"Now speak, what is it that you want from me?"
Evelina crossed her arms, her foot tapping impatiently; she had far too many tasks to do than just idle and chatter.
They still had the magical part of the exam to take after all, but considering their performance in the current test.
It would be a complete breeze for all four of them.
"I would like to serve you."
I spoke, continuing to bow, not even daring to look at her directly in the eyes without permission.
If her personality were the exact same in the novel, then she should accept me... I showed enough skill to be useful while being obedient enough to be trusted.
This was a gamble, but even if I get rejected here, I have more chances to win her over.
"Serve... me?"
Evelina asked in surprise. At this point, everyone had already left, leaving the two of them alone as they discussed this sudden proposition.
"Yes, my lady."
"...And... why? How does this benefit you in any way?"
I grinned at her question. If I were any other awkward teenager, I would hesitate to answer, to make up an excuse. But I'd rather not play a goose change or delay.
I'd rather be straightforward.
"I've fallen in love with you, my lady."
Evelina froze for a quick second, not expecting such a blunt and straightforward answer. Most of her suitors usually go for the long route, so seeing someone being so blunt was a fresh change of pace.
"Hah... you're an odd one, to confess your love to me despite being a nobody." Evelina tapped on her chin in thought.
"Sure, I'll allow you to serve me... as long as you prove to be useful, but don't expect the love you wish."
"Even that would be enough for me, my lady."
Evelina smirked, tapping the back of my head, urging me to follow her to the next and final part of the academy's exams, the magical examination.
"Don't dally now, follow me."
I followed her without hesitation, my assassination career in my past life also trained me to be an obedient worker, to follow orders without hesitation, to my clients. It was the most important thing to master in the job; a single mistake, and the clients will have you killed instead.
The magical examination was held underground from the academy grounds, held together by pillars supported with runic magic.
It was the most dangerous and important examination; even if you failed the other two, as long as you scored high on this one, you'd still get accepted.
"Don't disappoint me."
The huge chamber had a titanic magic crystal in the middle, operated by multiple professors.
Its purpose? To gauge someone's magical aptitude and rank.
A cliche standard of power measurement for novels, one that would obviously lead to the MC having "???" in his powers.
The room was surprisingly filled with students; it seemed like they had another schedule where the magic examination was the first thing on the list.
"Next!"
An academy staff member yelled out, the test was being done in alphabetical order of our family name.
Which means it's nearly my turn.
"Damn it... only a B-Rank."
A student dissapointedly muttered, his friends already crowding him and congratulating him for the fairly high rank anyway.
'I wonder if I can get an S-Rank or above... I really need to get access to the imperial library.'
The imperial library only appeared later in the novel, after Julius had fully become an S-Rank, and within it was a powerful artifact hidden among some books.
And I plan to take it as fast as possible.
Would that ruin the story's plot? Yes, but if any of the actual world-ending threats arrive, I could lend a hand to Julius, a sort of sorry.
"Confident, are you?"
Julius tapped on my shoulder.
"Your smirking is catching the eyes of other students."
"Let them gawk if they want; they are of no concern to me."
I waved Julius off.
"Next!"
It was now my turn to be tested.
"Good luck out there."
"Thanks..."
I approached the magic crystal, placing my hands on its surface. It was cold, just like it was described.
"What should I do?"
I ask the academy staff member, the novel never really describes how it managed to calculate someone's aptitude, as far as I know, mana isn't really a standard; it was a vague concept that only applied to other continents, but currently, it isn't even important.
"Just cast your strongest spell within the magic crystal."
The staff member replied.
"Do I have a time limit?"
"Five seconds." The staff member clicked a stopwatch the moment I asked the question; it seemed like my test had now begun.
'So this is an exam to gauge how fast I can cast magic using formulas... and the timer is there to prevent someone from staying for an hour and abusing the system.'
This wasn't a problem, thanks to the talent I was granted before my death.
[Photographic Memory]
A series of formulas filled my mind, each one being filtered by my brain to find which was the best one, was I couldn't afford to mess up here; I needed to get stronger as fast as possible.
Slow and steady? What a joke, if I know every secret possible in this goddamned kingdom, then I will use all the secrets I have to my advantage.
'Found it!'
I began to solve the equation, and the moment I did, a surge of shadows enveloped the magic crystal, slowly crawling its way until it fully devoured it.
[Dark Gluttony]
"What...!?"
"What's he doing?"
The students around me began to stare, confused at what was happening.
The staff member who just continued to observe, continuing to time me as I conjure the strongest spell I can manage within the time limit.
"So he used dark gluttony..." The staff member spoke, trying his best to sound as neutral as possible, but he couldn't help but be shocked.
It was the most ambitious spell he had ever seen any student try to accomplish within the magical exam.
'Done!'
I yelled out, finishing my spell. The magic crystal was supposed to absorb spells, so it was nearly indestructible, allowing me to release my solved power without risk of damaging anything else.
[Activated]
FWISH!
The shadows that surrounded the crystal began to swirl, the mechanism attached to the crystal starting to tremble as it struggled to contain the vast amount of power that it was trying to absorb.
"Do you think it can absorb that?"
Julius spoke in the distance.
"They're using an outdated magic crystal for the sake of this test... I'd have to say no."
Evelina replied with a smirk; she had just gained a stronger pawn than she had realized.
CRACK!
The magical crystal contained the spell successfully, not before sustaining damage; its blue exterior, which was once smooth, now filled with tremors and protrusions.
"W-what's the result?"
The staff member asked.
"It's an S-Rank..."
The students gasped at the revelation. It was said that within the academy's annual examinations, only two or three managed to gain that rank.
And now they had witnessed one of them.
"Seems like I overdid it."
I took a look at my hand, my fingers trembling, and it seems like even if my mind can handle the spell, my body still suffers from its recoil.
The moment I walked off the platform, I was handed an ID, one that had its prestigious S-Rank classification engraved neatly below my name.
It went smoother than I initially expected.