Chapter 47: Second Round of Assessment

After leaving the inn, the group headed straight to the point, making their way toward the Imperial Magic Academy.

Compared to the past two days, the streets were noticeably less crowded today.

The reason was simple: the assessment tests over the last two days had already eliminated the majority of candidates.

In fact, many of those who had been eliminated still lingered in the Imperial Capital for the time being, mostly thinking that since they had come all this way, they might as well explore the city a bit.

In a few more days, the crowds would thin out further, until everything returned to normal.

It was important to remember that, according to rough statistics, about 100,000 candidates had registered and taken part in the Entrance Examination over those two days.

Yet, the total number who passed the First Round Examination did not exceed five thousand.

And these were the ones who had dared to try their luck in the first place—generally confident young people, many of them the best from their regions, and mostly from well-off families.

After all, traveling to the Imperial Capital wasn’t a trivial expense.

Even so, the vast majority were eliminated, underscoring just how rigorous the Imperial Magic Academy’s admission process was.

Of those five thousand remaining, how many would ultimately be allowed to stay?

Looking at past years, retaining half would already be considered a good outcome…

Today was the day the Second Round of Assessment began, and the day the First Round results were officially announced.

Naturally, discussions heated up everywhere; walking down the streets, one could hear people talking about it at every turn.

Li Xian had gotten a bit of information already.

Two elemental affinities had reached Excellent Grade—true prodigies—and one of them was even a dual attribute Excellent Grade.

This was naturally the biggest piece of news.

In addition, more than a dozen candidates had achieved an Elemental Affinity of Excellent Grade, with a few showing exceptional talent close to Excellent Grade.

All conversations focused on these outstanding individuals.

As for the others with mediocre aptitude, who would care about them?

Whether or not they would stay in the Academy was still unknown.

By comparison, it was clearly those who had emerged as top performers in the First Round, virtually guaranteed to remain in the Academy, who deserved the most attention.

Notably, aside from those two with Excellent Grade elemental affinity, among the other dozen or so with Excellent Grade talent, many hailed from the Imperial Capital, specifically from its Noble Houses.

For example, Princess Ellie of the Empire held one such spot, as did the Crown Prince of a princely family, as well as the descendants of the Empire’s Dragon General and other powerful figures.

All in all, these made up about seven or eight candidates.

This was to be expected, considering their superior bloodlines or being carefully selected heirs of the Empire’s renowned strongholds.

High talent was only natural.

It would be more surprising if their talent were low…

Amid the constant gossip, the group finally arrived at the gates of the Imperial Magic Academy.

This time, however, there were far fewer people than before.

A few thousand candidates entered the Academy once more, heading to the previous venue, which now felt much more solemn.

After confirming everyone was present, an elderly man slowly approached from a distance.

Li Xian, having seen this man before, raised his brow.

It seemed this second round of assessment was no ordinary affair—the old man had come in person.

“I am Lord Elvis, the head of this Academy.” The moment he spoke, a thousand waves of excitement swept through the crowd.

The name Elvis held unparalleled influence throughout the Roland Empire, and there was not a single young person in the Empire who did not revere and admire him.

Now, this legendary figure was standing right before them.

How could they not be thrilled?

The atmosphere grew inevitably lively.

Yet Lord Elvis merely raised his hand to quiet the crowd, and all chatter quickly faded away.

He smiled and continued speaking.

“Future hopes of the Empire, first, congratulations on successfully passing the Academy’s First Round Examination… passing the first round proves your talent ranks among the best of your peers. Calling you prodigies is no exaggeration.”

Lord Elvis began by praising the young candidates before him.

“But…” His tone shifted, “talent alone is far from enough. To become true powerhouses, you must possess tremendous courage and boldness, unwavering perseverance, and sufficient combat skill and experience. Therefore, the Second Round of Assessment… will be a practical combat test.”

“I believe most of you are already aware of the assessment format. The Second Round will evaluate your combat ability. You will face off one-on-one against the Academy’s instructors. Of course, they will only use the same level of power as you do. Anyone unable to hold out for more than three minutes will be deemed disqualified from enrollment.”

Upon hearing they would spar with instructors, the less-informed students grew nervous, but when he added that instructors would only use power equal to theirs, everyone relaxed.

If the power level was the same, how strong could the instructors be?

Besides, they didn’t even have to win—just hold out for three minutes.

How hard could three minutes be?

“Headmaster, let’s begin the matches immediately!” A student, brimming with confidence, was already eager to start.

He smiled proudly and said, “What’s so hard about lasting three minutes? If you can’t even last three minutes, what kind of man are you?”

“Very well. Since you are all so confident, I won’t waste time. The assessment begins now.”

Lord Elvis smiled and, without further ado, officially announced the start of the assessment.

The Academy had only about a dozen instructors in total.

To become an official instructor at the Imperial Magic Academy, one had to possess at least transcendent-level strength.

For example, Mark, who had just recently been appointed one of the Six Great Ace Magicians of the Empire.

He was originally an instructor at the Academy and, having only recently reached transcendent level himself, wasn’t yet eligible for an Ace Mage position.

But since he was the Empire’s new hope, young and already transcendent in strength with a talent just shy of Excellent Grade—almost half a step into that rank—he was expected to become a transcendent pinnacle expert someday.

Many of the Empire’s other transcendent-level powerhouses were elderly or had reasons to avoid the post, so the spot went to Mark.

Returning to the point: with only a handful of instructors, the manpower was insufficient.

Therefore, while students would be matched against instructors, most would actually be facing the Academy’s teaching assistants.

These assistants were officially instructors too, mostly top-tier advanced mages or elite warriors.

They were more than capable of sparring with the candidates…

***