The next few weeks before the exams, the trio studied and trained hard. Even with Lucy being a year ahead, Lucius was able to understand and explain the subject matter to both. In regards to practical, Lucy on her end managed to teach Lucius another variant of [Stone Fist] which was [Earth Spike]. Instead of forming around his hand, he could summon from the ground a sharp spike of Earth, impaling targets. It was harder to execute due to distance but it granted Lucius a much needed ranged attack.

Wilfred had progressed rapidly as well. He already understood much of the fundamentals of magic. Part of the complexity of magic was comprehension; one had to know how the magic was supposed to act. The same concepts as science applied in regards to the laws of physics. For example, knowing how water had a liquid, solid and gaseous form as well as how the molecules being accelerated or slowed affected whether water was frozen or boiling, allowed Wilfred to develop those kinds of spells.

Poring over the library books for a long time and using language to form a link between the concept and execution coupled with watching Lucius and Lucy spar, Wilfred was able to learn how to use [Wind Blade], [Ice Spike] & [Barrier]. Knowing he had a stronger affinity to Alteration and Wind magic, Wilfred tried to focus on magic he had the most affinity with. When he looked at his status now, it showed this.

Wilfred Lamarche [Lv. 6]

Health: 55/55

Mana: 6044/6044

Str: 7

Con: 9

Agi: 7

Dex: 5

Int: 50

Wil: 44

Wis: 53

Lck:???

Skills & Spells: [Analyze], [Wind Aura], [Construct Artifact], [Barrier], [Wind Blade], [Ice Spike]

Aside from the training and studying, they also did a bit of sparing. It seems that the sparing was what gave the most exp and allowed them all to level up a bit.

Much as he tried, he couldn't cast the spells without saying it out loud. He had read that masters could simply at will use their spells with a thought. He had hoped that he could as well but to no avail. It wasn't such a deal breaker, it wasn't ideal in combat though, as one's opponent would know what spell you're using. As silly as it may seem too, Wilfred didn't like saying the spells out loud. He was a grown man and felt it was childish, like kids playing games.

Another thing that bothered him was not knowing exactly what each skill and spell did. After asking Lucius and getting no answer, he resolved to ask the Headmaster. Alas, that also had been a dead-end. An ability that could analyze every skill or spell would be insanely powerful from what Primus had told him.

Wilfred then devoted himself to learn as most as he could about how his spells worked and every detail about them. From his experiments, he found out that his [Wind Blade] was effective only up to 8 feet. The cutting power of the spell being reduced to a butter knife past that point. As far as [Barrier] was concerned, it could negate two of Lucy's [Shock] presently.

Mana was also something Wilfred now worried about. His [Create Artifact] used up a ton of it, only leaving him with around 1000 left after. He experimented a bit, the usage seemed to vary every time, likely depending on the quality of the finished product. He stored the other 3 artifacts in his room.

For his other spells, [Barrier] took 75, [Ice Spike] a mere 35 and [Wind Blade] a staggering 92. From his spars with Lucy, his Wind Blade completely shattered her [Barrier Lv1] and it took 2 [Ice Spike] otherwise, making [Wind Blade] more costly to use but more effective. His [Wind Aura] slowly drained his Mana by 2 per second when active. His rate of replenishment was close to 1 per second rounding up. Thankfully, he had a large pool of resources available. In truth, this was one of the reasons he was considered a prodigy. His very high Mana pool was many times what a student of his level would be.

The time of the exams was soon upon them. In the largest room of the academy, the instructors arranged some 100 chairs and tables to serve as desks for the students.

Wilfred, Lucius and Lucy waited outside with the other students. When the time came, they would come inside and be seated. The written exam wasn't overly complicated but made sure the students knew of the fundamental principles of magic.

Many of the top students with great practical scores simply didn't even show up, passing with solely their great aptitude. Those tended to belong to the noble faction. The kingdom could hardly afford to deny them and as such had forced the academy to accept this for fear of a shortage of mages.

Mages were vital and acted as a second line of defense. The simple presence of them discouraged the other kingdoms to invade lest they suffer massive losses to their regular troops. While mages played an important role, in this world fighters also existed at a power beyond human comprehension.

Potential also existed among normal people that increased their limits to absurd levels. The power to crush boulders with one's fists and speed that defied physics. These martial heroes were part of the first line of defense of a kingdom alongside the army. Often these heroes rose up from the army, having survived many battles and slain countless foes.

Wilfred was a bit sad that he wasn't one of those. Being a mage was great but as a soldier he felt that martial heroes might have been more suited to him. Lucius woke him from his thoughts with a small push of an elbow, the students were finally being admitted into the room.

Sitting down, Wilfred waited and then turned over the exam along with everyone else. After all the studying they had done it wasn't that hard. The longest part was dealing with using ink and writing with a quill. Lucius was the first one finished and Wilfred was not long after. Lucy was one of the last students, taking around twice the time at one hour. The group met up in the fields outside afterwards.

"So, how do you all feel about the exam?" Wilfred asked, breaking the ice.

"Well, that was underwhelming." replied Lucius.

"I'm glad we did that studying." Was Lucy's response.

"I think I did alright personally. So while we're here and everyone else is taking off for the day likely, there's no scheduled classes so I thought we might as well do some last minute practice with magic before they announce what the practical exam will be."

Both nodded in agreement and they spent the rest of the day shooting targets and doing mock fighting until nightfall.

Next Morning

All students headed down to the hall where they did the exams the day before. Wilfred noticed many new faces, likely those with strong skills that opted not to take the exams. All the students across all years were present, the exams all taken place in the same week. It was done this way since many teachers also taught to different levels of students, which would have conflicted with the schedules.

Having worked tirelessly all night, the results for the exams were already in. On a large wooden board, the teachers had listed all the students taking the written exam and ranked them. Coming as no surprise to anyone, Lucius ended up 3rd, securing a spot in the prestigious top 5. Wilfred had done well too, being 12th and coming in the second group which consisted of the top 25. Lucy had passed, finishing 42nd out of 91 entries in her group, surprising even herself.

In order to graduate to the next year, students have to score 55 total points from both exams. For being in the top 5 of the written exam, Lucius already accumulated 40 points. As for Wilfred, being in the top 25 granted him 30 points and a mere 15 for Lucy. With only the top 25 receiving the most points, the highly skilled students tended to ignore or skip it entirely and focus purely on their practical magic, as more points were available there.

They also had posted the practical exam next to the written exam results and as Lucy had predicted, this time it was also a sparring tournament. According to her, there would be a total of 4 fights per participant and each win would yield 20 points. So at the very least, if one had completed the written exam and passed it, they would need 2 wins and 3 wins if they had not.

Seeing Headmaster Primus off to the side, Wilfred approached him.

"Good morning. I had a question if you don't mind."

The Headmaster nodded and gestured for Wilfred to proceed with his question.

"So, for these battles. I can't use my weapon can I?"

"Ahhh yes, that issue. Professor Ranit had come to the council with his concerns regarding this. Due to the nature of the item, it would be unfair for you to simply bring it into the fight. All the rich students could get enchanted equipment otherwise and it would be a lopsided fight."

Wilfred thought for a few moments and got an idea.

"I agree. I'll think of something else then, thank you."

Before Wilfred could leave, Primus stopped him.

"By the way Wilfred. Word has gotten around about you. You're starting to attract a lot of notice. Many factions have expressed interest in you. They'll be watching these exams closely."

"Thanks for the warning. Say, how will these matches proceed?" Wilfred questioned.

"They'll explain everything shortly, just hang tight." Came the reply before Primus waved goodbye and left.

Wilfred then looked into the crowd, trying to find Lucius and Lucy. After a few moments, he managed to spot Lucy. She was in the back, surrounded by a few people who seemed to be speaking rather harshly with her. Wilfred made his way over, weaving through the crowd. It was one instance where his size actually provided a benefit for him. As he got closer, he began to be able to hear what was being said.

One of the older girls, likely around 16 or 17 and part of the third years was addressing her.

"Hah, you think you'll pass this time around? You should know you're good for nothing. You should just go home, you're lucky we can't fight with the second years, else I'd make you fail again."

Lucy mostly just stood there, taking it all in without replying. Finally arriving next to them, Wilfred pulled on Lucy's hand.

"Hey, uhhh...Professor Ranit wants to see you, it seemed urgent."

The girls looked down at Wilfred, seeing only a small boy and scoffed, leaving their victim but not without getting a last word in.

"Oh by the way sister, cousin Irena is hoping to see you in the matches this year. Don't disappoint now."

She kissed her sister goodbye by blowing her a kiss, the sarcasm was apparent. Once the gang is out of sight, Wilfred grabs Lucy's attention and questions her.

"What was that about? Oh it's not real about Ranit, I just wanted to pull you out of there."

Lucy sighed, dropping her arms to her sides like she was giving up.

"It's a long story that I'd rather not get into right now. Oh, hey look over there! They're putting up another board."

Where the rankings were posted for the written exam, two more instructors were now putting up a wooden board that split the groups into pairs for matches. There were 4 sections, for each year of students.

One of the teachers cast [Fly] and flew up a bit in order to get everyone's attention.

"Alright listen up! Matches start in 2 hours, we'll begin with the first years and move on up. There will be a total of 3 fights per student, scoring 25 points per win. Proceed in an orderly fashion to the fields outside."

Hmmm, that was different Wilfred thought. Lucy's information was mostly correct but it seemed they had changed it this time around. The crowd proceeded to move outside, where the matches would take part. There were 87 first years, 114 second years, 76 third years and 39 fourth years.

A few of the third and fourth years stayed to watch the matches but most left as it would be a few hours until anything from their group would happen. The same teacher that had made the announcement stood outside flying again.

"[Amplify Voice]! Listen! So rules for newcomers. First hit to deal damage wins it. We don't have a bloodbath out here. There will be a magic dampening field erected and the effect of spells will be lessened so you don't kill yourselves accidentally. I'll call out two names, you'll proceed to the center and when you hear the start signal, you'll fight."

Wilfred noticed the Headmaster standing close to the entrance and saw him cast a spell. It was too far to see or hear but he had a thought that it was the dampening field. The teacher waited for a few moments and then spoke again after making visual contact with Primus.

"First up, Agara and Thomen."

Wilfred watched attentively, this was the first mage fight he would be witnessing after all.

Both students, first years naturally, stepped forward from the large circle the crowd had become on the field outside and approached the middle. They stood about a dozen feet from one another and waited. The teacher than used an explosive spell with short range, creating a large bang that echoed loudly.

Both students then proceeded to cast a [Barrier] followed swiftly by an [Analyze]. Agara then began trying to make some distance between them, running backwards and shooting an [Ice Spike] at Thomen. Thomen dodged out of the way, rolling on the ground and immediately up and running again, trying to get closer to Agara. Curious, Wilfred decided to also throw up an [Analyze], seeing that already quite a few in the crowd were doing so as well. The fight had only been going on for a dozen seconds but already Agara was rather low on Mana.

Agara Thorburn [Lv. 5]

HP: 40/40

Mana: 146/256

Str: 4

Con: 5

Agi: 8

Dex: 9

Int: 14

Wil: 10

Wis: 9

Lck: 16

Skills & Spells: [Analyze], [Ice Spike], [Barrier]

Thomen Lanart [Lv. 7]

HP: 70/70

Mana: 220/288

Str: 12

Con: 11

Agi: 11

Dex: 12

Int: 12

Wil: 15

Wis: 10

Lck: 7

Skills & Spells: [Analyze], [Ignite], [Barrier]

Thomen was a few levels higher than Agara and his stats reflected that. But, his [Ignite] spell is close range, therefore Agara has to try and win this before he reaches her.

Agara let off another [Ice Spike], a rather advanced water spell for a first year student, but Thomen was ready once again to dodge it. Agara was waiting for the moment and sent off another one just before Thomen finished rolling. It struck his barrier quite hard but it remained intact.

Thomen rushed the final distance and extended his hands, using his [Ignite] spell. A red flame materialized just in front of his hands and pressed against Agara's barrier. Only a brief contact was all it took for Agara's Barrier to collapse but not before she replied with a kick, pushing Thomen away before she took any damage.

Too low on mana to play this one defensively, she poured everything she had into offense, sending two more [Ice Spike] towards Thomen. Too close to dodge and his barrier too weak to absorb two hits, he casted another [Ignite] and held it, melting the spikes as they came towards him. Losing their hardest, broke splashed on his barrier without breaking it.

Agara barely managed to keep standing up, panting. Before Thomen could deliver the finishing blow, the teacher stopped the fight, flying down and interrupting.

"Alright stop, it's pretty clear Thomen is the winner here. Congrats."

Both students then stepped forward and shook hands, albeit reluctantly for the loser.

'Remember, sportsmanlike conduct! You'll be fighting together after your time in the academy is over. Now, next up...Wilfred against Lucius, come on up."

Wilfred and Lucius exchanged a quick glance and swallowed. What were the odds?