binnovel 8. Unexpected situations during the exam
8. Unexpected situations during the exam
The line for the Ministry of Magic entrance exam was already very long. Because she had wasted a lot of time earlier, Anne hadn't planned to register today, so she stood at the very end of the line.
The boys and girls standing in front of Anne were all obediently lining up by themselves due to school rules, but quite a few of them had servants holding umbrellas or fanning them.
Kerry went back to the Martial Arts Department to take care of things, with Mark standing beside her. Although he was wearing the academy's uniform, the shield and sword on his left shoulder made the students in line look down on him. Meanwhile, Anne's poor clothes made the noble boys and girls raise their heads high and look at her with their noses in the air.
"Brother Mark, you go and rest over there. I can manage on my own." Annie didn't care about the children, but even though it was autumn, the sun was still scorching, and she didn't want Mark to suffer like this with her.
"It's okay, little Annie, I'm here with you." Mark grinned at her, ignoring the disdain of the other students and the scorching sun, and tried to fan Annie with his big hands. Annie was touched; Mark really was like an older brother!
A lonely figure stood alone in the crowd, surrounded by playful noble boys and girls, with faint mocking snorts escaping his lips.
"He was just a poor man."
I heard he was an orphan.
"It's ridiculous that his parents starved to death. Did he eat all the food by himself? How did he grow so strong?"
Images flashed through Mark's mind. He looked at little Anne's frail figure, dressed in commoner's clothes, standing among the nobles. A pang of sadness struck him. Poor Anne, like him before, had been looked down upon, but at least he didn't want her to be bullied. If his sister were still alive, she would be the same age. If his sister were alive, he would never let her be bullied!
"Annie, would you like something to drink?"
Anne wiped the sweat from her forehead; she was indeed a little thirsty. After thinking for a moment, she realized this would also send Mark away so he could rest, so she nodded.
"Brother Mark, thank you. Just a glass of water will do."
Mark thought that cute little Annie should be drinking juice, so he waved to her and ran towards the juice stall. After running a few steps, he suddenly remembered that he didn't have any money on him. Because Kerry was shrewd, Mark had deposited all the money he earned with Kerry. So he turned around and ran towards the martial arts department.
Honest Mark probably forgot how far the martial arts club was from the school gate; even with his agility, it would take him a long time to run there.
When Mark arrived at the martial arts department, he couldn't find Kerry. He was so anxious that he ran around looking for Kerry. After searching for a long time, our burly and honest Mark finally remembered that poor little Annie was probably getting sunburned. Since he didn't have any money, he thought it would be good to get her a bottle of water at the martial arts department.
After Mark had circled around once, Annie had moved to the middle of the line, with a long queue still behind her.
In fact, the academy's tests are very simple. The first round is a talent test. Two crystal balls are placed on the invigilators' tables. The students taking the test walk up to the first crystal ball and place one hand on it. Five colors will appear: gold, white, red, blue, and yellow. Of course, it is very rare for all five colors to appear.
Teachers are happy when two or three, or at most four, colors appear at the same time. But what makes them happiest is not the abundance of colors, but rather a particular color shining brightly and illuminating all directions.
This is what Abagh saw in the examination hall when he transformed into a flying mosquito.
It was another terrifying adventure. The proctors were all renowned high-level mages or archmages on the continent, incredibly sensitive to any fluctuations in magical elements. Fortunately, Abag, being a phantom dragon, did not use magical elements when transforming, thus escaping the teachers' notice and bringing Annie reliable firsthand information.
The second round is a mental strength test, which also uses a crystal ball. You place your hand on it, and the teachers will instruct you to close your eyes and meditate seriously.
When students close their eyes and meditate, a silvery liquid slowly emerges from the crystal ball. For some, the liquid emerges peacefully and slowly, while for others it vibrates and slowly emerges.
According to Abag, the more watery fluid gushed out, the happier the teachers were, and the happier they were when the fluid gushed out peacefully.
However, it seems that at most, the students only managed to reach two-thirds of the bottom of the crystal ball.
Annie analyzed it carefully. The amount of water should be a manifestation of mental strength, while whether one is calm or not is a manifestation of mental control. In her memory, Miss Aisha was shining with five-colored light, but her mental strength had not been measured.
Annie knew that her mental strength was very strong. This was a message left to her by the Space Uncle. It was precisely because of her strong mental strength that she was able to successfully travel through the spacetime turbulence and survive.
Annie didn't know exactly how strong her mental strength was, but she understood the principle that "the tallest tree in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind," so she had to come up with a solution.
When Mark ran back with the water, Anne moved a few places to the front of the group and stood in the shade of the building.
"I'm sorry, Annie, I... I ran for a long time," Mark apologized somewhat awkwardly.
Anne knew that Mark genuinely cared about her, and looking at Mark, who was covered in sweat, she gave him a bright smile.
"It's okay, Brother Mark, thank you!" Annie took the water and gulped it down; she was really thirsty.
After waiting for quite a while, it was finally Annie's turn. Poor Annie, without a cell phone and a watch, she had completely lost her sense of time.
Abag transformed into a tiny insect and hid in Anne's hair, telling Mark only that Abag himself had run off to play somewhere.
Annie strolled into the examination room. Five proctors sat at the front of the room, their expressions varying—some serious, some serene.
Besides the five proctors, there seemed to be quite a few other teachers watching from both sides, probably selecting students.
With Miss Ash's memories, Annie was somewhat confident, but she was also worried that her act of usurping the original body's talents might affect it.
Anne walked to the crystal ball, took a deep breath, and placed her right hand on it.
On the crystal ball, gold, white, blue, yellow, and red colors appeared one after another. Annie noticed a change in the expressions of the proctors, but then, pale gold, pale white, pale blue, pale yellow, and pale red lightly surrounded the testing crystal ball...
……
……
The crystal ball was always surrounded by a faint iridescent light, but Annie's face was covered in a rich, vibrant iridescent light. Annie and all the proctors present could only describe their feelings with six points: This is truly... Look, that tree over there is growing so well!
"Uh, okay, next test." The proctor waited patiently until the light stopped changing and became as dazzling as expected, then finally announced with regret.
A bead of cold sweat dripped down Anne's forehead. She took a deep breath and, feigning composure, walked to the second crystal ball.
As previously agreed with Abag, during her meditation, Abag would remind her to stop meditating when the water-like substance reached about two-thirds of its depth. But now, her magical talent seems to have been affected. Should she still hide her mental strength?
Before she could think further, Annie's hand was already on the crystal ball. Looking closer, Annie discovered that measurements were engraved on the crystal ball. Closing her eyes, Annie began to meditate.
Abag was intently watching the crystal ball through his hair. The water-like substance gradually welled up and slowly rose, calmly and steadily, and soon reached two-thirds of the way up. Since Annie had not informed Abag about whether to change the strategy, Abag immediately and quietly reminded Annie.
Annie, who was meditating, was startled by Abag's reminder, which caused her consciousness to fluctuate. The water-like substance suddenly rippled, and the crystal ball trembled, startling Annie into withdrawing her hand.
The proctors exchanged bewildered glances. This…
She has magical talent in all aspects, but unfortunately, it's all very low, allowing her to learn only the most basic elementary magic. Her mental strength is surprisingly high, but she can't control this powerful mental strength for long, which is truly a pity!
Gods above, she was merely momentarily thrown into disarray; she was not out of control...
Well, in any case, Annie, as a transmigrator, has already failed the perfect body that the Space Uncle chose for her. Miss Ash, the genius of all magic types, is a thing of the past.
Anne left the examination room dejectedly.
When Mark learned that Annie hadn't done well on the test, he awkwardly offered a few words of comfort. Mark was really bad at comforting people, but Annie was still grateful for his words of comfort. But what should she do in the future?
Abag flew far away, transformed back into a squirrel, and ran back to Annie's side. Annie hugged Abag, stroked his fur, and sighed.
When Kerry saw the two looking dejected, he inquired about the situation, comforted Annie, and was amazed by her strong willpower. He believed that although she couldn't get into the Ministry of Magic, she still had a good chance in the Alchemy Department.
Since studying magic requires both magical talent and mental strength, and alchemy requires even more mental strength, and applying to the Ministry of Magic is the first choice for most people, the exams for the two departments are actually held together. Therefore, students who don't get into the Ministry of Magic may be selected by the Ministry of Alchemy, so Annie still has a good chance.
Annie, however, did not think so. As far as she knew, people with low magical talent but high mental strength were indeed not suitable for practicing magic, but were suitable to be alchemists. However, her performance would also be a problem for her to enter the alchemy department, because alchemy also requires precise control of mental strength.
Kerry found Anne a particularly cheap hotel near the school, a favorite place for poor people to stay when they came to take the entrance exam. It only cost five silver coins a day, compared to the hotels they stayed in along the way, which cost one silver coin or one silver coin and one copper coin. The prices in the capital were really high.
Anne will wait here for her exam results.