Chapter 8. Mana and Combat Testing

Once I stepped outside the healer’s room, I noticed that there was a new batch of people waiting to be called by the woman. They all looked young, save for an older woman that looked middle aged. Most of them stared at me for a moment before losing interest, leaving only a couple of young men that kept staring at me. I was used to being looked at, so I ignored their gazes and went down the room into another door that led elsewhere.

After walking into this new room, I found the small group of people that I met at the entrance. I noticed that the couple of young men that had ‘showed-off’ their magic were now talking to each other. I wasn’t really interested in their conversation, but I wasn’t sure if they were turning into good friends or if they were just arguing with each other. Regardless, I sat somewhere away from them to not be dragged into their conversation.

“They seem to be getting along…” the girl that had been with the group said as she approached me. “Mind if I sit here?”

“No, go ahead.”

“Thanks,” she said, easing herself on the chair next to mine, which was too close for me, but I wasn’t going to argue with her about it. “Say…” she continued, trailing off for a moment as she did. “Do you know what we have to do next, exactly?”

“I wasn’t told about the next test, only that they’re going to measure Magic. As for the last test, I was told it’s a combat exercise,” I replied without turning to look at her as I watched a door being opened and one of the young men being called.

While the young man was walking into the door, he stopped to look at the one that he had been talking so far and lifted his middle finger without lifting the other ones. I turned to look at the one that that action was directed at, only for him to do the same. I wondered if they were wishing good luck to each other but… judging by their expressions, I couldn’t be sure.

The girl next to me chuckled slightly. “I guess they’re not getting along quite as well as it seems.”

She answered my doubts with that. Still, I wasn’t quite sure why this girl would want to sit next to me like that besides just wanting to know more about the next few tests. I decided not to bother with it and just quietly wait to be called.

“Hey… Um…” the girl spoke up again with a low tone of voice. “Are you… at all worried—”

“Victoria Graciani!” a man from the door shouted, interrupting the girl in the middle of her question.

“Oh, it’s my turn now,” the girl, Victoria, said before she stood up. “Wish me luck…”

“Good luck,” I replied without really cheering her. Still, I wondered if I should do the same as those younger men did. “Should I raise the finger like those boys did?”

“What? Oh!” she exclaimed, followed by a short giggle, “No, please don’t do that.”

“Very well,” I said, feeling somewhat awkward.

I was tempted to send her with the blessing of the Holy Gods… but remembering the kind of beings they were, I started feeling as if that would be a curse more than a blessing, so I just smiled as the girl went ahead.

Once she was gone, the room remained empty for a minute, after which people from the other room started coming. I didn’t pay much attention to them, but I did notice again that the younger men couldn’t help but stare at me for a moment when they walked in.

“Althea Sanctus!” The same man that had been calling people shouted my name, just in time for me to avoid having a stranger try to talk to me again.

I quickly stood up and made my way to the room.

This one was larger, with a small group of people sitting behind a desk that was split in half with a glass wall. On the closer side to me I could see a glass ball placed in the middle of the desk, and I immediately recognized it. It was a High Quality Measuring Stone. I would be surprised to see one like that anywhere else, but it just confirmed even more that this academy was owned by someone very powerful—royalty most likely.

“Please come this way,” the man that called me said as he led me to the Measuring Stone. “Now, this process is very simple: you just have to place your hands on the equipment and try your hardest to use magic. It doesn’t matter if it’s body enhancement magic or radiated magic, just make sure you use magic, okay?”

I sat down in front of the Measuring Stone and nodded without saying anything to the man. I looked at the glass wall, taking notice of the people standing on the other side. They were old with bigger phones in their hands and white coats, just like the woman who appraised me before.

The Measuring Stone itself was also half-stuck inside the table, and opposite to it, on the people’s side, I noticed that they were also staring at one of those computers that every desk seemed to have.

I placed my hands on the Measuring Stone, and I couldn’t help but have memories of the first time I ever used one, back when I decided to join the Emperor’s Armies and fight against the Dark God. At the time, I didn’t know I had Holy Power, so when I did the same I was asked to do here today, I unknowingly mixed my mana and the Holy Power, which is when they found out I was chosen by the Holy Gods.

The light of the Stone nearly blinded the Emperor’s official and the people around gasped when the stone eventually exploded. After that I was taken to the capital’s church and training as a Holy Knight started.

“Miss Althea?” the man spoke up when I didn’t do anything after placing my hand on the Stone. “It’s okay, just let it flow. Nothing’s going to happen, we’ve got security measures in place to ensure yours and everyone else’s safety.”

“Yes, sorry,” I apologized, since I had distracted myself, and royalty’s people could be fickle.

I looked down on the shiny ball for a moment, the thought of doing the same as back then passed through my mind, but my Holy Power had been replaced with Darkness and Hellfire Power, so I don’t know what could happen if I used it with my mana. I shook my head, and let go of that idea. This was not the time to do that and using Salrak’s power wasn’t too attractive to me at the moment.

I started circulating mana, just as I would to empower my body, carefully keeping my mana away from the Dark Power to ensure that no blinding light came out of the ball, or it exploded. The ball started glowing almost right away—a common trait in High Quality Measuring Stones—and the dim light went from a dark red to a bright orange; almost yellow.

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“Oh!” the man that brought me here exclaimed from the other side of the glass and the people gathered around him started murmuring amongst themselves while pressing things on what I had assumed were just large phones.

They seemed to be impressed with the little amount of mana I had circulated, which was surprising to me as well, since the level that the stone measured was no higher than a common soldier.

You could know how powerful a person was depending on the color of the stone. Red was the lowest, something that children and people with almost no magic would display, and the range of colors would change depending on how powerful someone was; going from black for someone with no magic power, to red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and white, which was for the most powerful people; something that I had far surpassed when I was at my peak.

I was tempted to use all the power that I had to really know what my magic power was at the moment, but I knew that it still wouldn’t be any higher than yellow, since my body and power had been greatly reduced after my battle with Salrak, and being drained by the Holy Gods.

“Okay! You may let go now,” the man said, and I did as he asked, stopping the flow of mana and letting go of the Stone.

I looked at the man, who appeared to be impressed, but I ignored his gaze and looked around the room. “Where do I go now for the next test?”

An old man from beyond the glass laughed as he made his way to me. “Eager, are we? Come, it's this way.”

He gestured for me to follow after him, so I stood up and started walking behind him, but the man that had led me into the room quickly caught up with him. “Are you sure about this, Doctor Fraga? We still have a handful of others to test.”

Doctor Fraga chuckled and nodded. “I was tempted to go after the last one, but now I cannot wait. I’ll look over it personally,” he turned to look at me again. “Come on, I’ll lead you to the test arena.”

* * *

The testing site was located a few minutes away from the building where I got the first tests. It was a small stadium, where only one side had any stands, while everywhere else was surrounded by grass that expanded to a wall, and behind it, tall buildings similar to the one I woke up in.

Inside the stadium itself there were a few people training, by doing laps around the field, exercises in their spots, or playing some game with a round ball as they passed it one to another. Near the part where I was going there were a few young people being tested in combat.

There were hardly any people sitting on the stands, with just a few groups of friends talking to each other without paying much attention to what was going on down here, save for a certain girl who was energetically waving at me. I hesitated for a moment to respond, but I eventually returned a small wave to Nicole, after which she cheered.

“Okay! Next up: Brian Tasis!” called out the instructor of the test, who was wearing some form of leather armor with bright blue colors.

One of the two young men that had been bickering since I saw them on the line back at the administration building stepped up. He was the one that appeared to have more magic power as he was at least able to create an element, and with the same amount of confidence that he displayed when I first saw him, he stepped up into a small arena.

“Pick the weapon that you want to use—if any—and stand ready over there,” the instructor said, first pointing at a weapon rack with all sorts of weapons, including the loud ones that looked like broken crossbows; then pointing at the center of the small arena.

Brian stood in front of the weapons, humming as he inspected each one, eventually stopping at the loud weapons, and reaching for the bigger one in the set, which looked like a long tube with a few strange decorations attached to it, making it about the same size as a greatsword.

“I’d advise you to pick a weapon you can use magic with,” the instructor said, causing Brian to stop mid-motion.

“I know what I’m doing, old man,” Brian replied as he took the weapon, awkwardly holding it as he looked it over.

The instructor shrugged. “If you say so,” then waited as Brian took his spot in the arena. “You ready?”

“Yeppers,” Brian replied, taking aim with the weapon at the man.

“Alright. Start when I tell you,” the instructor said, throwing a set of small disks into the air that then stopped mid-air before they hit the ground.

I felt the man using mana and directing it at the disks. The mana took shape, transformed into a glowing blue dog that was no taller than Brian’s hips.

“Summoning magic,” I whispered to myself.

“That is right. We wouldn’t have you fighting with a real fighter or mage, after all. And it’s better to measure your powers with the pads we throw into the Mana Beast,” the old man, Doctor Fraga, said. “We also ensure nobody gets hurt.”

“Alright! So! Try to take down the Mana Beast while avoiding or resisting her attacks. We won’t go for more than a few minutes, so give it your all!” the instructor shouted, and the small summoned dog made a couple of ethereal barks. “Start!”

Brian wasted no time, pulling the trigger on the strange weapon, and creating an extremely loud boom from it, akin to the ones I’d hear from the landing of a powerful fire based spell. However, despite how loud it was, the weapon did the same thing as all the other ones of its kind, with a rounded tip of an arrow shooting out of its front. This one was much faster than the other ones, and slightly larger, but once it hit the summon, it simply passed right through it, hitting the instructor at the back.

Some people at the sides gasped, afraid that the instructor could’ve been hurt, but the arrow tip simply bounced off of him, neither moving him nor leaving a scratch on him.

“This is why I told you to pick something that you could use magic with, because otherwise you won’t be doing anything,” the instructor said with a shake of his head. “The test still goes on.”

After he said that, the summoned dog started rushing in Brian’s direction. Brian panicked and started pulling on the trigger of the long weapon, but it only made a clicking sound.

“Uh, uh, h-hold on, I just need to—” Brian fumbled as he looked at the side of the weapon for something.

But as he was doing so, the summoned dog leaped, trying to bite his arm. Brian moved—either by instinct or reflex—and managed to avoid getting pinned down by the summoned dog. The dog quickly turned around and went after Brian, who started desperately swinging the long weapon.

He managed to hit the dog a couple of times, keeping it at bay for a few moments with the desperate swings, but it didn’t take long for the dog to eventually bypass the young man’s wild movements, biting him down on the arm and dropping him to the floor.

“Ow! Ow! Hey! Get off me!” Brian shouted as he struggled with the dog on the floor; his weapon dropped far away from his reach.

“Come on! We’ve still got a bit more!” the instructor shouted, but after a minute the dog let go of the young man. “Okay, that’s enough.”

The dog went back to the instructor, wagging its tails before it dissipated into blue particles, leaving the disk in mid-air for the instructor to grab. Once he did, a couple of people that had been standing outside the arena behind the instructor started moving their hands into the large phones in their hands.

Brian was rubbing his arm while he made his way back to the few of us that were being tested, and the young man that he had been arguing with looked back at him with a mocking smile.

“What happened there? Weren’t you going to show me ‘real magic’?” the young man mocked.

“Shut up dude. I’ll see you shit your pants once you’re up there and the dog is going after you,” Brian replied with a deep frown on his face as he aggressively pointed at the arena.

“Hmph, I won’t be as foolish as to pick a weapon that I cannot—”

“Steven Sainz!” the instructor called out.

“Go die.”

“Heh, I’ll show you,” Steven said, but I could see in his shaky steps that the young man wasn’t quite as confident as he appeared.