Sarah stared at the blank room in confusion. The room was completely empty – no examiner or paper. 'Am I in the right place?'
Suddenly, everyone began to hear a mechanical sound of something rising. Sarah looked at the door at the far end as it began to open. A man walked in proudly. He wore a full suit and had wild red hair. A large grin appeared on his face. His eyes turned gold while Sarah's turned yellow.
"Interesting, an Awakened Title user. We don't get many around here, even among the royals."
The two stared each other down, sizing each other up.
"Though I can't say it's a surprise, especially since you are Dain's daughter."
Sarah smiled. "If you're that desperate to see my father's genes, start this test, and you can find out." Sarah unsheathed her sword, grinning. 'I guess the trash-talking lessons from Malrik were useful after all, not that I would ever tell him that.'
"I see you have his mouth, too."
Sarah's eyes lingered on the words hovering over the man – Unbound Beast. The man dropped into a stance, one arm stretched forward and the other backwards, his hands shaped like claws.
"My name is Victor Razel. I will be your examiner for today. For your test, all you need to do is draw a drop of blood from me."
Sarah nodded and dropped into her own stance. 'A drop of blood – that should be easy. Still…'
The man looked like a monster as his golden magical aura poured out like syrup. She felt his killing intent coursing through her bones. 'This won't be easy. Unbound Beast? He must be a mythical magic user, right?'
"You may attack whenever you're ready; the exam will begin from there."
Sarah took a deep breath. This was it – the test that would determine her future. She couldn't afford to fail, not after her promise to Malrik. Both of their dreams were to become Paladins, and that started now.
She took another deep breath before she pumped magic into her feet and launched herself at him.
— Waiting Area —
Everyone was watching this exchange. Ellion and Lucien's green eyes stared intently at them.
"That man is kind of intimidating, bro."
Lucien glanced at Ellion's feet, which were shaking. He couldn't blame him – even he felt a cold chill run down his spine.
"Victor Razel. One would believe he is a mythical magic user, but in reality, he is Arcanal."
Ellion blinked a few times as he stared at Lucien, confused. "Right… and, uh, what does that mean again?"
Lucien groaned, looking at Ellion in disbelief. "How are you still not familiar with the four types of magic?"
Ellion shrugged, and Lucien slapped himself on the forehead.
"Okay, listen – and listen good – because I will only be telling you this once."
Ellion nodded and leaned in excitedly.
"In this world, we have two measures of power – Titles and Magic. These two are the recipe that gives birth to warriors who fight against the vile creatures of the underworld. Magic manifests in five main shapes and forms. You have its purest natural form – also known as Essence – which exists everywhere: in the air we breathe and in the blood that runs through our veins. Then you have the other four. Either one can be bestowed upon you only once you have been reborn with a unique Title. Only then will you be granted another pathway of magic."
Ellion stared at him, his brain trying to process. "Did you read that out of a book or something…?"
Lucien growled at him.
Ellion whistled and looked away, thinking of a way to change the subject. "So, what you're saying is this Arcanal is one of the other four types of magic."
Lucien glared at him, not missing the change in subject. "…Precisely. Weirdly enough, Arcanal is one of the more common ones, yet it bears the most potential to be the strongest."
Ellion's eyebrows arched, his smile never leaving his face. "What does that mean?"
Lucien's eyes focused back on the screen. Sarah had just made the first move. "Let's watch the fight first; his abilities should offer some measure of explanation."
— Test Arena —
Sarah was currently swinging for her life. Uppercut, left swing – she was dishing out all her sword skills, yet none were landing. Every time she swung, Victor would sidestep far too easily. It was like child's play to him, and she was struggling to work out why.
Victor hadn't made a single move to attack, focusing only on his defence.
'Is he mocking me?!'
"Your skills are interesting, to say the least," Victor said, folding his hands and continuing to swerve out of the way of her strikes. Sarah frowned before jumping back.
Victor placed his hands in his pockets and stood still.
'He is covering his whole body in magic, yet he hasn't transformed. What is going on?'
Victor smiled. "From the looks of it, you are assuming, just like all the other boring, talent-driven students."
Sarah clenched her fists. She spread her legs farther apart and coursed magic throughout her body. "I'll show you talent."
Sarah lunged at him, swinging her sword at his head.
Victor lazily ducked, shaking his head in disappointment. "You really think that'll wor—"
He stopped as he noticed something peeling off her skin. Sarah smirked. "Bright Bloom."
Victor quickly performed a series of backflips to create space. Yellow petals shot towards him, but he jumped upwards, smirking as the petals passed underneath him – only for them to change direction and shoot upwards.
"I see, so you can control these petals of yours."
Victor quickly drew his sword. Sarah watched as gold magic coursed through it. He prepared to strike the petals, but Sarah just smiled. "Bloom."
As Victor's sword connected with the petals, they exploded – BOOM!
Sarah moved instantly, wasting no time. Pumping magic into her feet, she leapt into the smoke, yellow glowing eyes locked on her target. She swung her sword – only for Victor's hand to grab hers.
"You think I would be fooled by such an obvious strategy?" he asked as the smoke cleared. The man looked untouched and unbothered, his hands tightly holding Sarah in place.
"Tch, I was hoping for at least a scratch."
Victor smirked. "You haven't noticed yet? I see you're not as sharp as I thought."
Sarah frowned, unsure of what he meant – then her eyes widened. 'Why are we falling so slowly?'
Sarah and Victor looked like they were barely moving in the air. The air felt different; she felt lighter.
"Gravity!"
Victor's smirk grew as he let go of her hands. Suddenly, both of them dropped hard to the ground with a boom, dust clouds scattered around them.
When it cleared, everyone could see Sarah on her hands and knees, struggling to breathe. The air around her was so thick, she could barely move a muscle. Victor loomed over her victoriously, seemingly unaffected by the change in gravity.
— Waiting Area —
Ellion and Lucien stared at the battle, worried. It seemed everyone around them had already counted this match as checkmate.
Lucien sighed. "And that's Arcanal magic for you."
Ellion raised an eyebrow. "To control gravity…?"
"No, you imbecile. It's the ability to manipulate a fundamental aspect or principle of reality. A perfect example is gravity. He can manipulate specific areas around him and change their gravity through his title: Unbound Beast. In other words, he fights with no human restrictions. By lowering the gravity, he can move faster, jump higher."
Lucien placed his hands in his pockets. "Not only that, but he can also restrict and unrestrict his opponents by lowering or increasing the gravity around them. Either way, this match is over. Shame – I was hoping to challenge myself against someone like her."
Ellion stared at him with a blank face. "…Bro, you have a wife."
Lucien glared at him as Ellion giggled like a child.
Lucien glanced at the horde of girls staring at him from the other side of the room. He was seriously considering moving there. "Wait. Why is her exam so hard, though? Mine was easy. I only had to fight an Awakened-level user."
A cheeky grin appeared on Lucien's face. "Well, that's because they only give the hard examiners to prodigies and people with actual potential instead of novices. Mine, for example, was just like hers – and I passed with flying colours."
Ellion's mouth hung open as he stared, dumbfounded. He pointed at himself. "Wait – do you think they think I'm a novice?"
Lucien's smirk grew further as he shrugged. "I think their actions speak for themselves."
Ellion dramatically cried in shame.
— Test Arena —
"I am not a mythical magic user; I am an arcane magic user. You should have noticed the minute this match started. I covered my body in magic, yet my body didn't change at all. I was so easily able to dodge each and every strike because the gravity between us was so low. You may have thought you were attacking at normal speeds, when in reality, your attacks were as slow as a turtle."
Victor bent down in front of her. "I think it's time you give up, little girl."
Sarah gritted her teeth and desperately tried to rise. However, as soon as she got an inch upwards, she fell straight back down, hitting the floor hard.
Victor sighed. "Give up. In the state you are in, you cannot possibly break through. You're just an Awakened. Even your petals won't get very far."
— Waiting Area —
Mr Derryberry stared intently at the screen with worry. 'It's a shame Victor was her opponent. He is the strongest member of staff we currently have.'
Suddenly, the door to the exam room opened. Malrik walked in with his hands in his pockets, and Valery followed in after him.
Malrik glanced at the horde of kids staring at the screen. "Wow, it's not every day you're in a room with loads of people."
Valery pointed up at the screen. "Seems like we arrived in the middle of a test."
Malrik turned to the screen and widened his eyes. "She doesn't seem to be doing so well."
"That's Sarah!"
Valery raised an eyebrow at him as Malrik quickly rushed to the front. Reaching the exam door, he took a deep breath.
"Hey, Sarah! What the hell are you doing? Stop messing around and take this seriously!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping Sarah could hear him.
Everyone turned to him in surprise.
— Test Arena —
Inside, Victor stared at the door, amused. "Seems like you've got a fan over there."
He raised an eyebrow when he saw Sarah's covered face shaking.
"Hey, girl, no need to cry. I'm sure you can try again next year. Hopefully, you won't be facing me again."
A small chuckle escaped Sarah's lips. "Who's crying?" she asked between laughs. "It's about time he showed up."
Sarah's voice slowly began to rise. "Now I know I can't lose. I won't lose. We made a promise, so I am going to keep it!!" Sarah screamed as yellow magic poured out of her. Hundreds of yellow petals burst forth, breaking through the gravity barrier.
Victor widened his eyes as he jumped back, decreasing the gravity to slow the attack. However, the attack never came.
The petals swirled around ferociously, creating a tornado. Sarah slowly stood up, her petals dancing around her with fury.
She raised her hands to her head, spreading her feet apart. "Round three," she said.
Victor sighed as he drew his sword. "I was hoping we could do this the easy way; you're just as stubborn as your father."
Sarah smirked. "I am my father's daughter."
She lunged forward. However, in an instant, Victor moved in front of her. Sarah looked up in shock before a foot connected with her chin, sending her backwards. She quickly recovered, doing a backflip to her feet. "My brother hits harder than you."
She thrust her hand forward, creating a large whirlwind of yellow petals. Victor jumped upwards, landing on the ceiling. The whirlwind followed him above the roof as Victor started running along it.
As soon as Victor was above Sarah, he dove down, increasing the gravity around him and dropping like a meteor.
Sarah quickly jumped back as Victor landed in front of her, dust exploding outwards. From the dust, a fist flew out.
Sarah was too slow to block – she was sent flying into a wall. She coughed up blood, breathing heavily, and stared as Victor slowly walked out of the hole.
"I already told you – you have no chance of winning." The man smirked, taunting his opponent. Unfortunately for him, Sarah was unaffected. She smiled at him.
"What do you mean – it's already checkmate?"
She pointed downwards.
Victor frowned, confused, before looking at the floor. His eyes widened at the sight of multiple petals scattered across it.
He quickly blocked his face as the petals instantly rose.
Boom!