小嫂子的味道

I followed the way that teacher—or whatever she was—had told me and then not long after, I reached that room.

Upon entering the room, I saw a big gymnasium-type place with a cemented floor.

It was pretty similar to the hall-type room we were in—where Mr. Halls explained things to us—but the only difference was that the floor was made of concrete instead of planks. Also, the size of this room was a bit small.

Not many students were there; probably because they are still busy giving the written exam.

Hence, only I and three other students were there with an old man who looked like an examiner.

I walked over to him and said, "Umm, I'm here to take the second exam," in a soft but awkward voice.

Instead of replying to me he held his hand up and signaled me to wait, and so I just did that and stood in a corner.

It was not that hard to tell, he has told me to wait because the other students are taking the exam right now and maybe it was a type of exam that only one person can take at a time.

I wanted to see so I directed my gaze toward a certain student out of those three; I was sure that he was the one who would give the exam because that old man was explaining something to him.

Then, that student—who was a boy—moved forward and after a few steps, he stopped and stood straight in his place.

I narrowed my eyes and tried to take a good look, it was then that I saw a large magic circle drawn on the floor.

And that student was standing right in the center of it. It looked like that magic circle was drawn with something like chalk because its outlines were white in color.

'Hmm, this is my first time seeing a magic circle, which is totally different from what I imagined.'

When you say a magic circle then a flashy, shining, magic circle that is summoned in the middle of the air comes to mind.

But then again, things may not always go how you want them to. Maybe this is how magic circles really are in reality.

While I was busy thinking about all this, the boy started saying something that sounded like an incantation.

This was what he said, "Spirits of eternal flames, heed my call and summon before me a brink of your power: fireball."

The white magic circle below his feet started glowing and emitting a white, almost blinding light. Several small ball-like particles that were yellow in color appeared around him.

Even though it was just a bit, I was able to see the veins and arteries of his legs that stretched to his hands and whole upper body, glow in a similar yellow color.

Then he stretched out his right hand and some sort of energy started gathering right in front of his palm.

Instantaneously, a bright red magic circle appeared where that energy was gathered, and then a ball of fire erupted in front of it.

Before that fireball could fully adapt its shape, it was launched forward at a surprising speed.

The fireball then flew away from the boy, leaving a trail of translucent smoke behind, and not long after, it crashed with one of the dummy bodies—that were placed at the end of the room—and blew up its whole upper body.

All of this happened in less than a minute, or maybe, it was not even a half of a minute. But for me, who admired every second of it, this whole process lasted for an eternity.

As an author, watching this fantastical scene unfold before my eyes was nothing less than a dream come true. The things I imagined and wrote in words were now right in front of me.

It felt like time itself has stopped.

When the fireball crashed with the dummy and disappeared, then, the red magic circle vanished and the circle before his feet lose its shine, all the particles also returned to their own world.

The boy then looked at the old man and the old man then wrote something on a paper that was attached to a clipboard and he held it in his hands.

He told something to him after that, and then the boy in question walked out of the room.

The same thing was done by the two other students—a boy and a girl—and similarly, after doing that fireball thing, they left the room.

By this point, I understood that this is what the test was.

Since it was only me who was left in the room now, I proudly walked over to the old man while I continued thinking, 'how the fuck I'm going to take on this exam!'

It was not that I was unable to use that, no, that was never a problem. The problem was...well, my parents are not higher-class nobles so technically, from an outsides point of view, there's no way that I already know how to use magic.

This was the problem; if I used my elemental magic here then there can be some problems and I may end up causing trouble for my family. And if I didn't use it, then there was a chance that I'll fail this exam.

I knew about this beforehand so I also did a bit of research, asking some other students about it but I was only left with disappointment.

This was not a problem for someone like Anya who excelled in sword arts; they just had to perform more than good in the third exam and it'll cover up for their failure in this exam.

And yeah, I was also worried about Anya.

But the problem still remains, what will someone like me, who is not so good at sword arts will do?

It looks like the world was against me right now because before I could finish thinking of a solution, I had already reached near the old man.

'Hell, I was walking so slowly even then!'

"Umm, so, how will I take this exam? Right now I don't know how to use magic," I said, with a pleasant smile on my face.

For now, I decided to take the passive approach and see what happens.

The old man looked at me like I was spouting nonsense, and then he spoke, "That is not a problem kid. You see that magic circle over there, if you stand in the center of it, it will transfer some mana into your body. It's not much but enough to cast a simple spell."

What! Really! Then why the fuck you didn't tell me before? No wait, I didn't ask him for it before. It's okay, calm down.

This thing was sorted out after all, without any problem.

The old man then walked toward the magic circle and so did I, during that he spoke up once again.

"It seems like you have misunderstood something. This exam is not to determine whether or not you can use magic, but to check how well you can use that when given the necessary mana for the required task.

That magic circle will provide you with mana but to channel that mana through your body and use it to cast that specific spell, that's the thing you have to do."

A weird smile had appeared on my face by now and maybe he noticed it because the next thing he said was probably related to this.

"Let me state this clearly, don't get so full of yourself. This may look like an easy task but if this is the first time you are using magic and controlling the mana and directing it toward the spell is a hard thing to do. So be careful, now, you may proceed."

He finished and then pointed toward the magic circle with his right hand.

I carefully walked over and stood in the center of the circle.

'Now…maybe I should also chant that incantation otherwise it'll not look natural.'

I didn't need to chant anything to use elemental magic though, but this can be a different type of spell so I better not take any unnecessary risks.

'Hmm, now that I think about it, I don't really need the mana provided by this magic circle. I can camouflage myself and make it look like I'm using the provided mana but instead of that, I'll use my own to cast the spell.'

This was a good idea, so I decided to go along with it.

I stood straight in a balanced posture and then closed my eyes. This was starting to feel weird because I was used to elemental magic and for that, I had to imagine things but now, it was not like that at all.

I just had to say a few words. So I just did it.

"Spirits of eternal flames, heed my call and summon before me a brink of your power: fireball," I said and opened my eyes.

Though I made a mistake, even though it was not intentional, I imagined the chemical structure of fire.

'I don't know what will happen now. Not at all.'

Just like before, the circle below my feet started glowing and those yellow particles appeared around me. I felt some kind of energy climbing up from my legs and going all the way up to my chest and then diverging into both my arms.

This was the external energy I was receiving.

I stretched out my right hand, and then, the red magic circle appeared before the palm of my hand and I felt some hot air on the tip of my fingers.

But then it happened, I had pretty much-expected something like this but not fucking THIS!!

A fireball, bathed in the color of pure crimson red, lit up in front of the red magic circle. Its size was slightly bigger than the ones those other students summoned and its color and the heat it was emitting were completely different.

I was not sure but it was likely the result of me using elemental magic and this spell at the same time.

Maybe both of them combined and created this FUCKING FIREBALL!

The fireball was then fired in the direction of the human dummy at utmost speed.