Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Levitation Disk Test and Written Exam
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"Please form up and stand in formation, everyone."
Under the guidance of mages clad in white robes from the Mage Tower, they arrived at a vast open field near the tower.
An expansive clearing large enough to accommodate all two hundred-plus exam participants standing in place.
There, the examinees spaced themselves out roughly side by side.
"We will now distribute magical devices matching the numbers on your exam tickets. Until we instruct otherwise, simply hold onto the device you've received."
What was handed to the examinees was a small, flat, disk-shaped magical device bearing the same number as their exam ticket.
'121.'
Jeon lifted his magical device, marked with his exam number, for a quick look.
It was about the size of his palm, with a texture similar to stone—smooth overall and with a satisfying weight.
Being called a magical device, it undoubtedly had some magical function, even if not on the level of an artifact. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of test over two hundred people would take with these.
"Now, I'll explain the magical device and the format of the first test."
His curiosity was soon addressed by the white-robed Mage Tower mage standing at the front of the clearing.
The mage's calm tone carried clearly even to Jeon, who was quite a distance away. It seemed he was using some amplification magic.
"The magical devices distributed to you are all identical. When you inject mana, they float into the air. Depending on how much mana and how you inject it, you can control their height and direction."
As he spoke, the mage pulled out a device and demonstrated.
The device, infused with his mana, slowly rose into the air, then moved forward, backward, left, and right, even adjusting its altitude up and down dramatically.
"Passing this test is simple. The fifty participants who keep their device from hitting the ground pass."
Out of over two hundred participants, only fifty would advance from the first test.
'That's brutal.'
Jeon thought it was quite ruthless, but starting off by weeding out a huge chunk right away wasn't a bad approach.
"Then, let's begin!"
With the white-robed Mage Tower mage's announcement.
Plop.
The magical devices held by the participants floated up into the air all at once.
'This thing's... pretty sensitive, huh?'
Unlike the mage who had floated his effortlessly.
Most of the participants' devices wobbled unsteadily.
The demonstration had made it look easy, but the first test's magical devices were actually highly sensitive to mana.
If mana wasn't evenly distributed across the entire device, it would tilt to one side and wobble.
Not catching the direction at all and dropping straight down was common too.
"Huh? Wh-what?"
"What's going on? Why's it acting like this?"
"Why's it moving on its own? Isn't this defective!?"
Indeed, right from the start, without any interference, over half the participants failed to control their devices and dropped them.
'This is fun.'
Jeon, however, was controlling his device with complete ease.
He even went beyond just hovering it, deliberately spinning it around and moving it in various directions.
Ever since acquiring the goblin's spellbook, he'd been practicing intuitive manipulation of mana itself.
Handling a device like this was a piece of cake for him.
"Hm?"
But then, he noticed devices from his area swooping toward him repeatedly.
At first, he dodged assuming it was a mistake.
But after two or three times, suddenly three or four devices blatantly charged at him like an attack.
'This is... on purpose?'
He glanced in the direction the devices were coming from.
Sure enough.
There were the faces of those Mage Tower ronin who'd been hanging around together earlier.
'These bastards...'
With the limit of fifty passers.
The ronin had started deliberately attacking other participants' devices.
There were no rules against attacking, so it wasn't against the rules per se.
'They're going full kamikaze.'
The ronin had no intention of passing themselves; they were solely focused on knocking down as many others as possible.
As he'd overheard before the test.
As long as their "boss" made it into the top fifty, they didn't care if they failed.
"Wh-what? They're doing this on purpose?"
"Attacking like this? Ahh!"
Those targeted tried to evade desperately, overcontrolling and losing their own devices, or colliding mutually, or getting ganged up on by the ronin and dropping.
Jeon watched it all unfold.
'Might as well play along.'
Having grasped their intent.
Jeon decided to stop just dodging.
Whoosh! His device, which had only been evading, suddenly shot up high.
Scree!
Targeting a device that had just grazed past him, it sliced through the air at arrow-like speed.
"Eek!?"
Crack!
The struck device let out a clear sound as it smashed into the ground.
"Wh-what!?"
These devices only reacted to mana by floating and changing direction.
Hitting hard enough to down one in a single blow should have been impossible; at best, it was like bumping bumpers.
Yet one had flown like an arrow.
The ronin whose device was knocked down stared blankly at it on the ground, powerless.
"What the hell's that guy?"
His comrades noticed and turned toward Jeon's hovering device.
But Jeon's was already gone.
It was barreling toward another ronin's device.
Scree!
Jeon's device, cutting through the wind, slammed into the ronin's device, who was staring into the sky.
Crack!
Another clear sound.
"Ugh!?"
The ronin's device plummeted straight down.
"You bastard!"
"How dare you!"
The other ronin exchanged glances upon witnessing it.
Their goal wasn't passing but knocking down as many—and strong-looking rivals—as possible.
The ronin, who'd been attacking others, now all targeted Jeon and sent their devices at him.
'Bring it.'
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Two fairly quick ones dove at Jeon's device.
But Jeon didn't dodge; he countered.
Whirr!
Jeon's device spun in place like a top.
The incoming ronin devices collided with it.
Crack! Crack!
Jeon's overwhelming victory.
The ronin devices couldn't withstand the rebound and flew off far away.
"Wh-what in the world!"
Now the hunter and prey had reversed.
The ronin desperately evaded Jeon to survive.
Jeon picked them off one by one.
'Wish there was no range limit.'
He'd already downed six ronin.
He wanted to take out all the ones he'd seen earlier, but the devices had a movement range limit, so he couldn't reach the others.
"The first test is now over."
After Jeon had cleared out the ronin.
Some more time passed, and the announcement signaling the end came.
"The fifty who passed the first test, follow your guide to the next venue."
After finishing the first test.
'Ralph, did he make it?'
With two hundred people, spotting Ralph had been impossible amid the crowd.
But now down to fifty, Jeon scanned around, turning his head this way and that.
'...He didn't?'
Even with only fifty left, Ralph's face was nowhere to be seen.
Considering three ronin—including their boss—had passed, Ralph's absence was surprising to Jeon.
'He seemed better than that.'
Of course, they'd never discussed his exact circle or how much magic he'd mastered.
Still, Jeon hadn't thought he'd fail the first round.
'Too bad.'
Even though it wasn't his own failure, Jeon felt a pang of regret.
In any case.
Following the guide, they entered one of the buildings near the clearing.
Inside a room, desks set for fifty awaited the passers.
"The second test is simple. Solve the test paper we distribute and hand it forward."
The second test began immediately upon arrival.
If the first was a practical with magical devices.
The second was a written exam.
'Feels like taking the college entrance exam.'
As he was quickly seated and handed the paper, memories of his past life surfaced.
The packed classroom of students and patrolling teachers overlapped with the current scene.
"The second test lasts one hour. From the second test onward, there are no eliminations. After all tests, passers will be selected by total score ranking."
Instructions for the second test and subsequent ones were given alongside distribution.
Once all papers were handed out.
"We now begin the second test."
The supervising mage snapped his fingers, forming a geometric shape in a circular pattern.
Mana extended from the circle, arranging into a massive hourglass above his head.
'That's the timer.'
It looked like a basic 1st circle spell visually.
But the level of magic created was impressive.
Not just power, but exceptional utility. Jeon nodded in appreciation.
'No wonder it's a research institution.'
Mage Tower mages were indeed a cut above.
Jeon, having inwardly admired them for a moment, turned to his test paper.
The first page, marked "Written Exam Paper" to prevent peeking, covered it.
Flipping it revealed densely packed problems greeting him.
"Hm."
Rather than diving into individual questions, Jeon skimmed the whole paper and let out a small hum.
He'd used plenty of magic by now, studied various spellbooks, and taken lessons from Gilead in Silvermont.
'But facing it as test questions feels totally different.'
All that had been experiential absorption; this required articulating it in writing.
An inexplicable awkwardness hit him upon first glance.
'Still... seems doable?'
The silver lining: the awkwardness aside, the difficulty didn't feel too high upon closer reading.
Most questions were about applying understanding of mana and Magic Language to magical concepts, not high-circle spells.
'I can handle this.'
Separate from the unfamiliarity, the problems looked solvable.
Shaking off the awkwardness quickly, Jeon focused and began tackling them swiftly.
Unknown to him.
His solving speed was faster than anyone else in the room.