The list was organized impeccably, from A to Z. Everything perfectly sorted, like someone had developed a romantic relationship with the alphabet.
Students stepped forward one after another to show off their magic. The pace was fast, almost like they were taking magical attendance.
The first barely managed to conjure a small puff of fire. He launched it with all the determination in the world… and barely scratched a nearby tree. Poor tree, probably thought a leaf had fallen on it.
Honestly, I expected more. The guy even recited his spell with a dramatic voice, like he was about to summon a dragon. Spoiler: he didn't.
After him, the rest showed just a little more. Some threw flames, others moved dirt, and a few caused a bit more damage. One knocked down a branch, another cracked a small rock… but nothing legendary.
Even so, the grades were surprisingly generous. They were getting C's for stuff that looked like mail-order magic.
And then… it was Valentina's turn.
The anticipation in the air was electric, like the sky right before a magical storm. Not surprising—she was known as the girl with the most magic in the entire academy… and also the second strongest in our class. (Yeah, that last part sounds weird, but hey, stats are stats.)
Murmurs began to rise around her as she walked confidently toward the testing zone. She stood in the same spot as the others, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath… like she was preparing for an ancient ritual or smelling coffee for the first time in the morning.
I was watching closely. Truth be told, I didn't know much about her magic beyond her sphere's number. I'd seen her focused, serious, distant… but never in action. My curiosity was sky-high.
Valentina raised her hand without opening her eyes and started murmuring something.
Probably a spell. The sphere had shown a dark brown color when she was evaluated yesterday, so it was safe to assume earth magic. Something related to the ground, maybe a stone wall? A rock spear? A grumpy golem?
What came next was something else entirely.
A massive boulder began to form in front of her hand—nearly a full meter in diameter. It was perfectly round, like she'd ordered it straight from a "premium spells" catalog.
Then she opened her eyes. The seriousness in her gaze made me sit up straighter without even meaning to.
Without saying a word, she launched the rock.
What happened next was… brutal.
The boulder shot forward like a natural missile, knocking down ten trees in a perfect line like dominoes. The eleventh tree barely survived—though I'm pretty sure it now has magical PTSD.
Silence fell over everyone. Then came the shock.
"Did you see that?!"
"Ten trees!"
"That's gotta be at least an A."
Sure enough, the professor smiled and nodded in approval before announcing her grade: A.
Valentina, on the other hand, didn't even blink. She calmly walked back to her place with the same icy elegance as before. No gestures. No celebration. As if she'd just tossed a pebble into a pond.
The other students couldn't stop staring. Some looked amazed, others terrified, and a few looked both. But she didn't seem to care in the slightest. Their stares faded away, as if her indifference was contagious.
Then, without hesitation, she walked straight toward me.
"So? What did you think?"
I swallowed hard.
"Well… compared to the others, you were amazing." I tried to keep it neutral. Zero emotion. As if I hadn't just watched a forest get reorganized by a magic rock.
"So that means you weren't impressed, right?"
"Well… you could say that."
She stared at me. Straight-faced. No reaction.
But deep down, I swear she wanted to throw boulder number eleven straight at my face.
She just kept that cold stare fixed on me, like she'd been trying to impress me from the start. Like she was silently evaluating my reaction, waiting for an answer I didn't give.
After a while, and several more students showing off skills that... well, definitely needed polishing, it was finally Marie's turn.
And, as always, I was still waiting at the end. Because of course, the protagonist can't cast his spell before the stars of the show have dazzled everyone.
Marie calmly walked to the evaluation area. Her expression was serene, but it wasn't the same kind of calm as Valentina's. Marie carried a sort of determination that wasn't there to show off… just to get the job done.
The professor, noticing that most of the previous attacks had all been aimed at the same forest sector —which now looked like a small war zone— asked her to face a clearer direction.
Marie nodded without any trouble, took her place, and began to prepare.
She raised her hand forward, a simple but elegant motion. As she focused, the air around her began to shift. There was no fire, no glowing runes, no flashy lights... just an invisible buildup of pressure gathering in one single point.
At a glance, it didn't seem like much. It lacked the visual spectacle of other spells. But the atmosphere… changed. The silence that followed wasn't a coincidence. We all felt it—something serious was about to happen.
Then she fired.
A sudden burst. Silent, fast. As if the very wind had decided to slice everything in its path.
The attack launched like an invisible lightning bolt. We could barely follow it with our eyes. By the time we processed what happened, it had already crossed the entire field… and the trees started falling.
Dozens of them.
The students said nothing. Some just gawked. Others didn't even blink.
Marie, for her part, turned toward me, smiled with that usual calm of hers… and threw a victory sign with her hand.
…and of course. As if someone had cast a mass aggro spell, everyone turned to look at me.
Fantastic. Now I was the target of a collective stare just because of a smile and a harmless gesture.
"Withe Marie, grade: A plus," the professor announced, voice steady—though clearly surprised.
A+?! Marie had outperformed Valentina?
Had Valentina held back?
Or maybe… Marie had too?
I didn't know. Neither of them had said anything. Maybe they both restrained themselves just because they could. Because their power was so high, they had to hold back to avoid blowing up half the mountain.
Marie didn't even flinch when she heard her grade. She just turned around and walked back to where Valentina and I were standing.
"Looks like you held back too," Marie said directly, glancing at Valentina.
"Yeah. Honestly, I thought even what I did was already too much," Valentina replied, cool and composed as ever.
"I have a question for both of you," I said, catching their attention.
They turned toward me, curious.
"Was it really necessary to hold back? Or better yet… why did you have to?"
Valentina gave me a look like I'd just asked whether water was wet. Meanwhile, Marie gently placed a hand on her shoulder, probably to stop her from responding with fire magic.
"Well..." Marie said with a small smile. "I guess we were both a little afraid of hurting someone. And then being assigned to take care of them in the infirmary afterward."
"How could you possibly hurt someone if you were aiming away from people?"
"About that~..." Marie began in a playful tone.
But her answer was cut off by the professor's sharp voice:
"Worder Ronny, you're up!"
And just then, something else happened.
Being surrounded by both Marie and Valentina —the top two performers— rumors began to spread. And this time, I actually heard them.
"He probably just has to stand near them to be left alone."
"I heard Kael's dating both of them..."
"Wait—are you serious?!"
Excuse me? When did my life turn into a magical romantic comedy?
They heard it too.
And it took them less than half a second to look toward the group that was whispering.
It wasn't just any look.
It was a magical death glare that screamed, "Say one more word and your next class will be a funeral."
The group fell silent.
Immediately.
And slowly, everyone's attention shifted back to the field.
To Worder Ronny.
The boy with the sky-blue sphere. Number one. The arrogant prodigy with a perfect magic score of 100.
The most prideful of them all.
The next to show his power.
And this time, we were all watching.
Even me.