Chapter 41 Fizzle

Trying to ignore the several kids that continued to try and talk to him, Lyrian began to eat once again.

Although his mood was now slightly disturbed by the people coming up to him, the food still tasted as good as ever.

Once finished, he entered several extra plates of food into the new storage ring that he received from the magic potential test and returned back to camp, as other people also began leaving the cookout and going back to their camps as well.

As soon as he stepped into the door and entered the living area of the camp, he noticed a boy sitting down on the floor near his own room, sharpening a long katana.

He wore clothes that resembled Lyrian's except maybe even a bit worse quality, had short, buzz-cut hair, and had a somewhat serious expression on his face.

"Oh... you're my roommate right?" Lyrian said, deciding to introduce himself to avoid any awkward situations between the person he was going to live with for the next several hours, if not more.

The boy looked him up and down, not showing too much interest or emotion, before standing up and turning around, heading back into his room, and slamming the door shut.

Lyrian stood there, utterly perplexed. "What the...?" he thought, bewildered by the boy's response.

Sighing, he resigned himself to the probability of more awkward encounters and proceeded to enter his room, placing his belongings on the table.

Lyrian decided to practice a spell that he had been trying to perfect for quite a while now–throughout the days that he waited for the entrance exam ticket to Anaviotis.

ραndαsnοvεl.cοm The idea was to concentrate his mana on a specific body part, be it his leg or his fist, to significantly amplify his attacks and fortify his defense in those areas.

He had been inspired by observing the Hobgoblin, the original user of the skill, and now sought to perfect it before the entrance exam at Anaviotis.

Taking a deep breath, Lyrian closed his eyes and focused his mind on the task at hand. First, he used Enhance to infuse his entire body with mana.

Then, he visualized the mana flowing from his body to his tightly clenched fist, the designated focal point. Gradually, the mana coursed through his meridians, obediently following his mental command.

His palm grew warmer with each passing moment, and eventually, all the enhanced mana converged in his fist. This stage had been reached before, but Lyrian had consistently faltered afterward.

Determined not to fail this time, he squeezed his fist tighter and unleashed a punch, causing the mana-infused strike to surge forth with heightened speed and power.

However, as his fist flew through the air, the mana dispersed throughout his body once again--a fizzled attempt.

'Another fail,' He thought to himself. Confused, and exhausted, he lay on the bed. 'I wanted to perfect this by the time the entrance exam actually started, and I had to do some real fighting. But it looks like that's not going to happen.'

Not wanting to waste any more of his precious time to sleep, Lyrian dozed off right there. He knew full well that even if he tried for the entire night, by the way, things were going, he was going to fail to execute the spell properly.

...

The next morning arose, and as magic horns seemingly sounded from the heavens, Lyrian was suddenly jerked awake.

Looking outside, he realized that it was nearly noon already. After quickly scrambling to get ready, he left his room and noticed his roommate about to leave through the door.

"Hey wait–" Lyrian began to shout when the boy stepped outside and slammed the door shut on him.

All Lyrian wanted to do was know his name, but it seemed that he wasn't going to be able to learn it anytime soon.

He shrugged it off and began to make his way out and toward the stage located in the middle of the dome once again.

As walked there with hundreds of other kids surrounding him, he noticed where the horn sounds were coming from.

Each guard looked to be blowing horns as loud as they could, and Lyrian had no doubt that those were magically infused horns, seeing as how loud they were.

Finally reaching the stage, Lyrian settled into his seat, noticing that the curtains were already open, revealing an empty stage.

No one occupied the sides either. Once everyone was situated, a vibrant feather materialized in the distance, growing closer as it approached.

The feather, resembling a peacock plume, proved to be massive, almost the size of a modern-day car.

It captured the students' attention as Julius appeared atop it, exclaiming, "Examinees! Follow me to the preliminary testing arenas!" With those words, he ascended into the sky once more.

Without a moment's hesitation, the students leaped from their seats and dashed toward Julius. Curiously, Lyrian observed them running at full speed, their faces brimming with determination.

'Huh?' He thought to himself as he began to walk towards where Julius was flying, far in the distance. 'Why are these kids trying so hard?'

"Do not forget! Those of you who arrive at the preliminary arena's first will receive a prize that will undoubtedly help you! Never let your guard down kids, the entrance exam started the moment you got on those ships!" Julius suddenly hailed from the clouds.