Chapter 68 Entrance Exam [2]

'How… How did she cast a spell without using a chant?'

Lykos had an equally bewildered expression on his face, but quickly composed himself.

'When a mage becomes a fully fletched 6th circle mage, they unlock the ability to cast magic without a chant.'

Arvell turned to Lykos, with a look of visible confusion.

'How can Elantrya have two 6th circle mages? Doesn't every country only have just one?'

Lykos shook his head.

'She's not a 6th circle mage. Only a few rare geniuses can comprehend the nature of chantless magic before the 6th circle. I believe her to be one of those few people.'

Arvell was tempted to check her status information, but he knew that he wasn't strong enough to see.

At his current level, he couldn't see the status screen of anyone at the 5th circle or higher.

Which was why he wasn't able to see the status information of Zen's parents or even Rupert.

Arvell pulled out the pen he had brought with him and looked at the test laid out in front of him.

'Let's get this thing finished.'

***

Arvell followed the group of students exiting the theatre hall as they headed towards a large rectangular building which supposedly contained a tool to measure their magic circle ranks.

While most of the examinees carried defeated expressions on their faces, Arvell was too busy trying to avoid being noticed by the crowd.

He found travelling in-between examinations to be much harder than the actual examinations.

Arvell found the exam to be nothing short of a walk in the park.

It was so absurdly easy for him, that he spent half of the time sleeping.

He didn't even need Lykos's 'assistance' while writing the exam.

Arvell was completely prepared for it.

Especially the questions on different herbs and elixir effects.

After studying with Lykos, he gained a firm understanding of almost all alchemical herbs and elixirs.

It wasn't even fair to compare him with other people his age.

Understanding this, Arvell didn't want to stand out too much, so he intentionally answered some questions wrong, aiming for around an 80-85% on the exam.

What he considered would be the 'mean average' of the passing students.

After he entered the next examination building, he was instructed to stand in line.

It seemed that they would be using some kind of measuring tool to find out their magical circle rank.

Since it was going to measure their mana cores, normally Arvell would have a problem.

Since Arvell didn't have a mana core in the first place, it wasn't like the machine could measure it.

After all, it wasn't designed to measure Aether and Nether.

However, Arvell didn't seem too bothered with it.

He wasn't the type to go into a problem without a plan after all.

As reached Arvell's turn, he confidently walked up and placed his hand on the measuring device.

The measuring device was shaped like a large glass ball and was designed to light up when someone touched it.

The degree of light intensity was dependent on the strength of their mana core.

At least for someone who actually had mana in their body…

Meaning that for someone like Arvell it wouldn't light up.

However, that wasn't the case.

As soon as Arvell placed his hand on the device, it lit up dimly.

"A fully formed mana core, but only at the 1st stage of the first circle…"

One of the attendants looked at the ball and wrote down Arvell's results.

After finishing his measurement, Arvell turned around to leave.

With a small mischievous smile plastered on his face.

Even Lykos was impressed with Arvell's show of ingenuity.

'Using warp in such a way was practically brilliant!'

What Arvell had done was something that required immense control and precision.

Something that couldn't be easily pulled off, if it wasn't for the rigorous training he had to endure.

***

A FEW MINUTES AGO

When Arvell entered the examination building he saw the examiners measuring the examinee's mana cores with several large crystal ball-like instruments.

'Lykos, do you happen to know what those are?'

Having seen them numerous times in the past, Lykos nodded his head.

'Those are devices capable of measuring the mana core of whoever touches it.'

'So it only measures the magic circle of whoever touches it. How much of their body needs to touch it?' Arvell asked.

'Hmm… I think just a little should be enough.'

After hearing Lykos's reply, Arvell's smile grew into a mischievous grin.

'So can't I just have someone else touch it on my behalf?'

Lykos read Arvell's thoughts before nodding his head.

'Your idea seems a little risky though. If it fails, you know what will happen right?'

'It's not like we have any other option.'

'That is true.'

Arvell began looking at all of the nearby students using Appraisal, in order to get a general idea of the Average student's capabilities.

He then selected a nearby examinee who could be classified among the 80th percentile in the examinee group.

Since this was an incredibly competitive examination, he needed to choose someone he was sure would pass.

Someone who would pass, but barely.

When it was Arvell's turn to place his hand on the crystal ball, he placed his hand only a little further away from the ball.

Close enough that it looked like his hand was touching the ball, but not close enough to actually touch it.

Arvell calmed himself down and focused on the surrounding Aether particles.

[Warp]

Arvell connected a small portal between the crystal ball and the hand of the examinee he chose earlier.

Making the other examinee's hand touch the crystal ball in Arvell's stead.

Effectively fooling the device.

Feeling a foreign sensation on his hand, the examinee pulled his hand out of his pocket to take a look at it.

But nothing was there.

While he was slightly confused, the examinee didn't pay it any further mind.

He chalked up that sensation to be nothing more than a byproduct of exam stress.

'I need to pull myself together! I can't risk failing due to something like stress!'

The examinee slapped his cheeks to wake himself up and glared at the crystal ball with renewed vigour.

'I will pass!'

Meanwhile, the actual culprit walked past the examinee with a mischievous grin etched on his face.