Chapter 1: The Academy

The bus started to stop. The bus driver spoke.

"Everyone, we're here."

The lady took charge again.

"Everyone, we've arrived at The Academy. Please depart through the left exit. Once you exit, go to the building in the center of the school. The two tests will be conducted there."

Once told, everyone got off the bus and went to the school. The area was absolutely massive. There were many buildings, and it would take a while to locate and move to the center one.

'Supercomputer, find the center building and display the shortest route there.'

Supercomputer is a special skill I have. It is the only one of its kind.

[Searching…Center building located. Using [Supercomputer - VIII. Augmentation] to display the shortest path.]

A bright white line suddenly appeared on the ground. I followed the line to the center building.

The center building was big.

"...find the building already?"

'What?'

A woman called out to me from in front of the building.

"Hey, you! You're a new student, right?"

"Yeah. This is the center building?"

"Yeah. Come inside!"

I went inside the building and followed the woman. She led me to a big empty room.

"Congratulations! As the first one here, you will later receive an award. Please wait for the others to arrive."

'I'm the first one here?'

[Yes master. According to the [Supercomputer - V. Analysis] scan run before to locate the center building, all of the other students on the bus were at a loss trying to find this building.]

'How long until the others arrive?'

[Conducting scan… located 5 students in a group and 11 students as individuals currently approaching the building. Located 4 more following the group of 5 from afar. Located over 20 individuals observing all of the students from the rooftops of the near-center buildings. Located 42 individuals total.]

'How many people saw me go straight into the center building?'

[A total of 2 people. 1 teacher and 1 student currently attending the academy.]

This might be troublesome later.

In any case, the students are almost here.

…

(POV change to 3rd person)

"Welcome! You're all the new students. Please make your way inside."

Soon after all the students were seated, a large, muscular man who looked like the neighborhood gym enthusiast came into the large circular room and stood in the center. The students were seated on the chairs near the edges.

The man spoke.

"Listen up everyone! I am the instructor for your 2 exams today. We'll start with the magic aptitude test."

As he said that, a magic sphere started rising from the food in the center of the room next to the burly man.

He put his hand on the crystal ball.

"Now everyone, if you do not know how to focus your mana, I'll teach you how right now. Stand up. The first thing you need to do is concentrate on your breathing and lower your heart rate. Being calm is essential to focusing mana. Once you feel you have calmed down, start to concentrate on yourself. Imagine that you have large amounts of powerful energy inside your body, waiting to be released. Then, imagine that energy circulating throughout your arteries and veins."

As soon as he said that, an immense pressure filled the room.

"Do you feel this pressure? That is my mana."

By this time, most of the students were on their knees trying to withstand the pressure emanating from the burly man.

"Since I was born with a large amount of mana, the pressure is extremely great when I focus my power. That is why most of you can not stand."

Even though he said that, there were still quite a few students standing. Half of them, to be exact.

"To see that this many of you are still standing… I can see why the principal wanted this batch of students. The students that are still standing, all of you must have an amount of mana near mine. Just so you know, my mana score is Gold, 450. If you are still standing right now, come next to me by my right side."

As he told the students to come to his right, he stopped emitting his magic power. Although, only half the standing students were able to move under the pressure. The other half of the standing students were glued to the floor, able to stand but unable to move.

"Good. Now, all of you on the floor, get up and get out."

He said that with magic imbued in his voice, clearly threatening them. At his clear threat, a protest rose out.

"What? Why do we have to get out? You can't just make us leave!"

"I spent a lot of money to come out this far! I'm not gonna go back with nothing to show for it!"

"I took time out of my important activities to come here! I won't sit here and be treated like…"

"SILENCE! GET OUT RIGHT NOW."

At his roar, all the protests stopped.

"All of you are weaklings that this academy has no interest in. Go leave and cry or wail or whatever. The elite have no use for you.,"

After hearing this, the students, or rather, the former students, left the room grumbling in anger at the academy.

"Now, all those who were unable to move before, come to my left side. All of you will go first."

He pointed at a random student on the left side.

"You will go first. Come here and place your hand on the ball."

When the student put her hand on the ball, the ball started glowing.

"Good. That means that it's ready to be used. Now, remember how I said to focus your power? Start."

As the student started focusing her power, a subtle pressure could be felt in the room, like the burly man's, just not as strong

"Oh? That's quite a bit of power for someone who couldn't move. You're probably in Silver or even Gold like me."

At that moment, the ball started to project a score on top of it.

Silver, 390

"A high-silver on our first left-side student? I really have high expectations from the right side now."

After that, the man kept calling people.

Silver, 350.

Silver, 380.

Gold, 420.

Gold, 415.

"What will the right side get us? You, come here."

This time he called a student from the right side. The student was tall and muscular, almost as much as the burly man.

"Come here, put your hand on the ball, and focus your power."

This time, a much noticeable pressure filled the room. All of the left side students and most of the right side students suddenly hit the ground under the heavy pressure. Even the instructor was having trouble standing up straight.

The ball then displayed the score.

Diamond, 550.

"A mid-diamond!"

"Alright, next next next!"

Gold, 480.

Gold, 498.

Diamond, 540.

"Another 2 high-golds and one mid-diamond! As expected from the recruits! Come on, the last one!"

This last one, of course…

'Alright, let's get this over with. [Supercomputer], you have the recorded scores, right?'

[Yes. The left side scores were Silver - 390, Silver - 350. Silver - 380. Gold - 420. Gold - 415. The right side scores were Diamond - 550, Gold - 480, Gold - 498, and Diamond - 540. That is everyone aside from you.]

'Good. My turn.'

"Okay, okay! Come and put your hand and focus your power!"

"Alright."

This time, when he focused his power, A pressure came upon the room so great that no one could stand.

"Argh..w what is this???"

After around a minute, all of the students except him had fainted. All that was left was the instructor.

'If I did not train my magical power for many years and pursue this teaching career, I would have been down a long time ago! What power!'

After another minute, the ball finally began to show the score.

E̸̢̧̖̤̍̄̇͒͠R̶̬̦͐̊̊͜R̷͇̥͊͊̅̊̅O̸̭͝R̴̺͎͒̄͛͝͝ - 0

'What?'

The instructor was extremely confused. The ball showed an error message, which has never happened before. Finally, the boy took his hand off the magic ball. The pressure was released. Aside from the students who fainted, everyone got up.

"Boy, tell me your name."

The boy spoke:

"My name is Kirihara Ayato."

At that moment, the crystal flickered again. It was barely noticeable, but the instructor and Kirihara saw it.

Bronze - 250.

'What's going on? Bronze? That's definitely not the power of a bronze tier! Wait, that means that his magic badge will be made of bronze! This isn't good for the boy. There's not much I can do, though. The best course of action is to tell the principal, but who knows what the principal will do! I have to keep an eye on this boy myself.'

"In any case, once the fainted students wake up, we will move on to the fighting test."

…

"What are you doing here, Shion?"

"For the new student tests, students can fight the applicants, right?"

"Yes, that is true, but is there someone you want to fight?"

"I wish to fight the boy with black hair and black eyes."

Black hair and black eyes are extremely rare in this world.

"Oh him? His name is Kirihara Ayato. But why do you want to fight him? It would be a bad first impression for the student council president to go around beating up applicants that aren't even students yet."

"I just want to fight him."

In reality, the student council president Shion wants to fight him because she saw him go straight into the center building. Her pride is very easily hurt, you see.

"Well, even if you do want to fight him, the school will be using a tournament-style test this time. Does that mean you want to enter the tournament?"

"If I get to fight him, then yes."

"I can't make sure that you'll get to fight him, you know? He could be knocked out of the tournament before you get the chance."

"As long as there is a chance, I'll enter."

"Do you hold a grudge or something? Fine, whatever. I'll sign you up, but what if you only get to meet in the finals?

"Still."

"Damn this persistent child! You're gonna give the judges a really hard time if you enter! Whatever, just get in the waiting room already."

"Thank you."

"The judges are gonna have a real headache this year. Just know that when no one is able to make it, it's your fault.

…

"Everyone, the fighting exam will be held as a tournament between the applicants as well as some of the students already enrolled. The one who wins the tournament will receive a special position in the student council. The student council is decided by strength. In other words, the student council president is the strongest student enrolled in the school. Because of this meritocracy-like structure, the student council is given a lot of power. That's why, make sure all of you try to get to the top. If it's you guys, I know you can do it."

As he said this, he unconsciously glanced at Kirihara.

'As long as the president herself doesn't enter, these applicants will probably get a chance to enter the student council. Even if she enters, I feel like that black-haired boy wouldn't lose even to her, as long as it's within magic power. As for the fighting experience, I can't make any accurate guesses… in the end, all I can do is pray she doesn't enter.'

"The door opposite from the entry door will lead you to the tournament waiting room. However, before you go, all of you must receive your badge. The badge will be made of the material named in your general magic power ranking and it will have an engraving of your score. If you rank Pro or higher, your badge will be made of different colors of whitestone, which is the hardest currently malleable material. If you are ranked Pro, your whitestone badge will be blue. If you are Expert, It will be green. Champion is black, and Supreme is white. To get your badge, reach your hand into the compartment under the stone."

As he said the last bit, a small compartment, enough to fit a hand in, opened up in the pillar. Everyone then reached into the compartment one by one.

As one would expect, they all received the badges that align with their score.

At this point, the instructor was getting even more worried.

'I thought that maybe, just maybe, his magic power badge would accurately represent his power, but it didn't work!'

But he then shook off his worries.

'No, I can't worry so much. If the boy truly has that much power, he will hold his own against everyone who isn't the president or vice-president. No, if he has the fighting experience, he could…maybe…'

"Alright, everyone! Make your way into the waiting room! I sincerely hope you all pass!"

And with that, the second test began.