Now inside the walls of the institute, Merlin saw glowing arrows with text on the side of the footpath. Seeing a red arrow saying 1st Test, she decided to follow the arrow. The arrow led straight to the Magic Block, where the buildings were used for the Literacy Test. There was an arch just before entering the Magic Block with a sign. She walked under the arch and continued into one of the buildings for the test.
Just behind Merlin was the group of three; as they entered the campus, they too saw the glowing arrows. "Look, that arrow over there says '1st Test'. Let's follow it" said Melos. Looking at the area where Melos pointed, Xavier said " You have good eyes for such a brash girl". "Ha ha ha, I know right, wait what?" replied Melos. "Nothing, nothing, let's follow the arrow." said Xavier as Areti followed with " Yes, let's". They slowly walked towards the Magic Block with Melos still pestering Xavier about what he said.
As they reached the Magic Block, they entered the first building in front of them. However as they entered the building, it was already filled with people; as such they went up the first floor of the building, the second floor and so on, until finally they reached the fifth floor, which was not yet full.
Among the people was a hooded girl, this individual caught Xavier's eye. For some unknown reason he couldn't remove his eyes from her. "Someone you know?" asked Areti. "Umm no." replied Xavier to which Melos followed with " Then stop staring at her, you look like a creepy old man.". "A..ah yes, it's just that there's something about her." he said as they too went forward within the crowd.
A loud clap could be heard within the room where the prospects gathered. Following that a voice came "Now, seems like all of you have gathered here, I'm sure most of you already know what the first test is all about. But for those who don't, the first test is basically a question and answer type of test. Firstly, stand inside the circles on the ground." Hearing this, the people gathered inside looked down, saw the circles and stood inside them. " Okay, a device called the Question Box will appear beside you. Once it fully displays itself, put on the helmet it provides and with that the test begins."
A double magic circle appeared besides the examinees and slowly the Question Box came up from the ground. Some were astonished, some remained idle; however most of them realised this was space magic, one of the most difficult magic to learn. Now that the Question Box fully appeared, the examinees followed what the tester said and the first test began.
Among the examinees of the fifth floor was Merlin, as the boxes appeared Merlin immediately knew that she had to take off her hood to put on the helmet. Although a bit hesitant, she took off her hood and took the test. She was asked 10 questions by a voice from the Question Box; most of the questions were rather easy for Merlin as they were things taught to her by her parents. Mixed with some of the books she read, she managed to correctly answer all 10 of them. Finishing the first test, she immediately left the building and went to the place of the second test.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
On her way to the testing grounds, she thought to herself "That was easier than I thought.". Maybe it was because of her preparedness, but the questions weren't as complex as she thought they would be. " Ah, I also felt a stare right before the test. I wonder who that was." she continued thinking to herself.
Moments later, she arrived at the Testing Grounds, where the second test was going to be held. As she reached the area, she saw that there were already a few gathered there. However one thing that caught her eye was that unlike what her father had told her, the examinees were fighting with each other instead of a doll.
So, she went to a nearby tester and asked "Hey, I thought we were gonna fight dolls.". To which the tester replied, "Ah yes, we decided to change that this year. We didn't let out this information because we wanted it to be a surprise.". "Oh, thank you. So are we just gonna go up there and fight or are we going to get called?" said Merlin. " Go over there and give your name. You will be called when it's your turn." answered the tester. "Okay, thank you sir." said Merlin as she went to register her name.
Out of the three, Areti was the first to finish the first test. After finishing, he chose to wait for his sister and new friend outside the building. While waiting for the two of them, he saw multiple people come out of the buildings. Seeing this he thought to himself "I wonder how many of them passed the first test. Quite a lot of people came on the first day, let's hope we manage to pass."
As he was thinking to himself, Xavier and Melos finished together and came out, arguing with each other. This brought him back from his mind and said to the two of them "Even though we just met today, you two have gotten rather friendly." to which the two of them, in unison replied "We are not." Areti simply smiled at this and said "Come, let us get to the second test."
They reached the Testing Grounds, and seeing the examinees fight each other, they too were surprised. They also decided to ask the nearby tester a few questions.
"Umm, sir. Is this some sort of a surprise?" asked Areti. "Hmm, yes." replied the tester. "So can we still form a party?" he asked. "Yes, 3v3 is available for those who prefer it." answered the tester. " Thank you, sir." thanked Areti.
"So, Xavier. Mind forming a party with us?" asked Areti. "Hmm? Well, I don't mind. The more the better right." replied Xavier. "Huh? We're gonna party with him?" asked Melos. "Yes, it's better than finding some random stranger now." answered Areti. "Shi, shi, shi. Looks like we're teaming up." said Xavier to Melos. "Hmph, since brother says so, guess I'll agree to it." said Melos. "Now then, come follow me. Let us go register as a party over there." said Areti. And the three of them went towards another tester, who collected the names of the examinees.
(One important thing to note is that in this second test, it's not 'winner gets to enter the institute'. Each spar has three testers who closely look at each examinees abilities. They are then evaluated based on their performance in the spar. As such, win or lose you can still pass the second test.)
Finishing the registration of their names, the three of them decided to go towards the gathered examinees forming a crowd around the make-shift ring. The current fight has just finished and new people are about to be called up. "Now for the next fight/spar, Merlin and Hermes come up to the stage." shouted Jack, one of the testers.