The day of the new-student competition, commonly known as the Rookie Tournament, had arrived.
Professors from the various departments were gathering at the venue one by one.
They hadn’t come simply to watch, of course. They were here as judges.
As a rule, each department sent one judge.
“The Elemental Department has come up with quite a good idea.”
“Yes. Having the top performers compete in mock battles should soon show us who the real gems are.”
The Rookie Tournament had long been a popular place to find promising new students.
The entrance exam came first, but it was only a written test to check whether applicants possessed the necessary basic knowledge.
To gauge the true extent of the new students’ talents, they had to wait until the Rookie Tournament.
“I hear there are some exceptionally talented students in the advanced class.”
“Oh? Who?”
“I don’t know their names. A boy and a girl, apparently. Professor Inies seems to be putting considerable effort into them.”
“Hmm, she’s working hard. I suppose Professor Inies would like some proper achievements to her name by now.”
“What about the top class? The student who came first in the entrance exam… Department Head Kaisel’s nephew, wasn’t he?”
“Department Head Horizon already has an eye on him. Apparently, Horizon openly told him to join the Elemental Department during a lecture.”
“Good grief, where’s the pride? Making recruitment offers to a student who’s only just arrived?”
“Tsk, tsk. How undignified.”
“I hear the heir to the ducal house of Orson is in the top class…”
Seated at the judges’ table, the professors chatted about the new students.
After all, they had taken on the role of judges precisely so they could observe them closely.
“Goodness, Professor Hephais. Asleep already?”
“We haven’t even started yet.”
Noticing a middle-aged professor dozing in the corner, the others called out to him.
He cracked his eyes open and replied.
“Leave me be. We only need to watch the mock battles between the top students, don’t we?”
“But you still have to give them scores.”
“I’ll just give everyone one point. Wake me when the mock battles start.”
“Oh, there he goes again. Is there really no one else the Fabrication Department can send?”
“Leave him alone. The Fabrication Department is always so busy.”
The other professors clicked their tongues as Hephais went straight back to sleep.
“This year’s new-student competition will now begin.”
An announcement came over the speakers.
“Finally.”
“I’m looking forward to this.”
The students entered the arena ten at a time and took their places in the firing lanes.
Each had a time limit of one minute.
Within that time, they had to launch a spell and hit the golem in the distance.
“Most will choose spheres of flame, I imagine?”
“No doubt. It’s the most basic elemental magic.”
“We’ll see more than ninety percent throwing spheres of flame again this year.”
“Let’s see. Which class are these students from…?”
The professors checked their score sheets and watched the students cast their spells.
“All students, cast your spells at the targets!”
Boom! Thud! Bang!
A jumble of sounds rang out at once.
But only one of the ten students managed to hit a target golem.
Two spells flew in entirely the wrong direction, two headed the right way but fell short, and the remaining five students failed to launch their spheres of flame any distance at all.
One student’s sphere even burst, engulfing its caster in flames.
Without the defensive spells the teaching assistants had cast beforehand, that student would have been burned to a crisp.
“Tsk, tsk. How do they expect to become mages like that?”
“It can’t be helped. They’ve only been here a month. For those without talent, even that is doing well.”
The students who had finished casting left, and ten more came in.
The professors watched without much expectation.
But then…
“All students, cast your spells at the targets!”
Whoosh!
The tremendous sound of something slicing through the air drowned out every other sound.
“What was that?!”
Startled, the professors rose from their seats to see what had happened.
Embedded in a golem built so sturdily that a first-year’s magic shouldn’t have been able to leave a scratch… was a huge spear of ice.
“An Ice Spear that size?!”
“What incredible speed! How can a first-year shoot a spell that fast?!”
“Who is that? Who’s that student?”
“A-according to the roster… Charlotte, from the advanced class!”
“One of the two prodigies Professor Inies has been working so hard on!”
As the blond girl who had so distinguished herself strode confidently out, the professors practically salivated.
“Everyone but Professor Hephais will be giving her ten points. Such skill already. We must get her into the Biological Department.”
“Now, what are you talking about? She just used elemental magic. Naturally, she belongs in the Elemental Department.”
“Teach her other magic, and she’ll excel in that too. To explore new territory, that young lady should join the Necromancy Department…”
“Enough! How could you think of taking such young talent into the Necromancy Department? Only the Radiance Department will do!”
The professors were already jockeying for position.
These squabbles over promising new students were a familiar sight at every year’s Rookie Tournament.
“All students, cast your spells at the targets!”
Boom! Kaboom!
Meanwhile, the next group cast their spells at the targets.
“Hmm. The top and advanced classes certainly are better.”
“Monark Orson’s sphere-of-flame throw just now was quite good, wasn’t it?”
“From Duke Orson’s family? A very stable spell, certainly.”
“I get the impression he studied ahead before enrolling.”
The professors continued sharing their thoughts as they marked their scores.
But it was hard to find anything that surpassed the magic Charlotte from the advanced class had shown earlier.
Then…
“All students, cast your spells at the targets!”
Kaboom!
A particularly swift and accurate throw of a sphere of flame made the professors’ eyes light up.
“Who was that girl just now?”
“Senia Artian, from the top class.”
“From the Artian family, famed for its swordsmanship!”
“And she’s already that good at magic?”
“I couldn’t give her a ten, but she deserves a nine.”
Every professor wrote a nine on their score sheet.
Except Professor Hephais, who was asleep.
Time continued to pass…
“I’m beginning to tire.”
“How many are left? Aren’t we almost done?”
“About thirty more.”
After scoring some nine hundred students, just as the judges were growing thoroughly exhausted, a black-haired boy took his place in a firing lane.
“Wait a moment. That boy…”
“Do you know him?”
“That’s Helios Chanetis. One of the two prodigies in the advanced class.”
The professors’ attention focused on him.
Charlotte had earned an excellent score with her impressive spear of ice. What would the other prodigy manage?
“All students, cast your spells at the targets!”
Crackle!
The professors pricked up their ears at a sound they hadn’t heard before.
The magic Helios used… was neither fire nor ice.
“L-lightning?!”
“He used lightning magic?!”
A bolt of lightning shot from Helios’s hand.
It streaked through the very center of the golem, leaving a hole the size of a fist.
“That’s electromagnetic magic, not elemental magic! First-years have no opportunity to learn that. Where in the world did he pick it up?”
“Professor Inies is proficient in lightning magic too. She probably taught him privately.”
“Even so, how could he produce lightning like that after just one month here…?!”
“P-Professor Portisio! As a professor of the Electromagnetic Department, what do you think?!”
The professors turned toward the elderly professor sitting quietly in the corner.
Professor Portisio, from the Electromagnetic Department, which studied lightning, magnetism, and related phenomena, spoke calmly.
“Lightning magic is closely related to elemental magic. As such, it is not uncommon for those studying elemental magic to develop an understanding of lightning magic.”
“Then…”
“But that new student is certainly exceptional. He appears to be a wonderfully talented boy.”
Portisio closed their eyes and smiled.
“I would be glad to see him join the Electromagnetic Department. Though he would do well in another department too.”
“…!”
Impressed, the professors wrote tens on their score sheets.
“The advanced class will take both first and second place at this rate. Or would that be a tie for first?”
“Normally, yes. But this time the top four will compete in mock battles to determine the final rankings.”
“Still, no one from the top class has made a stronger impression than Charlotte and Helios. The closest was that girl Senia…”
Meanwhile, the next group of students finished preparing.
“We’re almost through now.”
“Ah, there’s Eriol Valencia.”
“Kaisel’s nephew?”
The professors’ interest stirred again.
Being the nephew of Kaisel, famous as the youngest department head, was enough to make him an object of interest.
“What sort of magic will he show us?”
“An ordinary thrown sphere of flame would be terribly disappointing at this point.”
“I’d rather see him make a huge mistake. At least that would give us something to talk about over drinks.”
“Ha ha. I wonder what sort of face Kaisel would make.”
In truth, whether Eriol performed well or badly had nothing to do with Kaisel.
An uncle’s magical talent wasn’t passed down to his nephew, and Kaisel hadn’t personally taught Eriol either.
But if the slightest blemish appeared on the prideful Kaisel’s reputation… the other professors would enjoy it.
“All students, cast your spells at the targets!”
Thud! Boom! Bang! Whoosh!
All sorts of sounds shook the arena.
But Eriol’s firing lane remained quiet.
“What’s going on?”
“Why isn’t he casting?”
Puzzled, the professors craned their necks.
Had he really failed to cast his spell?
“Let’s wait a little longer.”
Professor Portisio spoke up.
“His minute isn’t up yet.”
“Professor Portisio, even so…”
KABOOM!
With an enormous explosion, a mass of flame the size of a house burst forth.
“…!”
It flew straight at the target, struck it squarely… and swallowed the golem whole.
And that wasn’t the end of it.
“L-look…!”
“The golem is melting!”
The golem, with its formidable defenses, was melting in the flames.
The professors couldn’t believe their eyes.
“What happened?”
“Was the golem defective?”
“Of course it wasn’t.”
A voice came from behind them.
Hephais, who had been asleep the whole time, was frowning as he dug a finger into his ear.
“All that noise woke me up.”
“P-Professor Hephais. What just…?”
“It simply wasn’t sturdy enough to withstand flames that powerful. Tsk. We’ll have to supply golems with stronger defenses next year.”
Grumbling, Hephais picked up his score sheet from the floor.
A one had been entered beside every student’s name, but he added a single circle to Eriol’s score.
It was the first ten Hephais had given that day.
“That was impressive.”
On my way back to the waiting room, I ran into Helios in the corridor.
“You gathered every fire element in the area to make that sphere of flame, didn’t you? Quite a performance. You’re probably in first place on points now.”
“…”
“But if it takes nearly a minute to prepare, you can’t use it in a real fight. You won’t have time for a spell with that much firepower in the mock battles.”
Helios approached me with a smile.
“See you in the mock battles shortly, Eriol Valencia.”
With that, he left without waiting for my reply.
“Eriol!”
Professor Klein came up to me.
“You little… How did you cast something that powerful…?! If you were going to use a spell like that, you should have told me beforehand! That could have been dangerous!”
“I was originally planning to use a different spell.”
“What?”
“But I decided to save it for the mock battles.”
I had been practicing a different spell for the Rookie Tournament. To be certain of taking first place, I’d thought I needed a weapon that would stand out that much.
But if the final rankings would be decided through mock battles, there was no need to use it in the preliminaries.
All I needed to do was place in the top four.
“You… Are you saying you have an even more impressive weapon than that?”
Klein stared at me in astonishment.
“I made a promise to my uncle.”
“What?”
“That I would take first place, no matter what.”
“…!”
I’d practiced against Senia and strengthened my grasp of the theory with the grimoires I’d borrowed from Klein.
Now it was time to show the results.
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