Chapter 78 - Presentation

"When's the next test?" Lily asked curiously.

"Once we finish testing all the students, we will call in everyone with the minimum capacity," Delila explained. "Feel free to take a break, get a snack, use the restroom, and be ready."

Lily nodded eagerly and walked away feeling relieved as the next student was called up to the orb. Richardus followed after her, looking relatively pleased himself.

"I wonder what the next test is… Nobody has told me anything," Lily wondered aloud, hoping he would provide some insight.

"Hmm…" Richardus hummed. "While I can't give you any specifics, I could say it's a bit like a talent show? Or perhaps a salesman, except you are trying to sell yourself."

"If I need to sell something, I should call in Miss Camilla to represent me."

Richardus laughed heartily and shook his head; his genuine mirth surprised Lily.

"Unfortunately, there can be no outside help. But I'm sure you'll do well; you've certainly got a presentation on your side, thanks to how flashy your magic is. Think of the poor kids who have to demonstrate earth? Their best bet would be to try to sculpt something. I don't even want to mention the uphill battle when using air magic."

"So it's a magic presentation?" Lily asked, tilting her head.

"Oops… I think I said too much," Richardus said with a slightly nervous chuckle, then mimed sealing his lips shut with his right hand.

Lily giggled but thanked him anyway before heading for a quick refresher. She was still too nervous to eat anything significant, so she grabbed an apple before awaiting her eventual assessment.

It's too bad Theo couldn't come here… At least then, I'd have someone to talk to. I wonder what he did for his test? Then again, he said he was almost immediately accepted to Tresnia, so maybe he didn't have to put in his full effort.

Also wow. I'm really glad I didn't bring Arakil with me today; I can't believe they thought I'd cheated! I wonder how often kids try to pretend they have magic? How would they even cheat? An enchanted item, like Camilla's ladle, perhaps? Oh well, I guess I'll just meditate a little to pass the time.

As Lily sat down and waited, the crowd of children began to thin. She was surprised how few were staying behind for the next stage of the testing and wondered how strict the testing criteria were.

Not to toot my own horn, but that was a breeze.

"Attention everyone, we are moving on to the final round of testing," James announced. "I'd like to ask you all to leave the room and wait in the hallway. We don't want accidents to happen if someone demonstrates anything potentially hazardous. I mean it, us three and the student only ."

There were some mumbled complaints, but everyone eventually filtered out of the room and waited in anticipation in the hall. Getting closer to some of the kids, she noticed that some of them must have been from outside the orphanage, as she didn't recognize them at all.

At least I know I'm not losing my mind. I was beginning to feel a bit guilty for not knowing so many orphans. I assume the orphanage is just hosting it for the city so the mages can bash it out in one day. Although I bet the nobles probably have private testing.

After some nerve-wracking waiting, Delila finally reopened the door. Everyone's head swiveled to stare at her and hear what she had to say.

"We've finished reinforcing the room, so the final testing will start," Delila said. "A reminder, nobody else is to enter the room while the testing continues. No matter how curious you may be."

Everyone nodded, and murmurs of "Yes, ma'am" echoed in the hall.

"Good. We'll start with you," Delila said, pointing directly at Lily.

Lily let out a relieved sigh, happy that she'd be getting it over and done with. If she had to stand around all day, her nervous jitters might have made her go crazy. She nodded and walked into the room with Delila, closing the door behind her and locking it for good measure.

"Added precaution, I bet someone would want to see what a magical bunny could do," Delila explained.

Lily nodded and followed her to the other two examiners.

"I feel like everything after this will be a letdown," James joked.

"Don't say that; those are some bright futures behind that door," Delila reprimanded.

"I know, but it's not every day you get to see an ancient bloodline. Mark is going to be so jealous that he wasn't on examination duty this year," James replied.

"Yes, yes, well, if you were in the top three schools, you'd be seeing such bloodlines rather readily," Stuart said with a snort.

"Top four…" Delila corrected him, causing Stuart to turn a shade of red.

"What number is Regarth?" Lily asked.

"Second," James answered. "Although rumor is they will win first this year."

"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Stuart disagreed.

"I didn't know that Stremweth also managed to recruit a Dragia student this year?" Delila teased.

A Dragia! Rose? Lily immediately thought but held her tongue.

"Bah, who needs those oversized lizards? We recruited a Garuda this year!" Stuart spat.

"If you had said a Kraken bloodline or maybe a Yeti, I'd have believed you," James said, scratching his head. "But a Garuda? I don't think wind magic has a chance against that much overwhelming firepower."

"Bah, we shall see," Stuart fought back.

"Enough, you two," Delila said, putting her foot down. "Lily here has been waiting, and we have many more kids to look after her."

They nodded in agreement.

"Right, so, has anyone told you anything about this test?" James asked.

"I heard it's a bit like a talent show," Lily answered truthfully.

"Not a bad comparison," James agreed. "Essentially, we will be grading your magic on its usage in either offense, defense, utility, or trade."

"Or any other criteria you might want to demonstrate yourself," Delila added. "Effectively, you sell your magic and talents to us, and we draw a report that gets sent to the other schools. Any questions?"

"Trade?" Lily asked curiously.

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"Is there any market for your magic," James answered. "While some schools don't see much merit in it, Tresnia, for example, does. The most common example is someone skilled in earth magic; they would be handy for building while air magic would be a massive boon for sailors."

"I think I understand, thank you," Lily said politely.

"So, what categories do you think would best suit you?" Delila asked.

Lily pondered for a moment before giving a firm nod, "All of them, I think."

"Preposterous," Stuart spat. "You're already ahead of most; don't try to show off; you'll only harm yourself."

Lily frowned. "I think I genuinely do apply for all categories, or do glyphs not count for trade?"

"They most certainly do!" James replied excitedly.

"Glyphs… Bah," Stuart scoffed.

"I'm surprised to hear you've learned glyphs already," Delila replied. "Is there a reason for that?"

"Outside of my star magic, the other spells are weakened, but when I draw them as a glyph, they retain their full strength," Lily explained.

"Star magic," Stuart repeated, sounding unconvinced.

"It's the closest feeling I have to explaining it," Lily replied. "You'll see in my demonstration what I mean."

Delila nodded, "It's unfortunate that you only have one type of magic, but it's certainly intriguing that you've overcome that through glyphs. I suppose if not for your bloodline awakening, you wouldn't have any magic at all, so it makes sense for you to not have other forms of magic."

"Do you know if your body still receives enhancements like other Lagia?" James asked.

"No, only my magic grows," Lily clarified.

"Damn, that's unfortunate," James sighed.

"Can we please see this star magic already?" Stuart demanded. "Hearing that she only has one type of magic has greatly lowered my opinion of her."

Lily frowned, almost glaring at him, but he didn't seem to notice or care.

"Alright… Let's start slow with utility; show us what you've got," Delila said.

Lily nodded and held out her hand. She effortlessly spun her Mana Core and, with a mere finger wiggle, opened her palm into a cluster of stars.

"Light magic?" Stuart asked.

"No… They are clearly star-shaped," James corrected.

"In the loosest term, I suppose," Stuart agreed. "A simple light spell… Bottom of the barrel in terms of support."

"I'm not done…" Lily complained as she sent the stars outwards.

The stars began floating out of her palm before revolving around her. At first, she had the stars maintain a strict orbit, but then she began having them start making complex movements. To end it, she sent them to the room's corners to hold their position.

"That's some extreme magic control!" James said excitedly.

"Certainly a lot more star-like!" Delila agreed.

They proceeded to ask Lily a few questions about the spell, and she gave it a basic rundown, explaining that she could add more stars relatively quickly and that they would persist for quite some time if she willed it.

"Have you named this spell?" James asked curiously.

"Starlight," Lily answered.

James nodded, "Very fitting."

"I can definitely see why you described this magic as star magic," Delila agreed. "I can't wait to see what else you have."

"I have two more utility spells, although the one also counts as defense," Lily replied.

"Wonderful, show us the pure utility for now," Delila instructed.

Lily nodded and softly chanted a few words while maneuvering her fingers; a sphere of silvery light was formed above her palms. She silently prayed some thanks that she didn't screw it up, as it was one of the least practiced of her spells.

Then, she directed the spell toward a location, and a bright beam of silvery light shone on it like a spotlight.

"Let me guess, Moonlight?" Stuart asked.

Lily nodded, "This one isn't as subtle but can go much brighter. When directed into the eyes, it's almost blinding and certainly distracting. I can have more than one, but it's more difficult to maintain than Starlight, which I can go as many as ten with minimal effort."

"I like it," Delila stated with a pleased grin.

"Certainly the definition of utility," James said.

"Do you have enough Mana to continue, or do you need a break?" Delila asked.

"I'm still good to go. My spells don't seem to cost a lot of Mana," Lily explained.

"You should have mentioned that earlier," Stuart complained. "Mana cost is a very important factor. If you could only cast this twice before being out, it would be worthless; you need to do a better job of selling yourself."

"You could have phrased that nicer… She's still young," Delila countered.

"I do agree with Stuart," James admitted. "But we could have explained ourselves a bit better, too. Just be mindful about mentioning such things in the future."

"Alright, thank you," Lily responded, trying to remain polite.

"So what's the last utility spell?" James asked eagerly. "Is it going to be Sunlight?"

I haven't learned that spell yet… Lily thought bitterly. "No, but I think I could do that eventually when I train my magic more," Lily answered.

"Damn shame, but oh well, so what do you have for us?" James asked again.

Lily dismissed her Moonlight spell. Next up was her favorite, the Nebula Veil, which she felt she had effectively mastered. In an effort to impress them and put on a bit of a show, as they had mentioned multiple times, she raised one hand and snapped her fingers.

She completed the spell with a near-perfect silent cast, with only a single chant recited mentally and only a superfluous hand gesture. Draped over her shoulders, the billowing cloak made of blackish purple apparated from nowhere and burst outward to its entire length.

Responding to her will, the cloak rippled as if caught in a breeze, causing the stars and patterns to swirl magically. She let the cloak manifest to far more fabric than she needed before recalling it inwards and partially wrapping around her small frame.

James burst out a cheer and began clapping, thoroughly entertained, "What a show!"

"Gods, that was sudden and unexpected," Delila admitted.

Lily had expected Stuart to mutter a complaint or throw out a barb, but even he was taken aback. He looked genuinely surprised.

"It's like she's seized the night sky itself and draped herself in it," James speculated. "I'm betting the utility aspect is stealth!"

Lily nodded, and James gave a thumbs-up.

"Although most likely limited to only the night or darkness, I can't see this helping much in the day. Still… I must say it's impressive visually," Stuart admitted.

"What do you call this one?" Delila asked.

"Star… Cloak," Lily answered halfheartedly.

"You should workshop a better name on that one," James said with a chuckle.

"Agreed," Stuart spoke up, to almost everyone's surprise. "It's serviceable but doesn't give off the same majesty as the resulting manifestation."

It's actually called Nebula Veil, but I can't just say that. How the heck would I explain what a nebula is? Or how would I explain that I know what a nebula is? Ugh…

"Don't worry, you won't lose any points for being bad at naming things," Delila teased.

Lily grumbled an embarrassed thanks and hoped her demonstration would make them all forget about the fake name.