I ignored the woman's statement and awaited her explanation.
"This orb is called the Core Grade Detector. As its name implies, it measures your Core Grade and exactly displays an image on its surface." She began after sighing at the pointlessness of exerting energy in explaining something like this to me.
"This test is meant to reveal the state in which your Core grade is. Usually, potential students possess a large quality of the yellow color already dwelling in their Mana core, while a few others have complete Yellow Mana Cores."
"Ah... I see..." I muttered, looking at the orb for the second time. The white color it donned began fading away as it regained its black look.
'It most likely reverts to its original form after some time...'
I looked back at the examiner, but she had a peculiar expression, engaged in a thought of her own. Her face looked hesitant for a moment as she made a passing comment.
"Though, there are rare cases of people showing up with a higher core grade... like that girl. Who would have thought she had gone as far as a Blue Core Grade..."
Of course, she whispered that last part. Fortunately, my hearing was very good and I picked up what she said.
My eyes bulged slightly when I heard it. To think someone at the level of examinee would achieve a Blue Mana Core Grade! It was a truly remarkable achievement indeed.
'Could it be...? She said it was a girl. Then that means...' My thoughts trailed.
It had to be Maria Helmsworth. She seemed to be the only impressive person who had finished the second stage before me. To think she was this much of a genius!
"I see. Thank you for informing me." I smiled and bowed slightly.
Turning to the exit, I walked gracefully to leave the white room. The woman's gaze returned to her book, not bothering to give me a second glance.
I could sense the presence of the next examinee close to the room. It appeared over three minutes has passed already.
Opening the door in a hurry to leave, I was met with another hallway. What was with these people and hallways? Also, how large was this hall anyway?
As soon as I stepped into the hallway, I felt a strange sensation course through my body. I didn't recognize it at first, but as I followed the cleanly carved and brightly lit path, I realized the reason for my strange sensations.
"Time... the time magic isn't as effective here."
I could feel the effectiveness of the spell reduce drastically.
A smile formed on my face, realizing where I was headed. This hallway was quite short, compared to the other one and within a few seconds, I was out of it, arriving at an open space.
"Oh...?" A short air of awe escaped from my lips.
My eyes picked up all the glittering lights and the exquisitely designed place. The hallway connected to the rear of an extremely large hall. It was nearly as huge as the symposium. With several thousand chairs arranged in rows and columns, I met a couple hundred people already seated and waiting impatiently.
"So, this is the waiting area..." I whispered, taking a step forward.
My eyes darted to the most convenient place to sit, and I eyed a good position on the far end to the left. It appeared not many people were there, save for a boy and girl.
The rest were a considerable distance from the pair and were all engaged in discussions. It was another reason why I decided it was best to pick the conveniently free space.
'It'll be bothersome to engage in conversation at this point...' I reasoned.
Most of the examinees prattled on the kind of spell they used, their fears of being rejected, the kind of mana core grade they had, etc. I found such talks boorish and irrelevant.
I could have chosen to pick one of the seats at the rear, where no student had filled yet, but that would just paint me out to be a weirdo. I needed to blend in, but avoid any conversation that would needlessly wear me out.
Looking at the many empty seats to the left uninhabited by many, except two, I made up my mind.
'I should go there, after all.'
Gliding through the rows and columns, I made my way to the spot and sat on one of the empty seats, making sure I was a few chairs apart from the other two.
That way, we wouldn't need to engage in any form of fruitless discussion. Fortunately, the both of them appeared to be silent, so I doubted they would even bother to-
'W-wha-?!' My mind rang as I took a closer inspection at the two people I was seated beside.
One of them was Maria Helmsworth! I hadn't seen her face clearly before seating since my mind was more occupied with so many things, but to think I made such a grave error.
I suddenly realized why many chose not to sit there. They gave the prodigy her space, and by now, though it was too late, I could sense the numerous gazes of the students converging on the girl.
'Shit! Why did I choose to sit here!'
Now, I felt even more uncomfortable than before. In any case, I just had to wait things out and make sure I remained inconspicuous.
'That will prove difficult, though...' My mind trailed.
I could already feel them, the gazes of many piercing my small frame. I felt like their glares would consume me. So many bit their lips in jealousy and made whispers, wondering what I was doing under the genius girl's radar.
All I wanted was a short moment of silence, yet it appeared even that dream would be shattered.
>CREAAAK!<
I heard a chair rattle from someone rising from it. My eyes darted to the source and saw the boy who sat beside Maria leave his own seat by her side and draw nearer to me.
'Oh, damn...' I heaved in anxiety.
I had selected this seat because I wanted to avoid a conversation, yet he was drawing closer to me with his gaze directly fixed on my seat.
'What does this guy want?'
