White shirt. Bright red ribbon at the base of her neck.
Long sleeves. Her pair of gloves dyed black for the occasion.
Hikari's silver hair. Neatly tied up in a pony tail behind her back.
Her side burns were trimmed until they were above her shoulders.
A posh black skirt long enough to cover her knee caps.
Black socks knee socks. Thinner than usual, but covered up to her knee caps.
No part of her skin was exposed from the neck down, giving her an aura of exclusive elegance.
Down beside her shoe, Ria was spraying a bottle of perfume at the giantess's socks.
She was in a matching outfit to Hikari though the tight fabric fits her slender body better.
She shook the bottle to gather one last spray, leaned her nose towards Hikari's sock and sniffed.
"There. This should make you presentable to the esteemed gentlemen. Your shoe should trap any odor should your socks get sweaty again."
"Thanks."
"Ah.. well.. can't do much about the smell of cheap soap. That's still the only plausible way to keep you clean. But at least we don't have to test if the examiners would share my opinion on your running feet, hehe."
"Shall I tempt them?"
"Oh… I shall think that you can … but I prefer not to have to write memos to the hall mistress … "
"Understood~"
Ria took several steps away from Hikari to get a full body view.
The outfit was indeed a bit tight.
Contours of her muscles all over her body were visible.
Her thick muscular thighs pushed her skirt line out above her knee caps just slightly.
Her black socks appeared stretched in some areas.
"You look splendid Hikari … your muscles … mmm … not quite what I was trying to do … maybe a tight shirt which shows your muscles too much reduces the elegance of the outfit … hmm … But, that's a thought for later … this will do for now."
Hikari smiles.
"So, who are those people from the academy?"
"It's just a pre-enrollment screen today. They are just here to determine where to place you in terms of your stat tier."
"Stat tier?"
"Yes. A very rough measure of your power. Physique. A measure of how much raw physical power you could put out. Defense. A measure of your resistance to a wide range of attacks.
Mana. The amount of that raw energy used to cast all manner of spells you could store and channel. Mind. The rate at which you could shape mana into spells."
"Interesting."
"For reference, a normal sized man has a physique score of anywhere between 20 and 40. Well trained knights can have around 50. For defense, if you are around 100, musket shots don't affect you at all. As for cannon shots though, there isn't any serious attempt at estimating the value at which you can block one with your chest."
Hikari nods.
"A mana of around 50 is typical for a full fledged knight. 100 for a full mage. Though even a raw spell cast by a full mage would not have more power than a cannon shot. That's why sword and bullet enchantments are so widespread."
Hikari nods.
"As for mind, typically your mind stat is roughly your mana stat as well since it's pointless to have more mana than you can process. There's also evidence that mind stat also correlates to your general intellect."
"Hmm..?"
"Mmm!" Ria flinches, swallowing her saliva.
"I…"
"My lady?"
"Ahem!" She clears her throat.
"I just remembered, your mind stat … I read a report on when our house last tested …. "
Ria covered her mouth and held her breath.
"Hmm..?" A bemused expression appeared across Hikari's face.
"Oh… I never thought of you that way … are you? … "
"Go on?"
"Umm… " Hikari could sense Ria's tiny beating heart.
"Anyways, we haven't done a stat check yet. Ohh.. I can't describe how excited I am to know your stats…"
"He~ me too."
"My lady!" A voice suddenly came from outside.
"The examiners have arrived, shall I show them in?"
"Oh!" Ria slapped herself on both cheeks.
She rushed back into position beside Hikari's leg.
"Yes, please send them in." She projected her voice as hard as she could.
After a short pause, five figures appeared through the curtain door.
Two men and three women.
Smartly dressed in their bright blue out coat covering their pristine white inner shirt.
Emblem of a spire weaved onto the front.
"Greetings. I am Henril of Lithensiar enterprise. We are part of the specialized division dealing with gigantified enrollees."
The man in the center spoke. There was authority in his energetic voice and yet it conveys a sense of accommodation at the same time. His stature was impressive, matching that of the RazenHeir knights.
His neatly trimmed grey hair spoke both of his age and his dignity.
"Ria RazenHeir, pleasure to meet your acquaintance. This here is my knight Hikari."
Ria pinched the tips of her skirt and bent briefly.
"Pleasure is all mine. Before we begin, I shall provide the standard brief. This is a preliminary assessment to determine the training needs of an enrollee to the academy. The results are not final nor will it be taken into consideration in whole or in part in any subsequent assessments. Attempting to manipulate the readings will not impart any advantage except to dampen the academy's opinion of you."
"Understood." Ria nods.
"Very well." The man signals to his assistants who began carrying equipment into Hikari's chambers.
"First, step forward, Lady Ria."
"Hmm?" Ria did as she was told.
"I'll administer the normal test for you. Would you like a brief on the basic attributes that will be tested for?"
"There is no need. I am quite well briefed on that already."
"Very well." The examiner held out one arm straight. An ivory staff materialized in his hand.
He took one step back, balanced the staff horizontally between him and Ria and let go.
The staff hovers in mid air, very slowly lowering itself.
With a silent click, it seemed to lock itself in place at Ria's chest height.
"Now, anytime you are ready, push on it as hard as you can."
Ria grabbed the staff with both hands and pushed.
The staff wouldn't budge.
She pushed harder until her shoe skidded against the stone ground.
Huff* Huff*, she catches her breath.
"Hmm… I'll lower the power."
Ria stretches her arms for a bit before gripping the floating staff for another attempt.
"If I may, it might help if you remove your shoes and socks."
"Hmm..?" Ria gave the examiner an awkward look.
He returned a straight face.
"I appreciate the lovely dress you presented to us, but it does get in the way of a physical test doesn't it?"
There was not a hint out of place in his voice.
"Sure." Ria stood straight. She slid out of her shoes and peeled off her knee socks.
The cold stone ground below her bare feet.
She grabbed the staff again.
The examiner's straight face across from her. Not a muscle has moved.
With a wave of his hand, the staff lowered itself a bit more.
Ria grabbed hold of it. She was able to take a lower stance.
Without her uncomfortable shoes, she was able to push with more strength in her legs.
The staff budged. Ria, in the moment of relief, relaxed her body, causing the staff to push her back, causing her to fall backwards.
She saw the examiner nod to his assistant who jotted using her quill.
"Ahem! Good. On to the next item." The old gentleman stretched out his hand to Ria and pulled her up.
He held up a transparent orb and presented it in front of Ria.
Ria gently placed her palm on the glass surface.
"Relax, take a deep breath. Collect yourself."
Ria closed her eyes. She gathered her mana and focused.
A brief spark of flame flashed in the orb.
Ria felt a sting in her palm from the recoil.
"How did I do?" She asked.
"Ahem!" The examiner clears his throat.
"I believe you have more mana capacity than that. Hmm.. forgive me, but do you mind removing your shirt?"
"Hmm.." Ria gave the examiner an awkward look.
He again returned with a straight face.
"I doubt that outfit of yours is properly prepared to have mana resonance. It probably has more resistance to your mana than you suspect.
Ria studied his face. Not a hint of a muscle moving.
"Fair point."
She began unbuttoning her shirt.
"Do excuse me. But this might be more common in the academy in the future."
Ria quickly folded her shirt neatly and placed it beside her shoes.
"Understood. I'm ready to continue."
"Please." There was no change in the intonation of his voice.
She placed her palm on the glass orb.
She closed her eyes and focused.
She had trained with Hikari every day since they returned to the estate. Joining her for meditation to gradually grow her mana.
She just has to focus.
Before she knew it, she felt a sudden warmth through her palm.
As she opened her eyes, she caught the tail flicker of what appeared to be a dissipating flame within the glass orb.
The examiner across from her had raised an eyebrow.
After a pause, he turns and nods to his assistant.