Two hours had pa.s.sed since the first fight of the battle magic a.s.sessment between Clyde and Brandon took place. All of the students had fought their second match, and everyone was now preparing for the third and final match. Everyone had carefully watched their cla.s.smates throughout their fights, discussing areas they were lacking and coming up with ways to improve themselves as well, while also planning what to do if they ended up fighting that student.

In addition to the students informal evaluation of each fight, the academy's staff and professors were conducting their own a.s.sessment of the fights as well. Some of them complimented the students for their progress and creativity, while others chastised them for being too slow at casting spells. It wasn't uncommon for a student to spend at least ten seconds just to cast a 2nd tier spell.

During their first two years in the academy as junior mages, all the students had been taught how to deploy a magic spell, as this was the most fundamental skill a mage could have. This deployment could be divided into three separate parts: the preliminary stage, the completion stage, and the release stage. Mastering each of these three stages was crucial for the future success of any mage.

The preliminary stage referred to the chanting of the spell, the pooling of the element and forming the appropriate resonance magic. Each of these required a mage to use their spiritual power to guide the mana. With enough practice, a mage could shorten the time required to chant a spell, or even use voiceless incantation once they reached a certain level of mastery.

The completion stage referred to the creation of the spell formation, as well as the visualization of the appropriate magic circle. It was possible for advanced mages to craft a spell up to this point and then extend this stage, chanting another spell and then release both spells at the same time. This process was known as dual casting.

Finally, the release stage was simply the stage where the mage defined a target and powered the spell formations with the power they'd gathered.

So far, all of the students fully mastered all three stages, but 90 percent of them were still unable to shorten their spells yet. They'd been taught the theory, but they were simply unable to grasp the concept, which gave the professors many headaches as they were repeatedly asked questions on how to do it. At least in terms of mana control the students had a firm grasp on the basics, even though they are still far from the level of prodigies such as Clyde and Wilsin. Good mana control is vital when it comes to fights between mages.

Measuring mana control was very difficult to do accurately. For example, if a second tier spell required 30 units of mana to cast, then a mage could use more or less mana than that depending on how he or she wanted to use the spell. If they used more mana, then the effect would become stronger; but if they used less mana, then the effect would obviously weaken. Knowing how much mana to use in a fight and in different situations was referred to as mana control. This was one of the largest differences between a senior mage and a junior mage, since this type of control was a direct result of both talent and experience.

Out of all the students, the only one that the professors could not accurately judge was Shad. In both of his fights so far, he did not use a single magic spell. In his first fight he simply threw his opponent bodily out of bounds, while in the second fight he punched the h.e.l.l out of his opponent before throwing him out of bounds as well. He was fighting more like a warrior than a mage. There was no rule saying that a contestant could not use physical attacks in the a.s.sessment, so no one was able to protest as he used nothing but physical strength and saved up his mana.

Shad didn't really like to show off, and he didn't want to become overly reliant on spells as a combatant. Even if he did get in a pinch in a real situation, he could always use the ability to channel lightning out of his body without the use of a spell. This was thought to be impossible in this world, which is why he would only use this when he was trying to kill someone. Like they say, a dead man tells no tales.

......................................

The third round of the magic battle a.s.sessment was finally about to start. Unlike the first two rounds, all students drew lots to determine their opponent.

Wilsin's opponent was an unlucky 2nd cla.s.s mage. The poor guy got roasted before he could even chant a spell. Not that it would have affected the result even if he had managed to release his 2nd tier spell. Since this was Wilsin's third victory, he pa.s.sed the junior mage graduation a.s.sessment before the test completely ended. Likewise, Brandon and Kylie both pa.s.sed the exam as well, since they both won two of their three fights.

Unfortunately for Shad, his opponent was none other than Clyde Kalel. They had both won their first two fights, which meant Clyde had already pa.s.sed the a.s.sessment while Shad had not yet, since he did not score any points on the written exam.

When Shad saw that Clyde was his opponent, he couldn't help but smile wryly. He knew that there was no way to defeat Clyde using the same methods he'd shown in his previous two fights. Not only did he have excellent mana control, but he was able to shorten most of his magic spells by roughly half. In addition, there weren't any opponent who forced him to use all of his 3rd tier magic spells in a fight. In other words, the full extent of his strength was still largely unknown. There was nothing a mage hated more than going into a fight unprepared or without information on the opponent, and Shad was no different in that regard.

While Shad made his way to the battle arena alongside Clyde, the entire Kalin Magic Academy was in an uproar. The students were greatly antic.i.p.ating this fight. Two years ago, Shad was considered a genius in the academy, but he had been gone long enough that now Clyde Kalel was considered the top junior mage. He had significant amounts of battle experience and a gold level of innate talent. His future prospects were limitless, a future 9th cla.s.s mage or Grand Magister. He was so far ahead of the other students that they couldn't even be jealous, and instead viewed with him respect and reverence for his supreme talent.

Finally the two contestants arrived on stage, facing each other, while the entire audience was in suspense.

"Little Prince, could it be that you actually want to go against me? I advise you to give up this fight. As much as I want to teach you a lesson, you are simply not my match, and I would hate to injure your pretty face," said Clyde clearly. His eyes were like a venomous snake as he sized Shad up from top to bottom.

Since Shad had returned to the academy, Clyde had paid close attention to him. Although he was arrogant and overbearing to his core, he was not an idiot. He knew that if the Fourth Prince dared to return to take the graduation a.s.sessment then he was well prepared. For as long as he had known the Fourth Prince, he was always very calculative and planned out everything. Not only that, he always gave him this weird feeling as if he was secretly an old man.

"I will take my chances," answered Shad as he looked at Clyde with a playful smile on his face.

Listening to Shad, Clyde knew that his attempt to infuriate the Fourth Prince was in vain, just like every other time in the past. However, what really caught his attention during this exchange was Shad's eyes. Every time he blinked, a slight electric current would flicker in his eyes. It was rather astonis.h.i.+ng. At first Clyde thought it was just an illusion, but after the fourth time it happened he knew that it was real.

"Start!" shouted the Vice Dean. He himself was impatient to see this fight, and could not wait to see the results.