Chapter 3 - 2: Entrance Exam, Exit Logic
The Royal Academy of Magic was many things.
Elite. Expensive. Ridiculously large.
But above all, it was dramatic.
Alaric stood at the edge of the entrance exam field—an arena surrounded by stone pillars, floating banners, and way too many people pretending they weren't watching him.
On a raised platform, the exam proctor—a lean man in golden robes—announced the rules with all the flair of a theater actor on opening night.
"Applicants will show their control over mana in a basic casting demonstration. You will form a simple spell circle, channel your element, and launch the attack at the target dummy. Style and power will be graded. Begin!"
Alaric blinked.
"That's it?"
Celine Ardent—his sharp-eyed, sword-happy carriage companion—stood a few meters away. She didn't look at him, but her mana flared the moment her name was called.
Fire erupted from her palm, shaped into a perfect spiral, then launched forward like a comet.
Boom.