The Affinity Test had finally come to an end, and as the glow faded from the staff, the square filled with quiet murmurs because almost half of the mage participants had walked away with a Magic Affinity: Average, which was nothing special and exactly what the academy expected from most common-born students.
Only five had managed to reach High, and that alone was enough to make the nobles in the stands nod in approval, but what really made people talk was the three who had scored Peak High, because that kind of result at this age was rare enough to be remembered for years.
The first of them was 'Arthur Vil', a tall boy with silver hair and the posture of someone raised in a noble hall, and since he was the son of a high-ranking noble family who had been drowning in magic theory and private tutors since he was six, it was only natural that he would reach Peak High, so no one was surprised when his name was called.
The other two were boys that most people didn't know, one with messy black hair who barely spoke and another who always had ink on his fingers, and yet the globe had flared just as brightly for them, which meant that this year's batch wasn't going to be easy to ignore.
Up on the assessor's platform, the lead assessor with the scar across his throat set his quill down and turned to the young man standing beside him.
Phil was barely twenty-five, but his head was completely bald and his eyes were sharp in a way that made him look older than he was, and he had been the lead's subordinate for three years now.
The lead assessor let out a low breath and said, "This year's assessment has brought in more talented students than I've seen in a long time, Phil, and if they keep growing like this, I'm sure Ireland will be full of the strongest individuals this generation has to offer in the next few years to come."
Phil nodded once. "The Peak Highs alone are enough to shift things. Especially the girl." While taking a serious look at Minny in her stand.
The lead didn't answer that, but he was thinking the same thing.
A moment later the lead assessor stepped to the edge of the platform and his voice rolled out over the square.
"The Affinity Test is concluded. We now move to the final two sections of the assessment."
A wave of movement went through the crowd because everyone knew what that meant.
"The next section will be the Group Spar," he continued. "Each individual will be paired randomly with one other participant, and you will work together to defeat the opposing group in a one-on-one match. This time the pairings will be one mage and one knight."
Excitement rippled through the stands, and down below, Stanter and Kevin straightened in the knight section while the mages adjusted their staves.
"Let it begin," the lead assessor said, and with that, a glowing magical screen rose into the air above the platform, tall and wide and covered in shifting names that spun rapidly like a wheel before slowing down with a pulse of light.
The first four names stopped glowing.
Group A: [CHRIS BLUEBIRD & KAYLA SNOW]
Group B: [DORN GREY & SELEN VARK]
A murmur went through the crowd.
From the knight side, a boy stepped forward with neatly cut hair and a smile that was a little too wide, like he was always amused by something no one else could see, and that was Chris Bluebird.
On paper he didn't look like much, because he had only scored a 6 in the strength test and he wasn't from a known knight family, so most people just assumed he was filler, someone who would get knocked out early and forgotten.
Walking beside him was Kayla Snow, and she was the opposite in every way because her face was cute but her expression never changed, and that seriousness made her look even more stunning instead of softer.
She had scored High in the affinity test with an Ice affinity, and she came from the Snow family, one of the noble families in the village that was known for producing mages who fought like winter itself.
As she walked toward the stage, her lips moved quietly, and if anyone had been close enough they would have heard her mutter the same words over and over. "I have to get stronger. I have to make him happy."
Across from them, the screen had picked Dorn Grey and Selen Vark.
Dorn was a knight, broad-shouldered and quiet, and he had scored a 7 in the strength test, which meant his punches could crack stone if he wanted them to, and he carried a heavy mace like it weighed nothing, so the crowd immediately assumed his group had the advantage.
Selen was the girl who had scored High with Water affinity earlier, and she was small and soft-spoken, but her affinity was solid and her magic was stable, which made people think this would be an easy win for Group B.
The two groups took their places on opposite sides of the sparring field, and the barrier rose with a hum.
"Begin!" the announcer called.
Dorn moved first, and he came in fast for someone his size, swinging his mace down with enough force that the ground cracked, and he expected Chris to back away like most 6-strength knights did.
But Chris didn't.
He sidestepped with a weird little grin, and his sword came in at an angle that shouldn't have worked, tapping Dorn's wrist just enough to throw off the swing before slipping back out of range.
At the same time, Selen raised her hands and water began to rise from the floor, but Kayla didn't even flinch, because frost spread out from her feet and met the water head-on, freezing it mid-air and shattering it into mist.
For a while it looked like Group B should win, because Dorn had the strength and Selen had the better affinity score, but the problem was that neither of them could work together, since Dorn swung too wide and Selen couldn't keep up with his pace, while Chris and Kayla moved like they had been watching each other the whole test.
Chris kept baiting Dorn into overextending with those annoying little pokes that did no damage but ruined his balance, and every time Dorn tried to reset, Kayla was already there with a wall of ice or a shard aimed at his knees.
When Selen tried to cover him with a wave, Kayla froze the ground under her feet and Chris was already there to tap the flat of his blade against her collarbone, not hard, just enough.
It was over in less than three minutes.
"Winner: Group A. CHRIS BLUEBIRD & KAYLA SNOW."
The barrier fell, and the crowd erupted, but this time it wasn't cheers, it was confusion, because no one had expected the 6-strength nobody to outmaneuver a 7-strength knight.
On the field Dorn was breathing hard and Selen was staring at the ice on the ground like she couldn't believe it.
Chris just kept smiling that weird smile, and Kayla didn't smile at all. She only glanced once toward the stands before walking off.
And up on the platform, the lead assessor was already looking at the spinning screen again.
"Next group," he said.