In the end, out of the hundreds of candidates only around a hundred of them were able to pass. Yet even then the test is still not finished. This number would still go down because of the next tests
Those that failed were asked to go home and they were escorted. Many of them instantly became depressed and some even begged that they would do better
However, if the academy were to give second chances to everyone just because they begged desperately then it would not take that long before the academy has more students than it could handle
In the end, only around a hundred people were left in the arena to continue their tests
"We will proceed immediately to our next test" the Instructor announced hurriedly as soon as the examinees that failed were escorted out
She gives people the impression that she can't wait to finish her job. Well, why wouldn't she?
The Instructor felt like she had lost more face today than her entire life by helping a candidate blatantly cheat. Her reputation would definitely suffer because of this
The new and old students that learned of what she did would look at her in a new negative light. Many would definitely have ill will against her
As such, she wants nothing but to finish her work and vanish from everyone's sight
"The next test would be a one-on-one battle between all of you. But don't be afraid. The ones that would be defeated wouldn't necessarily fail. As long as you are able to show that you are great at fighting you still have the chance to pass even if you are defeated. I will evaluate your battle skills and decide who passes and who doesn't"
"Remember, Tryst Academy is an Academy that mostly caters to Battle Mages. As such, it is expected for a Tryst Academy student to be skillful at fighting. This test will help you show just how good you are at fighting"
With a wave of the Instructor's wand, the examinees found the ground they are standing on splitting into multiple cubes. These cubes then moved and took the examinees outside of the battle arena itself and had them stay on the chairs
After that, the cubes returned to the battle arena and they floated all over it
"Of course, this is no normal one-on-one battle. Battle Mages are expected to fight our enemies, the magic beasts, and other threats. Those fights wouldn't happen on a proper battlefield. You might find yourself battling against magic beasts in different terrain. Compared to the really harsh terrains in the wild, this one is still pretty tamed"
The cubes start to move randomly and sometimes they collided with each other. The examinees have to fight while dodging or using those cubes to their advantage on uneven ground. The cubes after all came from the ground
"This will be the second to the last test. If you pass you will be guided to another area where the last test will be held which was the written examination. Don't underestimate the written examination. If you fail the exam the academy would not accept you" the Instructor continued and with another wave of her wand a black box appeared in front of her
"The match up will be picked randomly" she said before putting her hand inside the box to take two name tags
"Rezen Virion vs Narrow Eye" she announced and two people stepped out as their names were called
"It's that guy again!"
"Fuck, this is cheating!"
"He's a 3rd cycle mage but his opponent is just at the 2nd cycle! This is not fair!"
"Look at that name- Narrow Eye, is that guy a lowly tribesman?"
"Shit, he is really lucky. Those ignorant tribesmen don't know much about cultivation and they are weak"
"As expected of that nepo baby his match was to his advantage"
Rezen and the man named Narrow Eye went down on the arena amidst the discussion between the examinees
This match was totally decided for Rezen's sake. Although the Instructor said that the match up would be picked randomly who would trust her?
Rezen is in the 3rd cycle and he is even a Deviant Mage. As for his opponent, that man is just at the 2nd cycle and is not even a Deviant Mage. It would be a shame to Rezen if even with all these advantages he was still defeated
"Hmph" Narrow Eye, a man that must be named because of the characteristic of his eyes was clearly displeased being matched against Rezen
The Instructor might have said that they would still evaluate the performance of the defeated and decide if they will pass or not but in the end those that won and has a higher cultivation rank still has the advantage
Let's say for example a 1st cycle and 3rd cycle Junior Mages fought against each other. That 3rd cycle Mage could defeat the 1st cycle mage in a single move. If that is the outcome then how could the 1st cycle mage shows that he was good at fighting and the only reason he loses was because of the difference in their cultivation ranks?
Not to mention, tribesmen faced discrimination from city people. Now that Narrow Eye is to face what he thinks is a city people with a pretty huge backing he was clearly far from pleased
Rezen can only shrug his shoulders. With his Suppla Grapes soaked into the special potion, it's only a matter of time before Rezen's talent overshadowed the talents of all of his future schoolmates
The academy might not have a student that could reach the Great Mage Rank but Rezen is confident that he could reach that rank in the future after he finished digesting the potion
They can look down on him now but in the future, they would definitely bow against him
After the signal was given by the Instructor, the two started their match
Narrow Eye is a Body Mage and just like most Body Mages he charged at Rezen to close the distance between the two of them
This mage's hands glowed with red color as he grew long and sharp nails. His palms also grew yellow fur and he slapped a floating cube that blocked his way
The cube changes its direction after receiving that much force and it approached Rezen
Rezen tried to control the cube but he found that the cube was not budging. It seems like while the cube's movement direction could be altered upon receiving outside force it was impossible for the examinees to directly control them
If not then the mages that are skilled at earth-type magic would have an edge
Since Rezen cannot directly control the cube he opted to wave his hand to form some vines
These vines wrapped themselves on a cube and Rezen threw that cube
The cube that received Rezen and Narrow Eye's force met and collided against each other causing a loud colliding sound to echo
However, it seems like the cubes were enchanted by magic and they didn't break despite that collision
Not expecting to defeat Rezen in a single attack, Narrow Eye continue on his way but soon he became flabbergasted
The examinees already expected the moving cubes to hinder them but... this is too much!
Narrow Eye finds it hard to approach Rezen because the nearby cubes were constantly on his way
As for Rezen... not even a single cube was approaching him as if he has some sort of deadly disease
At this point, Rezen thought that he would already be numb from any embarrassment but he overestimated himself
This is still embarrassing. No one would believe it if they were told that Narrow Eye was merely unlucky while Rezen was lucky
This was simply foul play! The cubes are moving in a way that benefits Rezen while hindering his opponent as if the difference in their rank was not already unfair
"T-this! T-these damn cubes!" Narrow Eye raged and out of anger he went on all fours
This time his feet also grew sharp nails and fur. His speed exploded thanks to that and he once again tried to approach Rezen
He was increasing his speed just for the cubes to also increase their movement speed
"F-fuck!"
Narrow Eye took a leap like a cat in hopes that he would reach Rezen before the cubes could hinder him
However, as soon as he did that the cubes moved and blocked his way. Their sudden speed-up was out of his expectation and he don't have enough time to dodge
In the end, the poor mage slammed his own body on a floating cube and he was bounced back with a bleeding head
"T-this... this is just too much..."
On the outside Rezen was completely stoic but on the inside, he was wishing that the ground would open up and swallow him alive to escape from all the embarrassment he had suffered today
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