Regnum Aetern: Dual Rebirth

Chapter 168: Practical Exam

"The rules are simple!" The woman announced as she pointed at the stone armor. "This is going to be the opponent the applicants are going to face. There is no time limit, and the grading will be done based on the amount of damage the applicant can do to this construct."

And so, the practical test began.

Evangeline was rather excited at first, wondering how the applicants would perform in the test and how they would compare to her, but that excitement soon turned into disappointment.

The academy staff would call out names, and the applicant they called would soon arrive on stage. But contrary to what she had expected, most of the applicants had barely managed to scratch the stone armor.

Their control over the mana was even worse than what she had managed to learn by herself. Not only that, they were using the mana totally wrong.

On Phase One, the control over mana is mediocre, and the mana pool is too small and runs out extremely quickly, so the most efficient way to utilize one’s mana would be to release it in short bursts right before landing an attack. Sadly, the commoners tried to cover their fists and legs with mana while landing an attack, which didn’t work.

The stone armor would move and attack too, but those attacks were as slow as a grandma crossing the road. Yet somehow, some commoners were still knocked out by those attacks.

Evangeline had a deep frown on her face.

’Just what am I even watching?’

She nudged Adrian.

"Adi, it doesn’t make sense. How can they not dodge those slow attacks?"

Adrian replied flatly with his gaze still focused on the applicant attacking the stone armor.

"Its attacks aren’t slow. They appear slow to you because you are on a much higher Phase than them. You probably didn’t notice it, but ascending to a higher Phase doesn’t just enhance the body and the mana capacity; it also reinforces your mind, making it sharper and quicker. That is why you have a far easier time following the stone armor’s movements."

’Is that so...?’

She shifted her attention back to the center of the arena.

The same thing continued. An applicant would come when they were called, would try fruitlessly for a while, and would give up. There were some nobles in between who actually managed to do some damage. But they weren’t all that impressive either.

It was frustrating to watch.

And considering how many commoners there were, it wasn’t going to end anytime soon.

Clenching her fist in frustration, Evangeline grumbled.

"Ah, hell, when is my name going to be called? I wanna be done with it and return to the inn!"

Adrian ignored her grumble, while Ravian replied in an awkward tone.

"Most of the people are probably waiting to watch you and Adrian, and many of them would probably leave after watching you. After all, they must be just as frustrated as you. So I would imagine that the two of you will be called near the end to keep the audience from leaving."

Evangeline ground her teeth as she heard that.

"That’s not fair!"

In the end, she chose to take a short nap.

"Ouch!"

She suddenly felt a sharp pain on her forehead, which woke her up. When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Adrian retracting his hand.

She instantly understood that the sharp pain in her forehead that woke her up was caused by Adrian giving her a flick on the forehead. She was about to give him a light punch as revenge, but he suddenly pointed ahead.

As Evangeline turned her gaze in the direction he was pointing, she saw the girl with the navy blue hair—the only daughter of House Mythrien—standing on the elevated platform, facing the stone armor.

Evangeline’s lingering drowsiness was instantly cleared. Adrian’s dull voice came from the side.

"From the announcement, her name seems to be Saria Velcyra Mythrien."

On the platform, the girl still had her eyes closed, yet she casually sidestepped to dodge the incoming blow from the stone armor. She then raised her hand and channeled her mana. Moments later, a giant axe made of platinum materialized in her hand.

The girl swung down the axe, dividing the stone armor cleanly in two.

As the stone armor crumbled into more pieces, the girl calmly turned around and began walking away as her platinum axe dissipated into wisps of mana.

The audience suddenly went silent at her display of power. It was understandable since even the nobles before her had only managed to add a few holes into the armor at most.

Moments later, the silence was replaced by loud whispers and cheers.

Evangeline heard Adrian mutter in a low voice.

"I see... so a metal-related derived element of the materialization series."

’Huh? I understood the derived helmet part, but what is materialization series?’

Though her mind was soon distracted by the name that was announced next.

"Next is Adrian Caelis Ravenshade!"

The crowd cheered as Adrian’s name was announced.

He stood up from his seat and, using his Phase Three strength, lept out of the seating area and landed below. Soon, he reached the elevated platform and stood before the shattered remains of the suit of stone armor.

The academy staff channeled a spell and restored the stone armor back to its original state, clear of any cracks or scratches.

Adrian stood expressionless, staring at the stone armor. Evangeline and Ravian watched him intently. The same was most likely true for all the people sitting here.

And then, ‌one of the academy staff announced.

"Begin!"

The moment her voice rang, the stone armor pulled its gauntlet back and ran toward him. Adrian, meanwhile, calmly raised his hand and pointed it at the stone armor.

Moments later, a starlit black sphere materialized in front of his pointed finger. But instead of shooting it at the stone armor, Evangeline noticed him channeling even more mana into it, causing the starlit black sphere to grow in size.

The stone armor was almost upon him, only half a meter away. Adrian finally launched the starlit black sphere—now the size of a watermelon—as it collided with the armor.

The moment it made contact, the starlit black sphere grew in size, far larger than she had ever seen. It devoured the stone armor entirely and suddenly vanished, leaving a small, perfectly hemispherical crater on the platform.

The audience once again fell silent. But this silence felt much quieter than the previous time.

Adrian calmly turned around and walked off the elevated platform. The eyes of the audience followed until the very moment he returned to his seat.

Evangeline smiled brightly while giving him a thumbs-up.

"Good job, Adi, you were very cool back there!"

Adrian frowned at her compliment and didn’t say anything. Just then, Ravian chimed in.

"She is right, you know. That was quite the display."

Adrian ignored him too, looking at the crater he had left on the elevated platform. Moments later, that crater was fixed by the academy staff, returning the platform to its previous state.

There were several other applicants after that, too, and then finally...

"Next is Evangeline Florivelle."