Chapter 8 - The Test Begins

The Test Begins
“…So, what are the results?”
I asked Instructor Regin as I looked at the remains of the crystal ball.
It had glowed quite bright up until it shattered…but I had never actually touched it.
“Well, I have never witnessed such a case before, so I don’t know… Well, it must be some kind of malfunction. I think we have another crystal ball in storage. We will try it again.”
So saying, the instructor disappeared in the back of the guild.
He returned shortly, carrying an identical ball.
“Alright. This one is brand new. It should not be broken like the first. Now touch it right here.”
There was no worry of it breaking if it was new.
I thought this as I stretched out my hand towards it.
But…
“…This…doesn’t look safe?”
When my hand approached it, it began to glow and shudder.
It was exactly the same as how the previous crystal ball had reacted.
Instructor Regin saw this and looked frantic.
“…I’m sorry. Perhaps you better not touch it. There will be no measuring of magic today. …A Tamer who can use magic…I can hardly believe it…and immeasurable…”
“Have you ever been unable to measure it before?”
I asked.
“Not that I have seen. I have never heard of this happening during the registration test…. But I did hear that a crystal ball got a crack in it when Dragonsbane Magis was measured.”
“What!? Are you saying that this Tamer is on the same level as Dragonsbane Magis?!”
It wasn’t me, but the other sorcerers who reacted quickly to Instructor Regin’s words.
Apparently, this Dragonsbane Magis was very famous.
“Hmm. Well, there are discrepancies in quality between the crystal balls, so it doesn’t necessarily mean he is at the same level. …But judging by this reaction, he must be quite powerful…”
Instructor Regin said as he slapped the crystal ball.
So, I had a lot of magic energy?
I had only just arrived in this world and hadn’t really trained at all yet. And so I thought that it would be quite low.
“In any case, while it has been somewhat irregular…the magic test is now finished. Now, we will move to the combat test.”
The instructor said as he moved outside of the guild house. We followed after him.
A combat test sounded much more related to being an Adventurer.
…But I hadn’t prepared any weapons. Would it be alright?
“I hope you have all brought your weapons?”
Came his voice just as I was thinking about it.
I had not brought anything of the sort.
“I didn’t bring any. Do I need one?”
I said honestly.
And then the instructor looked at me with exasperation.
“If you want to use magic, you must have a staff. How would you be able to use magic without a staff?”
“How…well, just normally, I guess…”
I said as I looked at my status screen.
My MP had gone below 0 after using Hellfire of Death, but it had now recovered.
Now I could use magic without worrying.
“…Well, if you say you can use magic without a staff, then do it. But I doubt it will be much use…”
And then Instructor Regin paused here and looked at us–the sorcerers.
The others all had staffs.
I didn’t know what the reason was, but apparently, it was normal for magic users to carry staffs.
“First, we’ll do magic. Face that boulder over there. I want you to hit it with your favorite attack magic. We’ll start…from the left.”
Instructor Regin said as he pointed to a large boulder up ahead.
There were lots of marks on it, as if it had been burned by magic.
As I was on the right side, I would be hitting it the last.
And so I thought I would decide what to use as I waited.
…If I just wanted to do a lot of damage, I could use ‘Hellfire of Death,’ but there was no way I was going to use it.
It would make the rest of the test very difficult if I used up all my MP here…
And so it was probably a good idea to use ‘Fireball,’ which I had experience with.
‘Fireball’ was quite weak though, and there was a part of me that wanted to use something stronger. But it would take a bit of courage to use a spell for the first time during a test.
“Yuji, it’s your turn now. Are you sure you can do it without a staff? If you really can use magic, you might as well get a staff and come back for the next test…”
My turn had arrived while I was considering it.
Instructor Regin was still suggesting I use a staff…but I didn’t think that I needed one.
“I’m fine. I can use magic without it.”
I said, then turned towards the boulder…and used Fireball.
And then, as usual, the ball of fire shot towards the boulder and caused a small explosion.
Hmm. It really wasn’t much.
Barely enough to defeat weak monsters.
That was what I was thinking as I turned to look at Instructor Regin–but for some reason, he was looking at me with his mouth wide open.
Had I done something wrong?
I wondered as I waited for him to say something.
After a while, he said,
“Uh, Yuji…”
“What?”
“Let’s ignore the lack of a staff for a moment. We’ll even overlook the strange degree of firepower…but did you even chant?”
“…Huh?”
Chant?
Now that I think of it, I did say the name of the spell when I first came here…
But was it always necessary?