Exam Interlude

Aayla quietly joined the student run investigation. On her first day alone, she found several nests and dens and helped safely trap many animals on campus. The work was easy since they were common animals that Aayla had worked with a lot before.

Everyday several new incidents occurred. Aayla had no idea how so many animals could have been transferred over. The research professors were fascinated by them. Without Headmaster Marin personally keeping a few of them in line, she would have been very, very concerned about them.

Whether for better or worse, Aayla's reputation as a 'tamer' spread around the school. Any creature large or small; furry, scaley or hairy; mammal, amphibian, reptile or avian. She handled them all calmly and effectively. Her new job was not that hard in Aayla's mind.

While the young students would run far away, she would casually pick up the smaller critters. When the professors would attack the larger creatures with magic, she would calm them down, throw a lead rope or halter around their necks then guide them to the stables.

Chris was stupefied about how easily she could track and handle animals. On the other hand, Aayla was dumbfounded by how poorly everyone else handled even the most docile of animals. They would lose their minds whenever an animal appeared on campus. Did they not even have any pets at all as children?

The general unease that Tellans had around animals was bizarre and simply pitiful in Aayla's opinion. They would even jump in fright around normal kittens or puppies! Granted, magic beasts are much more dangerous than normal animals, and neither size or age can properly reflect that danger.

A brief interruption occurred during the animal treasure hunt. Surprisingly, it wasn't Vanessa. That is, the third round of exams from the 8th to the 11th of Pelon. The last round of exams before the semester final exams. With their grades almost completely set, many students were desperate to pull them up. The final exams were notoriously brutal. They needed as much of a buffer as they could get.

Nurse Rouse decided to give Aayla a 'pleasant' surprise. Aayla had been doing well under Ramona's oversight since she could easily tame wild animals. So, Nurse Rouse decided to declare Aayla fit enough to participate in practical exams. As of the 10th of Pelon, Aayla's medical exemption would be lifted.

A mere two days after her practical magic theory exam on the 8th. Even after knowing that she was safe for the third practical exam, Aayla nearly had a heart attack when she heard that Nurse Rouse decided to lift her medical exemption.

Her grasp over magic theory was unstable at best and poor at worst. Pulling off a 'B' average on her magic theory exams was a miracle. Thankfully Professor Hartaris preferred multiple choice exams and she was exempt from practical activities. Coupled with long memorization sessions and the best Terran test taking strategies, Aayla could succeed.

Originally, Aayla would have over two months to practice magic. She would reach high school level magic by finals then mostly catch up with her peers over winter break. That plan encompassed the next ten weeks. Now, she had a little over three weeks to somehow become good enough to pass a university level practical magic exam.

Catching up was nearly impossible with only three weeks. She still couldn't gather mana very well for high school level exercises. Even with the initially planned ten weeks Aayla still might not succeed if she couldn't improve her mana control.

Pretending to be happy that her medical exemption was lifted was one of the hardest things she's ever done. Word seemed to spread like a cloud with wings. Several people congratulated her. Each time Aayla had to happily grin despite grinding her teeth.

Aside from that little incident, her tests went rather well. The tests for world history and Ancient Celes went well. Aayla barely scraped by with a 'B' in magic theory due to all of the stress. While investigating, she almost got kicked by a moose. Twice!

After the exams were over, she could focus on the investigation again. Fewer and fewer creatures appeared around campus. The investigations should slow way down soon. Aayla discussed the student investigation with Ramona, who shared the faculty's current findings.

Overtime, the animals started to adjust to their new environment, just like Aayla did. The researchers had to rush to understand their physiques before they completely changed. Their rabid fascination was extremely scary.

Aayla heard about all of their theories. Questions emerged about the origins of all these creatures. Where did they come from? Why were they so different than normal? The only good thing is that no one seemed to link the animals' condition with hers. After all, they didn't find any humans.

"So, you're a master tamer now?"

"Ugh. Don't remind me. Nurse Rouse pulled my medical exemption because of that."

"Hey, on the bright side the investigations into the origins of the animals are going nowhere. They're acclimating too fast. No one would ever dream that a portal to Terra opened. People would call them insane."

"Why are the animals getting better when I'm stuck with unstable mana?!"

"They have much simpler mana channels and more instinctive control. They just adapt better in the short term, dear. You're already much better than when you first arrived."

Aayla sighed. "Not good enough. I only have three weeks until finals."

"Yes. We don't have nearly enough time to prepare you for the final exam. Failure is not an option. A high 'C' I can pass off as natural with various excuses like overwork, you've recently recovered and you've had few practical exercises. A failure in magic theory, or any class, could get a student in the work-study program kicked out. It's too fundamental to Nafriton's course tracks."

"What is the final exam? Can I just do specialized training for that?"

"No. The semester final exams are very different than normal exams. They are designed to push you beyond the comfort zone. The problem is that 'comfort zone' is defined as the 'ability level of the average student'. Magically you fall way below that standard."

At Nafriton University, there is a long tradition of extremely difficult final exams and graduation exams. They are designed to test a combination of practical and theoretical knowledge on a slightly-above-year-appropriate level. For example, in an Ancient Celes exam the student could be assigned a difficult piece to translate in a set amount of time.

"We'll have to do something else to get you prepared."

Ramona placed her hand on her chin in a thinking pose. The finals are different every year, but they all focus on the core skills learned during the semester. They often vary between students based on the random selection of specific exam versions.

Learning about Aayla's specific exam version before the test cannot be done. The exams are always done individually so teamwork is out of the question. If she's off campus, then her finals will merely be postponed. There's no getting out of them. How can Aayla build the skills that she needs in time?

**********

A pudgy, blond-haired young man sat drinking in a spacious dorm room. He flattered a striking young man with flame-like hair along with other young men.

"Many thanks to Sir Foryl inviting us over for drinks."

"Haha! These drinks are of an excellent quality."

"Congratulations on your exams! You utterly obliviated your bumpkin classmates."

"Here's to the continued excellence of Sir Foryl! Us nobles need to stick together."

Lysander Foryl smugly took another sip of wine. A light blush spread over his cheeks. Clearly a bit drunk, he happily laughed and accepted all of the flattery around him. A female student acted like a servant and continued pouring drinks.

Marc put on a fake smile as he toasted along with the rest of the drunk youths. He internally clicked his teeth in disgust. Lyse was a very promising young wizard. His ancestral bloodline seemed to have revived in him. Though his personality was disappointing, he was someone that his real faction wanted to recruit.

As Professor Foryl's distant nephew, many wanted to bring him into their faction. However, his powerful father was a strict conservative, and Lyse was far too brash and foolish when he was younger. If they tried to pull him in without any preparation, they could easily be exposed.

With his father busy and Lyse far away from Sarrasak, now was the perfect time to strike. They needed him to draw in others with potential away from the conservatives. After some re-education to get rid of his nasty habits that the conservatives commonly ingrain into their children.

First, he needed to start guiding Lyse towards the true way. Marc had a plan for that. It could accomplish two of his goals: gather more information about Aayla Glowery's abilities and encourage Lyse to doubt his father's strict teaching.

"Sir Foryl, I've heard the craziest of rumors the other day. That Aayla Glowery has recovered from her condition enough for Nurse Rouse to lift her medical exemption."

"Huh? Why would I care about some mana-less commoner?"

"If it's true, she'll be participating in the semester final exams. It's an excellent opportunity to see her true skills with our own eyes."