015 - The Assessment Begins

Soon, the instructors arrived.

There were a lot of them, but that was to be expected seeing as hundreds of kids had arrived to take this assessment.

Behind the twenty or so instructors from all five peaks, the central one included, stood five people.

The one at the center was a man covered from head to toe, one couldn't tell his face, his skin colour or anything relating to his appearance, as most people knew nothing about him other than the fact that this man was the sect leader of the Four Golden Magic Sect, Jushen.

I could see my mom standing to the right along with Peak Master Rodan and two other people, who I had never seen but I knew that they were the remaining two peak Masters.

The first one was another woman, she looked like a gloomy young woman with jet black hair, she had slightly darkened skin and was wearing a long flowing black dress that clung to her tightly accentuating her petite figure, but she was probably the oldest one there, she was the Master of the Mystic Tome Peak, Claudia Wolfmoon.

She stood there as if she had no interest in anything that was happening here, which is understandable, if I had to do this every year, I would probably have a similar expression.

Then came another mountain of a man, his bright shining bald head coupled with his thick eyebrows and bushy beard, and a serious expression. He too was looking uninterested but at least he wasn’t making it so obvious, he was the peak Master of the Colossus Boulder Peak, Blaze Huxsal.

Their peaks focused on the study of Arcane and Ancient Magic and Defence and Barrier construction magic respectively.

Rodan, the master of the Twirling Blade Peak which focused on magic sword combat and spells, was standing there as usual with his fake smile and my mom, Eshreal, master of the Shining Cauldron Peak which focused on Alchemy and Healing Magic, was standing there wearing a white-green uniform standard to all alchemists in the sect, she had tied up her hair in a bun and was standing there with a serious expression.

But I couldn't help but notice her gaze lingering on me every few seconds.

‘Can you make your bias any more obvious, mom?’

I sighed as her actions had caught the remaining four people's attention.

Rodan gave the same fake smile he always gives and the other human mountain gave me a quick glance before looking away disinterested.

Only Claudia looked at me strangely and gave a very creepy smile at the end.

‘Damn it.’

From what I had heard about her, she was a proper magic scholar, meaning… She was batshit crazy.

She also had an unhealthy interest in me.

She had constantly been pestering my mom to have a look at me to study my magic-crippled body, as she had never seen someone like me.

But my mother knew what kind of a woman she was, so she never agreed, and now that I'm healed she was probably itching even more.

‘Gotta stay away from her at any rate.’

Even the sect master couldn't help but turn to look at me, I don't know how he was seeing me though, as the face covering he wore had no holes or slits for eyes or the mouth or even the nose.

But I could feel his gaze on me.

His face was covered by a black mask-like thing which was completely flat in appearance, he wore an exquisite but also simple looking black robe with the crest of the Four Golden Magic Sect on his left chest. He was also wearing similar black gloves and boots.

Soon, it was his turn to speak.

He waved his hand and the chattering crowd below quieted down.

“Welcome, aspirants. I will not waste anyone's time with meaningless introductions or speeches.”

He moved his head around the crowd, and continued.

“I see that this year we have an excess of aspirants than any other year, and so, I would like to update this year's assessment. As even though I would love to test each and every one of you individually, we simply cannot afford such time.”

Each word he spoke, was spoken slowly and in a normal tone, but it felt as if his voice was speaking directly into my ears. It felt weird.

And I wasn't the only one, I saw the others around me and almost all of the people had the same bewildered expression, like the voice wasn't coming from the man standing above but from right next to us.

The only person unbothered was the little princess, Sarah. She looked like she had expected this.

‘Well, she is a little princess, it wouldn’t surprise me if she knew his secret identity.’

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It wouldn’t be hard for me to find out his secret identity also, I just need to touch him. I don’t know if I will get such an opportunity though.

“So, we have made a last minute arrangement for today's test; the four peaks will not be taking individual tests, but rather we will have one combined test that will be on something students of all four peaks need to have… Strength.”

I didn’t hear anything about this. My gaze turned towards my mom, who looked just as shocked to hear this as anyone else. Now that I look at the other peak masters, they too look surprised. Then who is this ‘we’ he is talking about?

Some students, clearly unhappy with what was happening, couldn't help but voice out their voices.

“You can’t do this! I want to become a magic scholar, why should I be tested on my ability to fight! I don’t understand!”

Although I heard it clearly because I was standing close to the person who yelled this, I couldn’t help but shudder when I noticed the faceless-mask of the Sect master Jushen, staring directly at the guy yelling this.

Even the guy himself shut up, no, he didn’t stop on his own. He looked like he was having difficulty breathing.

The entire crowd shut up as they all stared at the young man.

This went on for a few seconds before the atmosphere returned to normal. Jushen continued like this was no problem.

“Good point, young man. But try to keep things civil. We don’t want troublemakers in our sect. And for your question, even the path of a scholar is riddled with blood and bones of the people who stood in their way. Isn’t that right, Peak Master Claudia?”

Claudia just nodded her head and spoke in a soft melodious voice, but like the sect master, her voice too was audible to everyone. But at least I could tell where it was coming from this time.

“That's right, Sect Master, although I may not see action on a daily basis like a warrior mage, there is also no denying that if I had not the strength to protect myself, I would not be standing here today.”

The sect master, once again focused his attention on the young man, and asked.

“Does that answer your question, young man?”

The guy, who barely looked over twelve, had almost pissed his pants at this point. I don’t even think he heard what Peak Master Claudia said. But he was too scared to question again, so he just nodded.

This is just how things were, no one would’ve batted an eye if the sect master had killed him for talking back to him. The one with the bigger fist was always right, that’s how this works. But since he didn’t outright kill the little guy, I have a good impression of him, at least for now.

He continued.

“Good, now I understand that like this fellow, some of you might want to withdraw, and you can do so right now, because the moment the test starts, the instructors may not be able to save you on time, there is a very good chance that you might end up losing your life here, so if anyone wants to go back, they can leave now. I will not stop them, but the moment the gates close, you can only take the assessment. It will be too late for regrets then…”

As Sect Master Jushen said this, I could see my mom trying to say something to him, but he wasn’t having it, he shut her down.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on. She was probably trying to protest the sudden changes to the test. From what I know, the test for the Shining Cauldron peak that I was trying to take wasn’t that hard, it was recognition of ingredients, a written test, a practical test, an interview with an instructor and that’s it.

There was no combat aspect to this test. And this was the only peak where combat power wasn’t tested. Even Peak Master Claudia’s peak tested some offensive spells. So it was a given that without some combat power you wouldn’t even get on her peak.

I too, was thinking of this process as nothing but a formality, but it is starting to become a problem. I was completely confident of being able to breeze through any of the tests that normally happened on any of the peaks. Now, I can't be sure.

Some might think that me having the strength of a Rank 1 individual at the young age of nine, I would have nothing to worry about, but that wasn’t true.

The reason was simple, my Rank is fake. I may have the mana and physical strength beyond a Rank 1 individual, but my magic root was still stuck at Rank 0.

To actually raise one’s magic root rank, I would need to imprint a magic circle on it. That magic circle would nourish my magic root and make it stronger.

Right now, even though I may have the physique and magic closer to Rank 2, against a genuine Rank 2, I don’t stand a chance.

I might still put up a fight against an initial Rank 1, but beyond that, I was pushing it.

Still, it makes me excited too, because the strength and stat boost I got because of my raised rank, in theory should’ve only happened on the magic circle creation, but it happened nonetheless, so what happens when I actually raise my magic root’s rank.

I couldn’t help but smile thinking about it.

‘I should be able to handle someone of Rank 1 with ease, with my physique and all.’

Some people had started moving back, I could see them leaving with bitter expressions.

I turned my gaze towards my new targ-friends, and saw them standing there with although somewhat scared but firm expressions. I couldn’t help but be impressed.

Even the scaredy cat, Gwen was standing here.

‘Looks like these siblings had no intention of chickening out.’

At this moment, to get me out of my thoughts, I heard my mother’s mental voice transmission.

‘An, please leave. I-I will get someone to send you some gold, so stay in the town below, and wait for me to meet you there. You cannot take this test! Absolutely not!’

I looked at my mom who was looking towards me not caring about the other people who had also turned their attention towards us.

I know why she wants to do this. But sadly I can’t. No, rather, I won’t.

So, I returned her gaze with confidence and shook my head to state my intention.

Let’s just say, I have never seen her this angry before, if not for the sect master being present, she would’ve ruined this entire test and kicked me out of here.

The other peak masters looked at this and were smart enough to figure out what was happening. So they also couldn’t help but look at me and reevaluate me again.

Rodan too, for once lost his smile as he looked at me with a serious expression, I also noticed the other mountain sized man, Blaze looking at me with a slight grin on his face and an approving nod.

I don’t know what he is approving me of, but I couldn’t care less. Right now, I am still looking at mom.

A few seconds go by before she looks away angrily. And also not before sending me another message.

‘Anshe, if you get hurt, just know that I’ll make sure you never forget what happens when you don’t listen to your mom.’

A sudden chill went through my spine and I couldn’t help but shudder.

Still, I nodded.

The sect master, having seen the conclusion of our inaudible argument, waved his hands and his mana rushed upwards and formed a map, it was large enough even the people standing at the back could see it.