Scholar Arc
Day 28
Atlas entered his usual classroom where Blazing Inferno was already waiting for him. There was currently a lull in experiments conducted on him, so he'd been able to enjoy his classes over the last few days without worrying about some crazed professor wanting blood samples or worse.
The first thing that caught Atlas's attention was that there was nothing written on the blackboard. Usually, Blazing Inferno was there earlier so he could write and sketch relevant information on the board, so this was definitely out of the norm.
"Good morning," Atlas greeted as he closed the door behind him.
"And a good morning to you too Atlas; how are you feeling today?" Blazing Inferno asked happily.
"Well, since I was able to sleep normally the past few days, pretty good I'd say." Atlas chuckled as he sat down at his usual spot. "How about you?"
"Oh, I'm feeling simply amazing; thanks for asking," Inferno answered.
While Blazing Inferno was usually a jovial and easily excited teacher, today he seemed to be extra chipper.
"So I noticed," Atlas said with a nod. "May I ask why?"
"Of course, dear Atlas." Blazing Inferno smiled.
Inferno levitated several stacks of paper out of a nearby box and neatly arranged them on a separate table.
"Today you’ve got an exam day."
Atlas's face immediately fell as Inferno’s smile almost started to feel predatory. Ever since his third affinity was discovered Atlas began to loathe the word 'exam' and everything it implied.
"May I ask what we're testing on?" Atlas queried with a scowl.
He thought he'd at least be safe in the classroom, but apparently, even his teacher had joined the enemy faction to stab him in the back.
"Well, you of course," Inferno replied, pointing a hoof at him. "Or rather, your knowledge."
Atlas’s expression relaxed a bit at hearing those words. it seemed like the tests today were of a purely academical nature. Still, tests sucked in the human world and Atlas was pretty sure this was a shared trait between worlds.
Although Atlas hated tests, he was still rather confident in his abilities, so passing shouldn't be too difficult. If there was a practical exam as well, he was confident to pull off any of his learned spells perfectly. The only difficulty would be the written tests and their extensive terminology. Still, Atlas hadn't slacked off in the past month and had actually sat his ass down to learn, contrary to what he'd done back on Earth. Since magic was extremely interesting to him and it was his own decision to pursue a degree in it, he decided to put all he had into his studies.
"The outcome of today's tests will determine whether or not you'll be able to join the regular classes which start the day after tomorrow, so give it your all!"
Atlas already expected something along those lines. He really enjoyed having a private tutor but taking regular classes was somewhat more appealing to him. While he really liked doing stuff with Amethyst it would be nice to have a few more friends and what better place to make them than in the classroom? Since the general student body was still mostly avoiding him, in the classroom they would have to interact with him.
"I'll give it my best shot!" Atlas said with determination.
"That's what I like to hear!" Blazing Inferno said. "First up," he levitated the first stack of papers onto Atlas's table. "Magical theory. You have one hour to finish this part. You may start immediately."
Atlas flipped the stack of paper in front of him and levitated one of the provided quills as he read the first question.
What are the six types of mana, and to which school do they belong?
Atlas smirked, this was going to be easy.
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"Alright, time's up!" Blazing inferno called out.
Atlas put his quill and his current stack of paper down, letting out a relieved sigh. He had spent the entire morning filling out test after test with close to no breaks in between. What he had just put down was the last written test of today.
Blazing Inferno had taken to grading his tests as soon as one topic was finished, dumping the next set on his table with a few instructions where needed.
Atlas closed his eyes and started to relax. Since the whole morning was spent answering question after question he was glad to be finally done with it.
"How are you feeling?" Blazing Inferno asked.
"Mentally exhausted," Atlas answered.
As he expected, the tests were rather easy since he was well prepared for them. But spending four hours in total concentration tended to tax the mental facilities.
"Well, the worst part is over," Inferno laughed. "The practical part this afternoon should be much more enjoyable for both of us."
"I sure hope so," Atlas rebuked while opening his eyes again.
"But before that, it's break time," Inferno informed Atlas. "Meet me back here in... let's say two hours. Go out for a bit, eat something and relax. I'll just grade this last set before doing the same."
"Alright, see you later then," Atlas answered, getting up from his chair.
The first thing he did was stretch out a with a groan to get his blood flowing normally again. He left the classroom with a smile on his face, intent to get something sugary to eat. He'd apparently need the energy later.
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Atlas was returning from his lunch, approaching his classroom. He wanted to spend his break with Amethyst and maybe get a few pointers for his practicals in the process. But after searching the grounds he wasn't able to find the purple unicorn anywhere. The academy grounds were huge after all, and if one didn't schedule a meeting beforehand it was close to impossible to locate one another.
He did review his spells on his own though, casting each one he knew at least ten times until he was sure to have them down pat. So it was with newfound confidence that he pushed open the door as soon as he arrived.
Not surprising him in the least, Blazing Inferno was already waiting for him. He noticed a few additions to the room, such as a pony dummy most likely for target practice, as well as several weird looking machines.
One of them looked like some sort of maze, a metal ball resting at the very bottom. If Atlas had to wager a guess, the contraption would be used to test his control over the levitation spell.
"Welcome back Atlas," Blazing Inferno greeted as soon as he noticed Atlas entering.
"Glad to be back, I'm ready for whatever you can throw at me!" Atlas said enthusiastically, sure of his abilities.
"Very well, let's start right away then," Inferno said after confirming Atlas's determination.
"The second part of today's test will be all about your actual ability in casting spells as you already know. I have brought in various contraptions used for testing so I can guide and grade you on each of their uses."
Blazing Inferno explained as he pointed out a few of the contraptions. "At the end, I'll have you learn and cast a rather easy spell to further test your knowledge of magical theory and see how effective you are at being able to apply what you know to a new situation. Do you understand?"
"I understand," Atlas replied.
His confidence wavered a bit as he heard about the last part of his exam. Sure, he could use all of his learned spells and was confident in his control over them, but learning a new spell on the fly while being graded? Just thinking about it made him nervous.
"Great! In that case please follow me to your first test."
Reminding himself once again that he had studied fervently over the past month, Atlas approached his first test.
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Atlas took another look at the notes provided to him by Blazing Inferno. They contained detailed instructions on how to cast the spell "Elemental Ball," a spell from the school of combat.
Apparently, this spell was taught to all combat mages before they entered a school that focused on magic. Learning it served two purposes.
Elemental spells were a fundamental part of the school of combat and consisted of the four elements: water, earth, fire and wind, and just as everypony had an affinity to a certain type of mana, everypony had a different affinity towards a different element.
While the elemental affinity wasn't as restricting as mana affinities, generally one produced slightly better results when using the proper element.
The point of the Elemental Ball spell was to maintain a ball of concentrated energy long enough for it to be affected by the caster's mana, taking on the dominant elemental property.
So while on one side the spell was used to determine young mages elemental affinity, it was also considered somewhat of a rite of passing.
So far he had tried to cast the spell twice but had failed to maintain the ball for a sufficiently long enough time on both accounts. After he had read through all of the instructions again and committed them to memory, he decided to give it another try, a quick nod towards his teacher signaling the start of his newest attempt.
Atlas felt out his innate reserves of red mana and started channeling it towards his horn. He concentrated on the form he wanted the mana to take and cast the spell; almost immediately a small ball of red glowing mana appeared in front of him about eye level.
The problem in maintaining the spell came from the fact that the mana tried to disperse when fulfilling its original purpose, which was that of forming a ball. So he had to constantly feed it more mana while trying to contain the energies flowing about the ball. As time passed more mana was jammed into the smaller space and containing it was becoming harder and harder.
Once the concentration in the ball was high enough, it would take on the corresponding element characteristics, such as giving off heat or solidifying into a tangible mass. Atlas didn't have anything else to do other than maintain the spell, so he could focus completely on his task without worrying too much.
His concentration was almost broken when a distraction made itself known by way of a dripping sound. Atlas furrowed his brow in confusion, almost losing control while looking for what caused the offending sound. It didn't take long for him to notice that the ball of mana in front of him was slowly producing small droplets of water, which fell onto his desk.
A smile started spreading on his face; the task was finally accomplished. His giddy thoughts of happiness caused him to lose focus and the dripping ball in front of him disappeared, leaving behind a puddle of water on his desk.
"Congratulation Atlas!" Blazing Inferno said from the side, adding another checkmark to a scroll levitating in front of him. "That concludes today's exams."
Atlas let out a sigh of relief, the only thing he could do now was wait for the results. At least he knew he gave it everything he got today, so whatever the outcome would be, he would be able to accept it.
"Also, let me be the first to congratulate you on your affinity towards water, it is a very versatile element and will surely be of great use to you!" Blazing Inferno added.
"Thank you very much," Atlas said, unable to contain his smile.
"Well, I've already graded all your written tests and the practicals were graded as you took them," Blazing Inferno stated. "Which means I'm able to tell you your results right now if you'd like."
Atlas made a complete one-eighty from completely relaxed to nervous as all hell. He thought, or rather hoped he did well. Of course, he was pretty sure he’d done most things correctly, but self-doubt started to set in, causing him to find minor flaws in the answers he gave today.
“Umm… sure?”
"Well to make a long story short," Blazing Inferno said, before letting a pause hang in the air at his student's expense.
"You passed."