After this bit was explained, the tests began.

Miss Valentine informed Villin of his first test, “Alright, Villin, since you are a runemaster and had amazing grades in the runic arts, we would like to see how much your skill has degraded or improved.”

She handed Villin a small piece of cloth as she continued “We would like you to enchant this as best as you can within thirty minutes. You may choose how you enchant it.”

The first test was as expected as it was simple. Villin went straight ahead and began enchanting. When the examiners noticed he wasn’t using a pen and was simply using his bare hands instead, they seemed visibly shaken.

Even though they knew Villin created wards to escape his cell and notify them, they hadn’t truly realized what that meant yet. They mostly assumed he created fake wards using certain spells he had somehow gotten ahold of, seeing him enchant with his bare hands was quite the eye-opener.

After thirty minutes passed, Villin handed the piece of cloth back to Miss Valentine. She didn’t even feel the need to test the piece of cloth that was enchanted, they had all seen the process of enchantment and there was no way Villin wouldn’t have passed.

Without hesitation, she gave him the second test, “Being in a cell for so long could have adverse effects on the body. Even though I know a doctor has mostly cleared you, we would like to see you do some physical exercises.”

The second test too was as simple as it could be. Villin simply pumped for a while and did some pull-ups on the door. The two tests thus far had a simple goal in mind. They were trying to see if he had degraded mentally and physically, now, it was time for the actual tests.

Seeing he was capable of basic strength training, the examiners were once more satisfied, now they would be able to see how good he actually was at magic-related subjects.

“Mister Villin Grey, let us have a discussion about the web.” with these words, the blonde lady next to miss Valentine sat herself down preparing to talk with Villin.

As staff of The Academy, they knew how important theory was, especially the studies of the web. It had many applications when you became stronger and learning the basics properly was important.

Pompei and Miss Valentine also sat down on the couch as they planned to listen attentively. Even Pompei who seemed like a very rash man, paid utmost attention to the subject.

The blonde woman looked at Villin for a moment before asking, “Now, Villin, I would like for you to say in your own words, what are nodes?”

Having someone ask questions to him in this way made Villin feel extremely uncomfortable but he nonetheless replied, “I believe nodes are the gateway between what is magical and what is physical. They change purely magical elements and allow them to affect reality in various ways. I even believe that, to some extent, nodes are alive. Perhaps not like humans, but alive nonetheless.”

Hearing his reply, the blonde woman looked somewhat surprised, Villin had just stated one of the more popular theories on the existence of nodes. After carefully measuring her words, she asked another question: “Alright then, how many nodes have you properly unlocked?”

Villin thought for a moment and quickly entered his mental space. All of the light grey nodes were obviously opened and about two-thirds of the dark-grey ones. 

“Seven-hundred-eighty-nine” Villin replied in a steadfast manner.

Hearing the reply, the three adults raised their eyebrows at the same time, he could some disbelief coming from them.

Thinking of how to prove it, Villin found out he didn’t have a way to do so, he decided to simply let them think as they wanted.

The blonde examiner quickly recovered and continued asking questions about the web, it quickly became clear the questions asked were too simple. Villin responded to each of them in a heartbeat without the need to think. 

The blonde lady went over all the questions that had been prepared, this ranged all the way to peak-third-grade questions. Yet even then, there seemed to be no hesitation in his words. On the other hand, his explanations were far clearer than the answers required. He went on a tangent about the properties of nodes a multitude of times, explaining the potential reactions certain nodes could have.

After an hour, this test ended and the examiners looked rather helpless. Even though they knew everything Villin talked about very well, he said things in a way very easy to understand with a lot of clarity. This was something a lot of those teaching ‘Studies of the Web’ struggled with due to how complicated the subject was.

The fourth test was about combat theory. Pompei presented him with multiple combat scenarios and asked him how he would survive or win.

Villin’s replies were original yet fitting. He often mentioned controlling the tempo by physically moving, he also talked about trying to deplete an enemy’s magical power by using spells that countered theirs. This was something he had seen in the fight between professor Crumb and Granolf, the entire battle was etched into his memory, and whether he wanted to or not, he had seen it so many times he knew the use of almost every one of the spells that had been sent out.

Hearing Villin talked about countering spells, the examiners were impressed. Generally, students were only taught about this in the fourth grade and they thought Villin came to the realization himself.

With four tests out of the way, Villin wasn’t too nervous for the fifth one. Yet, when the time came, Miss Valentine rose out of her seat, “For the final test, you will be fighting me.”

Villin tensed up for a moment, before standing up himself.

Villin thought they would be fighting outside, yet before he even prepared himself he noticed a spell was already heading in his direction.

Surprised by the appearance of the white streak, Villin narrowly dodged to the left. The streak hit the chair he was sitting on, creating a large hole through it.

Villin felt shocked as he quickly turned back to Miss Valentine who was looking at him serenely with her wand raised “You cannot always choose the circumstances you fight in. Protecting yourself and protecting your material possessions, can you do both?”

Despite being confused, Villin still prepared for the fight. He changed his stance and pointed his wand forward. He thought back to a moment before, when Miss Valentine sent a spell towards him. Just before she sent out the spell she put her weight onto her front leg and she blinked twice. Villin kept these facts in mind, one of the most important things to do when fighting an unknown opponent that could silently spell cast was to know when they were casting a spell. Finding a ‘tell’ was extremely important.

Villin didn’t think too much about Miss Valentine’s words, she was most probably trying to get into his head and stop him from dodging. He knew he could probably repair most of the damage done by spells once the duel was over, there was no need to worry about that while fighting.

Miss Valentine and Villin looked each other in the eyes. The boy noticed she seemed to be waiting for him. This was still a test overall and she wouldn’t use her full strength.

When she looked into Villin’s eyes she saw he seemed to be struggling, she could tell he was thinking of what spell to send at her, and so she purposefully created an opening, she lowered her off-hand slightly making it easier to attack her left shoulder.

Seeing how Villin still hadn’t cast anything and his facial expression was a mix of fear and uncertainty, Miss Valentine released a sigh. It seemed that the boy wasn’t mentally prepared to fight yet. It was then that she felt as if something was off, she looked at the boy but he was still standing where he was, unsure.

When she stopped focusing on the boy and spread her magic power in all directions, her heart momentarily sank.

Just behind her, a number of changes had unfolded. The floor had morphed, allowing vines to grow out of the ground silently. These vines had been growing more and more. Knowing he was up against a teacher, Villin knew his usual attacks would be useless, he needed to be able to prepare something. While Miss Valentine was focused on him, he worked his transfiguration and environmental spell, the vines coiled around each other becoming thicker and sturdier.

As soon as Miss Valentine noticed the vines, they attacked.

Miss Valentine hurriedly turned around and cast multiple spells, barely holding the vines off. Villin was the only thing behind her and she was confident her passive defenses would be able to take an attack from him, by that time she would’ve taken care of the vines already.

The vines were strong and with the preparation, Miss Valentine was slightly overwhelmed for a moment, and so, she quickly took a step back to make some more space.

Or, she tried to.

When Miss Valentine turned his back on him, Villin didn’t use an offensive spell, but transfiguration instead. The ground just behind Miss Valentine rose about ten centimeters. Usually, this would be useless but when she took a step back, she tripped and fell onto the ground.

Miss Valentine wasn’t a magus specialized in battle and her combat awareness was below average. When she tripped, she subconsciously steadied herself for the fall. In these two seconds, she didn’t cast, the vines caught up and by the time she fell to the floor, she was entirely entangled.