[V3C3] Exciting Mana Evaluation
Translated by Jodas 3: The Fateful BrothersOne of the Apprentice Mages’ Instructors, Sombart, was a blond, well-dressed man in his mid-twenties.
With his always grinning face, his white teeth sparkled as he spoke to the Apprentice Mages.
“Alright! So today, we’re going to be doing mana evaluations! We really should have done them right after you guys enrolled, but our measuring device was broken recently and we had to fix it, so there was nothing we could do! Hahaha!”
Even though there was nothing funny about it, Sombart laughed with his massive smile.
This man’s a whole different kind of sketchy than Mr. Hütter, Wren thought.
The Wedge Tower’s Apprentice Mages all attend group lessons each morning in the same classroom, then split off into separate classrooms in the afternoon to study magecraft in a way that fit each of them.
It was currently time for the morning group lessons, and all twelve students, Wren included, sat in groups of three behind long desks with their individual classmates.
Sombart rested a device on the podium that looked like a large, round crystal rested attached to a pedestal.
Said pedestal had a dial attached, with delineated numbers ranging from 0 to 250.
“This is a Mana Evaluation Device. Would anyone like to demonstrate its use? …….Then, you! Miss Ella, who made eye contact with me!”
“Hyah, Yes…..”
Ella, who’d been singled out, was a girl in her late teens with sand-colored hair tied into a braid. She always wore a grey robe and glasses, and had the air of a mature high-achieving student.
When Ella walked to the front of the class, Sombart spoke with a smile.
“Since you went to a feeder school for Liedengran Magical University, I’m sure you’re used to devices such as this, right?”
“Ah, yes, I am…..”
Ella smiled awkwardly, staring at her feet.
Wren was a little surprised. Liedengran Magical University was one of the most prestigious magical research institutions in this Empire. Even to graduate from its feeder school was a sign of a promising future mage.
Most likely, the grey robe she was wearing was a relic of her time at that feeder school as well.
“Then, if you’ll excuse me……”
Ella said with some hesitation, then placed her hand on the crystal ball.
Sombart spoke, nodding encouragingly.
“Oh? Looks like the needle’s not moving at all. Miss Ella, would you mind putting a little more mana into it?”
“Ah, Yes! I’msorryi’msorry……”
Ella closed her eyes tightly and sucked in her lips. Her face was beet red.
Wren quietly panicked.
(Wait, is it that hard to put mana into something?)
The day before, Wren had borrowed Sevil’s brooch and used it.
He was easily able to pour mana into it simply by thinking about it, but maybe this measuring device was different?
Wren was a complete amateur when it came to magecraft, so he didn’t know much about this kind of stuff.
What would he do if he couldn’t do it?…….As he internally panicked, the crystal ball beneath Ella’s hands started to glow.
The color was blue, and the number on the dial read 128.
“Alright, pay attention!” Sombart shouted.
“If the crystal ball glows blue, that means your element is water. The number on the dial shows your maximum mana reserves!”
A question caught Wren’s interest, so he raised his hand and asked it.
“Instructor, can that thing tell your maximum mana reserves even if you’re spent some of it?”
“Yes! No need to worry!”
Wren shut up in response to Sombart’s casual yet definitive answer.
Without further ado, the measurement began, starting with the front row. Wren leaned over and whispered to Oliver across the aisle from him.
“Oliver, doesn’t that make your morning exercises pointless?”
“No matter. I have no regrets for approaching this mana evaluation in the best shape I can be.”
“Oh, okay…..”
The bigger problem was Tia. Even if she expended her mana, it wouldn’t affect the outcome of the evaluation, so he started thinking of plans to cover for her…….While Wren was preoccupied with those thoughts, his concern was misplaced.
If anything, Wren was in no position to be worried about Tia.
☆Mana Evaluation: Twelve Apprentices
[Röhm Class]
Roswitha Ohlendorf (Water: 232)
Ella Frank (Water: 128)
Sophie Schwarzenberg (Darkness: 152)
[Sombart Class]
Julius Löwenich (Fire: 193)
John Rose (Earth: 100)
Oliver Lange (Wind: 132)
[Armster Class]
Rukiye Sorge (Lightning: 68)
Finn Nohl (Earth: 88)
Gerald Anker (Earth: 55)
[Hütter Class]
Adelheid Sevil Lamea Krewing (Ice: 110)
Wren Bayer (Lightning: 36)
Tia Vogel (Wind: 96)
In addition, Sombart said “These are the rough guidelines provided by the Mage Association,” and wrote the following on the board:
Advanced Mage: 130 and above
Intermediate Mage: 100 to 129
Novice Mage: 50 to 99
Ordinary Civilian: 49 and below
“While the Wedge Tower does not divide mages in categories like Advanced, Intermediate, or Novice as the Mage Association does, don’t you think it’s easier to understand when you think of it this way? By the way, if you want to know why the Wedge Tower does not have ranks like these, the answer is because the breadth of magecraft being used is so diverse that there is no concrete way to evaluate our mages, and…..”
Wren was stunned. Out of all the Apprentice Mages, the one with the lowest mana reserves was himself.
On top of that, even his roommate Gerald, who came in second-to-last, at least managed to squeak into the level of Novice Mages.
Wren was the only ‘ordinary civilian.’
Out of the Apprentices, the one who stuck out the most was pointy-hatted Roswitha. After her, there was the snake-like Julius.
These two already seemed to have magical talent enough to qualify as Intermediate or Advanced Mages.
The other surprise was Sophie, who was the only one to have ‘Darkness’ as her attribute.
Tia casually leaned over and talked to Sophie, who sat in front of her.
“Sophie, what’s a Darkness attribute?”
“Uhii…..Umm….My family is, kind of a special family……y’know, we’re shamans and all……”
“Piyo, you are?”
“Uuu, I didn’t want to stand out, I wanted to be like everyone else…….I wish I could have had a conversation like Wow, we have the same element! and all…….”
Wren would usually jump in to this kind of chit-chat, but he stayed quiet this time and drooped his head.
(I’m the only one whose mana reserves are ordinary……I’m way behind…..)
Wren quietly wallowed in his dismay.
He didn’t honestly expect that he would send the dial flying with his immense mana reserves and to be all like ‘I didn’t know I had so much hidden power!’, but he at least thought that he had enough mana to be considered a Novice Mage.
(No, honestly, I really wanted to be the most amazing one, and have everyone tell me they expected nothing less from a miraculous pretty boy……)
“Do not despair, Wren.”
His seat neighbor, Sevil spoke to him with a peaceful tone.
Wren checked Sevil’s mana reserve written on the blackboard.
Water attribute. Mana reserve 110. You traitor.
Wren held his head in his hands, and glared at Sevil out of the corner of his eye.
“You’re not an amateur at magecraft at all…… I bet you’ve been secretly practicing this whole time……”
“Wrong. This is simply due to my lineage. Long ago, the nobility had monopolized magical techniques. As a result, those who are born into nobility or families of mages are more likely to have high mana reserves.”
Oh right, Sevil was the Emperor’s Sister.
Wren sighed, staring at the unreasonably long, gorgeous name written on the blackboard.
“Regardless, Wren, have you forgotten? Your mana reserves will grow to their peak over the course of your teens. While there is some variance between individuals, mana growth comes to a halt as you come of age.”
“Ah.”
Now that she mentioned it, Sevil was already twenty.
He didn’t think about that fact very often, so it had slipped his mind. Probably because Sevil didn’t behave all that much like an adult. She should really work on that.
“So, I……. as well as Rose and Oliver, will likely not improve much. Ella and Rukiye are also likely to stop growing soon as well.”
Of the Apprentice Mages, the adults would be the fuzzy red-haired Rose, the self-proclaimed ‘Red Rain’ Oliver, and the coup-starting Imperial Princess, Sevil.
Glasses-wearing Ella and artisan-like Rukiye were in their late teens.
In their mid teens were pointy-hatted Roswitha, snake-like Julius, long-banged Gerald, and the hidden Harpy, Tia.
Finally, the youngest ones in their early teens were the Shaman Sophie, the short-statured Finn, and pretty boy Wren.
That meant Wren was still in his growth phase.
Sevil smirked at him.
“Rather than wallowing in despair, why not declare that you will overtake me soon enough?”
“Now you’ve said it. Just you wait. I’ll become a pretty boy with heaps of mana, and you’ll have to rethink what you thought of me…….Sorry, scratch that.”
“What, you want to take back your words?”
Sevil made a disappointed expression, but Wren spoke with an extremely serious face.
“After all, ‘heaps’ doesn’t really sound fitting for a pretty boy!”
“A, HA, HA!” Sevil laughed loudly, leading to her and Wren earning a warning from Instructor Sombart.
Even when giving a warning, Sombart kept his toothy smile, so he didn’t really feel like he was being warned.