Chapter 37: Chapter 36: The First Day’s Exam
The morning sun stread through the gaps in the high tower, coating the apprentice district in a pale golden light.
But this warm light could not penetrate the door of Isolation and Review Room No. 3.
It was located on the second basent level of the administration center’s spire, at the end of a long corridor.
The walls were built of a cold, hard black rock capable of absorbing Magic Power fluctuations.
There were no guards at the door, only a seamlessly fitted tal door. Intricate and precise silver Runes were inscribed on it, emitting a faint glow.
Allen arrived fifteen minutes early.
He still wore that sa, simple junior Apprentice Robe. His black hair was impeccably styled, and his face betrayed no pre-exam jitters. He was as calm as if he were on his way to dinner.
Just then, the tal door slid open inward without a sound, revealing an empty room behind it.
The room was circular, about twenty square ters in size. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all made of the sa black rock as the corridor.
In the very center stood a lone tal table and a single chair.
Other than that, there was nothing else.
The entire space was empty and oppressive, giving one the illusion of being in a cage.
The mont Allen stepped into the room, the tal door behind him imdiately shut.
The Runes on the walls lit up one by one, forming an energy network that enveloped the entire room.
He could clearly sense the free-floating Magic Elents in the air being instantly drained away, and the connection to the outside world completely severed.
Any attempt to cheat by sending ssages via Magic Power or Spiritual Power would be useless here.
What put even more pressure on him was the feeling of being watched from all directions.
He knew that behind the walls, at least three or more Detection Arrays were running simultaneously, monitoring his heartbeat, body temperature, Magic Power fluctuations, and even the slightest movents of his eyeballs.
Under such surveillance, any lie or pretense would be impossible to hide.
The figure of Lecia Ellis materialized behind the tal table like a phantom. She hadn’t co in person; it was an extrely realistic Magic Image.
She still wore that sa cold expression, and her sharp gaze seed capable of piercing through Allen’s body to look directly into his soul.
"Allen Wesren, welco to Isolation and Review Room No. 3."
Lecia’s voice echoed in the empty room, carrying a tallic quality.
"There are five subjects on today’s exam. Each subject will be tested for ninety minutes, and you may take a fifteen-minute break after each paper."
"The exam papers are on the table, and the writing tool is ready. You may begin."
As her voice fell, five thick stacks of exam papers materialized on the tal tabletop, and next to them lay a tal pen with a tiny crystal for a nib.
This was a Spiritual Branding Pen. It directly converted the user’s Spiritual Power into fluorescent script and could record the test-taker’s ntal state at every mont to determine whether they were in a normal state of recollection or deduction.
Allen made no unnecessary movents. He pulled out the chair, sat down, and picked up the first exam paper—"The Nature of Magic Power and Macro Theory."
He glanced at the cover and turned directly to the first page.
DSeek had already analyzed this entire course down to the last detail.
From the origin of Magic Power to the patterns of magical tides.
In Allen’s knowledge base, these were no longer obscure theories, but a set of rigorously logical rules governing the universe.
[Essay Question: Please elaborate on the relationship and conversion process between primordial Magic Power, Aether, and Elental Magic Power. Using the ’River of Sulfur’ in the ’Fire Elental Plane’ as an example, analyze its unique elental cycle.]
This was a typical final question, involving several of the course’s core concepts and requiring a specific analysis integrated with knowledge of planology.
For an ordinary apprentice, just clarifying the relationship between the three would take imnse ntal effort, let alone performing a case analysis.
Allen picked up the Spiritual Branding Pen, and the crystal at its tip began to glow faintly.
He barely had to think before the nib began to glide smoothly across the parchnt.
"Aether, as the foundation of all things in the world, possesses no attributes of its own. When it is imbued with ’information’ by the World’s Will or a higher existence, it differentiates into ’primordial Magic Power.’"
"Primordial Magic Power is the initial form of Magic Power, existing widely in the Sea of Magical Power outside the planes. When primordial Magic Power flows through regions with different planar laws, it is ’dyed’ according to those laws, thus manifesting as basic Elental Magic Power such as earth, water, fire, and wind..."
His writing speed was extrely fast, his handwriting clear and steady.
The Spiritual Power fluctuations recorded by the Spiritual Branding Pen were as steady as a straight line.
This indicated he wasn’t struggling to think, but was simply performing a "knowledge retrieval."
"...The ’River of Sulfur’ in the Fire Elental Plane is, in essence, a semi-stable cycle where high concentrations of fire elents mingle with partial earth elents. The Elental Magic Power at the riverbed is partially neutralized and solidified by earth elental laws, forming phlogiston crystal sedints, which serve as the Energy Source for local Magical Creatures like the Fire Lizard..."
Lecia’s Magic Image watched him quietly.
Her expression didn’t change, but if anyone could have detected her spiritual fluctuations, they would have found a faint trace of surprise.
Allen’s answer was not only perfectly correct, but it was also identical to the description in the standard textbook, word for word, and even included so details only ntioned in advanced research papers.
Of the ninety minutes allotted, Allen used less than forty to complete the entire six-page exam paper.
From filling in the blanks on basic concepts to complex model analysis and the final open-ended essay, he didn’t pause once.
He set the paper aside and, without taking a break, imdiately picked up the second one—"Basic Runes and Linguistics."
Compared to macro-level theory, this course focused more on practice and morization.
The shapes of basic Runes, their stroke order, the thod of injecting Spiritual Power, and the thousands of composite Rune structures derived from them were a nightmare for every apprentice.
[Design Question: Please design a basic Rune Array with the dual functions of ’Warning’ and ’Transmission.’ Requirents: Trigger condition is an ’unauthorized Spiritual Power fluctuation,’ transmission distance must be no less than fifty ters, and energy consumption must be below three standard units of Magic Power. Please draw the structural diagram of the Rune Array and label the Magic Power flow and key nodes.]
The difficulty of this question lay in balancing "low energy consumption" with "dual functionality."
Many apprentices could design the functions but couldn’t control the energy consumption; or, in order to control consumption, they had to sacrifice the stability of the functions.
Allen’s nib paused over the parchnt for about five seconds.
In DSeek’s database, there were at least seven optimized solutions for this requirent.
He quickly selected the simplest and most efficient one.
He first sketched the base plate of the Array with a few precise lines, then began to fill in the Runes.
A core "Sensing" Rune was cleverly modified at two nodes, allowing it to divert a small stream of energy to activate the adjacent "Transmission" Rune upon detecting a Spiritual Power fluctuation.
The "Transmission" Rune, in turn, was linked to a miniature "Amplification" and "Directional" structure, ensuring the signal’s transmission distance and accuracy.
The entire Array resembled a piece of intricate art, with fluid lines, a stable structure, and a beauty rooted in logic.
When labeling the energy flow, he even used lines of varying thickness to indicate the energy load intensity for different paths.
Such detail was beyond the scope of an apprentice, entering the realm of professional Rune studies.
Again, in less than fifty minutes, the second exam paper was complete.
When Allen picked up the exam paper for "Logic and Magic Models," only three hours had passed since the exam began.
This course studied how to combine Runes into stable, effective Magic models—the theoretical foundation of a Wizard’s spellcasting.
[Analysis Question: Below is an incomplete combat Magic model, which is missing three key Runes. Please identify the missing locations and select the three most suitable Runes from the five options—’Stabilize,’ ’Shape,’ ’Accelerate,’ ’Compress,’ ’Burst’—to fill them in, enabling the model to be cast correctly. Please also explain the reasoning for your choices.]
Drawn on the exam paper was a complex, incomplete model made up of eight Runes. This question definitely increased the difficulty; for a low-level apprentice who had never encountered Combat Witchcraft, answering it correctly was nigh on impossible.
Allen’s eyes swept over the model as DSeek began high-speed calculations and completions in his mind.
"Missing Position 1: Between the Energy Source and the projection path. The ’Compress’ Rune should be inserted here. Reason: Compressing the Magic Power after it leaves the Energy Source and before it enters the projection path maximizes the energy density of the trajectory, enhancing the final burst effect. If ’Accelerate’ were placed here, it would lead to excessive energy loss along the path."
"Missing Position 2: At the core of the shaping structure. The ’Stabilize’ Rune should be inserted here. Reason: This model’s shaping structure uses a dual-nested design, which has poor stability. It requires a core stabilizing Rune to act as a fulcrum; otherwise, it would be highly prone to disintegrating during flight."
"Missing Position 3: At the very end of the model. The ’Burst’ Rune should be inserted here. Reason: This Rune is key to achieving the final damaging effect. It defines how the Witchcraft releases its energy upon contact with the target."
His nib flew across the page. His logic was clear and his reasoning was thodical, with every choice backed by a sufficient and irrefutable argunt.
When Allen put down the Spiritual Branding Pen, his total ti for the first day of exams was locked in at three hours and thirty-five minutes.
He stacked the five completed exam papers neatly and pushed them to the center of the table.
Then, he looked up at Lecia’s image.
"Professor, I’m finished."
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