death with this? He doubted there was a single soul with a precedent like his... Tsk.

If he had stepped into Mizar Hall right away for a brief mock battle, he might have found his answer, but now was hardly the time for self-indulgence. He had to keep moving.

"More importantly, shouldn't they have arrived by now?"

By this hour, several students should have confirmed a compatibility rating under ten percent and returned here, determined to give it another shot. Checking his pocket watch, factoring in the maximum test duration of fifteen minutes and the walking distance between Mizar Hall and Dubhe Hall, they were well past due.

"Well... they might just be running slightly behind. Crafting the mana stones did take some time, after all."

He had foolishly reassured himself that they would arrive shortly if he waited just a little longer. But that fleeting sense of peace shattered in an instant.

"...What's that? Why is there smoke rising over there?"

Smoke was billowing from an entirely unexpected quarter—neither Mizar Hall nor Dubhe Hall. A cold premonition seized him: that alleyway happened to be the secluded shortcut he frequently used to avoid crowds. Because of its obscurity, it saw virtually no foot traffic, and even if smoke rose from its depths, the imposing height of the surrounding architecture concealed it unless viewed from very specific vantage points.

He strained his senses, checking for any commotion, but within the heavy stillness, not a whisper reached his ears.

Which meant... a soundproofing barrier had been erected over the area.

The instant the suspicion took root, Junon's legs were already carrying him toward the smoke at full sprint.

"Congratulations on manifesting, you guys!"

"Congratulations, seniors!"

"Here I thought John and Noel were just average like the rest of us... Turns out you two are incredible!"

"Ahaha..."

"Come on, you're embarrassing us..."

Among the group emerging from Mizar Hall, two individuals had actually succeeded in manifesting their Magic Armaments.

John and Noel.

Having witnessed Junon's heroic ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stand and trained relentlessly ever since, the pair had become the sole success stories in this group to awaken their Armaments. Given the institutional disdain they had endured for so long, each failure in the testing chamber ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had weighed heavily on their hearts, whispering the toxic doubt that people of their background simply weren't cut out for greatness. Deep down, they had desperately prayed that at least one of them would succeed—and with the final two candidates pulling off dramatic awakenings, their collective prayers had been answered.

After witnessing such a triumph, who among them could ever give up now?

Not a single soul present had any intention of throwing in the towel.

When John and Noel encouraged them, saying, "You can do it too," their fighting spirits blazed anew. Full of resolve, they turned back toward Dubhe Hall to craft another batch of mana stones.

And in that exact moment—

"How pathetic. What business do lowborn mongrels have with Magic Armaments?"

"Hey, is the soundproofing barrier finished?"

"All set. They won't hear a peep from the outside, no matter what we do to them."

"Perfect. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Let the hunt begin."

Right on cue, the troublemakers blocked their path.