Beatrice stepped demurely up onto the platform, and Martelgia pointed at the crystal sphere as she spoke.“Alright, place your hand here and pour mana into it~ It’s not dangerous, so don’t worry~”Beatrice gave a small nod and placed her hand on the crystal sphere.Vwoooom-.The sphere vibrated in response to the mana gathering in her hand.Martelgia continued her explanation.“Basically, there are two kinds of origin attributes~ They’re divided into elemental aptitude and specialized attribute~ We’ll start by checking the elemental aptitude~”“……”I silently watched the scene, then soon closed my eyes and attempted mana detection.Just like when I had searched out the note Freya had hidden in the forest before.As I focused my mind, I could feel the heat haze of mana rising from Beatrice as if I could see it with my eyes.A wave-like flow of mana wrapping around the entire platform.Shaaah-.It was a flow that was at once restrained and explosive.That harmonious flow of mana was so impressive it could be counted among the best on the continent, yet at the same time, it somehow looked faintly unstable.As she poured mana °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° into the crystal sphere, the bulbs of the mana detector lit up in sequence.Pop-. Pop-. Flash flash flash-.When all ten bulbs lit, a dazzling light burst out from the mana detector.“Uwah.”The students shielded their eyes against the sudden brightness, and Martelgia spoke as she watched.“For reference, the number of bulbs that light up represents the potential of mana capacity, and the brightness represents mana purity~ Beatrice’s mana is very pure, and her growth potential is tremendous as well~ As expected of a descendant of Cassandra~”Beatrice accepted the praise with an unruffled expression. Still, the way she straightened her back suggested she wasn’t displeased.“Then next~”Clank-.When Martelgia pulled one of the levers, the bright light of the bulbs slowly began to change.Then—Flash-.The bulbs were dyed in five colors, and shapes appeared within them.The shape of blazing fire, the shape of surging water, the shape of a tree, the shape of earth, and the shape of steel appeared in turn.Confirming this, Martelgia continued.“As you all know, Beatrice has basic aptitude for every element~ It’s an extremely rare case~ Seeing the colors of the five elements that make up the world each lit evenly twice, we can say her balance between elements is also excellent~ And… hmm.”Flicker-.Martelgia scratched her cheek as she watched one of the red bulbs briefly turn sky blue and then return to red.She had noticed that there was some issue with Beatrice’s mana heart, but she did not put it into words.Like a snake sliding over a wall, Martelgia smoothly carried on with the demonstration.“Let’s move on to the next part~ Please look here~”In addition to bulbs, the mana detector also had input-output devices, one of which was a flat plate that resembled a mirror.“In addition to elemental aptitude, mana also has what we call a ‘specialized attribute’~ There are various types: destruction and creation, transmutation and support, and so on~ But there is no way to measure specialized attributes with numbers like elemental aptitude~ They symbolize a vague pull of fate, and rather than belonging to mana itself, they can change depending on the caster’s will~ Please remember that this is only for reference~”Clunk-.When Martelgia pulled the lever, the light pouring from the bulbs faded, and Beatrice’s mana was withdrawn.Sluuurp-.The retrieved mana was drawn into the inside of the machine, flowed along the tubes, and soon spread across the transparent plate.A radiant five-pointed star pattern appeared on the transparent plate.What that five-pointed star signified was [Harmony].A specialized attribute fitting for Beatrice, who possessed the powers of the five elements in equal measure.Her elemental magic was actually famous for synergizing without repelling or colliding with itself.“You carry harmonious mana~ Good work, Beatrice.”Beatrice bowed her head and returned to her seat.“Alright then, we’ll go in order of midterm scores from here~ Slever, Yulina, Bell, Hildegarde…”Students were called up to the platform in order of rank.After that, Martelgia didn’t bother giving detailed explanations of each mana evaluation.In Yulina’s case, about six or seven bulbs lit sky blue. Snowflakes sparkled inside the bulbs.It was not one of the basic five elements, but an ice-type attribute; a fairly rare attribute, which earned good marks.Her specialized attribute was [Support].A specialized attribute befitting Yulina, who supported Beatrice at her side.In Bell’s case, nine bulbs lit with a vivid, blazing red like roaring flames.A tenth bulb also flickered, which meant that, at least regarding the fire attribute, her talent could be considered on par with Beatrice.Her specialized attribute was [Destruction].Given the nature of Extreme Flame that devoured everything, that was only natural.As for the other students, the most anyone had was about seven bulbs, and most had only three or four light up.There were cases where many bulbs lit, but their light was weak.That meant their mana purity was low.Beyond that, the only student whose bulbs lit up to eight was Hildegarde Astraia, from Astraia, one of the Empire’s Seven Ducal Houses.The star-like brilliance of the bulbs suggested the purity of her mana.As befitted a family of astronomers, she had a specialized attribute of the [Observation] series.“Next, Loen. Please come up~”Because it was in order of rank, I was called fifteenth and went up onto the platform.As I quickly stepped onto the platform, the students murmured a little.Even the students who usually had no interest in other people’s grades had learned that my grades had suddenly spiked.Listening to the pleasant murmur, I stepped onto the platform and stood before the mana detector.‘It’s big.’Up close, the mana detector felt larger than it had from my seat.I had thought it was about the size of a lunch cart, but close up it was nearly as big as a bull.Having seen how it worked already, I said nothing and simply placed my hand on the crystal sphere.Vwoom-.The feel of the hard, cool crystal sphere against my palm.As I poured in mana, the sphere warmed and began to vibrate faintly.Shayaya-.Mana was sucked into the crystal sphere.It traveled down through the tubes of the machine and was fired into each bulb.Flash flash flash-.However.Although it seemed like mana flowed along the bulbs’ mana lines, the bulbs did not light.Like a blown fuse, the bulbs only flickered very faintly.“Ah.”Martelgia caught her breath and checked to see if the machine had malfunctioned, but there didn’t seem to be anything wrong.Bzzzzt-.Despite the input of mana, the bulbs did not light properly.Whether it was because of my Half-Human, Half-Demon constitution, or because of Nine Yin Severed Meridians.Or maybe it was the effect of Bell’s fireball and the neutralization process; I didn’t know, but the result was quite low.Numerically, the score came out very low.From a distance, it looked as if no bulbs had lit at all.“Pff.”In fact, the students in their seats watched this scene with faint smirks.Everyone in Union knew that Loen couldn’t use proper magic.But if you looked carefully up close, the mana lines running through the bulbs numbered ten in total.For various reasons, the purity was low and the bulbs’ light seemed hardly lit, but in terms of growth potential, it could be seen as equal to Beatrice.Perhaps that result was because I was a player who could increase my mana stat without limit.Martelgia and Wayne studied the result quietly, then pulled the lever.Clack-.Mana settled into each bulb and began to take on color.Unlike moments before, when the bulbs had failed to light properly, faint blue mana and transparent mana rippled inside like fish.Thanks to Derode’s Ring, no demonic energy was detected, fortunately.Seeing this result, Martelgia spoke softly so only I could hear.“How curious. Transparent mana is the power of the mana heart that knights use~”“……”I had thought this detector only analyzed the mana hearts of mages. It was more precise than I expected.Right now I had also changed class into a martial artist, which meant my mana heart was open.Martelgia whispered to me in a small voice, smiling.“Perhaps a new magic swordsman will be born to follow in Gawain’s footsteps~”……I simply nodded.In truth, I had no intention of using a sword.“Alrighty~ Next.”Click-.With Martelgia’s final pull of the lever, the mana flowing through the bulbs gathered together and spread toward the mirror-like plate.Shaaah-.The mana spread across the transparent plate and soon took on a particular shape.Black cracks symbolizing destruction and a shaft of light symbolizing creation.The two soon blended together and formed a shape similar to a taiji symbol.Martelgia tilted her head as she looked at it.“Hm? Destruction and creation, two attributes appearing at once. How strange~ As far as I know, an attribute is like the heavenly mandate of mana and only appears as a single one~”“……”I silently mulled over the result.I wasn’t sure, but it was possible that one attribute belonged to Loen’s body and another to my soul.Martelgia shrugged and concluded.“Well, the mana detector’s results are only for reference anyway~ Fate, heavenly mandate—whatever it is, it all depends on what you do. To carve out your own path and pursue truth—that is what it means… to be a mage~”***After Loen’s mana evaluation—“Hehe, did you see that, Your Highness?”Yulina spoke with a strangely excited face. Beatrice tilted her head.“What do you mean?”“I mean Loen’s result just now. It was so satisfying. Pff.”Yulina smirked in delight, as if she were on the verge of bursting into laughter.Her expression was bright, as though all the indigestion she’d built up from suffering under Loen had suddenly cleared.The reactions of the other students were similar.They were those who hated Loen because of his bad reputation, or those who were jealous of his recent surge in value.All of them laughed at Loen’s evaluation results.But Beatrice’s feelings were a little more complicated than theirs.They had let the essence slip through their fingers, distracted by the superficial.Beatrice let out a deep sigh inwardly.'They all… judge only by what they see with their eyes.'If they followed the flow of mana instead of staring at the bulbs, it would be easy.Loen’s mana certainly failed to light up the bulbs properly.But that was only on the surface; anyone who detected mana could easily see the truth.From Beatrice’s point of view, it looked like all ten bulbs had lit.The purity of his mana was so low that it seemed as though the bulbs weren’t lit at all.However.'That’s probably because of Loen’s peculiar constitution.'Years ago, when Loen had briefly studied abroad at a mid-level imperial school.Rumors quietly circulated through high society that he suffered from severed meridian syndrome.If that were true, such an evaluation result was only natural.Beatrice herself had suffered from mana seizures caused by “One Yin Severed Meridians,” so she knew very well how difficult it was to maintain mana purity.And that mana detector was so precise that it changed the color of the bulbs just by detecting the influence of her One Yin Severed Meridians, even when she’d believed she had perfect control.Fortunately, it seemed that no one but Martelgia had noticed.In any case, Loen’s potential was on par with—or perhaps greater than—her own.That was not something she could dismiss lightly.Beatrice narrowed her eyes as she looked at the mana detector.'I’ll have to look into the elemental aptitude Loen showed as well.'The colors of Loen’s bulbs were clearly different from the other students’.The combination of transparent and blue was something she had never heard of.She vaguely remembered hearing that the continent’s only magic swordsman, Senior Gawain, had a similar result.She would have to check the related documents for details.As she was lost in thought, Yulina’s voice broke through.“Your Highness, what are you thinking so hard about?”Beatrice slowly shook her head.“……It is nothing.”***“Thank you all for your hard work~ Based on the results we measured today, I hope you all devote yourselves to mana training~”Martelgia announced the end of class.I watched with a grin as Martelgia and Wayne wheeled the mana detector out of the lecture hall.'That was free value.'Today’s class had been replaced with mana evaluation, so I’d been able to spend it in comfort.I had learned the nature of my mana, and while the other students took turns getting measured, I’d even managed to catch up on some sleep.It had been a very meaningful time, you could say.After class ended, I started organizing my books and writing tools and prepared for the next lecture.Knock knock-.Just then, someone rapped on my desk as if knocking on a door and approached.“Excuse me, Loen?”A voice full of a kind of pride I had never heard before.“……”Puzzled, I raised my head.Under the classroom lights, I saw a head of brilliant blond hair.One of the Empire’s Seven Ducal Houses, the Astraia family who read the laws of the heavens.Hildegarde Astraia.“Do you have a moment?”Surrounded by her faction followers, she addressed me.

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