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28 years after the death of Himmel the Hero, at the Northern Plateau Border Checkpoint, located in the Nachricht Region
The day had finally come. The snow that had fallen from the north during the winter had melted into the necessary waters for the crops and grasslands. The chill had lifted slightly, though many of the trees were still with only the most token foliage.
In the time leading up to the exam, Senken noticed a few mages moving through the checkpoint, some even stopping at his stand to enjoy the food he made.
He noted their surprise when he showed up to where he was told the initial introductions would be made. A closed off, stone laden courtyard, the ground a fresco of shaped stones rather than color to give the notion of a larger picture. Senken believed it would take the form of a snail or something akin to it, were he to fly up for a better view.
One thing Senken was surprised at was the variety of people here, milling around and talking with one another. Young and old, man and woman, there was very little in terms of discrimination in this space.
Though Senken was the tallest person here. The next tallest barely reached his upper shoulders, setting him aside as a giant amongst the mages here. He pretended to not notice the gazes he pulled towards himself as he quietly waited for the introductions to begin.
He noticed Genau enter, followed by a thin woman, but before Senken could approach and begin conversing, he cleared his throat, and like a spell was cast, a quiet fell over the crowd.
"I am Genau, First Class Mage and Head Proctor of this Exam." He started. "This is Spitz, my assistant proctor. Together, we will be pushing you to determine if you have what it takes to be a second-class mage."
The thin woman, Spitz, stepped forward, gaze sharp as she looked over the crowd. "I shall not waste time," she said. "Your first test shall be to determine your fundamental skill with offensive magic."
In a flash of movement and mana, she had her staff out, a plain length of birch, before it tapped against the ground. The mosaic on the ground shifted, stones pulling from the ground and sliding towards her, where they seemed to catch upon each other, grinding against each other as within a minute, standing over even him, was a golem, the curved stones locking together into a practiced form.
"As you all should know, there are three pillars to offensive magic." Spitz spoke. "The quantity of mana used, your control of that mana, and the firing strength of the spell."
She stepped forward across the now tilled dirt ground. "Using your preference of spell, demonstrate how each of these pillars are required for combative magic individually, and then together."
"Each successful showing will give you a point. If your final casting, using all three principals, can fell my golem, you will get two points, for a possible total of five."
"To move onto the second test, you must get at least three points."
She turned back to look at the golem, as if checking it herself for weak points, before speaking one last time.
"We will start in alphabetical order. Boden, when ready, begin." She called, moving next to Genau, out of the way. Some people turned to look at someone in the crowd, a bald man with a mustache big enough to hide his mouth stepping forward.
Senken watched as mage after mage stepped forward, preparing spells to test against the golem. Many used Zoltraak, the white beam of magic impacting it over and over again.
The number of mages who passed were few, many unable to have enough mastery of each pillar to best articulate it, nor the overall strength to fell the 2nd class mage's golem.
Of the mages who did pass, however, only one got four points.
A younger mage stepped forward, hair fluffed and giving his head the same shape as broccoli and had shown a spell that produced a stark red beam that bent and pushed through the air at sharp angles, which he was able to use to show his offensive ability, before using the beam to destroy the golem, the spell pushing through and back into the golem multiple times until it crumbled.
Senken was impressed by the nature of the spell itself, but even then, the mage, only garnered four of the five points, lacking in being able to offset the control of his mana.
Senken witnessed mage after mage use spell after spell, the golem being remade from the shattered stones as if they had never been broken. Until, eventually, it was his turn.
Standing in front of the golem that loomed over him, Senken gauged his options. Of which, there were only two.
On one hand, this was a test about fundamentals. One should use a fundamental spell, like Zoltraak, as that is the most basic offensive magic.
However, Schrein was his most experienced spell, the skill he had with it was beyond what any of the mages here had with their signature spells.
He gave the thin woman a look, and she gave the slightest of nods, staff held. Senken lifted his hand, gesturing to the animated rock, thinking of what he should do first.
He settled on the quantity of mana first.
"[Schrein]"
He saw both proctors' heads move, eyes looking toward the appearance of a small line on the golem, a one inch cut running across its face, as if stabbed by an unseen dagger. His dismantle was usually a chef's knife, but this was little more than a paring knife.
Immediately following that, Senken cast the spell again.
"[Schrein]"
This time, with a greater quantity of mana used, the slash spanned the entire width of the golem's chest, cutting deep and broad.
He shifted his hand in front of him, lowering slightly. Next, he would augment the control of his mana.
"[Schrein]."
The impact was louder than he thought it would be, a thin line cracking along the height of the golem, a ravine breaking through from where one of its legs touched the ground, up its waist and torso and stopping at the head. He had purposefully dulled his blade.
His hand shifted again, as if he were adjusting his grip on a tool.
"[Schrein]."
Where the prior showings had been almost immediate after his casting, he had to slow the firing speed for this one. Even then, the nature of Schrein made it difficult to slow the blow for an appreciable amount of time.
A long five seconds passed, before the dismantle would finish its trajectory, cutting free an arm from the golem, rocks crumbling to the ground.
Senken finally lifted his hand, as if flicking it away from the entity itself.
"[Schrein]."
A full power dismantle was as easy as anything else he had casted today, the invisible slash passing through the golem with such force that it blew backwards, cut in a corkscrew like fashion, the rock peeling away from each other like ribbons.
Senken stood there for a moment, watching the rocks simply crumble to the ground, and turned to the proctor, Spitz.
It seemed her, and the rest of the mages present, had chosen to stay quiet rather than vocalize or even politely clap, as they had been doing the entire test.
Spitz eventually noticed his gaze, the old lady blinking hard, as if to reset herself, before she spoke, voice pushed from the diaphragm.
"Five points. You pass."
Senken didn't say anything as he turned and moved back to where he had been the entire test before this. The stupor the mages had fallen under had stayed until Spitz had reformed the golem for the third time and called for the next examinee.
By the time the rest of the group had finished, the early light of the afternoon had shifted into the golden hour of the evening.
None had gotten five points other than himself.
When Spitz had finally called the testing for the day, she looked exhausted. Perhaps keeping the golem formed for as long as she did was taxing, or maybe it was her spinstress bones simply fatigued from standing.
Senken didn't bother asking, leaving with his head held high, along with the other third of the mages present who had tested and passed.
The rest, to Senken, didn't matter.