Artina Academy Entrance Exam (4)
·····At that moment, the lowlands of the South zone were locked in fierce combat.
“Come at me!”
A male student bellowed, deploying his magic. He wrapped his body in beginner-level wind magic, Tempest, and charged straight at a single girl. In his hand gleamed a dagger coated in a transparent membrane of wind—a blade enhanced with gale force to boost its cutting power another notch. Sharp enough to slice through a tree like soft tofu with a single swing.
“Phew, do we really have to fight? Isn't there another way, Gail?”
But the girl facing him showed no hint of alarm. If anything, she was chatting casually with someone else, as if the boy's assault posed zero threat.
“You're looking away in a fight with me!? Just become my points quietly!”
The male student lunged. How dare she stand stock-still before this dagger? He closed the distance to her face, determined to give her a harsh lesson. Arm cocked high, he slammed the blade down.
That instant, he saw it.
Pok.
“You should cool your head a bit...!”
The girl had merely tapped his shoulder with her fingertip. And behind her loomed a tiger-shaped silhouette...
His vision warped.
Whiiiiiing—!
An explosive burst of wind pressure hurled the boy far into the distance. Lumina, startled by the outburst, shot Gail a glare.
“Gail?! What did I tell you earlier...? I said go easy!”
This is recompense for pointing a weapon at Lady Lumina. I, too, wish to give such scum their due.
“You've been doing this all lately. Keep it up, and I'll dismiss your manifestation, you hear? I get that you're pumped since it's been ages, but even sustaining it drains your mana... You could get us disqualified.”
I apologize. I shall remain still.
Gail looked thoroughly chastened. His form was a massive tiger, but his demeanor was pure housecat.
Gail's acting like this... because of that guy?
Ever since meeting Kyle, Gail had been... off. He used to be too busy to show more than a few times a day, but now he appeared the instant she called. If she chatted about her sub-spirits or Gail himself, he'd materialize like a ghost to shut it down. And whenever 'Kyle' came up, there he was, lurking and eavesdropping.
Lumina had zero clue why. Upper spirits were supposed to be all dignified and composed, or so she'd heard. Maybe Kyle squatting on the mountain had pissed him off? Masa teemed with spirits, but Gail was the undisputed elder. A century-plus in Masa would make anyone loathe nature-trampling humans.
Lumina turned to Gail. “By any chance... is it because of Kyle?”
……!
In that instant, a ferocious gust tore through the air. Leaves fluttered wildly; branches snapped every which way.
Nailed it.
Lumina fixed Gail with her best 'Mom knows all' stare. He faltered, then spoke.
I once had a contractor before. He was my contractor... and my dearest friend.
“Ooh, a backstory? I'm all ears!”
'Tis a tale over a century old. And no first-love romance, so stow that 'ooh~' expression.
“Hee, sorry.”
Gail launched into his tale proper. Lumina leaned in, hanging on every word—and that was probably when it happened.
Kuuuung—!
The ground quaked. Flocks of birds burst skyward against the crimson sunset, only for a black vortex to devour the heavens.
Sudden crisis. The entrance exam had gone awry.
Th-this is! Lady Lumina! Flee at once! I sense demonic qi!
But Lumina couldn't budge. A pillar of light had just pierced the black gale.
“That’s...?”
The overwhelming energy that obliterated a demon in one go. It felt so eerily like her benefactor's power...
Lumina realized one undeniable truth.
“What in the world...”
Siel whipped her head toward the whoosh's origin. Atop a modest rock pile—not particularly lofty—a beam of light soared heavenward, leaving the world hushed once more.
The silence after a storm's fleeting rage.
But the fight wasn't finished. Siel eyed the magic beast pack barring her path. They'd flinched at the boom but now refocused on her.
Siel unfurled a magic circle in response.
I need to ramp up my mana fast, or I'll lose.
Judging by the demonic reek, low-level fodder led by a mid-tier brute, all wreathed in crimson-black aura. Each one felt... elevated, somehow.
This level...
She'd need mid-tier spells. She could endure that far. But if mids failed and highs were required, her mana circuits would freeze solid. Frost from the circuits would creep across her body.
Her house's curse—a backlash from talent too blessed for her flesh to bear.
In essence, high-tier magic was a time attack: beast's endurance versus hers.
I can do this.
Siel gritted her teeth, chilled her mana, and clapped her palms.
She couldn't die before fulfilling her house's vow. Not before becoming the 'Master' surpassing the archmage realm her father yearned for...
Kuererer—!
The wolves charged as one, razor claws aimed to skewer her.
“Rise.”
Charrarararak!
Siel raised an ice wall, blunting their rush. They pulverized it and pressed on.
But her eyes remained cool, composed. She unleashed her queued spells in order.
“...Manifest.”
Icicles and frost storm. Spikes lanced from behind her; a whirlwind of shards scoured the field. Low-tiers couldn't close, smashing into the cliff impaled on thorns.
Not done yet.
“Imprison.”
Kuuuung!
Ice prisons for the pack. They were taxidermied within.
One mid-tier left. Siel's gaze locked on.
Any observer would favor her. Such was a future archmage candidate's might.
“Hmph. You're next.”
She scoffed, brimming with confidence, and dropped the prison.
The wolf was bound.
Kung! Kung! Kung!
Ice pillars rained down—kwadududuk—thorns burrowing deep.
Kwang!
Smashed the mid-tier into the cliff. Prison and spikes shattered into a statue, brimming with chill.
“Hoo... it's over...”
Siel scanned the field and turned away. Statues halted life; resistance would shred organs with crystals.
But she'd missed a key truth: her ice magic and beasts were near-counterparts.
Ice ruled suppression, sealing. Only high-tier explosive ice nullified super-regen outright.
Thus.
Tuduk, tuduk.
Cracks spiderwebbed the statue. Fresh flesh sprouted, shrugging off spikes like yesterday's scrape.
Attrition was futile. Infinite regen; finite mana.
Siel exhaled frost.
“In the end... I must.”
Father forbade high-tiers till a cure. But no choice remained.
Everyone—not just her—would perish otherwise.
As Siel mustered another spell.
“...?”
Her eyes flicked skyward. A streak slashed the firmament—a flash just like before, zeroed in here.
Kuuuung!!!
Earth-shaking roar; light pillar plummeted like divine wrath, crown-smashing the mid-tier dead-on.
Unfazed by her ice, it crumpled unknowing into pulp, gore spraying wide.
Siel stared, eyes quivering.
“Impossible...”
Siel showed scant emotion. Heir training from youth; worldly savvy early. This reaction? Striking.
And justified: raw might pulping a mid-tier. Nigh the 'Master' realm of her dreams.
“Who... I must see.”
Siel scanned. Beasts gone; silence reigned. Ravaged peak, clash scars. No souls in sight.
Suddenly, purpose resurfaced.
“The bracelet...”
She sought its wearer. Had someone lingered? Them?
Anticipation surging, she trailed the compass.
Behind the summit. Thicket flipped its needle.
Siel probed the brush.
Then—a yelp.
“Eek, eek—! M-magic beast?!”
A silver-haired boy tumbled out, petrified. Cowering post-mid-tier encounter, it seemed.
Smart survival, but...
“No...”
Siel deflated. Scan: abysmal mana. No way he'd felled it.
Disqualify? Nah.
“This fallout halts the exam for sure.”
Unknown spawns ahead. Conserve mana.
Siel reeled in her ambient mana. 'Frost' terrain amps efficiency but guzzles power.
Glanced back—boy gone.
She'd meant to ask about others.
Sharp instincts.
“Lucky one.”
Query later. Siel departed.
Thirty minutes on, Artina Academy's entrance exam was suspended.