The first two portions had been easier than Lucavion expected.
That was saying very little.
He had remembered something resembling this examination from the novel. Elara had gone through the same broad procedure during the Academy's opening examinations, although the original story had treated it as little more than a passing section before moving toward matters considered more important. Reinforcement first. Weapon coating afterward. Then external control, where the Academy began paying serious attention.
Reading about it and standing inside the formation turned out to be rather different experiences.
The reference field had surprised him most.
He had expected instructions, perhaps measurements, perhaps some irritating academic explanation about acceptable mana density. Instead, Elir had simply allowed him to feel what the formation wanted and asked him to reproduce it.
That made considerably more sense.
