As Merlin had thought, the interior of the auditorium did not disappoint. It was a grand, ornate hall with rows upon rows of red seats arranged in a semi-circle, and a wide stage upfront. The stained windows, golden chandeliers hanging from its ceiling, and the natural light pouring in, painted it in an elegant and colorful glow that made Merlin feel like he had sauntered into a theatre instead.
He stood amazed for a brief second, jaw slack, until a rushing examinee shoved his shoulder.
"Move out of the way!" the person shouted. And, of course, he did just that. No one was keen on ending up on the floor with the stampede that had ensued. Hundreds of people rushing into a space at the same time was not anything to scoff at.
Nora, on the other hand, had her hands full with searching for a good enough spot for the both of them. But whenever she rushed to one, someone would hit her away and hiss at her.
She had never been very good at shunting.
Merlin realized that he had to be the one to take the initiative here, or else they would not be comfortable when the whole commotion had settled down; because, by then, they would be left with only the crappy seats, and when arriving at a new location, it was best to get the best possible place to relax. And the fact that this was the prelude to an examination made the urgency even more dire. After all, they had no idea what was next on the menu.
He pushed through the crowd, leaving Nora where she continued foraging unsuccessfully, and, not long after, found a good enough spot. But his thoughts were seemingly not his alone. He locked eyes with a boy standing beside him, and they both clicked their tongues at each other before dashing forward.
Merlin did not follow the stairs, as it was a mess of bodies; instead, he let go of all his sense of decorum, swerved to his side, and jumped over seats. This brought about brief gazes and stares, but he didn't mind. And sure enough, he got to his location before his competition—his leveled up Agility to be thanked for that.
His competition didn't back down though.
"I got here first!" the boy who had raced Merlin argued.
"No, you didn't," Merlin sneered at him.
"Oh, yeah? And how can you prove that?"
Merlin was caught in a dilemma there. True enough, there was no way he could prove that he was the one who had gotten to the seat first, everyone else was focused on their own self. And this person gave the impression of being someone who could argue on and on for ages—until they had both lost the seats, that was.
"He got here first," a voice said from behind Merlin, inciting him to turn around. It was the person seated next to the spot he had chosen, and they were pointing at him. He was dark skinned, had a taper fade cut, and was clutching a school bag close to his chest like he was scared of it being snatched from him.
Merlin was dazed for a brief second, perplexed that someone had actually watched the whole exchange till its completion and had come to his aid, but he reined himself in quickly.
"There you go." He turned back to his competition. "I got here first."
The boy bit his lower lip. "W-Well there's two seats, right? Let's share."
"Sorry," it was Nora who spoke this time. The boy turned around to look at her. "It's mine."
The boy glanced at Merlin who just gave a shrug. Then with a scowl, a growl, and a kick at the seat that probably left him in more pain than the seat itself, he left and resumed his searching.
"Are you a kangaroo? Jumping up and down like that?" Nora jested as she dropped down comfortably into her seat, a deep exhale leaving her lips.
Merlin wanted to hit her at the back of her head. This was what he got for embarrassing himself with that display? She should kowtow at his feet in appreciation.
"Learn how to say thank you," he rolled his eyes at her. "It's a particular skill that boosts gregariousness."
Nora snorted. "You…talking about someone being gregarious? I must have wax in my ears."
He just scowled at her and sat down. Then he turned to the boy next to him.
"Thank you for the help," he said.
"You're welcome," the boy answered with a smile, still clutching his bag—maybe even tighter now.
"I'm Merlin," he stretched forth a hand. "A peculiar name I know."
The boy nodded and shook his hand. "Quite," he replied. "And I'm Ken. But I'd prefer if you called me Chima. I'm more used to that."
Merlin smiled. "That's not a problem. I'm English. You?" he asked, not willing to end their conversation yet. Making friends was part of the Academy life, even though he had no idea if he was going to get in yet. However, this was an opportunity to get a good headstart after his atrocious display.
"Nigerian," Chima answered. Merlin nodded.
"It's nice to meet you, Chima."
"Likewise." There was a short pause. "Weird performance."
"Jumping over seats?"
"Yes," Chima answered. "You're very quick."
"Thank you," Merlin chuckled.
You should have seen me from a month ago. I could not race a child on a bicycle and win.
Merlin now had the chance to take a proper look at the auditorium's stage. Behind its glass podium, emblazoned with the golden insignia of the Academy, were nine chairs arranged in a straight line—one, at the centre, slightly ahead of the others. And to their rears, hung banners, each bearing a distinct emblem. Only the one above the central chair was familiar to Merlin. And that was because it bore the Academy's insignia.
Filled with curiosity as to what the emblems on the banners signified, Merlin was just about to pull out his phone to browse through the leaflet the Academy had sent, when a call to rise came from the speakers.
I guess it can wait…
He sighed and rose to his feet, along with everyone else, as a lady walked up to the podium. She was dressed in a classy suit of grey and black heels. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail, and on her nose sat rectangular glasses. She thumped the gooseneck mic on the podium as a test, and then cleared her throat.
"Good morning, examinees," she started, her voice just as bright and warm as her face, and it made the murmurs that had been ongoing die down in an instant. Everyone's ears perked up. Even Nora who had had her eyes shut opened them. "You may all sit." They obliged. "First of all, I would like to apologize for the delay. There were some unforeseen circumstances, but, rest assured, your exam will proceed as planned."
Merlin glanced at Nora. Unlike him, she looked far too calm. He wanted to do a bit of soft meditation to clear his thoughts and calm his heart, but that would mean he missed out on every word that would come out of the lady at the podium's mouth. He took in a deep breath and pressed his hands together. It would be fine.
"My name is Jung Seoyeon," the lady continued. "If you were already students of Prestige Academy, that would have been Professor Jung to you all, but as you are now, you still have a large hurdle before you, so I'll make do with Ms. Jung. Fret not, though, it's just an exam and as long as you do the best you can, you'll be fine. Don't think too much about the forty percent acceptance rate, that only means that if you get in, then you're one of the Mages with the highest potential in the world. That has a very nice ring to it, right?"
Despite the way Ms. Jung had put it, no one could feel excited. A forty percent acceptance rate was quite low for a Mage Academy, considering the average was seventy percent. In other words, every single examinee seated could see themselves failing more than they could see themselves passing. And then there was Merlin. Seeing himself passing was just a delusion anyone who was in his position was not meant to possess. He could only hope that he was not the only Deficient Mage taking the exam, so that someone else present would be able to relate to his plight. But that was just wishful thinking.
Deficient Mages were as rare as S-Class Mages. He was talking one in five-hundred thousand rare. The possibility that there was another Deficient Mage besides him seated in the auditorium currently was extremely low.
"I'll explain the details of the exam for you now," said Ms. Jung before she tapped on the smartwatch on her wrist, and a projection appeared overhead her, bearing the image of a wide expanse with countless caves. "This is a portion of the Open field where practical classes are taken in Prestige Academy. And, of course, this is where you'll be having your exam." She paused and glanced around. "I'm sure this is not surprising to you all, as it was clearly stated that today's exam is an assessment."
"No!" the examinees answered in a chorus.
"Good," she continued. "You will all divide yourselves into parties of four, and each venture into one of those caves, which you are to clear in the time limit you'll be given. Basically, this is a Dungeon raid exam."
There were loud gasps followed by murmurs. Merlin felt his heart reach for his throat.
A Dungeon raid? That couldn't be good.
Nora nudged Merlin with her elbow then. "I told you we needed magic," she said, not wearing her smug smile, but sounding every bit of it. "There's no way we can be having a Dungeon raid exam without spells flying about. It's good we had all that training then."
Merlin wasn't sure if he was to be glad about that or not. After all, he couldn't cast spells. How exactly was he to contribute to clearing a Dungeon?
A hand went up then, way to the front of the auditorium. It was the sweaty boy.
"Yes," Ms. Jung said.
"You said we will divide ourselves into parties of four. What I got from the way that was worded is that we'll be making the decisions ourselves. Is that correct?" the boy asked. He was rather eloquent.
"Yes," Ms. Jung replied. "That is correct."
Another wave of murmurs broke out, drowning everything else, but the boy continued on regardless.
"Why? Most of us here do not know each other or how we'll contribute to help clearing a Dungeon. Isn't this literally setting us up for failure? What if one person costs another the exam?"
"That is the point," replied Ms. Jung, spreading confusion over every examinee present. "The Academy will be taking no blame for any failure that happens from the exam; in other words, you all will be taking responsibility for your choices. What we will do, though, is provide the capabilities of each person present; you'll all know what type of Mage the other is, and you will get thirty minutes to pick your parties yourselves."
Another examinee raised their hand amidst the commotion that had ensued.
"Still, Ms. Jung. Some parties will be more balanced than the rest. That would be unfair."
"Yes! That would be really unfair!" Another examinee voiced, and more joined in.
"It's setting us up for failure!"
"Why can't we just take the exams separately?!"
Ms. Jung thumped on her mic, silencing them.
"I understand your concerns, but this is the best we can do," she said. "In the past, Prestige Academy used to make the selections on the behalf of the examinees, and that brought constant disconcerting backlashes about us rigging the exam in favor of others. Now, I'm not saying that this is the best alternative, it's just the best we can do. You all will make your own choices, and do well to act on it. As for taking the exam alone, I'm sure you have noticed, but you are Mages. Mages do not head into battles alone. Mages do not raid alone. Mages raid in parties. You have to prove that you have what it takes to work with others."
The examinees ate the rest of their words. Merlin, on the other hand, had long lost most of his hearing.
They'll provide the capabilities of every person present? Is that what I think it is? There's no way I'll be able to get any party that way. Am I going to fail before even taking the exam?
Merlin lowered his head, his eyes darting about as his mind became a whirlpool of thoughts. That was, until Nora's hand touched his arm. He looked up at her, she was looking straight ahead.
"It'll be fine," she said. "I'm an A-Class Mage. Surely people will want to form parties with me. They'll just have to accommodate you."
Merlin wouldn't say he was now at ease, but her words did well to quell his quivering.
However…
"With that out of the way," Ms. Jung continued. "Here is the list of the examinees present, and your Classes as Mages. Source through it, and pick your parties. You have thirty minutes."
Ms. Jung tapped her smartwatch again at that moment, and the projection changed into something different. A list displaying the names of the examinees present, categorized into six different sections. And in the last section, the section tagged 'Deficient Mage', there was only a single name: Merlin Tyrrell.