The group was now standing in what seemed to be a regular classroom. About ten meters in front of them was a long black desk with seven teachers sitting behind it, some papers before them. It somewhat made Villin think of talent shows where the judges would sit behind a similar desk.

There was one spot free but Silver quickly went ahead and sat in the open seat. The seven people beside Silver were all teachers. He recognized professor Messen, professor Crumb, and Pompei alongside some of their other teachers.

Pompei seemed to be a bit out of place, even more so compared to professor Crumb who had to sit on a chair a lot higher than the others. The muscular Pompei was fidgeting, he really didn’t seem to be comfortable sitting here. The only person other than Silver that didn’t give them classes was a forty-year-old lady with a monocle, she then talked to them in a professional manner.

“Congratulations mister Villin Grey, Rein Bellua, and Kayley Alius, on passing the advanced tournament. A matter has come up in the main branch of The Academy, we made the decision to hold the advanced tournament earlier this year.

Usually, there are only a few people in the advanced tournament each year, these are students we believe may mortally harm their dueling partners, hence we choose to put them against beasts to see how far they’ve come. This year a total of eight students have been put in the tournament.

Sadly miss Silver has failed her own teacher’s examination. Villin, please understand that what you did usually wouldn’t have succeeded, miss Silver wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings properly and got distracted near the end. In an actual combat scenario, you probably would’ve been killed.”

The lady stayed professional the entire time, only readjusting her monocle once as she looked at the paper on her desk.

“Now, the way you have completed the advanced tournament is rather odd. You managed to take down the wolves before they really got close and didn’t lose anyone in that round. When the instructor came we didn’t manage to catch all of your skills since she was taken out by a member of the group. Mister Bellua, could you please tell us what spell you have saved into your wand? If you wish we can go to a private room so you can tell me in secrecy.”

Rein simply shook his head before he grabbed his wand, pointed it toward himself, and cast the spell. The white in his eyes immediately turned pink as he stared at the woman that asked him.

“I see, Indeed it makes sense you didn’t use the spell in the scenarios given. Now as you all see we have gathered all of your teachers for the grading. If there are no further questions the teachers that wish to do so will give some commentary on your performance and then the grading will begin.”

The lady was about to turn to one of the teachers when Villin raised his hand. When he saw the woman nod at him he asked his question. “How did we arrive in the arena?”

This had been bothering him quite badly, they didn’t go into any teleportation array for as far as he saw and there were no runes on the floor. Yet after he asked the question the lady simply smiled a little before turning to the teachers next to her.

“It seems that Professor Messen, professor Crumb, and professor Pompei have commentary to give. Let’s let them speak.”

Villin frowned when she ignored his question but decided to let it be as he looked at professor Messen, since he was the teacher of ‘Studies of the Web’ his commentary was also based on this.

“First of all Kayley, I was rather stunned by all of the spells you managed to perform. Despite the extremely short time since the beginning of the school year you have managed to learn a large number of spells to deal with a multitude of enemies. But your mastery of said spells isn’t quite there yet. Even if you can cast them quickly, you don’t know how to properly place or control them.

You managed to take out three wolves with ‘Eye of God’ but if you had timed it right you could’ve timed it properly so that the pack wouldn’t have had a chance to go around. As for ‘Bed of Spikes’, you have a bit of control over the spikes with this spell. Not only are you not able to move them but you also couldn’t make the tips less sharp when using them to wake up Villin. If you spent a bit more time on both of these spells the fight would’ve been a lot easier.”

The professor paused for a moment looking at Kayley who seemed to be deep in thought, a reaction that pleased him.

“That being said, the sheer amount of spells you know is somewhat ridiculous for someone that’s only been in the academy for a couple of weeks. It might even come close to a new record. In terms of specializing a tiny bit, you should try to learn a little bit from Villin who has a number of derivatory spells. ‘Bed of Spikes’ in particular, is a very safe spell to expand.”

He finished here and then looked at Rein.

“Rein, you have done a stellar job when it comes to your spells. You have a decent few, each of them made to deal with a different type of threat. The charming spell, in particular, was very impressive. I don’t have much commentary on your spells overall so good job.”

Then finally he looked at Villin.

“As for Villin, you could be said to be quite lucky. As our dear miss Valentine said earlier there was no way you should’ve been able to deal with Silver. That being said the choice to hide and close distance was a very good one, this probably would’ve worked even against many fourth-graders. Your defensive spell was extraordinarily impressive. To be able to first dodge and then straight up block one of Silver’s spells is extremely impressive.

This tells me your mastery of spells and pure magic power seems to be very, very high. The derivatory ‘Reverto’ and ‘Drowse’ spells were extraordinarily impressive. The fact you don’t use incantations can also become a huge advantage later on.

That being said, if I’m not wrong you should’ve used nearly all of your spells in the arena. If you had to deal with a different sort of enemy you wouldn’t have performed as well as mister Rein or miss Kayley. I advise you to learn a bit from Kayley, she has a large number of spells for a multitude of different occasions. You should try to learn some and decide on which spells to focus for a bit once you have a few more spells. 

I should also advise you to join the ‘Spell-Making’ class in the fourth grade, selling derivatory spell modules can become very profitable for someone as talented as yourself.”

Professor Messen looked content when he saw Villin was also deep in thought. Rein, on the other hand, felt it was a shame he had gotten no advice from the professor.

Professor Crumb was the second speaker, the old man spoke in a clear but stern tone.

“Villin, you are able to make a multitude of enchantments and should even be able to create a magic array or two at this point. Why is it I see not a single rune anywhere on your clothes or accessories? It is a shame you haven’t used your knowledge in runes to enhance your abilities.”

When Villin heard this he felt extremely stupid. The professor was right, he was able to create enchantments that would make his clothes more durable or magic resistant, it wouldn’t take that long to create the enchantments and frankly, it was a massive oversight on his part.

Professor Crumb didn’t have anything to say to the other two and so it was time for Pompei to say his piece.

“Alright kids, I am extremely surprised at how well you all work together. Even though I added you three into the advanced tournament, I didn’t really expect for you all to pass, a death wouldn’t even have been completely unexpected. Professor Messen has already pointed out most of the faults in your personal abilities so I will mainly speak about your teamwork.

The synergy you three have is extremely high for a first fight together. The plan you made, in the beginning, was decent and it surprised me everyone agreed to it quickly instead of wasting time. You have all shown you trust your teammates to have your back to a good extent.

Kayley and Rein, the fact you two nearly instantly moved in different directions when Silver appeared was very surprising. Even though she was right that it wasn’t the ideal course of action, the fact you two enacted a plan so quickly without even speaking is very impressive.

Villin, using the paper airplanes to cover your back was a very good move, it allowed everyone to focus on the fight and caused the bear to be noticed in time, good work. The dodge near the end was also very impressive, good call to dodge at that moment instead of block. 

Rein, you were the one that contributed the most overall in terms of team-strategy, giving up your hand in response to Silver’s counterattack was also smart allowing yourself and Kayley to break free from a dangerous spell. I would suggest you use a blocking spell next time though, moving into the line of your own spell and attempting a block is better than giving up a hand.

Good work overall, I was impressed by your capabilities and rate of improvement.”

He gave them a big thumbs-up causing them all to smile.

“That concludes the comments on the combat round. Now for the grading, you will be given a score out of a hundred. Since you successfully completed the trial you have a minimum of fifty points, since none of the members were seriously hurt another fifteen points is guaranteed. Please give us a moment to decide the scores for each of you.”

After saying this she turned toward the other teachers but didn’t say anything. They all kept silent for a while meaning they were probably talking by using ‘Mentallage’ or a similar spell.

The trio looked nervous as they waited, they were still trying to fully understand what was going on but they knew this score mattered greatly. After five full minutes passed, the teachers had finally come to a consensus and miss Valentine turned toward them once more.