Sustaining The King's Life 110 To The Dungeon!

The students' chatters and complaints had the whole place set into a chaotic awry. Some even had to point into the professor how unfair it was—the students who did so were practically on a wholly certain age spectrum; obviously older than the professor standing atop the mezzanine. Faustina thought that such differences made them feel ent.i.tled to speak their minds without thinking about the consequences. Of course, younger students still came and agree to their sentiments, joining them. The whole rationale was indeed reasonable, after all. No one had even warned them beforehand about Magierstadt's change of tactics.

Faustina remembered the man who gave them a piece of valuable information, about Magierstadt changing its exams and eliminating the weak. THIS was what he meant. Its system completely changed into something that had made everything sound different from what was considered universally acceptable. The exams, after all, only consisted of exams on paper about how much knowledge a person denoted on specific spells.

Magierstadt's past exams also tested a bit of philosophy, science, theology, whatsoever. Orwell also told Faustina that Magierstadt examined the amount of mana to consider one's potentials, so she might get into Ianua I or II at such magical ability she was possessing.

But then again, Faustina never even tried to venture into battle. Nor use a specific combatant spell taught to her by Orwell. The statements were made by people around her - the King, Orwell, and Sheila. She was told she had this crazy magical ability because she was a Heilen. But truth to be told, Faustina couldn't think about herself the same way as they did.

She knew herself better than they did. She never felt that rush of magic inside of her. However, she knew she could trust their words. She had to see for herself if they were indeed right. But then . . . battle? She had just barely survived the attack of a marionette. She wasn't able to even defend herself properly, having Owen and Ezekiel defend her. How is she going to battle in a dungeon? What if she fails?

One of the students pointed their hand to Professor Yoan, and with a tone that had ended up with a sharp tone, they said: "You tricked us!"

Faustina flinched at such a statement. She, along with numerous other students, darted their gazes to the students-to-be starting to complain to what the professor had announced earlier. Faustina couldn't blame them. The sudden change in the exam is unprecedented—what was an exam about spells and just discovering the 'potential' from one's amount of mana as the deciding factor had been changed overnight into something COMPLETELY different. Compared to what was the old exam and the one now, it was a sheer heaven - earth comparison. This would surely reduce the students pa.s.sing the exam. Many will surely fail.

And Faustina might be one of those.

"Th-that's right, she tricked us!" Says another, urging the others to come up with similar statements. The next thing that happened was like that of a chain reaction: the single force speaking aloud had urged a considerable amount of students from the crowd and now began to unleash their sentiments. Faustina was fascinated at such a spectacle.

"You tricked us!"

"Magierstadt cheated us!"

"This is unfair!"

In a matter of seconds, the students seemed to all agree and began to condemn the professor, who had closed her eyes as if to listen to all the statements the students were creating - a bunch of criticism and pleas. Almost all of the students had begun chanting to how Magierstadt had embittered them, and how the academy was being prejudicial.

Faustina turned to Leviticus, who was looking at the teacher with a scrutinizing and resigned expression in his face as if he was a.n.a.lyzing the professor herself, or the announcement she made. To which of the two, Faustina doesn't know.

"n.o.body told me I had to go to battle!" Says one of the students. "I only studied spells! I haven't even got into actual combat!"

"I can't believe they're going to make it too hard just because we're the last batch of examinees!" Yelled another student. "And I didn't choose to be on the last batch! Magierstadt put me in the last exam day!"

"I can't accept this! We're not here to FIGHT!"

"This is so unfair!"

"CALM DOWN," Yoan thundered, calling all of the students' attention. "All of you act as if you're all going to DIE."

Silence.

The hilt of Yoan's staff thumped into the ground, which had halted all of the students to their spot. Faustina herself flinched at such intimidating aura the professor had emanated.

"Magicians battle all the time. Being a magician means putting your lives at stake for the sake of knowledge. To learn new things. To be able to wield your medium into something useful in this world!" She glowered to the students who had lashed out. "And YET, you spineless fools tell me that you are not here to FIGHT? Nonsense. Magicians ought to FIGHT the moment they step to these grounds! Everything is supposed to be a battle. Whether it be a battle for glory, for learning, or an EXAM."

"What a disappointment." She grumbled. "I did not expect such a vast array of future students to be COWARDS!"

Professor Yoan glared at them with a piercing contempt. "I will only say this once. Do you all want to be magicians?"

Silence.

"ANSWER ME!"

"Yes!" The students said in chorus (at least, a noteworthy amount of them).

"Magierstadt is not forcing you to do ANYTHING." Professor Yoan exclaimed, "it is your choice and yours alone. Now do tell, HOW did Magierstadt CHEAT any of you?"

Silence.

The professor snorted. "Those who still think they are cheated and couldn't accept Magierstadt terms,"—a thud form the hilt of the staff—"LEAVE."

"Che, screw this!"

"I'll get my license elsewhere. What a waste of time!"

"I didn't expect Magierstadt to be this . . . unwelcoming!"

Footsteps began to surround the entire academic grounds, with the thumping of heel and boots leaving the academy. Soon they grew fainter and fainter, until there was nothing but silence.

The professor slowly opened her eyes, only to see a hundred of students remaining standing, scattered and unmoving; some fidgeted nervously, some looking indifferent, some pa.s.sive, and some stoic and terrified. Yoan eyed them one by one and then bowed her head in courtesy.

"To all of the students-to-be who chose to stay," she smiled. "You all have my respect."

She thumped her staff three times to the ground, which had illuminated a vast magical circle etched onto the terra. Faustina eyed the magic circle ever-present on the floors since the beginning, and the light it had now emitted—she observes the familiar marking of a firefly, the eye of Horus, and several other stampings that signified elementals and chants.

"You will all advance to the first floor of the dungeon. . .

. . . May the firefly guide you to the right path,"