"That's one pass and two failures."
Wouldn't this mean a score of 33%?! So far, Jack was failing the entrance exams HARD. Then again, this wasn't anything new to him.
In his previous life, how many times had he gotten his homework eaten by a dog, a donkey, or even a tiger once! But so what? He still had more tests!
He showed incredible fighting spirit, completely ignoring the VIP test guy who seemed like he wanted to bust his head open for "cheating". He simply followed after the Headmaster.
As the latter brought him to another room, Jack felt discouraged. Why?! Just why? Why was it yet another boulder?! This one was clearly also magical, its emerald surface shimmering.
"Let me guess… the Boulder of Omnipresence?!" Jack sighed.
"Nope. It's not everywhere. It's only in this courtyard. Otherwise, we wouldn't have bothered coming here, wouldn't we?" the Headmaster happily joked.
He couldn't wait to see what this kid would do to pass this trial! Would he find a way out, or would he do it legit? How interesting!
"This one's easy too. Just put your hand on it, and give it your Mana. The more you put in, the better your score. Simple, right?"
"That's it? That feels awfully familiar…."
Jack sighed as he prepared himself mentally. This time, if yet another Appraisal God tried to devour him, he'd bloody quit this goddamn school on his own!
He approached a trembling hand… DING!
[Found an Offering Stone! Fill It?]
Offering stone? What the heck was that?! Offering kinda rhymed with sacrificing, didn't it? What if this thing was another baleful entity trying to steal his soul?
"Old Ghost, what's your expert opinion?"
"Pfft— Oh my god! Is that what I think it is?! They left that at a Magical Academy?!" He couldn't contain his laughter, one that definitely had very dark undertones.
"Should I be wary? Is this thing dangerous?!"
"Dangerous? No, CRAZY dangerous! This thing will devour humans left and right as soon as it comes out! But don't worry; it's a long stretch from hatching."
Hatching? So this thing was an egg? What kind of creature could be contained in something like that? A dragon, perhaps? Still, that would be a thought for later.
Jack set his hand on it and…
[Draining Mana Initiating!]
He jumped in shock. This thing was bloody greedy: it wanted ALL his Mana! It reminded him of his Evil God's Body without the actual leveling-ups. No, this was worse…
Mana Value 57%, 42%, 35%. In a matter of seconds, he had lost over 20% of his Mana! This thing wasn't just greedy, it was horrendously so!
Jack turned livid.
If he lacked Mana… how would the Headmaster react to seeing his baby self? Would he alert the Flame Lord? Perhaps he'd agree to keep it a secret? Either way, I'd make a huge fuss! No, not like this!
Could he find a way to refill his Mana instead?! At this moment, he suddenly remembered the Mana Devouring technique he had. He could totally use that to save himself!
Except… what Mana would he even devour?!
Treasure —> He had none on him
His Loyal Foxes —> They had been left at Academy's Entrance, and he needed physical contact to borrow their Mana!
That's when his gaze finally settled on a certain invisible being. The Old Ghost wasn't there, yet Jack could feel him nonetheless, thanks to how familiar they were with one another.
"Old Ghost, how about…"
"NO WAY! I'm not sharing my Mana with that darned thing! Do you know how many students I lost in the day to one of its kind? It fucked my reputation!"
He was adamant. Had he been visible, he would have been pouting, huffing, and perhaps even giving him a furious glare. Yet, now wasn't the time to bicker.
He had to convince the Ghost ASAP before he was drained completely!
"Think about it! If I'm forced to pay reparations, I won't have the energy to grow stronger and look for a way to reform your body! Don't help me; help the you that needs my help!"
Jack inwardly thundered, hearing the Old Ghost gasping in confusion. Where the heck had this student of his learned that?! What a roundabout way to express himself?!
"No time to think. Are you in or in?" Jack urged.
There followed the longest silence of Jack's life. He felt like a juice box getting drunk silly. But just as he thought he had failed, an incredibly profound mental sigh resounded.
That's when the Mana transfer began…
— FLOW! FLOW! —
It was so damn powerful that Jack opened his eyes wide in shock and pain. This Mana was so dark, so mighty, so goddamn UNSTABLE! Hot potato? This was hot Mana!
As for actually using this Mana? No way in hell!
He felt like a toddler with a rocket launcher in his hands. Actually, this wasn't too far off from the truth. Luckily, he didn't need to use it, but simply hold it.
— Trembling! SHAKING! —
Sensing the foreign Mana's arrival, the emerald stone shook with happiness. Then without waiting for anyone's permission, it gobbled it all!
It didn't care that it was chaotic, it didn't care that it came from a ghost either, it was HUNGRY!
That's when gasps resounded from the nearby spectators. Just as Jack had seemed to be about to keel over… he had suddenly regained all colors!
He had gone from mummy-looking to full of life. Now that he wasn't getting his Mana drained, he was perfectly fine and rosy. Sadly, the same couldn't be said for the Old Ghost…
"DAMMIT! You owe me one, kid. No, you owe me tons!" He silently screamed in his hear, his voice trembling than a trapeze artist on crack. A scream that became more and more silent.
Then the Egg stopped draining, seemingly having had enough. But...
"Old Ghost?" No reply whatsoever. Jack could barely feel him through their link, as it seemed he had returned to his vessel to recuperate.
This had been such a damn roller-coaster! The strange thing was that the Headmaster seemed utterly oblivious to it too. Then again, he was an Alloymancer, right?
Ghosts had no relation to the Metallic element at all! This was probably why their teamwork had passed under the radar. By now, he was even giving Jack a thumbs up.
"Wow! You did this wonderfully! Now, 2 fails, and 2 passes. Doesn't this mean that the last test will determine it all? Let's get going, shall we?" He amicably said.
But for some reason, the VIP test guy seemed very expectant…
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l