The morning had stretched on, the exam lasting a good three hours. As Elok and the others stepped out, there was an imdiate collective sigh of relief, followed by a frantic comparison of answers. Soon enough, they were arguing fervently, faces flushed.
"It's impossible! I've double-checked multiple tis; the wizard involved in the plane crash should've reached the ground by the thirty-first second," Elok declared with absolute certainty.
"You must have miscalculated. The formula for this question involves the distance, S equals initial velocity, V, tis ti, t, plus half of the acceleration tis t squared. You need to set the free fall ti as t1... and the total ti of descent turns out to be twenty-four seconds, with a free fall distance of eighty ters!" countered another wizard.
Elok ntally recalculated and his expression soured.
Oh no, he had gotten another question wrong.
On the side, Pearce breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness for the last-minute review on free fall formulas last night, or he'd have been dood today.
---
Inside the examination hall, Lynn was scrutinizing the answer sheets being collected, with Orlando's group responsible for grading them.
Even if they might not have been able to solve them themselves, they were confident in marking the correct answers.
"Headmaster Lynn, looks like there won't be many who pass this ti..." Orlando shook his head after reviewing a dozen or so papers. It was close to what he'd estimated; roughly only thirty percent would make it through the written test.
"Why is it so challenging?" Lynn wondered. Wizard apprentices should have sharp minds, not necessarily all geniuses, but certainly sharper than the average person.
Yet upon closer thought, Lynn quickly grasped the issue.
Despite the seemingly not-so-difficult questions, the apprentices had not had much ti to study. In total, they only had a little over a year to grasp a wide array of subjects—Lynn had cramd in primary and middle school-level physics, chemistry, and even so high school topics.
Coupled with Lynn occasionally skipping classes to tend to personal matters or participate in academic seminars and the kingdom's wars, their self-study ti had also been quite extensive.
Looking at so high-scoring papers, Lynn imdiately dismissed the notion.
If so could achieve high marks, then the test wasn't excessively difficult after all...
Among them, Jonny was undoubtedly the most proficient, with only three mistakes in the deliberately prepared challenging questions out of the final five!
Apart from being formally trained, he clearly put in extra effort on regular days.
What surprised Lynn the most was Lydia. She managed to score eighty-eight points, with her errors mostly relating to elental properties, even acing all the deliberately challenging problems Lynn had set.
"She truly is a genius in the field of engineering!" Lynn exclaid.
"Headmaster, shouldn't you have excluded Lydia from this assessnt? What if she actually passes? Are you planning to award a wizard's badge to a halfling who can't do magic?" Orlando hesitated to voice his concern.
"Of course, as long as she successfully passes the test, becoming a wizard isn't a big deal," Lynn said calmly.
"But this might subject Lydia to ridicule among the wizards, even facing hostility from so who might feel she's deaning the noble identity of a wizard..." Orlando looked worried, finding the headmaster's perspective overly simplistic. What use is a title for soone who can't perform magic?
"Even if she can't perform magic, Lydia can still beco an alchemist, right? She independently created an airship, not to ntion her efforts in researching internal combustion engines and electromagnetic railguns," Lynn pointed out.
Orlando was montarily speechless. Looking at it from that angle, referring to this halfling girl as an alchemist might not be a problem.
But the idea of a wizard without magic was just odd.
Just as he was perplexed, Lynn chuckled and continued, "And who said Lydia couldn't use magic?"
Orlando was bewildered. The absence of magical talent in halflings was common knowledge among wizards; it had never been broken before.
Lydia had been an apprentice for over a year and couldn't even grasp the most basic Water Solidification and Material Deconstruction spells.
Could the headmaster really make soone without talent in magic successfully wield it and beco a wizard?!
This was beyond unbelievable!
Lynn kept the suspense and didn't explain further, rely telling Orlando that he'd find out in a few days.
---
In the afternoon, the apprentices, tornted by the written test, finally encountered their familiar practical classes.
Elents, shaping, alchemy, potions, and combat exercises—a total of five subjects, divided over two days...
Over the past year, the Iyeta wizard apprentices had faced many rigorous courses, yet several aspects were interconnected.
For instance, the chemistry subjects involved the properties and changes of elents, so their foundation wasn't neglected. Their mathematical training for calculations also brought their magical reserves close to their limits, resulting in more students applying for graduation this year.
Pearce, aware that his performance in the morning wouldn't be stellar, exerted extra effort and excelled, breezing through the first four subjects.
As for the final combat exercises, surprisingly, they turned out to be the easiest. Their opponents were three magically enhanced puppets, comparable in strength to fully ard guards, and dealing with them wasn't too demanding.
Even Lydia managed to skillfully take down these puppets using ticulously crafted short-barreled firearms.
On the morning of the third day, it was ti for the results to be announced. The entire magical academy's students gathered, waiting anxiously and nervously.
Receiving their grade sheets and seeing their success was t with cheers and jubilation, but clearly, there were more who hadn't made it.
Even with a curved grading system, less than forty percent managed to pass this graduation exam.
"Damn it, just a little more!" Debra stared at the conspicuous fifty-eight score on her paper, feeling imnsely frustrated. If only she'd reviewed a bit more or if the professor had been a tad more lenient, she could've passed.
Now she had to wait another year... Debra reflected in silence as nearby, a burst of exuberant cheers erupted.
"This is amazing... I made it!"
>
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