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Flash. Flap.
One by one, flames began to blossom within the steel boxes.
Professor Sirims walked among the students, checking the flames.
"Your flames are pathetic. Is that all?"
"No! I can do more!"
"Do more then."
A student squeezed out more magic, his face strained.
Though it was only a short time, sweat poured from his forehead like rain.
"It seems that's your limit."
A water sphere the size of a soccer ball materialized in Professor Sirims' hand.
Sizzle.
He lightly tossed the water sphere into the steel box, and the flame weakly died.
The student standing before Professor Sirims' shoulders slumped as well.
"The one who extinguished your fire was a level 1 mage using water elemental magic. Which means your magic power isn't even at level 1. This is Elton Academy. Such amateur levels won't be tolerated after the first semester. Strive to improve further. Unless you want to be expelled."
"...Yes, Professor."
As Professor Sirims made his rounds, more than a dozen flames were extinguished.
"If you haven't achieved at least level 1 mage's worth of magic power by the final evaluation, you'll be expelled immediately. Keep that in mind."
Professor Sirims began to walk among the students again.
Sirims stood before Luna.
"Student representative, Luna Fueri."
Luna flinched and answered.
"Y-yes!"
"I've heard you're quite skilled in healing magic. Professor Raul praises you highly. Says you're an exceptional talent."
Luna's eyes widened at the sudden praise.
"T-thank you!"
"At first, you couldn't even create a proper flame, but now you're doing quite well. Try pushing in more magic."
"W-well..."
"You're not confident in your control, are you? Afraid the flame might explode."
"I'm sorry..."
Luna hung her head low.
Her flame also quickly dwindled in power.
"You seem to have quite a bit of magic power. Why don't you push it to the maximum? I'll control the flame for you."
Luna looked up in surprise.
"Since you've focused so much on healing magic, it's not surprising you're not proficient in the four elemental magics. This evaluation is to assess your magic power, so give it a try."
Professor Sirims stretched out a hand and placed it above Luna's flame.
In an instant, the shape of the flame was neatly trimmed.
Seeing that the flame was under control, Luna squeezed out all her strength and began to pour in magic.
Sweat beaded on her forehead in an instant.
"Not bad. Better than I thought. But..."
Sizzle.
The water sphere released from Sirims' hand extinguished Luna's flame.
"This is water elemental magic containing the magic power of a level 2 mage. Luna Fueri, it's better than I expected, but you still have a long way to go. Strive to improve your skills further. No matter what magic you specialize in, increasing your magic power is the top priority."
"Yes!"
As Professor Sirims made another round, most of the flames were extinguished once again.
Only five remained.
"Only five of this year's freshmen have magic power at or above the level of a level 2 mage."
Professor Sirims stretched out both arms forward.
Instantly, five water spheres appeared in the air.
"As you might have expected, these water spheres contain the magic power of a level 3 mage."
He brought his hands together and then spread them wide, and the five water spheres flew towards each of the five students.
The water spheres struck the steel boxes accurately.
Sizzle.
The flames of two students went out immediately upon contact with the water spheres.
Another student's flame writhed fiercely as if trying to engulf the water sphere, but eventually, it sputtered and died, emitting a lot of smoke.
Only two flames remained burning.
"It's you two again. Davian Naone. Latia Meridiem. Magic power at the level of a level 3 mage. You could go out and work as mages right now."
Head of Magic Department Sirims slowly approached Latia.
"But this is Elton Academy. It's not a place to come to become mediocre town mages."
He stared intently at Latia's flame and asked.
"Is this your best?"
"..."
Instead of answering, Latia poured in even more magic.
The flame blazed even more intensely.
Professor Sirims conjured water elemental magic in his hand again.
This time, magic containing the power of a level 4 mage.
The water sphere flew into the steel box containing Latia's flame.
A fierce battle between fire and water began within the steel box.
The water sphere bubbled and repeatedly divided and merged, but it didn't evaporate.
The flame seemed to lose its power but continued to maintain its life with the magic Latia poured in.
Latia's arms began to tremble.
Davian watched the scene intently.
'She's definitely changed. Latia.'
According to his memories from previous iterations, Latia's flame should have been extinguished at this stage.
Because freshman Latia's magic power was at the level of a level 3 mage.
But not this time.
She was withstanding level 4 water elemental magic.
Latia's flame seemed to be on the verge of dying but stubbornly resisted and held on.
'Is it because of me?'
A classmate he met as soon as he entered the academy was better than him.
A level of difference that he might not be able to catch up with right now.
Davian's existence was making Latia stronger.
"Not bad. You're the first since I was appointed as a professor at Elton Academy. A freshman who has reached the beginning of level 4. It's no wonder you're called the greatest magical genius of the Meridiem Duchy."
Latia's face was pale from pouring in so much magic.
"Thank y..."
Thump.
Latia lost consciousness and collapsed on the spot.
Surprised, Luna rushed over.
Luna hugged Latia's completely unconscious body and looked at Professor Sirims nervously.
"What are you looking at? Quickly heal your friend."
"Yes!"
Blue light emanated from Luna's hands and enveloped Latia's body.
A moment later.
Latia, who had regained consciousness, opened her eyes with difficulty.
"Latia, you have great willpower. It's just the midterm evaluation, but you really poured everything into it. Luna, help her and take her to the infirmary."
As Luna helped Latia leave the auditorium, Professor Sirims approached Davian.
"You've been waiting a long time. Davian Naone."
"Not at all."
"What you're showing now isn't your best, is it?"
"Of course."
"Then show me."
"...This steel box might melt."
"Nonsense. It's not a box that a freshman like you can melt. Do you know how many decades this box has been used as a testing tool? Don't worry about useless things and show me. Show me your true level."
"Yes, I understand."
Whoosh.
A resonant sound, hard to believe it was coming from a flame, spread through the auditorium.
The reactions of the onlookers were varied, from students approaching with surprised eyes to students stepping back in fear.
And it was the teaching assistants who showed even greater interest in Davian's flame than the students.
The magic department's teaching assistants were all academy graduates.
The eyes of some of the teaching assistants widened.
"What the hell is he?"
"A freshman is..."
"No way."
"How much magic power does he have?"
"Is it just magic power? Look at that stable flame shape."
Professor Sirims was also surprised.
'What the hell is this kid?'
The steel box with fire attribute defense magic turned bright red.
The air in the entire wide auditorium became hot from just one flame, slightly larger than a pumpkin.
Professor Sirims' eyes narrowed.
'Level 5? No. It's more than that.'
If the magic power of a level 1 and level 2 mage differs by about 2 times, the magic power of a level 1 and level 5 mage differs by more than 16 times.
The difference increases as the level goes higher.
Davian's flame flared even hotter.
One of the teaching assistants inadvertently opened his mouth.
"I can't do that."
"Me neither."
That was then.
The wall of the steel box, unable to withstand Davian's flame, began to melt away.
Only then did Professor Sirims show his palm.
"Stop."
Davian's flame slowly began to lower its temperature.
"At this rate, we'll burn the entire auditorium floor."
"I haven't shown you everything yet."
"I know. I'll check Davian's true level at the final evaluation. We'll have to prepare a separate place."
"Yes, I understand."
Professor Sirims said loudly.
"The practical evaluation of the basic magic class ends here! Go to the cafeteria for dinner and prepare for tomorrow's exam."
The teaching assistants and staff began to clean up the materials used in the exam.
However, they couldn't easily approach the box that Davian had melted.
Because there was still hot air remaining.
Professor Sirims turned around and began to leave the auditorium.
'Level 6... How old was I when I passed the level 6 mage test?'
It had been so long that he couldn't remember exactly.
But what was certain was that it wasn't before graduating from the academy.
'I knew it, but a truly monstrous guy has appeared.'
Student cafeteria.
Luna and Latia arrived late at the cafeteria.
Nubes jumped up and asked.
"Latia, are you okay? I heard you collapsed."
"I'm okay. I just pushed myself a little too hard."
"That's a relief."
Bellum pushed the plates she had prepared in advance to Latia and Luna's seats.
"We got the food ready in advance. Sit down and eat."
Unlike Luna, who thanked Bellum, Latia turned to Davian as soon as she sat down.
"So. What level is your magic power, Davian?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know? Why don't you know? I mean, after I collapsed, how many more times did you withstand Professor Sirims' water sphere?"
Liber, who had meat in her mouth, answered instead.
"Ah, that. He didn't finish it. The steel box melted. It was really amazing."
A hollow laugh escaped from Latia's mouth.
"Ha. The steel box with fire attribute defense magic melted so you couldn't finish the test?"
"That's what happened. Do you know what the Head of Magic Department said? He lowered his voice a lot and..."
Liber imitated the voice of the Head of Magic Department Sirims.
"It's not a box that a freshman like you can melt. Hmmm... But Davian melted that steel box. The teaching assistants were so surprised. Isn't that amazing?"
Latia sighed deeply.
"Yeah. It's amazing."
Latia stabbed the beef steak on her plate with a fork.
Latia didn't cut it with a knife and took it directly to her mouth and took a big bite.
'It might be difficult to catch up soon... Tsk. But this is just the beginning. If I do my best every day, I'll be able to catch up someday. Davian Naone.'
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