The Regression Of A Grand Mercenary - 42 - The Magic Academy Test

After enjoying ourselves for the entire day, that night, it was time to rest.

As soon as everyone ate, they quickly went to bed and rested. But as for me, I remained awake.

Theodore was still awake even as Midnight passed. He was sitting on top of his bed while staring at the window and each time I turn my eyes towards him, I would notice how he would fidget his hands…

This boy…I doubt he would grow out of his nervous side.

So to try and help him, I decided to approach him. And I didn’t just came with nothing on hand, instead, I walked up to him carrying a set of hot milk that would make any child fall asleep. Theodore was only 14 years old. Mostly at this age, they would try to be less relaint on their parents and siblings…but Theodore wasn’t the type to deny a kind gesture. He wasn’t really the rebellious type.

So I took the chance to talk to him kindly.

“…You should really go to sleep.” I said as I showed him the glass of hot milk.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t.” despite his answer, he accepted the glass of milk.

“…” I simply watched him as he stared at the window, gazing afar to the towers owned by the magic academy. And little by little, he would take sips of the milk to calm his nerves.

“Ever since we got here, I have never once went a minute without thinking about the academy…and how great it would be if I was able to attend it. And as the days came closer for when I would finally take the exam, I would start to feel more nervous. Sometimes I would forget to breathe naturally…I’m becoming more aware of the things happening to me, and more so, I can’t help but think about the numerous what if’s.”

“If father were here, what do you think he would say?” I asked.

“I…I don’t know. Father never came to discover my talents in magic. He died too early before I could show him anything….and so did mom. They both went away before I could show my potential to them.” he said as his voice was shaking.

“…Is that why you’re scared?”

“I’m not scared…I’m just nervous. It would have been nice though if they were here.”

“…I’m here…we all are. And I’m sure that if our parents were still here, they would be proud of you. You get to chase your dreams. So just think for a second…not about the what ifs, just think of what you can do to make them proud, to make all of us proud.”

“…”

“Tomorrow, show us that you love magic, show the world that you will do whatever it takes.”

“…” and before long, Theodore finally fell to his bed. He tried going against the his drowsiness, but he soon rested his head on the pillow while the milk on his hands fell to the floor.

I sighed and looked to the glass of milk that was spilled.

‘The drug finally work.’ I thought as I cleaned the mess with a rag.

Throughout this night, I made sure to have the inn provide me with a drug that could help someone fall asleep more easily. This kind of request was normal for the inn to handle due to the fact that at some days, the inn receives all sorts of people that intend of requesting a room. And those people usually act in indecent manners. So for a drug to be requested, it wasn’t really that rare.

I had to do this, because if I didn’t, Theodore would be too weak to even perform at his best  tomorrow.

“I just hope he doesn’t realize that I drugged him.” I said to myself.

And before long, the next day came and it was finally the day the exams would happen.

Although it was a long time coming, I could see Theodore nervously fidgeting his fingers as he stands in front of the gate of the academy.

“Here we are.” I said.

“Are you nervous brother?” asked Tilly as she was holding on to Theodore’s coat.

“I-I’m fine…I…I can do this.” he said to himself, trying to motivate himself to get through this exam.

As we approach, the guards by the gate walked up to us and halted us with their spears.

“Halt, if you wish to register a child to partake in the test, a fine must be payed.” they said.

“How much?” I asked.

“Five Gold.” they said in unison.

“Fine.” without much to say, I paid the fine and the guards in return gave me a green badge that held the symbol of the academy.

“This badge is no ordinary badge. To pass through the gates, the one who will partake in the test must prove his gift to be able to manifest magic. If the badge responds to his mana, it will turn blue, proving his gift to use magic.”

“I see…so this is part of the test?” I asked.

“Yes. Now, show us the gift of mana.” said the guards.

Without much delay, I handed the badge to Theodore…and nervously, he received it.

And just by his touch alone, the badge responded all to easily.

“Incredible…the badge turned blue the moment he received the badge.” said one of the guards.

“This proves his natural talents for manipulating magic…which means, he passes.” said the other guard.

“That’s great.” said Theresa as she hugged Theodore tightly out of excitement.

“With that, you can move on to the next step of the test.” said one of the guards.

“Thanks, but before we move on, can I ask how many participants before us went and already passed this test?” I asked.

“From our records, 28 students have already passed.” they said.

“Huh, thanks.” I said as we moved on to the inside of the academy.

“Why did you ask them that question?” asked Thomas.

“I just wanted to know the number of competition we have in this academy. I mean, as early as it is….28 children have already passed the gates. I’m just curious how their talents compare to Theodore.” I said in pure interest.

“I see.”

Moving on, we approached another tall wooden door that was guarded by an old woman.

“Can I ask for the name of the boy who will participate in the test?” asked the old woman as she stared at Theodore coldly.

“I…T-Theodore Cicial.” said my brother as he took a step forward.

“Hmm, very well. Move on inside.” she said.

“Um, isn’t there supposed to be a test for him to take?” I asked.

“The test will happen inside.” she said.

“What kind of test is it?” I asked.

“That is for the boy to figure out. This academy is a place of learning and self discovery…to ask questions is a privilege given to the students.”

“

“If that’s the case, the test will be taken on the other side of this door, is it okay for my family to pass as well?” asked Theodore.

“.…That’s for you to decide. If you decide to take on this test by your self there is another path your family can take, but know that you must pass this door by your own abilities.” she said.

The old woman was being direct…simply too direct for me to figure out. No instructions were given and already I can feel that depending on his answer, Theodore might be able to fail this exam.

“I-I’ll take them with me.” he said.

The moment he said his answer, the door magically opened by its own and inside it, all we could see was darkness…

“Very well. But be warned, half of those that passed through this door…have gone astray.” she said in warning.

So that meant that on the other side…only half has passed this test.

As for me, I could feel the heavy air inside…

‘Hm, the feeling inside that room is…familiar?’

For some reason, I was familiar with the air circulating inside that room. It made me think of a certain event back when I was working as a mercenary.

It was like…a trap.

“Are you sure about taking us with you Theodore?” I asked him.

“I…I’m sure.”

While the dark room made some of my siblings nervous, Theodore simply made the decision to have all of us go in. I don’t know what his reasons were, but we followed him anyway even if they were afraid.

At the moment we went inside the dark room, I could feel my senses go numb. As if I was half  myself…

As for my siblings, Tilly quickly shouted out of fear.

“Noo! I want out…I want out! “ she screamed.

To make her quiet, Theodore manifested a flame on his hand to brighten the room…but a he did, although he made it visible for us to see each other, we couldn’t see anything else but the floor.

“Theodore…the old lady said that you must pass this dark room by your own abilities. That means that I can’t help you…can you do it?” I asked him.

“…I can.” he said as he gripped his hand tight.

“So what should you do?” I asked.

“All I can see around me is…a dark room. Is it any different from what you guys see?” he asked.

“No. It’s all the same to us as well. We can’t see anything without the light. Everything is in the dark.”

“I see…but other than the dark, do you guys feel something?” he asked.

“…no.” I lied.

Despite the predicament we were in, I can already tell which direction we should move forward. Because of my affinity for the wind, I could feel the airflow inside this dark room…and one place that was giving off a lot of air was towards the west…but if I tell him this, I would go against the rules of this test.

So the family had to rely on his talents alone.

“Okay…if that’s the case…then follow me.” he said.

“Where are we moving?” I asked.

“T-to the west.” he said.

“And why is that?” I asked.

“I just feel something there that’s similar to magic…it’s calling to me.” he said.

As he moved forward, we followed behind him.

“What do you think about the test Theodore? Is it anything like you hoped for?”

“…No, I thought it was more simple. Like we had to take a written test or something, but right from the start, the test had already began…so no, I didn’t expect something like this.”

“Yeah…this just shows you that the magic academy isn’t like the other schools.”

“Hmm, do you think the other test will be just as random as this?” Asked Thomas.

“I don’t know…but if it’s this random, then the only way I can expect something to happen is to not expect for anything to happen at all. Its best to take everything here at face value.” I said.

After a few minutes of walking, we finally came upon a wall.

“Its…just a wall.” said Thomas as the light made it clear to us all.

“No, its not just a wall…its magic.” said Theodore.

Without doubting himself, Theodore looked ahead and manifested his own mana unto the wall. And not a second later, the wall manifested into a door like an illusion being erased.

At that moment, Theodore felt proud and he pushed the door open.

As he did, the natural sunlight received us once again.

“We did it! We got out!” said Thomas as he excitedly stepped out.

From there, we came to witness a few other groups standing around a stage.

Those people look like rich noblemen…and the children who wore badges on their chest looked at us scornfully.

“Those must be the others who passed ahead of us.” I said to Theodore.

“There’s around a dozen of them.” he said nervously.

“…Right.”

As we came out of the second test, a man wearing a black robe approached us.

“Welcome to the Academy, please join the others.” he said as he pointed us to the stage as well.

From there, my siblings nervously approached the noblemen and said nothing. We huddled around our own group and looked towards what awaited us next.

“What do you think the next test is going to be?” asked Thalia.

“I don’t know…but Theodore, be ready.” I said.

“Y-yes…” nervously, Theodore looked around the other children his age. And in return, hey looked at him as if they were angry for some reason. Their brows furrowed at the sight of their eyes meeting one another.

And it wasn’t just Theodore they were mad at, the others were looking at each other as if they were ready to take a life…something this serious made Theodore even more nervous.

So I had to advice him before he breaks down.

“Dude…just calm down. Take deep breathes and try doing something that makes you feel calm. Something that keeps your head busy.” I said.

“B-busy?”

“Yeah.”

“O-okay…”

Without any hesitation, Theodore manifested a fireball around his arm and he started manipulating the shape of the fire…all sorts of shapes were made in that moment…and soon enough, I could feel his heartbeat calm down.

As we waited for the next step of the test to take place, all of a sudden, an old man with a scraggly beard that went down to his knees suddenly appeared in the middle of the stage. He was holding nothing but a stick on his hand and a calculating gaze on his face.

This old man…he looked familiar.

“It’s…the grand wizard!”

“Its him!”

“My god, the grand wizard!” the children began murmuring in excitement as they saw the old man appear on the stage.

As for Theodore, he too noticed the old man, but he wasn’t as excited as the rest. In fact, he was too busy playing with the fire on his hands.

As the Old man stood on the center of the stage, he then began waving his stick in the air and he manifested a bright light that made everyone blind for a second. The moment our sights were returned, we came to realize that me, my siblings and the noblemen were set aside the stage. What remained over at the stage were the participants.

The old man had casted two spells in one go…making it quite a sight to experience.

“With us out of the way, it seems that from here on out…the true test finally begins” I said.

Seeing that we were separated, Theodore quickly turned to us, so I raised my hand to assure him that we were fine.

He showed a calm and soft smile as he witnessed us from the side…

“The first test is simple…one must be capable of materializing their powers into this stone.” as he spoke, he snapped his fingers and a stone appeared in the middle of the stage.

“A stone? It looks weird.” said one student as they saw that the stone looked bluish. Almost like a crystal even.

“Grand Wizard, what kind of stone is this?” they asked.

“A stone that measure’s a mage’s worth. One must think deeply of what this means.” he said.

“It’s probably a stone that measure’s their strength when attacking. The Guild also has that kind of stone in their training grounds.” said one of the noblemen as they looked curiously.

But surely enough, I could immediately tell, it wasn’t the kind of stone everyone was thinking of.

If the test was that easy, this academy would have been just like any other magic academy found in other kingdoms…but that isn’t the case. This academy bore geniuses that doesn’t think in the same way other mages think.

Showing the stone, the grand wizard started calling out names.

“Vanessa Marcelli, come forth.”

As the grand wizard calls a name, a young girl walked up to the stone, nervous of what to do.

“What am I to do?” she asked.

“Touch the stone and it will reveal inside your mind a question that test your abilities.”

“…I understand.” as the girl hesitantly touched the stone, it in turn suddenly shined a bluish light that blinded everyone yet again…

After a second, the light subsided and the girl was left still holding on to the stone…yet what was odd about her form was the fact that she…she had her eyes open.

It was as if she was in shock.

She could barely move her fingers as her hand remained touching the stone. And although she was breathing, she held the expression of someone who was devoured by fear.

“…Hmm, I see. She has failed. Take her away.” said the Grand wizard as he held a look of solemn in his face.

“F-failed?!” the children started murmuring against one another…fearing what it meant.

“H-how come she failed?!” they asked.

Yet in their desperation, the Grand Wizard remained solemn and cold.

“Wait, hold on! My daughter has trained all her life to attend this academy! How has she failed!” spoke one of the noblemen who stood up from the seats.

“…That is for her to tell you once she recovers.” said the Grand Wizard.

“N-no! I can’t accept this!” said the man.

And in anger, he tried marching towards the stage to confront the wizard, but before he could leave the stairs, the grand wizard snapped his finger and in an instant, the man was suddenly devoured by a void.

Obviously, he did not kill him, still…I felt a shiver of cold from how powerful the wizard was.

“Listen to me all of you…you who have come to present yourselves as future successors of magic. Does who are willing, will stand before me to take the test…and those who are not, leave now!” he said as his voice echoed across the stage and seats.

“This is the only test that you must take to prove yourself before everyone. Touch the stone…face what is inside it…and come back to me with the expression that shows your dedication towards magic!”

“…” Everyone felt silent to his call…and Theodore most of all, he was truly afraid.

To the remaining 13 participants, they all felt fear towards the stone.