"R-Rotsard Vallhall!"
Within a heartbeat, the vice headmaster was already all in the bleached-blond-haired youth's face, grabbing him by the shirt and wheezing through his teeth.
"...Rotsard, what the hel…?! Why are you using a spell from the classic magic system…!? You were supposed to use one from the Essence of Winter…!"
After a quick glance to the sides, Syon muttered under his breath with a panicked expression, as all of his agitation stemmed from concern.
"Spells from Essence of Winter put way too much strain on my body without the mana unity thing. It would undo, like, three months of Mira's treatment if I tried. Besides, no one noticed, so maybe stop giving them a reason to be suspicious, or you might give them the idea to look into it?"
"...ah…!"
Rotsard rolled his eyes before pointing out, causing Syon to flinch with a little gasp and step away with a guilty expression.
"I… I'll examine the target, and if I sense any mana besides yours, it's an immediate fail for you!"
The vice headmaster quickly recovered the front he was putting on and declared while already walking towards the downed training dummy.
"..."
It took him… a lot longer than one would expect…
As he was returning, the vice headmaster's expression showed that he was feeling rather…troubled over something.
He even ended up stopping by the bleached-blond-haired youth again and leaning in.
"...wh-what spell did you actually use…?"
"The 2nd tier water ball… Didn't you notice? It wasn't too strong, surely…!"
Syon murmured, and Rotsard responded with confusion.
"...hah…"
Syon's reaction to the confirmation was rather peculiar... He turned around with a concerned expression, surprising Rotsard quite a bit.
"It seems that… Student Vallhall's spell puts him only slightly behind Student Edemsworth."
"WHAT!?"
"There's no way!"
The vice headmaster announced, and everyone, especially the fox-eyed cousins, called out in disbelief.
"I am just as taken aback as the rest of you, but the facts don't change. Go ahead, you're free to check on the training dummy struck by student Vallhall's spell and see for yourself."
"..."
The vice headmaster sighed and pointed out, even pointing towards the downed target encouragingly, but for some reason, not a single student was willing to take that step.
It…
"?"
It really was suspicious, wasn't it? Rotsard furrowed his brows as he glanced over his classmates and other second-year students.
"I see… Well, in that case, we should continue with the exam. Student Vallhall."
The vice headmaster put an end to the awkward silence, beckoning the bleached-blond-haired youth.
"The defense one, huh… how about… Snow… ghough-earth-ghough wall!"
Rotsard had to perform a bit this time… but in the end, he simply threw another coughing fit to mask the actual chant.
At his command, the soil mixed with crystallizing snow and chunks of ice rose up in front of him like a rampart.
"Step aside while I test its durability."
"Yes."
*ghrgrgr*
The vice headmaster commanded, and the bleached-blond-haired student obediently followed, but as he did walk away, his spell followed him with a rumbling and screechy sound, always staying between him and the examiner.
"..."
"..."
Although the two of them could not see each other, their expressions matched.
…that wasn't on purpose…
and
…this will add points to Rotsard's score…
Now it was up to Syon to somehow figure out how to place Rotsard below Justin while still keeping a front of a fair judgement for all students.
"It appears your mastery over the spell has given it some interesting qualities only possible with higher-tier magic despite its feeble look. Although that makes it a bit tricky to test without putting you in danger, I'll be adjusting the strength of my spells accordingly, so do not overreact."
The vice headmaster cleared his throat and was quick on the uptake, already putting a certain expectation and leeway for ending the test when he deems it necessary.
"...haaa… Sure..."
Rotsard breathed out and had to fight the urge to smile and nod with approval, instead forcing himself to scoff and frown in annoyance.
"Since fire should be the weakest against you, I'll start with that. Fire Arrow."
The vice headmaster announced, slightly moving his hand, and a sizzling spell formed in front of him.
For an untrained eye, it really did seem like a 4th tier fire arrow, and almost everyone got fooled into assuming that was what it was.
After all, 4th tier spells weren't something to scoff at in the slightest! Out of every five students, four would only recently achieve gaining access to 3rd tier spells, and it was the Royal Academy where only prodigies and geniuses were allowed to attend!