Chapter 12: Droplet’s End (2/2)

He had once tried to count how many people attended.

Over 100,000 had passed through the city’s teleportation gate to reach this exam.

These teleportation gates were scattered across the continent, and the number of people entering each year was unimaginable.

And the participation fee, 100 magic stones per person.

There was a reason the empire spared no effort in organizing the exams.

The money they made was unimaginable.

‘Could I be resting for a bit?’

Let’s think that way.

The doll read my thoughts and took out a chair.

It sat down and surveyed the surroundings.

Among the many droplets floating at a certain distance, there was one that slowly shone brighter.

The doll poured me a cup of tea.

The scent that lingered at the tip of my nose was incredibly sweet.

Inside it, a few flowers had bloomed just for me.

Unlike Professor, I wasn’t particularly fond of sweet tastes.

So, I focused all my attention solely on the texture of the flowers.

I sipped the tea and took the flowers into my mouth.

As the flowers swam across my tongue, the petals gently fell off one by one and settled on my tongue.

At that moment, the fragrance and texture within burst in my mouth.

Ah, I couldn’t help but admire.

The petals stacked layer by layer, creating a harmonious taste.

Even though I made it, I couldn’t help but be impressed by how exquisite it was.

While sipping the tea, I dispersed my mana.

It was to observe how the droplets were formed.

A considerable amount of time passed.

When I checked my watch, it had been about six hours.

The transmission window would close precisely at midnight, meaning the test would begin soon.

Gradually, the number of droplets falling from the sky decreased.

Soon, the cracks in the sky also shrank until it closed completely.

At that moment, a screen appeared in front of the droplets.

The test had begun.

***

Solve the five tasks. (100 points total, pass with 60 or more points.)

Task 1: Use the presented magic to escape the droplet within 30 minutes. (10 points)

(If the presented magic is not used, you will be disqualified.)

Task 2: In a randomly assigned group of five, reach the destination within 24 hours. (20 points)

(If a team member falls behind or dies, 10 points will be deducted.)

Task 3: Build a stronghold at the Task 2 destination. (20 points)

(Personal evaluation.)

Task 4: Using the stronghold from Task 3, protect important items for 2 weeks. (30 points)

(If a team member dies, 10 points will be deducted. If the protected items are destroyed, you will be disqualified.)

Task 5: Select the first and fifth contributors of Task 4. (20 points)

(10 points by default. The first contributor gets 10 points added, the fifth contributor gets 10 points deducted.)

Hmm, a task exam.

This time, I was lucky.

The task exam had been quite frequent in previous exams.

Out of 11 exams, it had come up 5 times. Last year, I had prepared for the task exam, but it ended up being a duel exam, and I failed.

There was no mention of needing to clash with other team members, so this exam seemed perfect for me to fully utilize my strengths.

The fifth task was a bit bothersome, though.

They said “team members,” but they were essentially pushing us to monitor each other.

But anyway, I first had to complete Task 1.

If I failed this, I would be disqualified immediately.

I touched Task 1 with my finger, and another screen appeared.

But then I heard the sound of droplets bursting around me.

I looked around in surprise and saw people bursting the droplets and leaving.

The droplet in front of me was the same.

As the droplet burst, the person immediately disappeared.

I snorted.

They hadn’t even read the tasks properly.

The reason I came early was to analyze the tasks in advance.

It was a small clue, but the fact that the test started with a droplet made me suspect it was connected to the test.

Others would have realized that too.

So, I had already thoroughly analyzed the properties of the droplet.

It was just a simple droplet made of mana.

On the screen, there was a magic circle.

Seeing it, my mouth naturally opened.

Under Professor Irien’s instruction, I had learned many kinds of magic, and I had drawn many magic circles, but I had rarely seen one as beautiful as this one in front of me.

Moreover, the delicacy of the circuits within the magic circle.

Each flow of mana that made up the magic was filled with a beauty beyond my level of understanding.

But despite that, it was still a simple magic that I could recognize.

To create such a simple and wonderful magic, I felt respect for the wizard who presented this spell.

First, I used the magic on a magic stone that the doll had handed to me.

Magic stones had the property of trying to fully contain mana, so they were highly compatible with any magic.

When I used the magic, intense light began to appear on the previously dull surface of the stone.

I analyzed the effect of the magic and tried to guess the name of this magic.

‘Shining Magic,’ or should I call it a luster spell?

‘The intense light almost felt like heat.’

‘How could I use this in the droplet?’

Some people had already started leaving the droplet as soon as they saw the magic.

One person had made a beam of light, while another teleported.

‘Had they already finished analyzing it?’

I couldn’t catch up to those geniuses.

I had no intention of trying.

I decided to focus on my own task.

Still, the ways they used the magic were impressive.

They were certainly worth considering.

A beam of light… it was clear that they had modified the magic.

Perhaps this was why such a simple and easy magic was included in the test.

I needed to analyze the characteristics of this magic more deeply.

The doll took out a scroll and spread it in front of me.

I quickly jotted down the effects of this magic.

Light, heat, persistence, intense glow, temperature rise, simple structure, fast reaction time, high mana efficiency, excellent compatibility, ease of modification.

‘Which of these characteristics is the most central and important?’

‘Light.’

The magic circle that formed this magic pursued light in every part.

The intense intent was evident from the circuits.

Hmm, then if I bundled this magic up, it would form a beam of light like the one earlier.

As soon as I realized that, I also realized I couldn’t do it.

It would require an immense amount of mana.

Something a drifter like me couldn’t achieve.

Still, I liked the idea of the beam of light.

A beam of light is essentially the concentration of light.

Then, if I concentrated the light, I would gain sufficient destructive power.

I just needed to focus the light at a single point.

Even if it’s not as large as their beam, even if it’s as small as a dot, I could still create a sufficient concentration of light.

I slightly altered the flow of magic.

I modified the circuits to remove the persistence and make it release an even stronger light and heat, even if only momentarily.

Editing the magic and then imbuing it into the doll—this was a skill that Professor had praised as useful.

I began drawing a design on the scroll.

‘Which doll should I imbue this magic into?’

The magic releases light.

Many magics overlap to form a single point.

In that case, a perfect sphere would be best.

The design was quickly completed.

This doll suited paper better than wood.

The doll took out several sheets of paper from its pocket.

I inscribed many magic circles on them, just as I had drawn on the design.

Even though I hadn’t activated the magic yet, a soft light began to emanate from them.

I folded the papers and shaped them into a round sphere.

Done.

I imbued mana into it.

All the magic circles were inscribed within the sphere.

The mana began to drain out like an ebbing tide, heating up the magic circles.

Light began to pour out forcefully.

It was so bright that it could be seen even beyond the paper.

The light overlapped and stacked inside the paper sphere, and soon, the paper sphere turned bright red.

I threw it into the air and quickly hid behind the doll.

The doll activated several layers of defensive magic and shielded me.

Right, it was a bomb.

I had inscribed explosion magic onto the paper.

It was the only offensive magic I was allowed to use.

The magic caused a shock to the inside of the sphere, at the center of the light.

The light that had concentrated at that point spread out with the shock.

This created immense pressure, crushing the paper sphere and enveloping the surroundings.

It was intense light and heat.

These shattered the entire droplet.

I had hidden behind the doll in advance, but the shockwave still stung my body.

Phew, but it worked.

I looked at the doll.

Despite the defensive magic, there were scorch marks all over.

The shock had been stronger than I had anticipated.

I used mana to repair the doll.

It quickly returned to its previous state and stood behind me.

I checked the time.

26 minutes, almost 30 minutes had passed.

I looked down at the droplets still hanging in the air.

There were still plenty left.

27 minutes, 28 minutes, 29 minutes, 30 minutes.

The time was up.

The droplets burst in an instant.

And the people inside disappeared.

Disqualified.

In the end, I had solved Task 1.

I hadn’t expected to finish so quickly.

I walked out of the droplet.

Now, for the next task.