Magic Assessment

Ylenia was exhausted—utterly drained.

For a handful of measly credits, she’d sacrificed her cherished breakfast time with her sister Litiya, grabbing only a couple of bread slices before stumbling half-asleep to the testing grounds as a volunteer.

Tianqi Academy’s entrance exams were no joke, but for a noble like her, blessed with a powerful bloodline, they weren’t too daunting. Still, recording the monotonous test results all morning left her spiritless.

This year’s freshman batch was decent, but the Magic Department hadn’t seen any awe-inspiring grassroots prodigies.

The truly elite, backed by inherited bloodline power, entered via special recommendations.

Those toiling through the public exams were mostly talented commoners or minor nobles. Without ancestral blessings, their potential hinged on luck and fate.

The Magic Department’s exams had three categories: Mana, Mental Strength, and Elemental Affinity.

Mana, the body’s energy reserve, was critical for both warriors and mages.

Mental Strength was the cornerstone of spellcasting—the stronger it was, the more complex and high-tier the magic. It influenced casting speed, incantation time, and mana efficiency. Elemental Affinity, however, was purely innate.

Mana and Mental Strength could be honed through effort, but affinity was fixed at birth, alterable only by rare treasures.

Ylenia watched many students excel in Mana and Mental Strength, only to falter at Elemental Affinity.

Scores below 45% left their faces crestfallen. She could only offer sympathetic glances. Such was fate.

Elemental magic, the foundation of all magic, required at least 10% affinity to sense an element’s flow, 25% to cast basic spells, and 45% to unlock mid-tier mage potential.

Students with 25% affinity could technically become mages, but without improving their affinity, they’d be capped at low-tier.

At Tianqi, failing to reach mid-tier by the second semester meant expulsion. The continent’s most prestigious academy produced geniuses, not mediocrity.

Even so, those with 25% affinity fought tooth and nail to enroll. Tianqi’s name carried unmatched prestige. Even if expelled, a stint as a Tianqi student could secure a job at the Magic Association.

Ylenia, accustomed to her clan’s harsh realities, found the repetitive score-recording tedious. Having woken early, she yearned for the tests to end so she could collapse into bed like a dead pig.

Her drowsiness shattered when she glimpsed a familiar figure—Selina, the stunning girl from yesterday.

Beautiful girls really do recharge the soul, Ylenia thought, likening Selina’s effect to her sister Litiya’s.

Meanwhile, Selina was fuming in the queue. Her plan was to be napping in a soft bed at the inn, not stuck here.

The gate guard had refused to let her leave, insisting her token listed two exams. No amount of arguing changed that.

She distinctly remembered telling Ylenia she wanted the Warrior Department. So why was she forced to take the Magic Department exam too? The real issue wasn’t the extra time—it was the Elemental Affinity test.

Scores could be controlled, but innate talent? Impossible to hide.

Her body, descended from Themis, the Elemental God, was bound to have sky-high affinity. Touching the glowing crystal ball would unleash a dazzling display of colors, exposing her divine heritage.

Her carefully controlled Warrior scores would pale against her inevitable magical brilliance.

No mage, please, no mage… She’d barely studied proper magic. Her past life’s experience made her a warrior standout, but in magic, she was a complete novice. Her dreams of playing the underdog were crumbling.

As she wallowed, a purple blur darted toward her, accompanied by a faint floral scent. “Selina, you’re here!” a cheerful voice called.

Lifting her head, Selina met Ylenia’s smiling eyes—the senior who’d registered her yesterday. What did she want now?