Chapter 102: Go Review After Reading This
Inside the Royal Magic Academy, a large round table sat at the center of an enormous eting Hall.
A crystal giving off a faint blue glow floated in the air, its uneven shape radiating a powerful aura of magical energy.
9 chairs were arranged around the round table, with Principal Rashel seated directly across from the main doors.
He stroked his long, pale beard and drew a slow breath.
He swept his gaze around the Professors gathered at the round table, then finally let it settle on Viktor.
Catching sight of the gleaming Council mber insignia on his chest, Rashel gave a quiet chuckle.
"Fellow Professors, the End-of-Term Exam will soon be upon us."
In every Professor's mind, the weight of the Academy's End-of-Term Exam was perfectly clear.
It was the most fair and rigorous thod of assessnt for the entire student body.
Every year the Academy's End-of-Term Exam attracted extensive dia coverage, with the whole nation watching the results of each candidate.
This was an examination that would shape the futures of Mage students approaching graduation.
Though the more privileged noble Mage apprentices had no real need to worry about passing.
Yet a large portion of commoner candidates still remained—and for them, this exam would be their most direct path to realizing their dreams.
The Yadh Mage Corps.
It answered directly to the Royal Family and was the Empire's most elite Mage Corps.
Every year, the top perforrs in the Royal Magic Academy's End-of-Term Exam had the opportunity to be admitted directly into its ranks.
The Yadh Mage Corps drew its mbership from a wide and varied pool.
Whether a combat-oriented Mage or one focused on healing and Buffs, so long as one's ability was sufficient, there was room to shine.
"So then, fellow Professors—have the topics for this year's End-of-Term Exam been prepared?"
The Professors exchanged glances, expressions troubled.
They had indeed prepared the exam topics—yet none of them had anticipated that sothing as monuntal as the Demon Invasion would occur at the Academy.
The Professors had drafted the exam questions based on the normal teaching schedule.
But the battle that ti had left the Academy in ruins, and the students had been forced into an extended break.
During that break, the Professors couldn't very well go door to door assigning howork.
And so the students had spent a rather leisurely stretch of ti.
While so students had hired private tutors to catch up on lessons, many commoner students simply didn't have that option.
If they continued using the previously prepared questions, a great many students might fail to pass.
《Diversity in Magical Application》, 《Precision Control of Elental Abilities》, 《General Knowledge of Magical Creatures》, 《History of Mages》......
And many Mages had different specializations as their primary subject.
Professor Gaia, for example—who had fought 'side by side' with Viktor last ti—was a 3rd-Tier Mage who specialized in healing magic.
After the Demon Invasion, the extended break had left this Professor having taught only 2 classes.
The exam questions for that subject would undeniably be a trendous challenge for the students.
Rashel looked at the troubled expressions on the Professors' faces and let out a sigh. He tapped the floor with his walking staff and spoke slowly:
"With Dewen Rether's disappearance, another Professor's seat has opened up. This year's pass rate is likely to drop even further."
The End-of-Term Exam rules at the Royal Magic Academy differed from the assessnt thods of other academies.
Each year, students could freely choose which Professors to sit examinations under for their respective subjects—the Principal did not personally supervise, so students had a selection of 8 Professors.
As long as a student received passing marks from 5 out of those 8 Professors, they were considered to have passed.
Before Viktor's arrival, the Academy had originally had one more Professor.
Unfortunately, she had left the Academy in pursuit of her desire to travel the world.
When she resigned, she had left a letter on the Principal's desk.
Written on the envelope were the words:
"The world is so vast—I want to go and wander it."
It was just at that ti that Viktor, as a personal connection, had been parachuted in.
And so the newly vacated position was handed to Viktor.
The gazes of several Professors converged on Viktor, and for a mont the eting Hall fell noticeably quiet.
Technically speaking, Viktor still held the position of Professor at the Academy—but in practice, everyone knew the truth.
The caliber of this particular Professor was, frankly, a notch above even the Principal.
Rashel turned to look at Viktor, chuckled softly, stroked his white beard, and spoke slowly:
"Chief Professor Viktor, I would like to entrust Dewen's examination quota to you this year. A student who passes their assessnt under you will be regarded as having received the approval of 2 Professors."
"Of course, if you have already made your own preparations, you are welco to decline—I have no wish to disrupt your plans."
Viktor gave a blank-faced nod.
"I have no objections."
Seeing Viktor agree, Rashel let out a breath of relief.
Had Viktor refused, he would likely have had to take the stage himself and draft a new set of exam questions in short order.
That would have been no small task.
"Very well then—I ask that everyone prepare accordingly. The End-of-Term Exam is scheduled for Saturday, running for 3 days."
***
Viktor walked along the cobblestone path through the campus, making his way toward the Academy's exit.
It was now after hours, so naturally he had no need to stay behind in the dreary Mage Tower.
"Professor!"
A voice rang out from a distance and brought Viktor to a stop.
Heni ca trotting along the cobblestone path and hurried to Viktor's side, slightly out of breath.
After a mont she recovered, her amber-yellow eyes looking up at Viktor with anticipation.
She had heard about this exam—but as a Teaching Assistant, it wasn't really sothing she needed to manage.
Still, this exam would run for 3 days.
Heni very much wanted to help lighten Viktor's load, and so her eyes carried a particular brightness:
"Professor! Is there anything I can help you with?"
If Viktor needed to prepare the End-of-Term exam questions, Heni, with her formidable knowledge base and polished professional skills, could draft a set of end-of-term questions with relative ease.
Asking as she went, Heni followed alongside Viktor all the way to the Academy's main gate.
Viktor didn't reply imdiately. He simply stood at the school gate, waiting for the Carriage to arrive:
Rumble, rumble—
A Carriage with no horse pulling it rolled slowly into view, its wheels striking the stone road with a crisp, distinct clatter.
The Clavena crest displayed on it told Heni that this was the Carriage the Professor had been waiting for.
"During the exam days."
"All you need to do is stay by my side."
Heni tilted her head, slightly puzzled.
Just stay by the Professor's side?
Viktor glanced at Heni, whose eyes had lit up, and said plainly:
"Get in the Carriage first."
"Oh, right."
Heni nodded quickly and walked cheerfully ahead into the Carriage.
It really was wonderful living at the Professor's ho—getting to commute together every single day.
This ti of day was always the mont Heni felt happiest.
***
With the students busy cramming in those final days, naturally there was no shortage of students who had given up entirely.
Saturday arrived quickly, and with it, the day of the exam.
The students stepped onto campus with hearts full of anxious excitent, their bodies feeling sohow heavier than usual.
The examination venues were located inside each Professor's Mage Tower, where 7 different Professors would be waiting in their respective Towers for the students to arrive.
"Hey, did you hear? Apparently the difficulty has been lowered this year?"
"Yeah, I heard—it used to be 5 out of 8, but now it's 5 out of 7."
"Sounds like an extra slot was added under Professor Viktor."
Having an extra slot under Viktor ant that passing the assessnt under Viktor would count as passing 2 Professors' exams.
"And apparently, top-performing candidates who pass Professor Viktor's exam will receive a personally written letter of recomndation from Chief Professor Viktor."
With such a letter in hand, the doors of virtually any Mage Corps could open for them.
So students began to let their imaginations run.
But......
Was the Academy certain it was lowering the difficulty—and not raising it?
The students' conversation ground to a halt at that thought.
Just recalling that exam administered by the Chief Professor in the Arcane Hall, more than a few students felt a shiver run through them.
So students were already weighing whether the other Professors' subjects might be simpler.
The exam would last 3 days, and students were free to participate in any examination session within that window.
Pass 5 exams, and it ant passing the End-of-Term assessnt.
A sizable crowd of students had gathered in front of Viktor's Mage Tower, with many hoping to give it a try under Viktor.
After all—clearing 2 slots in one go, plus a personal letter of recomndation from Professor Viktor: who wouldn't be tempted?
Professor Viktor's examination venue was on the 50th floor of the Mage Tower.
Erika was the 1st candidate to enter.
She passed through the Teleportation Formation into the Mage Tower with practiced ease.
Around her, a beam of blue light like a starry sky swept slowly across her vision.
The next instant, she appeared on a vast plain thick with reeds.
This was a peculiar dinsional space inside the Mage Tower.
Built from the very beginning for the Magic Academy's examinations, it was opened only once a year.
Its range was imnse, capable of accommodating several hundred students.
After Erika had waited for so ti, large numbers of candidates gradually began to pour in.
Those candidates were taken aback for quite a while when they spotted Erika sitting among a patch of reeds.
It hadn't occurred to them that the Top-ranked Freshman would arrive this early—they had not even caught a glimpse of her on the way in.
Perhaps this Top-ranked Freshman had been ready for a long ti.
She was here for one reason alone: Professor Viktor's exam.
This ti, she was determined to pass.
***
The students sat listlessly among the reeds, chatting among themselves and speculating about what the exam might cover.
Ti passed quickly. After 3 hours had gone by, as the Academy's ten o'clock bell began to toll slowly, every student felt the string inside them pulled taut.
The exam was about to begin.
Heni walked slowly to the front of the crowd.
She looked out at the hundred-odd students who had co to sit the exam.
The many days she had spent substituting for Viktor had given her a wealth of invaluable experience.
Heni no longer felt intimidated by facing a large crowd.
What was more, the Heni of today was already a fully-fledged 1st-Tier Mage.
She raised a hand and swept it through the air several tis. A scroll of elental imagery was gradually drawn out from among the rustling reeds and unfurled before the students.
The scroll was vivid and richly colored, as though every elent had been blended together within it—the magical aura emanating from it was chaotic and singular.
Only the center of the scroll had been left blank.
This display of magic left the students astonished.
Many of them could tell that, though it was only a 1st-Tier magic, the complexity of its construction and the level of control over elental shaping had reached an extraordinary degree.
It seed the rumors were true—this Associate Professor's magical mastery was no simple matter.
Even Erika was taken aback.
Heni had, without anyone realizing it, beco a 1st-Tier Mage?
She had seen Heni use magic before—but at the ti, it had been through the power of a demon.
This ti, Heni was clearly drawing on her own magical power.
Heni began to speak, and the magical scroll in the sky gradually started to shift.
"Hello everyone. I am Associate Professor Heni, and I will be your proctor for this examination."
"I will now explain the rules for today's exam."
The scroll twisted slightly, and the colors along its edges began to fill in the white space at the center—the blurred patches of color gradually coalescing into a coherent image.
"Strictly speaking, this exam has no restrictions at all. Candidates who have entered the examination venue may remain inside the entire ti, and completing the assessnt within 3 days will count as a pass."
Many students stared blankly for a mont.
What kind of rules were these?
But they continued listening to Heni:
"Candidates who fail may imdiately retake the exam—there is no limit on retakes. Of course, if the exam has still not been passed within 3 days, then it will be recorded as a failure."
Amid the confusion of the gathered students—
the image at the center of the scroll finally appeared.
It seed to be a landscape rendered in ink—a world within a world.
Within a dense, erald green forest, a hazy silhouette gradually erged.
Though the figure's face was unclear, the colors of the clothing were enough to make Erika's eyes go wide.
"Is that......Her Highness the Princess?"
Other well-inford students cried out in surprise as well.
Even without seeing the figure clearly, the powerful aura and the vibrant, elaborate colors of the attire made them recognize her.
That was the Princess?
After single-handedly slaying a Wild Ogre last ti, Auréliane's fa in the Royal Capital had grown considerably.
She was no longer the decorative vase Princess that everyone had once dismissed.
Inside the scroll, Auréliane weaved and dodged, unleashing a rapid succession of different spells.
Dark violet and erald green, crimson and earthy yellow all blended together as they struck toward the edges of the scroll.
Around her, several Magical Creatures curled their bodies and compressed into blurred shapes, hurtling toward the Princess.
In the distance at the lower end of the scroll, several bat-like creatures flying through the air spewed streams of black liquid.
The Princess looked completely at ease—none of the attacks seed to co anywhere near touching her.
Then, with a single casual backhand strike, she dispatched all the smaller Magical Creatures without effort.
The bursting sli splattered across the scroll and filled the fra.
With that, the image ended.
The shock written across the students' faces was not lost on Heni.
She smiled and began to explain.
"What you just saw—is the entirety of this examination."
"I will now repeat the instructions one more ti."
Heni smiled, spread both hands wide, and dozens of Teleportation Formations appeared around her.
The far ends of the Formations shimred with a soft erald glow, as though leading sowhere dangerous.
"Welco to—【Viktor's Forest Realm】."
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