Chapter 24: The Academy Exam
The principal of the Royal Magic Academy smiled widely at the students. He looked amicable and kind. If he wasn't at the center of attention, he would seem like a caring grandpa next door.
"Other magi and servants, please stand back and clear the area in front of the exam takers," a middle-aged man shouted from below.
His eyebrows were sharp, and he glared at some of the old magi who visibly looked unable to take the exam because of their old age.
Many were frightened by his gaze and scurried away. They recognized him and left like cockroaches in the open light.
Henry waved at Felicia. She looked a bit sad and walked to the side with the other magi. It was unfortunate that she was too old to join.
The middle-aged man cleared his throat and stared at the exam takers. He raised his hand, and a bright and hot flame expanded out. This flame rose to the skies and covered the whole open square like a canopy.
The searing heat caused some of the hairs of an unlucky few to burn, causing the place to smell like burnt hair. These people were all sons and daughters of powerful people.
They had grown to be at the center of attention and protected. It was the first time for many of them to suffer such an injustice.
"In this academy, you are all worthless stones! You must…"
Henry didn't listen to the speech by the middle-aged man. He introduced himself as a Magus Teacher in the academy. He seemed to be called Cockad.
For the moment, Henry looked at the principal who was smiling all the way while watching the ceremony. The old man was secretly glancing at some of the magi in the crowd.
Henry looked at the other exam takers and found a figure who he had seen before. It was the young man from that city when he spoke to Gratus.
Another person caught Henry's attention. This young man had a bright expression in his eyes as he listened to Cockad. It was the Mayor's son, who had bullied Henry a lot when he was young.
The bastard would travel to the outskirts of the city with his servants to look down on the commoner children. Many times, he had been slapped by this guy.
Henry naturally thought of revenge.
After a while, Henry got bored. Cockad was still going on and on about his speech.
Finally, after an hour of incessant speech, the opening ceremony ended.
"May the exam begin!" the principal shouted. His heavy voice spread and stirred the hearts of the exam takers.
Henry released a sigh of relief. For him, that speech was like a torture.
The other exam takers were all very excited after hearing the speech. They weren't like Henry who didn't care. For them, the speech greatly stirred their desire to become a magus.
There were about a total of 700 exam takers. They all came from all over the kingdom and arrived on different caravans.
"For this year's exam, release exactly the same amount of Elemental Butterflies!" the principal ordered.
The exam takers were shaken to the core. Exclaims and deep breaths were taken in all around Henry.
"Elemental Butterfly?"
Henry pondered. He couldn't remember what this butterfly was. It wasn't a part of his previous recovery of memories.
Although he had no idea, he could still hear what the others were saying.
An Elemental Butterfly would approach someone if they chanted, and if their chants stirred the butterflies, more butterflies would approach them. In a sense, the butterflies were like mana.
The mana would make a minuscule reaction to a chant of someone who wasn't a magus but still had a high talent to become one. The higher one's aptitude, the more butterflies would gather around them.
Of the 700 exam takers, about a third of them would be eliminated since others would attract more than one butterfly.
What was special about these butterflies was that they wouldn't react differently to someone who was already a magus. So, someone like Henry would attract the same amount of butterflies even if he could cast spells.
"As expected of an academy with the ability to teach from Simple to High class." Henry was impressed at the ingenuity.
He didn't know if it was common in his era as he also couldn't remember what they used to test one's talent. He only knew that every human was capable of becoming a magus. It was up to their mindsets as to how far they would reach.
Students of the academy walked forward carrying cages that were filled with butterflies.
The Elemental Butterflies were iridescent in color. They changed color as they flew in the air. Sometimes, they would be white, then blue, black, orange, and so on.
Their colors were the seven elements of magic.
The cages were opened, and the butterflies flew freely into the air.
"Repeat my chant. Wind, blow! Wind… blow!" Cockad instructed the exam takers.
Many of them hurriedly followed and repeated his words. The chants created a wave as the mana could be faintly felt to be churning, but were unable to form into spells.
Their combined effort allowed the magi watching to sense that a lot of these exam takers had high aptitudes for magic.
Henry blinked his eyes and still didn't chant. He watched as the butterflies flew to the exam takers. Many had one, and the son of the mayor got three!
"You! Chant!" A student shouted as he noticed Henry looking around like a lost child.
"Well… okay." Henry chuckled and shook his head.
"Wind, blow."
As soon as Henry's words were uttered, the air seemed to become still. The butterflies stopped circling the people they chose and turned to Henry at the same time.
Without hesitation, they flew to him! Some of the butterflies stayed, but more than half flew over to Henry. Two of the butterflies above the mayor's son left and headed for Henry.
"Hey!" the mayor's son shouted in horror at the leaving butterflies.
The attention of everyone, including the principal, landed on Henry, who had an amused expression on his face.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone