0 to Infinity

"Welcome to Excelsior National Academy of Magic. I'm the Headmaster, Polpe."

The man in front of Belitha and me had a kind face, with prominent gray hair that suggested he was well into his fifties. His smile was warm and reassuring, and I was relieved to see it.

I knew he was the headmaster, and also a friend to my parents and Belitha's.

I was expecting him to have something to say about my magicless predicament, but staying focused on what he was saying had more importance.

His words were polite and confident, and it made me eager to hear more.

"I can feel the powerful aura emanating from you, you're indeed your father's daughter.." the headmaster; Count Polpe was referring to Belitha, it wasn't a surprise when she said, "So you noticed Sir?" after all, she was delighted to receive such a kind compliment, and her voice expressed her enthusiasm in a high-pitched and cheerful manner.

Her joy was palpable and it was clear to me that she was truly grateful for the recognition.

No way. One might appreciate the headmaster's attempt to be sensitive to my feelings, but I'm not just a typical nobody. Extraordinary was the word, with my own merits and accomplishments, quite proud of who I was.

Yes, Belitha is an heiress to an honorable and powerful barony, while I was popularly known as a Cross, so he should be straight with his words than beating around the bush.

Firmly seated in the office and with a hard-fought maintenence of a polite and confident demeanor, I watched the headmaster and Belitha go back and forth.

"In light of your exceptional abilities, Beli...I mean you both, we're exempting you from the practical entrance exam for our senior division, but please at least take the written exams."

"Of course!"

It was a confident reply. Eager to accept his conditions as I had a deep interest in the study of magic.

Although I was unable to practice it, reading extensively on the subject was my forte, including the theories of previous mages. It was an opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and intelligence, which was far beyond my age grade.

Already confident about meeting his expectations, rigorously quivering in my polished brown boots with the excitement to see just how advanced the exam of such a renowned, prestigious school was.

"That's good Nyx my boy! I love your enthusiasm and I'm sure it'll give you the opportunity to stand out here in our academy! Our exam is said to be as hard as the Blue exam..." he said.

As an aspiring Mage I knew the Blue Exam was required for one to attain one of the highest ranks. Also aware that very few people passed the exam, so hearing the statement that the Excelsior exams were just as hard, stirred up some controversy as to whether this should have been taken seriously or not.

I've gone through the questions asked in the Blue Exam and found them to be quite simple to answer. 

It wasn't necessary to let the headmaster know that I'd encountered the Blue exam before, relatively speaking it was unimportant in this discussion. It'd come out as a boast of some sort.

[ 6 hours later... ]

After the exams, Belitha and I were among the thirty other students eagerly awaiting our results in the courtyard.

It was easy to find out our scores, as they were all written on a large board.

"I did it!" 

Belitha was already celebrating, having achieved an impressive score of 83/100 in the written exam.

I was in awe of her success, and couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. Now, I wondered how I fared.

"Nyx, I can't find your name," she said, her gaze sweeping from top to bottom progressively. I felt a sense of unease; the questions had been too easy.

Was this a trick? I was the only one who had failed.

What would become of my life at the academy? Would I have to part ways with Belitha? My refusal to entertain such thoughts was the only thing that kept me standing.

As I wallowed in my pessimism, Belitha was determined to find my name. After a few moments of searching, she finally exclaimed, "There! I found it! Your name!" She was incredibly relieved.

For a moment I felt a sense of relief too but then saw my score - a big, fat zero.

How was it possible for one to pass with a score of 0?! Who was trying to make a mockery of me? Despite the confusion, getting to the bottom of this was indubitable.

"Congratulations!"

A pleasant surprise came from Count Polpe, the headmaster, after he'd placed his right hand upon my shoulders - a gesture of praise.

He spoke highly of my test scores, expressing his his satisfaction much like a father would for a job well done.

His words were full of admiration, describing the result as "marvelous", "genius", "monstrous", and "divine".

Everyone around us watched in amazement, including me. I could not help but feel a sense of confidence and accomplishment. Well done!

A long stare at the Headmaster in disbelief, unable to comprehend what the reason was for all this praise, despite the fact that I'd scored a 0 on the exam.

"I'm sorry, Headmaster, but I'm not following what you're saying," I said, trying to keep my tone ideal.

"It says that I scored a zero on the exam?"

My voice lacked its usual silky smooth presentation. 

He simply chuckled and apologized, but one could tell he was trying to explain something to me.

"Your answers on the written exam were incorrect, but only within the standards of modern ideology. In other words, the answers far exceeded what had been hypothesized." 

A guffaw exploded from his mouth after he'd finished speaking. 

Belitha's mention of "Surpassed?" had me raising a brow in surprise.

"Even platinum sorcerers struggle to come up with such improvements to the magical energy amplification circuits used to construct special class magic seals."

He was impressed by the numerous ideas to improve magical techniques, and rambled on until he started coughing heavily.

'Don't look smug Nyx... There are royals and nobles here..'

I tried to avoid looking smug, it was hard not to after surpassing even the most experienced of sorcerers.

Then again, my mind itself consumed information infinitely, or so I'd like to believe.

The whole crowd of students were suddenly taken aback, "You are all lucky! You get to study hard alongside this young man, Nyx Besimios!" I tried to stop Headmaster's praises.

Few people like unwanted attention that would make people view them as a threat, same here.

"I hate my life.."

I couldn't use magic, so this could worsen the Cross joke even more and maybe even stir up a little envy. Not my cup of tea.

But it was done, first path cleared...