And then, suddenly, as the moon passes and we meditate, an energy bursts forth from my body.
The warmth is palpable. It's my source—the source of mana—flowing through my veins as it is born, circulating energy. It tickles.
A few moments later, they call out my candidate number:
"Number 325, you have passed. You are the first to succeed. You may step out and watch the other candidates."
"Yes, sir."
After a few minutes, they begin calling the other candidates:
"Mister Fifth Prince, candidate number 2.""Mister Albert (the Duke's son), candidate number 6.""Mister First Prince, candidate number 1.""Candidate number 4, the Baron's son, Haruto.""Candidate number 5!""Candidate number 3, the Baron's second son, Nari.""Candidates 324, 212, 264, 315, 215!"
"These candidates have all passed. Only those whose numbers were not called are disqualified. Now, please follow me to the hall where the strength trial will begin, and where we will test your mana."
After that, we head toward the room for the second trial. One by one, each person enters the hall. Then, the examiner says:
"Here is the strength trial! As you can see, there is a person in a small arena where you will have to fight with a sword, and a large bag for striking. It is made of Dark Dragon scales, making it impossible to destroy. However, you will be graded based on the impact. For the sword fight, you must hit a specific part of the body to win. Understood? Then we shall begin. Mister First Prince, candidate number 001—be ready!"
The First Prince completed the trial without difficulty. Then came the turn of the Fifth Prince, who is rather narcissistic. Candidates 3 and 4 scored the same since they are twins.
After a long wait, my turn comes. For the sword, it's easy. My opponent is rather strong, but a beginner—and beginners fall into traps quickly. So I just need to feint, and it's over. It's quite easy, especially since I trained during my journey. Before my death, I practiced with the katana and even martial arts.
However, I noticed something: my opponent is also using magic to make up for the difference in strength between us. Too bad for him—he fell into my trap, and now I have the advantage.
Same for the other test: I just have to focus my Ki (I trained for years thanks to my aunt, but I never thought I'd use it) into the tip of my hand and… BOOM!
"Impossible! He destroyed the bag! Even though it's expensive, it's extremely strong and absorbs mana! How is this possible??!!"
Thanks to my feat, I received the highest score.
"Now… w-we w-will proceed… to the mana orb test…"
I had only thrown a simple punch, and now the examiner was terrified. Everyone was staring at me.
It took several minutes for the examiner to recover from what he had seen. After a few minutes, he brought us the orb.
"Here is the orb! It's actually called the mana measurer. It can measure your mana based on what you have. Now, let's begin. Candidates number 1, number 2, number 3, and number 4—you will each place your hand on one of the orbs."
The First Prince obtained 10,231 mana points. The Fifth Prince obtained 8,646 mana points. The twins obtained 7,652 and 7,658 mana points.
To my surprise, the examiner let me go last, claiming it was because I was the strongest. But he's lying—he's just scared.
I already know what my score is, but let's try. Maybe it has increased… or even decreased. So, let's test it right now!