Chapter 38: Results
Over the next three days Jerod spent his time cooped up in the library focusing on the notes of Journeyman mages and up about consolidation of power. Now that he had broken through to what he believed was the Novice level he couldn't wait to begin getting stronger once again.
All of the tips provided in the journals indicated that he would need to continue to circulate his mana within his body to achieve increased strength. With that he did his normal meditation and workout routines and prepared for the new semester to start.
On the third day it was announced that the field test was concluded and that all students needed to report to the courtyard. Jerod left the library and joined the throng of people heading to the courtyard. Many students were talking about their worries on what their final grades would be since they hadn't made it through the full 7 days. Some pointed out that today would have only been the 5th day in the field so none of them would have lasted the full time. This sparked more conversation that this field test was really too hard and many hoped that they would be lenient with the grading.
The students finally all gathered in to the courtyard and continued their conversations while waiting for the teachers to appear for the announcement. The conversations continued to revolve around the early end of the test and the difficulty until finally the headmaster appeared before the crowd.
"Thank you for gathering students!"
With these opening words the students turned to the headmaster and the chattering died down to only a few murmurs.
"I am sure you are all wondering about the early end to the field test and about what grade you received without making it the full 7 days of the test. Let me assure you that we have a very fair grading system for all of the field tests so you don't need to fret too much.
The grades have already been calculated based on the rank points earned as well as by the length of time in the field. We also took into consideration your circumstances that caused you to return early. These grades will be posted in your homeroom once we are completed here.
Before I dismiss you there are a few things I would like to point out.
First, over the remaining time that you are enrolled in school you will continue to have a field test each semester. These tests are to help you be prepared for different employment opportunities that will arise after you graduate. Whether you are providing your service as a mercenary, working within the ministry of magic, or serving in the military the skills developed during these tests will be immensely helpful.
Second, I must remind everyone that foul play is not tolerated at this academy. During the recent field test we had a number of students who directly or indirectly tried to sabotage their fellow students. These students have all received warnings for their misconduct and should such an occurrence happen again over the remainder of their time here they will immediately be expulsed from the academy. We will also blacklist the offenders from attending any magic academy in the kingdom. Status and family background will hold no sway over our decision so think twice before you engage in such activities.
Finally, in three months we will be having a two week break to allow students to return to their families. Any student that does not wish to return home may stay here in the dormitories. The library and resource stores will be open during this time, however classes will only resume once this break is over. You may request some tutoring time from your professors and if they are available to schedule time with you they will set up a specific time. Note that this is based on the availability of the professor and will also be a first come first serve situation.
Now, I will send each of you to your homeroom to observe your scores from the field test and the scores from the written and oral exams for those that did not participate in the field test this time."
With a wave of his hand Headmaster Brian sent all of the students to their respective homeroom classes.
....
The students crowded to the front of the classroom to find the results of their respective tests. Each of them searched for their name and score and of course they made curious glances at the top of the list to see how the top of their class did. If they could score better than those ranked higher than them they could possibly move into higher ranks or even higher classes.
Jerod's class was no exception to this, each of the students went up to review the scores. After finding their name and score there were many changes upon the faces of each student. Some were happy, some were sad, but once they glanced at the rank one student's score all of them changed to a look of disbelief.
Jerod Rank 1 student Exam score 3427
Many whispers filled the room, with his rank points his teammates would have been very low ranked students. Just how was it possible that he scored so many points? Of course the ever bashful Travis immediately voiced out to Jerod once he saw the results.
"Dude! What did you do to earn that many points? Don't leave us hanging!"
The whole class brought their conversations to a mute whisper at this point straining to hear the coming response.
Jerod scratched his cheek and answered plainly. "Well we collected materials on the list. I think we had about 310 points in herbs, magical stones and other resources. I would have to guess the rest of the points came from the 6 magical beast corpses."
At this point not a sound could be heard, not even the muted whispers that had continued in the background. Everyone just stared at Jerod, confusion, worship, awe, disbelief, many myriad of expressions were displayed on his fellow 49 students in his class. Even the chatty Travis took a moment of silence before he voiced his reply.
"SIX! Your team killed six magical beasts? How?!? Dude you are amazing! As soon as my team encountered a magical beast we turned tail and ran. We ran for an hour before we decided to just give up and use our stones to teleport back."
Many others started chatting about how they experienced similar adventures. Either their teammates froze and were unable to act, or used their teleportation stone before they could even come up with a plan to deal with any of the magical beasts that they came across.
"Pfft... He must have only gotten weak magical beasts and used some trick to heavily injure them before finishing them off. It isn't that impressive."
One student voiced out causing some of the students to nod and silently agree. That had to be the reason his team could kill that many magical beasts.
"No way! I was in the courtyard when Jerod teleported back to the academy grounds. He was standing on top of a mountain of magical beasts, there were three Giant Lizards in that pile. Do you think Giant Lizards are weak magical beasts? Their defense is something else and they wouldn't just fall for any simple trap."
Another student voiced out with fervor. He was one of the students that looked at Jerod with worship knowing at least a little of the feat Jerod had accomplished. This sent the students into another frenzy of conversations. Giant Lizards? The students that were specializing in Battle Magic had gone through enough magical beast bestiaries to know how formidable even the weakest Giant Lizards could be.
As the students continued with their conversations there was another surprise voiced out.
Bart Ferris Rank 6 Student Examination points -300
"Minus 300? How is that even possible?"
The students looked around but couldn't find Bart anywhere. The students had many conjectures but of course pointless rabble was just that. Before long the students that were ranked near him gained a glint in their eyes. The top 10 rankings would see a new student in them after this new development.
After the students delved into the list to review their fellow classmates in hopes of being able to move up the ranks they slowly dispersed.
The new semester started the following week and Jerod chose his new specializations. Now that he had a solid foundation on Enchanting he felt he could continue studies on his own. Of course if he ran into any issues he still had the ability to speak with Professor Kiek for guidance. He also felt that doing Magic Spell Alteration needed little guidance at this point. The important part of being in that specialization was the ability to discuss with fellow mages different discoveries to expedite further discoveries. This could be a class he returned to in the future to expand his knowledge further.
Jerod decided it was time to start learning Dimensional Magic and also Magical Item Creation. Since he had learned Enchanting he should be able to progress rapidly with Magical Item Creation. Being able to create dimensional items would be a great way to make money for his family and also provide a good cover for his inventory.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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