"Yeah, don't feed my brain all this drama; instead, tell me something meaningful," the one stressing about his exam said.
His words made them laugh, and they forgot the topic. Every day a new rumor would appear in World Academy, and most of the time, it would not be true.
And right now, not many people are in the mood to spread or listen to such rumors.
It was the next day, and all the Mage Students were called to the Stadium at the Outer Sector of World Academy.
The Stadium was huge, and in the center, Professor Elsa, Professor Dahlia, and Professor Arman were present.
"Isn't it different from last year? I heard that last time it was a simple spell demonstration," one of the girls asked her friends, but they were equally confused.
"Is it different this time?" Amelia asked Asher, who was sitting beside her.
"Maybe," Asher replied as he kept looking at the Stadium.
'So, they integrated the Beast Theory Course here first,' Asher noticed the change due to him.
In his previous life, this sort of exam for Mages was introduced later after he was nearing the end of his Second Year.
"Everyone, attention here," Arman commanded, and all students started to look at him.
Right now, the three most popular professors of World Academy were standing together, so many eyes full of admiration were looking at them.
All three of them looked like they were in their early 30s, and their features were attractive, so it was obvious why young people liked them more than the other old professors who were more strict.
And also, the fact that all three were 3 Star Professors made them popular even outside of World Academy.
"Many of you might be confused about why we are here for the practical exam of the Mage Students," Arman said.
The theory part was already done, and this was the last exam that was scheduled, and after that was the Mid Term Examination, where all the Hunter Teams will move together.
"As you all already know, as a Mage, the most important thing is to remain calm while casting your spells," Arman said as he looked at the more than a hundred students before him.
"But a Dungeon is a place where even the experienced and veteran might lose their composure," Arman said.
"We have changed how we test you guys from now on," Arman announced as many eyes looked at him.
"Unlike dummies, now you will cast spells at real monsters," Arman said, pointing his hand to his right.
With the movement of his hand, the wall was removed, and a teleportation gate appeared, along with a big screen that showed a room with multiple monsters captured from the Lost Lands.
And those that escaped after a Dungeon Break.
"Let me remind you, even though they are chained, they are well within the attacking range, and I want you guys to defeat the monsters or injure them enough," Arman said as he pointed at the monsters that were desperately trying to escape.
The simple sight scared many students as some of them only moved behind a cover of someone and cast spells from a safe distance.
"First, overcome the fear induced by the Bloodlust of these monsters," Arman reminded everyone, as it was a crucial step.
He knew that the students were Mages, and they were the ones that were often not on the frontline, and this meant some of them had never felt a monster's bloodlust from close.
Unlike weapon masters who would face these monsters closely, Mages would support or attack from a distance, and that sometimes became their weakness growing stronger.
Such fears were hard to remove as you grew with them.
"We will call you guys one by one, and you will choose a monster from the ones we give you," Arman announced as he looked at Elsa.
"And remember, those that defeat the monsters will receive much better grades than those that only injure them," Elsa said with a smile.
Some of them were nervous, but this was not the first time they would encounter a monster.
"First is Elena Rothschild," Dahlia called Elena first as everyone looked at the beautiful girl standing up with elegance as she walked down towards the center of the Stadium.
'D Rank!' Elsa noticed Elena had reached D Rank.
"These are three monsters, all of them are Early D Rank Monsters," Dahlia gave her a choice.
"I will choose the 3rd one," Elena chose the beast-type monster as she entered the teleportation gate, and she appeared in front of the chained monster and people standing around to make sure any mishap didn't happen.
"Let's see the future archmage candidate," Elsa looked forward to Elena's performance.
She was the only student in the World Academy with an affinity for all the basic elements.
And all of them were extremely strong affinities apart from the Black Element, which was on the weaker side.
"GRRROWWL," The beast howled as it sensed the presence of a being of similar strength.
It had two eyes, four horns, and wide teeth, twice the size of Elena.
Its claws were sharp enough to cut any E+ Rank Hunter in half, and it was an extremely dangerous beast.
"Bind of Great Earth," Elena started her first spell as a stone from the ground emerged, trying to capture the beast.
"Blade of Wind, Fire Stand above all, Cyclone," Elena dual-casted as she used her spells freely, and her combination was extremely good.
Binding her target and using a wind spell to block the escape path. Lastly, she used a Tier 2 Spell that created a fire vortex.
Her chants were so quick that before the beast could react, it was caught up in the Wind Blade that made severe cuts on its body.
But what came next surprised many as a huge fire vortex engulfed and burnt the beast to death.
Elena stepped back and returned to the teleportation gate.
She arrived back at the Stadium as she saw multiple students clapping at her performance.
"Good job, Elena Rothschild. You may go back to your seat," Elsa said with a smile.
"Thank you, Professor," Elena said as she returned to her seat.
Elsa was glad that Elena gave such a nice performance as it made others after her think before choosing the monsters and the spells they needed to perform.
Elena had set the bar with her performance, and many students that came after couldn't exceed that bar.
Most students chose an E Rank Beast because none were D Rank.
'Not half bad,' Elsa thought as she looked at the students' performance.
Some failed, but others kept calm and injured the monsters.
Some even managed to kill them, but their execution of spells was poor, which affected their grading. But Elsa knew these people had just started learning about Spells, so their growth was still quite good.
"Why is this monster still alive," Some shouted with frustration as they had difficulty defeating the Monster.
Not all of them picked an excellent choice of monsters, either.
Everything was a test, and currently, the option Elsa was giving was also one of them. Sometimes students were too focused on the Monster's strength that they forgot what they had studied about them.
"Eva Williams," Dahlia called out the next name as she graded the previous student.
"Good Luck," Elena cheered Eva as she went to the Stadium.
"Pick your choice," Elsa said, and Eva also picked an early D Rank Beast.
Unlike Elena, who had reached D- Rank two weeks ago, a week after Kevin, Eva was still an E+ Rank Mage.
"Are you sure about your choice?" Elsa asked, and Eva nodded back at her.
Elena kept smiling because she knew that Eva was not like other mages. Her special magic, which revolved around barriers, allowed her to fight monsters of a higher rank than her.
Elena only chose an early D Rank to display a perfect performance, but Eva was just here to defeat the beast.
It was a similar beast to the one Elena had hunted.
Eva raised her hand as the beast immediately rushed at her.
"Barrier Magic: Blades," Eva chanted the spell while a big barrier appeared between the beast and her, stopping it from moving further.
And then, a set of invisible blades appeared around her that only she could control.
"Die," Eva focused on the small but powerful blades that appeared from constructing small barriers.
It cut the beast multiple times, as Eva made two walls like a barrier and trapped it in its place.
Right now, she was fighting alone, so she didn't have to consider others and could freely use her magic.
"It's done," Eva said as she looked at various blades penetrating the beast's skin.
She took a deep breath as she had used a lot of mana to care for the beast of a higher rank than her.
Her performance shocked many people, but most were just too astonished to see her special barrier magic.
'We can't see the barriers she makes,' some of the students thought as they witnessed the might of the genius prodigy of the Williams family.
After talking to Elsa, Eva returned to her seat, where Elena high-fived her and congratulated her on her victory.
As both of them were laughing, the next name was called, and it was the Princess of Halcyon.
"Lishia Halcyon, you are next," Arman said as he looked at the black-haired girl with golden eyes.
