The day had arrived for the freshman competition, commonly referred to as the “Rookie Tournament.”
One by one, professors from various departments gathered at the tournament venue.
Of course, they weren’t just there to spectate—they were attending as judges.
It was customary for each department to send one judge.
“The Elemental Department came up with a pretty good idea.”
“Yeah, selecting only the top-ranked students for mock battles will make it clear who the real gems are.”
The Rookie Tournament had long been popular as an opportunity to identify promising new students.
Although an entrance exam was conducted beforehand, it was merely a written test to assess basic knowledge.
To truly gauge a freshman’s talent, the Rookie Tournament was necessary.
“I heard that the Upper Class has some students with remarkable talent.”
“Oh? Who are they?”
“I’m not sure of their names. I just heard there’s one male student and one female student, and Professor Inies seems to be investing quite a bit in them.”
“She’s putting in a lot of effort. Well, I suppose Professor Inies is eager to build a solid track record.”
“What about the Top Class? The student who entered as valedictorian… wasn’t he the nephew of Professor Kaisel?”
“Professor Horizon has already set his sights on him. I heard he openly told the student during a lecture to join the Elemental Department.”
“Seriously? Does he have no pride? Recruiting freshmen already?”
“Tsk tsk, that’s disgraceful behaviour.”
“I also heard that a successor from the Orson Ducal House has joined the Top Class…”
The professors chatted among themselves about the freshmen.
After all, their role as judges was to closely observe the new students.
“Hey, Professor Hephaestus. Are you already dozing off?”
“The tournament hasn’t even started yet.”
The professors turned their attention to a middle-aged professor snoozing in a corner.
He lazily cracked open his eyes and replied, “Just leave me be. All I need to see are the mock battles among the top ranks.”
“But we still have to score the students.”
“I’ll just give everyone a score of one. Wake me up when the mock battles begin.”
“Ugh, he’s doing it again. Was there really no one else from the Artificing Department available?”
“Just let him be. The Artificing Department is always busy.”
The professors clicked their tongues at Hephaestus, who had already drifted back to sleep.
“The Freshman Competition for this year will now commence.”
A voice echoed over the speakers.
“It’s finally starting.”
“I’m looking forward to this.”
The competitors entered the arena in groups of ten, taking their positions at the designated shooting range.
Each student had a one-minute time limit.
Within that time, they had to launch a spell and hit a golem positioned in the distance.
“Most of them will choose Fireball, right?”
“Most likely. It’s the most basic elemental spell.”
“I’d bet over 90% will throw Fireballs again this year.”
“Let’s see… the students in this group are from…”
The professors checked their evaluation sheets and observed as the students began casting.
“All competitors, cast your spells at the target!”
BOOM! CRASH! BANG!
A variety of explosive sounds rang out simultaneously.
But out of the ten students, only one managed to hit the golem.
Two students completely missed their mark, two had the right aim but lacked range, and the remaining five failed to launch their Fireballs properly.
One student even ended up setting themselves on fire when their Fireball exploded on them.
If not for the protective spells cast in advance by the assistants, they would have been reduced to ashes.
“Tsk tsk, how do they expect to become mages like this?”
“It can’t be helped. They’ve only been here for a month, and those without talent are doing as well as can be expected.”
As the first group exited, a new batch of ten students entered.
The professors watched with tempered expectations.
Then—
“All competitors, cast your spells at the target!”
WHOOOSH!
A tremendous sound of air being sliced through drowned out all other noises.
“What the—?!”
Startled, the professors jumped up to see what had happened.
A massive ice spear had impaled the golem—a golem specifically reinforced to withstand anything freshmen could throw at it.
“She created an Ice Spear that big?!”
“And at such incredible speed! How did a freshman pull off such a high-speed shot?!”
“Who is that? Who is she?!”
“L-Let me check the list… She’s Charlotte from the Upper Class!”
“So she’s one of the two prodigies Professor Inies is mentoring!”
As the blonde-haired girl confidently walked off the field, the professors couldn’t help but salivate.
“Aside from Professor Hephaestus, I bet everyone here will give her a perfect score. With that level of skill already, she should definitely join our Bio-Arcane Department.”
“What nonsense! She clearly used an elemental spell—she belongs in the Elemental Department.”
“If she learns other magic, she’ll excel in them too. She should come to the Necromancy Department to pioneer a new field…”
“Silence! How could you even consider sending such young talent to the Necromancy Department?! The Holy Magic Department is the only rightful choice!”
As always, professors began arguing over recruiting talented students—a spectacle that repeated every year during the Rookie Tournament.
“All competitors, cast your spells at the target!”
BOOM! CRASH!
Meanwhile, the next group launched their attacks.
“Hmm, the Top and Upper Class students really are exceptional.”
“Did you see that Fireball just now? Monarch Orson’s shot was quite impressive.”
“The one from the Orson Ducal House? That was indeed a stable cast.”
“It seems like he prepared well before entering the academy.”
As they assigned scores, the professors continued exchanging thoughts.
However, none of the students thus far had surpassed Charlotte’s performance.
Then—
“All competitors, cast your spells at the target!”
BOOM!
A particularly precise and swift Fireball caught the professors’ attention.
“Who was that girl just now?”
“That was Senia Artian from the Top Class.”
“From the renowned Artian swordsmanship family?!”
“And yet she’s already so proficient in magic?”
“I can’t give her a 10, but she deserves at least a 9.”
All the professors, except for the still-sleeping Hephaestus, marked down a score of 9.
Time continued to pass.
“I’m getting exhausted.”
“How many are left? We must be almost done.”
“About thirty more students to go.”
As the judges grew weary from grading nearly 900 students, a black-haired boy stepped up to the shooting range.
“Wait a moment… That kid…”
“Do you know him?”
“That’s Helios Chanetis. The other prodigy from the Upper Class.”
The professor’s interest sharpened.
Charlotte had already demonstrated extraordinary skill. What would the other so-called prodigy show?
“All competitors, cast your spells at the target!”
CRACKLE!
A sharp, unfamiliar sound made the professors stood up.
Helios had cast a spell that was neither fire nor ice.
“Was that… Lightning?!”
“He used thunder magic?!”
A single bolt of lightning shot out from Helios’ hand.
The lightning flew at an incredible speed, piercing straight through the golem’s center and leaving a fist-sized hole.
“That’s not elemental magic—it’s electromagic! Freshmen don’t even get a chance to learn that. Where in the world did he pick it up?”
“Professor Inies is skilled in thunder magic. She must have personally taught him.”
“But even so, how did he manage to wield lightning like that after only a month of enrollment…?”
“P-Professor Portisio! As the professor of electromagic, what do you think of this?”
The other professors turned their eyes toward the elderly professor sitting quietly in the corner.
Portisio, the electromagic professor who specialized in lightning and magnetism, spoke in a calm voice.
“Thunder magic is closely related to elemental magic. It’s not uncommon for someone training in elemental magic to awaken an affinity for thunder magic.”
“Then…”
“But that freshman is certainly exceptional. He appears to be a boy with remarkable talent.”
Portisio closed his eyes and smiled.
“I’d love for him to join the electromagic department. Though, I’m sure he’d do well anywhere.”
“…!”
The professors, filled with admiration, wrote down a score of 10 on their evaluation sheets.
“With this, the top two spots in the advanced class are locked in. Or rather, are they tied for first place?”
“That would normally be the case. But this year, the final rankings will be decided through a mock battle among the top four.”
“But no one from the top class has made as strong an impression as Charlotte or Helios. The best they’ve got is that girl, Senia…”
Meanwhile, the next group of students was getting ready.
“It’s almost over now.”
“Oh, look, there’s Eriol Valencia.”
“Kaisel’s nephew?”
The professors’ interest was piqued once again.
Just the fact that he was the nephew of the renowned youngest-ever department head, Kaisel, was enough to make him a person of interest.
“I wonder what kind of magic he’ll show us.”
“If he just throws a basic fireball, it’d be a letdown.”
“I’d rather he makes a big mistake. That’d at least be entertaining.”
“Haha. I’m curious to see Kaisel’s reaction.”
Whether Eriol performed well or failed spectacularly, it had nothing to do with Kaisel.
Magical talent wasn’t something that could be inherited from an uncle, and Kaisel had never personally taught Eriol.
But if they could find even the slightest flaw in the ever-proud Kaisel, it would be a source of amusement for the other professors.
“Everyone, use your magic on the target!”
Boom! Bang! Fwoosh! Shoom!
A variety of sounds echoed through the arena.
But Eriol’s lane remained silent.
“What’s going on?”
“Why isn’t he casting anything?”
The professors leaned forward in confusion.
Had he actually failed to use his magic?
“Let’s wait a little longer.”
Portisio spoke up.
“There’s still time left in the one-minute limit.”
“But, Professor Portisio, still—”
KWOOM!
An enormous explosion erupted, sending a towering blaze surging forward.
“…!”
The fire roared toward the target and struck with perfect accuracy, engulfing the golem entirely.
And that wasn’t all.
“T-That…!”
“The golem is melting!”
The once-sturdy golem, known for its formidable defenses, was dissolving in the flames.
The professors could hardly believe their eyes.
“What’s happening?”
“Is the golem defective?”
“There’s no way.”
A voice came from behind them.
It was Hephaestus, who had been dozing off the entire time, now rubbing his ears with a frown.
“All this noise woke me up.”
“P-Professor Hephaestus! What is going on here…?”
“The golem simply wasn’t built to withstand flames of that magnitude. Tsk, I guess I’ll have to reinforce the ones we use next year.”
Muttering in annoyance, Hephaestus picked up his evaluation sheet from the floor.
Every student so far had been given a score of 1.
But on Eriol’s score, he drew an extra circle.
It was the first 10 Hephaestus had given that day.
“That was impressive.”
As I walked through the corridor leading back to the waiting room, I ran into Helios.
“You gathered all the fire elements in your surroundings to create that fireball, right? Quite the spectacle. You’re probably in first place right now.”
“…”
“But if it takes you nearly a minute to prepare, you won’t be able to use it in a real battle. You won’t have the time for that kind of magic in the mock battle.”
Helios stepped closer to me and smiled.
“I’ll see you in the mock battle, Eriol Valencia.”
With that, he walked away without waiting for a response.
“Eriol!”
Just then, Professor Klein approached me.
“You little…! How could you unleash magic with that much power without telling me first?! That could have been dangerous!”
“I originally planned to use a different spell.”
“What?”
“But I decided to save it for the mock battle.”
I had actually been practicing a completely different spell for the freshman competition.
I figured that if I wanted to secure first place, I needed an impressive trump card.
But if the final rankings would be determined by the mock battle, there was no need to reveal that card during the preliminaries.
All I had to do was place in the top four.
“You’re telling me… you have something even stronger than what you just used?”
Klein stared at me in shock.
“I made a promise to my uncle.”
“What?”
“I told him I would take first place.”
“…!”
I had practiced against Senia and reinforced my theoretical knowledge using the magic books Klein lent me.
Now, it was time to prove the results.
