5 days have passed and within this span of days, Merlin practiced and learned at her utmost, while her father too had reported the people with dragon insignia to the Council. As such her father had not come home at all, being busy with the current forest problems.

It was finally the date of the test and Merlin was prepared for it. Right after she woke up, however, she acted like it was your average day. It was not because she was overconfident but because she understood that overthinking would only affect her performance.

As usual she helped her mother prepare breakfast, and after they had finished eating, her mother asked “ You remember when the test is right? Merlin my dear.”

“When the Grand-Magus’ tower rings, it’s time to go to the gate of the institute. Right?” answered Merlin. “Yes, now the tower usually rings before noon so why don’t you go take a bath. Your father and I prepared some equipment for you.”

“Yes, I guess I will.” replied Merlin as she went up the stairs, going straight to the bath. Inside the bath, she decided to slowly bathe herself, relaxing at the same time. A few minutes later, her mom entered the room “Here are the equipment, I'm putting them here ok. Take your time inside.” she said. “Thank you, mom” thanked Merlin as she slowly immersed herself in the water.

Apart from summoning magic, she only knew how to use basic water and neutral spells. She knew she was good at summoning, above average in neutral magic, and average in water magic; as such she spent the 5 days practicing neutral and water spells while at the same time summoning her companions to reduce their mana consumption.

Anyways, while inside the bath she would cast the various spells she had learned as her mana regenerated quickly inside. 20 minutes later, she got up the bath and went out. On one of the shelfs was the equipment her mother had put and so she put them on.

After putting them on, she looked herself at the mirror; her clothing consisting of a long-sleeved hooded robe entirely covering her arm, enchanted with basic protection enchantments and a level 2 Air Control enchantment; a mini skirt and shorts covering her knee both enchanted with level 3 barrier; her shoes were also enchanted with Fleeting Movement level 2. Finishing looking at her new clothes, she went down where her mother was waiting for her.

“Oooh~, it really suits you. What do you think?” her mother asked. “It’s perfect.” answered Merlin. “Oh my, is that so?”. “Yeah, it’s.... comfortable, movement easy.” “My my, that is good . The tower will ring any moment now.” “I will be going then, mom.” “Good luck honey.” she said as she watched her daughter leave the house for her long awaited test.

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Outside the city gates, a young man with blonde hair was waiting in line to enter the city; his name was Xavier, a boy from the holy country of Svarga. A commoner born from the misdeeds of the church, he waited for the day to finally come to the “city of equality” to enter the famed Mavis’ institute. From his birth, he had abnormally high affinity with holy magic but wasn’t allowed inside the church. As such he had wished to come to the famed institute to grow his abilities and reform the slowly sinking church.

He looked back at the line; it had become really long within a span of 5 minutes and he made a sigh of relief. “Phew, though I was gonna be late but that’s a lot of people behind me.” he talked to himself.

For outsiders to enter the city, they first had to register themselves in the Info Record and have a marking made on their arm. This was to prevent any crime coming into the crimeless city from the outside. This process takes at max 30 seconds so the line progressed quite fast.

It was finally Xavier’s turn to register himself. There were two well equipped guards standing by the gate, and inside was a small space where the registrator sat. After registering himself and getting the marking, he finally entered the city passing through the second gate.

He stopped for a moment, stunned by the diversity of people inside the city - demons, beastfolk and even the proud aedras, walking around with the other races casually. The city’s architecture and colour was different from his home. Most buildings were made with similar style and their colour was vibrant. As he looked around he saw a huge tower standing likely at the centre of the city when suddenly it rang. This surprised him for a few seconds before finally remembering what it meant.

He followed the road signs which he found really useful, and he reached the City Centre. There were several roads with signs containing different names, troubled by this he decided to ask a nearby vendor for directions. He went to the nearest vendor, a dwarf and just as he was about to ask the directions he bumped into someone.

“Watch where you’re going.” said a black haired girl. “ Wha, what?? It was you who should’ve watched where you’re going.” retorted Xavier. “Ah sorry about that.” a voice said and as Xavier looked up, it was a black haired boy. He pulled the two up from the ground and said “ Don’t mind my sister, she’s a bit feisty sometimes.” “A..ah, no problem. Just monitor her better next time.” replied Xavier. “Well, are you also trying to ask directions to the Institute?.” asked the boy. “Yeah, you two are also going for the test?” Xavier answered with a question. “Yes, the name’s Areti and this one here is Melos.” “I’m Xavier, and nice to meet you two.”

“Now that you’re done with your introductions, just follow the sign that says ‘Section A-4’ and you’ll reach the institute” said the dwarf shopkeeper. They immediately faced the vendor, surprised and they all said in unison “Tha...thank you.” as they went and followed the sign.

Meanwhile, Merlin had just bought some buns from Mr.Grimwald and was on her way to the institute. A few minutes later she reached the place; it was filled with people of different ages since there was no age limit to the test. Merlin felt uneasy by the amount of people and decided to cover her head with her hood as she entered the campus.

Xavier and his new found friends too finally reached the institute. “Woah this place is bigger than I expected.” said Xavier; “Quite the view it is.” remarked Areti ; “Hmm, that’s a lot of people.” said Melos seeing the large crowd going inside the campus. “ Yeah, we’ll just have to do better than them.” Xavier replied to her. “Yep, now let’s go in before it's too late” she said as they all decided to enter the institute as the last group.