Ria buttoned up her shirt.
She briefly looked up at Hikari who gave her a slight smile in approval.
Her finger pushes the last button through its slit.
"Whenever you're ready, we can move on to the mind test. Your defense stat will not be directly tested here."
Ria turned back to the examiner.
He held out a stone with a series of engraving on it.
Ria grabbed it with both hands. She felt the smooth undersurface against her skin.
A mana maze. She has practiced plenty of times with the ones her mother gave her.
"If you are low on mana, you may drink this. The mana test is finished."
The examiner hands her a glass vial so small that her slender hands could easily grab it.
The liquid contained within was nearly as transparent as the glass.
She gulped down the contents.
It tastes like antiseptic as typical of potions brewed in the spire city.
"Take a few moments to digest it."
Ria nods.
As she circulated her mana, the scribe entered the chambers.
He positioned himself conspicuously at an angle to Ria to make himself conspicuous without forcing himself into the conversation.
His lady briefly made eye contact to acknowledge his presence.
"You may proceed whenever you're ready."
The examiner said.
Ria held the stone up to her chest.
Her palms felt warm as she channeled her mana.
Part of inscriptions on the stone glowed as it absorbed her mana.
She closed her eyes.
The trick is not to track the mana flow with her eyes but to feel the flow and blockages in the mana.
The maze was no more complicated than enchanting a sword.
Before long, she felt something click.
Her mana flowed freely back and forth through the stone.
"Good. Now wind it down slowly."
Gradually, Ria slowed the flow of energy to her hands.
The stone powered down.
She placed it into the examiner's hand.
"Alright!" He claps his hands together.
"That concludes the pre-enrollment screen. I don't believe there's any more issues with your enrollment."
Ria quietly heaved a sign of relief.
"Just a bit of informal advice, If you have some free time, I would suggest improving your mana tolerance."
"Appreciated."
Ria pinched the tips of her skirt and bowed before walking back to Hikari.
As she stood beside her knight's towering legs, the assistants were just about done assembling
a pair of crescent beams facing upwards mounted atop poles.
They had a clean metallic appearance.
To a mana user albeit novice like herself, she felt the poles ringing in her ear.
Once done, each pole was manned by an assistant.
The other two carried more poles and placed them piece by piece in the straight line between the two crescents.
The pole segments were so thick that they could barely curl their fingers around it.
The examiner channeled his mana.
The poles suddenly aligned themselves end to end in a perfect line.
A silent click.
The disparate pieces joined themselves together.
Assistants manning each of the vertical poles, seeming acting as conductors channeled their mana.
The joined bar lifted itself off the ground, maintaining its horizontal alignment to the ground.
More pieces were brought to the bar.
Rectangular rubbery pieces. They wrapped around the main pole equidistant from the center, forming a pair of hand grips.
The conductors hummed.
The bar lifted itself into the air up to Hikari's chest height.
"Alright, Hikari is it? Step forward."
Thud. Thud. Hikari took baby steps. Her tight knee skirt restricts her stride.
The examiner and his assistants shuffled backwards as the massive wall of muscle moved towards them.
"Now, grab the pole. Let us know if it's to your liking. We estimated your arm length based on the measurements your lady submitted to us."
Hikari raised her arms and curled her gloved fingers over the floating bar.
To her pleasant surprise, the bar was able to support the weight of her arms as she rested them hanging by her fingers.
"It's good."
The examiner was taken aback briefly by the force of her voice.
"Ahem*. Alright! Without further delay, I'll explain the examination procedure. It will be not unlike what your lady has just done."
He held his staff horizontally with both hands and pushed the pole up.
The giantess nods.
"Whenever you're ready, you may begin."
Hikari looks at the pole for a bit.
Then her eyes glanced down at the examiner.
"Is something the matter?"
He asked.
After a pause, Hikari removed her gloves and lowered the ground behind her.
The spire constructs hummed in response to her telekinetic powers.
Her radiant skin on the back of her hand.
"Alright, take your time, whenever you are ready."
"Thanks."
Hikari straightened her arms to either side of her.
In an instant, her white long sleeves broke into pieces and stacked themselves neatly into a pile beside her gloves.
Her arms felt a bit better after being constricted by the tight formal shirt.
She glanced down at the examiner who maintained a straight face.
She continued. The cloth pieces on her abdomen floated and joined the stack.
The remaining pieces formed a loose top which she is used to wearing on morning workouts.
As the pieces left her body, her voluptuous chest bounced upwards briefly as they were no longer held down by the tight shirt.
Her toned abdominal muscles and her sturdy lower back exposed to the air.
She felt her lady flinch behind her.
The old grey haired scribe continued making his way around the room to her.
The examiner kept a straight face as Hikari glanced down at him.
"No problem. Your shirt is evidently too tight for a physical exam."
Hikari continued.
She slit her feet out of her loafers.
They were a bit tight for her feet which are proportionally bigger than normal sized people to support her weight.
Plus, they aren't as easily repairable as her running flats so she doesn't want to damage them.
Her socks touched the ground.
They were just a tad sweaty just from her standing still but nothing the perfume wasn't able to mask.
The examiner maintained a straight face.
Then her socks broke into pieces and stacked themselves beside her loafers.
The contours of her knee caps and then her calves.
They weren't the thick, rough running socks that were built to be sturdy. They were thin, tight and flexible which was meant to accentuate the shape of her legs.
She kept her greyish sock bottoms on.
The examiner maintained a straight face.
She continued.
Her long skirt was tight. She disassembled the lower parts of the skirt and stacked them neatly.
Her humongous thighs that would crush a horse into paste between them.
She looked down at the examiner.
"I'm ready."
"Good. Just make yourself comfortable, and lift the bar whenever you're ready."
The examiner maintained a straight face.
Hikari grabbed the bar and pushed it up to her eye level.
Her chambers are not tall enough for her to extend her arms upwards fully.
She could feel the conducting poles humming with energy as she displaced the bar from the resting position.
It was enough to make her feel a little bit of resistance.
Not much though.
About the weight of her old claymore which was very light for her at her current size.
"Hold on."
The examiner gave some instructions to the two assistants positioned at the conductors who channeled some spells which seemed to shift a dial somewhere in the complex construct.
"Now try again."
Hikari pushed the bar up towards the ceiling.
The resistance was stronger.
She has yet to find a decent training weight since she got back.
After a few reps, she looked down at the examiner.
He maintained his straight face.
"More?"
The examiner returned a surprised look.
"Well, Ahem. I think that would be enough."
He turned and began having a discussion with his assistants.
Hikari could roughly make out that they were talking about if the tuning on the conductors were correct. Or something like that.
It was the closest thing she had to proper training weights since she got back. She couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment as the academy assistants began disassembling down the equipment.
Behind her, she could hear the scribe whispering to Ria.
"My lady, make ready to leave for Moradale. His Lordship expects you there by tomorrow."
"What has happened? Isn't father just there for a routine lunch?"
"It's urgent. We can only discuss the details in private."
Ria thought for a while. She cupped her hair with both hands.
"Alright lets go."
Hikari stood still as the scribe escorted Ria towards the chamber.
"Excuse me Sir Henril, but I must take my leave now. I believe my part of the assessment is done?"
"No problem. Your records are already well in hand. We'll just finish up with your knight here."
"Thank you for making the trip."
"My pleasure."
Ria turned to Hikari.
"I'll be back in a bit. Don't cause trouble while I'm gone."
"Yes, my lady."
Hikari kept quiet as the scribe escorted Ria out of the room.