“Suna, you go first.”
After the exam was announced, Krof called out Suna’s name first according to the list, and she immediately shook her head like a rattle:
“I-I-I-I… I’m not ready yet, can we switch someone else to go first?”
I don’t even know what the Combat Exam will entail. If something goes wrong, I can’t count on Truth to save me!
“If you don’t go up, your qualification will be canceled!”
Krof said firmly. With no other choice, Suna forced herself to step forward, while Truth gave her an encouraging smile.
Keep it up.
Wait, you still have the heart to smile? Suna thought Truth seemed unreliable no matter how she looked at her, especially since she didn’t even have two magic wands in her hands.
How is she supposed to guarantee my safety?
Oh, right— Truth doesn’t need magic wands to cast spells…
But even so, she’s only a First Tier.
Standing in the center of the arena, all eyes were on the nervous Suna. Krof, holding the exam schedule, announced:
“First test: Mana Control Test!”
“Mana Control Test? Didn’t expect that.”
Outside the arena, the students whispered in surprise. No one thought the Royal Magic Academy’s first test would be so ordinary.
For mages, a Mana Control Test was as common as weighing themselves for normal people.
“Is that… it?”
Suna didn’t expect the first test to be this simple. She had thought the bald examiner would send out some elite monster for her to fight solo.
Holding her breath for three seconds, Suna nimbly channeled her mana around her body, with a trace of fiery elemental energy sparking irritably. Krof’s eyes instantly lit up.
Already mastering elemental power at Second Tier? No wonder His Highness personally selected her for the Academy. Are they planning to groom her to deal with other royal family members?
The rivalry between royal houses must be intense, but Krof preferred to stay out of it.
Otherwise, he might not even know how he died. Better to focus on his duties:
“Excellent. You’ve even started to control elemental power. A perfect score!”
Amidst the crowd’s exclamations, Suna proceeded through several more tests that were very common for mages—and she scored impressively in all of them.
“Next up, Mailun.”
There was no expected bloodbath, just a very peaceful “physical check.” This can’t be right— it has to be just the prelude; there has to be blood after the check!
After the physical exam, Krof announced the rankings. The top three were Suna, Kaisi, and Mailun. The last place was, unsurprisingly, Reg, since he couldn’t use magic at all.
“What? It’s over already? Is this really the Combat Exam of the northern Beastkin?”
“Hey, didn’t they say it’s a Combat Exam? Where’s the combat?”
Ignoring the students’ questions, Krof moved on to test the warriors.
For Adventurers below Third Tier, except for some special classes like Priests, most professions were roughly divided into mages and warriors.
Only after Third Tier do the unique traits of Assassins, Rangers, Elemental Priests, Contract Masters, and others gradually appear.
The warriors’ test was another physical exam. Soon after, Krof announced the results. Reg, with his Heroic Constitution, unsurprisingly took first place; Mailun was second, Christine third…
The exam finished with the physical checks. Now, surely the fighting would begin?
But the students around kept yawning. They had been bored for over an hour.
They wanted to see merciless mana clashes between mages, brutal fistfights and exquisite weapon duels between warriors, team battles, and bloody arena matches!
Bring it on!
Then Krof declared the Combat Exam over.
Everyone was stunned. This was the Beastkin’s Combat Exam? Where was the promised blood and violence? It wasn’t even as intense as the arena matches hosted by Deya City!
Truth, who had been standing aside the whole time, looked somewhat annoyed. That’s it? What’s the point of me being a Priest if this is the exam? Are you kidding me?!
“Hey, Baldy, is this really a Combat Exam? Or are you Beastkin actually just a bunch of wimps?!”
Mailun was the first to shout, pointing at Krof’s shiny bald head in the sunlight. Then other candidates started cursing as well:
“We waited so long for this? The Royal Magic Academy is just like this?”
“Feels like the Deya Magic Academy is better…”
“There must be some foul play! I’m going to report this!”
Krof looked completely unfazed by the students’ insults. Come on, he was just a human working at the Royal Magic Academy — insulting the Beastkin didn’t affect him.
But he still needed an excuse to smooth things over, so he pointed at Truth:
“The reason the exam content was changed today is because the Priest assisting the exam wasn’t in good condition. For safety, the exam had to be adjusted.”
Help me cover this up, little Priest. You know your First Tier Healing Spell can’t guarantee the safety of these Second Tier candidates. If something went wrong, you’d be responsible too.
Krof believed Truth wouldn’t joke with people’s lives. The little one looked obedient enough, so he hoped she’d play along.
But Truth angrily slapped Suna’s butt and shouted back:
“Stop babbling nonsense! I’m in great shape! And I want to see blood flowing everywhere right now!”
“Waaah! Why did you slap my butt?!”
After hearing the somewhat crude reply from the assisting Priest, Mailun and the others grew even louder in their curses. Only Suna and Reg remained silent.
Because based on the current exam results, the two of them had a good chance of passing…
So maybe it’s better not to fight.
“Hey, listen! Actually, this Priest’s ability is only First Tier. She can’t guarantee your safety!”
Seeing that Truth refused to cooperate, Krof reluctantly revealed the truth, and the room suddenly quieted.
Now, you all should calm down. I don’t believe a small city like Deya can produce any Priests above Second Tier other than High Priestess Tia.
But the students cursed even louder!
This time the loudest voices were from students who had been saved by Truth in the Deya underground labyrinth.
They had witnessed her long-lasting Group Healing Spell:
“Don’t you know what level Truth’s healing is? You just don’t want to waste time on us so you can finish work early. I’m definitely reporting you!”
“I’m reporting too! I thought you made Truth the assisting Priest because of her strength. But now you say she’s no good and use her as a scapegoat. You’re a villain!”
Capable of doing the work of three ordinary Priests? Is that really true?
Krof suddenly felt things were harder to smooth over. Truth just stuck out her tongue at him.
Hurry up and start the fight, or how am I supposed to gain experience?