Entrance Exam (2)
Entrance Exam (2)
The written exams were over. The sun had already passed its zenith before I knew it.
The student cafeteria was bound to be packed during lunch. It was always chaotic, and today would be no different.
Fortunately, I knew the campus layout fairly well, so I managed to get my meal before most of the others.
I found a seat with some space, sat down, and wet my throat first. Hunger aside, my throat was parched after going four hours without water.
The cafeteria filled up with examinees in no time. Every remaining seat vanished in less than ten minutes.
"How was the written part?"
"Screwed it up."
"Did you solve Magic Theory problem 19? I couldn't even touch that one."
"That one was easy, actually? But I think I got number 1 wrong."
"Argh! I made a calculation mistake! Aaaaargh!!"
As I ate without much thought, the sounds of a heated debate over the exam's difficulty reached my ears. Back during the Suneung, there were always kids comparing answers like that during the breaks too.
At the table next to mine, the group of female students I'd seen in the exam hall settled in. At the center of the group, just like before, was a short-haired girl with crimson locks and red eyes.
She exuded a refined air even when simply eating. They all must have been daughters of prominent noble families.
"Lady Rote, what did you think of the written portion's difficulty this time?"
"Overall, it seemed manageable."
"I feel the same way. It seemed much easier compared to the cram school tests."
"No, it wasn't quite that easy..."
Wow. So they had private mock exams here too. Could there be specialized entrance-exam academies in this world that I didn't know about?
If kids from wealthy families had attended such academies, it made me nervous. I was already behind in the information war. Though, of course, even if I had known about such places, I wouldn't have had the money to attend.
"Oh, right. Did you solve the last problem on the Basic Magic Theory exam? That one in particular seemed completely different from the sample problems."
"It was a Fire Magic problem. You must have solved it, right, Lady Rote? Isn't that so?"
"No, I..."
Ah, I had finished everything.
I was curious about the rest of their conversation, but I needed to leave my seat quickly for the sake of the people waiting.
I brushed myself off and stood up. After slotting my tray in at the dish return, I headed straight for the Grand Stadium. The people who had arrived before me were few enough to count on one hand.
"Hey! Didn't you eat?"
A voice I'd heard once before. The small bomb had appeared.
The runt I'd briefly met that morning stood with her arms crossed, looking up at me. She claimed to be a dwarf, but no matter how I looked at it, she seemed to suffer from delusions of grandeur.
Earlier, I'd been too busy to notice anything but her height and general clothing. Now, I could see that the witch's hat she wore was overwhelmingly large compared to her head. The brim alone was so wide it could have substituted for an umbrella if it started raining right then.
"You're ignoring me again!"
"As for a meal, I've eaten."
"That fast? The cafeteria was completely packed!"
"I finished eating and came out before that. What about you, runt?"
"You want a beating? Don't call me a runt!"
Well, what was I supposed to call her, then? She hadn't even told me her name.
"Skipping meals and running around is why you don't grow taller."
"Hey, you little—!!!"
As I bickered with the runt who had been tailing only me for a while now, examinees began to gather one by one, including the female student with crimson hair and red eyes and her group and the male elf student.
By the time nearly all the examinees had assembled, the proctors appeared in rows. The sight of them hauling out countless practical assessment tools—the crystal balls for measuring magical power, Magic Paper, alchemy ingredients, and more—sent a sharp wave of tension through the crowd.
"Everyone, may I have your attention!"
This person possessed a booming voice that didn't match their frame. They must have amplified the volume with magic.
"As you are already aware, I will announce this just one more time. First, the practical exam is divided into four sections."
Magic Power Measurement, Alchemy, Scroll Writing, and Combat Magic.
Magic Power Measurement was literally just taking a measurement, so it was a stretch to even call it an exam.
The amount of magical power could be increased through effort, but fundamentally, it was heavily influenced by innate talent. In other words, it was genetic. In terms of my old world, it would be a quantity analogous to IQ.
And my IQ converged to zero. The Gold-Eye Tribe was physiologically that kind of race.
"Each section is worth a maximum of 25 points. The total possible score is 100 points. If you do not score at least 40 points in total, you will receive a failing mark. Please be advised that candidates who fail the practical exam will be disqualified regardless of their written exam scores."
At that, one student raised a hand to ask a question.
"Um, are the practical scores released right away?"
"That is a good question. Due to the high number of applicants, the proctors assigned to each sector will grade your practical scores by section and inform you of them. Later, those scores will be combined with your written score to determine acceptance. However, for the practical component, you will be able to see roughly what score you received even before that."
Not a single student reacted to the statement that scoring 40 or above was the condition for avoiding a failing mark. No one except me.
It would be great if I could score as high as possible, but the absolute minimum threshold was 40 points. Since I had only three months of proper preparation time to begin with, I'd figured it would be difficult to score high on both the written and practical exams.
So the strategy I had settled on was getting accepted via a combination of a high written score plus the practical cutoff mark. In truth, it was safe to assume that every student applying here besides me was using a similar strategy.
The practical exam was partly a matter of talent, and kids with well-connected parents would breeze through it.
Conversely, the written exam was a matter of effort. It was an area where you could get a certain number right if you had done the studying. The problem was that since all the applicants were prodigies, the school only created vicious, cruel problems under the pretext of ensuring discrimination in scoring.
A prime example was the last problem on the Basic Magic Theory exam this time. Beating the examiner to death wouldn't even begin to satisfy me.
That said, under the assumption that one would "hit a middling score," the practical was more lenient than the written exam. This was because the assessment itself was unavoidably subjective.
In the practical, students were evaluated on completing a work within the time limit or demonstrating their personal combat capability. Since it had to be a qualitative assessment, not a quantitative one, could it even be fair?
Academy admission was a lifelong matter for some examinees. If the proctors deducted even a few points wrongly and a complaint came in from a noble parent, it would surely cause a huge scandal within the school.
In the end, the admissions office adopted a mindset of, "They can learn real combat after they enroll," and came to operate the practical assessment as an effectively absolute grading system.
That was likely part of the backstory behind why such a lopsided evaluation system—400 points written, 100 points practical—had been created.
"Then we will now begin the first exam."
The practical proctor lined us up in two columns before starting the Magic Power Measurement. Unsurprisingly, when my turn came, the person administering the test furrowed their brow.
"Zero Sieverts."
Up to that point, I had been taking it in stride.
"Seriously?"
"No magical power at all...?"
The proctor's voice had been a little loud, which drew aggro. The students behind me craned their necks and peeked at the results displayed on the magical device. Everyone seemed to be in disbelief.
I had resigned myself to it, but actually being subjected to a public execution was mortifying beyond words. Even though ending up in the body of a member of the Gold-Eye Tribe wasn't my fault.
Typical reactions popped out from all over: "She's a member of the Gold-Eye Tribe, so that can happen," or "It's my first time seeing a member of the Gold-Eye Tribe." The runt from earlier pushed through the gap and approached me, letting out a snicker.
"Kekek, look at the loser with no magic."
I nearly used the Mana Cigarette I had on me right then. I wanted to smack her one, but I had to hold back.
I passed through the students' censorious stares and headed to the next testing area.
After one exam concluded, the next exam taken in sequence was graded by a different proctor. Because the number of applicants was so high, all the exams had to be run simultaneously to finish every process within a single day.
This meant that while my group was having its magic power measured, a different group was making scrolls or taking the alchemy exam.
My group took the exams sequentially. After the magic power measurement, we did Alchemy and Scroll Writing in that order. Here too, my inability to use magic became a major obstacle.
I did manage to produce something for both Alchemy and Scroll Writing, somehow. The problem was that being able to activate those products was also reflected in the evaluation criteria. This body couldn't operate even a Beginner Scroll unless I sucked on a Mana Cigarette, so it was a critical hit in the truest sense.
"Although your understanding of alchemical theory is perfect, you were unable to activate it. As this prevents us from verifying the result, I shall give you 12 points out of 25."
"Your circuit comprehension is abnormally high. Still, an inability to infuse mana is a major problem in a practical exam. Regrettably, about 13 points would be appropriate."
These were the sorts of things that forced me to pay close attention to avoiding a failing mark.
Excluding the Magic Power Measurement, where I had been certified as a magicless loser by the other examinees, the combined total from the other two subjects was 25 points. Now that things had come to this, I absolutely had to score 15 points or higher in Combat Magic.
Upon arriving at the final exam area, my group listened to the proctor's explanation.
"Combat Magic is a practical assessment that randomly designates two individuals and has them engage in a sparring match within a time limit to observe the examinee's combat operational capability."
The advice Professor Herlein had given me came to mind.
Combat Magic was not an exam where you got a perfect score just for beating the hell out of your opponent. The key to a high score was using the appropriate magic at the right time without losing your pace, preserving stamina and magical power as much as possible while maintaining consistent combat output.
—Of course, you do have to actually use magic. But if you can make your opponent use way more of it, that's your win. Remember, accuracy is what counts in a real fight.
That was the other piece of advice she'd given.
"Because Combat Magic is conducted with actual combat in mind, the use of certain magical tools, such as Mana Cigarettes, is permitted. However, if you intend to use a magical tool, please inform the proctor in advance. Using a magical tool will result in a point deduction. If you enter the exam without reporting it beforehand and are discovered, you will be disqualified and barred from applying to our school for the next three years."
The people who reported that they would use magical tools numbered only a few, myself included.
For reference, any staff summoned before taking the test was exempt from the point deduction. This was because it was Combat Magic, and the assessment allegedly could not be performed without a staff.
"The deduction for a Mana Cigarette is 5 points per stick."
That took off a damn huge amount.
This made my starting score 20 points. If any more than 5 points were deducted from there, being sold off to the Imperial Household became an established fact. Getting beaten to a pulp by Professor Haspelt beforehand would just be a bonus.
Just imagining it made me so frustrated I could die. So I had to keep my wits absolutely about me.
While I waited for my turn, all sorts of magic flew before my eyes. Watching examinees freely use spells I already knew, and of course ones I was seeing for the first time in my life, I suffered from a feeling of relative deprivation.
Why was I the only Muggle?
A short while later, when the proctor called my exam number, I rose to my feet and headed to the testing ground.
The floor was largely uneven, soaked or gouged in many places. Its texture reminded me of the slave market floor I had seen when Professor Haspelt bought me.
Straight ahead, I saw a face I was now just getting used to.
The girl with crimson hair and red eyes was inspecting her staff. The hair she had neatly pinned back at the sides was striking.
Was she tired from the continuous exams? She looked markedly more fatigued than when I had seen her that morning.
"The one on the right is the young lady of House Saliere, isn't she? I hear even House Haspelt has its eye on her talent."
"That kid from the Gold-Eye Tribe is done for. She's definitely going to lose. The Saliere family's amount of magical power is among the highest on the continent, you know."
I silently thanked the posse for the great intel.
So, basically, my opponent's magical power was so immense she could spam fireballs without any cooldown, right? Then it was going to feel like fighting a mini-Haspelt.
"Then, I shall start the exam after one final notice. The two examinees, please enter the ring."
Not that it mattered to me whether her magical power was high or low, though.
Because if I made it so she couldn't use it at the end, that was that.