Chương 80: Midterm Monster

Testing students on their magical prowess in an academic environment proved to be quite the challenge at first. For the easiest direction chosen, that of magical duels, wasn't always appropriate. Even aside from the fact that duels could become deleteriously dangerous, there was the fact that not everyone would be tested equally via magical combat. For what of those students specializing in noncombat-oriented magic? What of the enchanters and healers and so on?

Whatever role they might play in duels, even in team settings, would be overshadowed by those with true firepower. Therefore, Arcoryx Academy initially tried the classic method of written tests based on subjects. But testing purely memorization skills and theoretical understanding proved unsatisfactory, even with a practical component. So, the administration decided to combine the two and not only allow but also mandate the use of magic during midterms and finals.

This also led to the rise of extravagant cheating methods by the students, but the Academs of Arcoryx were quite adept at ensuring that any cheating that occurred was also part of the students' test… Excerpt from Special Report: Academy Testing City Magazine Errol K.

"Are you ready for invigilation, sub-Academ Ryland?" Ryland considered the question. Arcoryx Academy had a storied practice of conducting midterms. Ryland was familiar with it from his time as a student here, and in all honesty, he was probably one of the worst students at it. Or the best, depending on the perspective. He wasn't always the best at it. Or the worst. It was a journey, one where his experiences had shaped him into the cheating adept that he was today.

For at first, when he had just started out at the academy, Ryland hadn't even understood why everyone was cheating. He had thought that just using his magic only to answer his questions was enough. And then he had come across problems on his test that were absolutely impossible for him to figure out. Unless he cheated, that was. Which was why everyone was cheating. Or attempting to do so.

Academy invigilators were well-trained to stand as a powerful bulwark against any sort of misdemeanour during exams, and so, the students had to be extra adept at whatever they attempted to glean from others.

"I believe so, yes," Ryland answered the administrator handing out invigilation duties.

"I have some experience with exams at Arcoryx Academy." The woman stared him in the eye.

"Indeed, you have." Hmm, did she know about him? Well, it was obvious she did, but how much? Clearly enough to know at least a decent chunk of his history at the academy.

"Here you go, sub-Academ," she said, handing him a large envelope filled with the exam scripts and answer sheets of the midterm he was to be invigilating.

"If you have any issues, please don't hesitate to come to us."

"Thank you," Ryland said before taking his leave. He kept everything in his office for the time being. The exam he was supposed to invigilate wasn't going to start for another day, so there was still some time. Time that was quickly taken up by his actual students.

"Midterm review!" Viren exclaimed along with most of the rest of the class.

"Midterm review," Ryland confirmed with a smile. Just as with every other test in the midterms, Ryland was posing a mixture of magical and mundane questions for his students. The difference was that he had requisitioned some more Inscription papers, so his tests were a little more involved than most.

"You don't have any practice problems for us, sir?" Acrypha asked. Ryland shook his head.

"If you have a good enough idea of what you've been learning throughout the semester with me, then you should have no problem scoring high marks."

"So we just need to practice the fundamentals we've been learning all semester?" Nephrix asked. Ryland nodded.

"It's all about intuiting your magic, relying on more than just the Grand Frame and what it can give you." Several of the students looked at each other.

"Will… we need to cheat, sir?" Viren asked. He gulped a little like he was feeling bad even asking such a question. Ryland just smiled.

"You can and should do whatever it is you need to do well. That has been the expectation at Arcoryx Academy for ages now, and taking that into consideration is how I've set my midterm." They all nodded back at him like that made sense.

"Just remember," Ryland said, cryptically helpful.

"All you need to do is intuit the soulfulness of your magic." Yulkaviel wasn't certain if he was fulfilling his duties as well as he should have on Vyrd. There were simply too many variables, too many things he had to look over and take care of, and far, far too many people he needed to meet with and take into account. What he needed was a way to narrow things down.

Every lord from every jumped-up noble house, every dignitary who had even the slightest bit of influence on matters, were all intent on ganging up on Yulkaviel and trying to extract something of value. It was so tedious, so exhausting, so downright humiliating at times, that he felt like he was vaporizing on the spot. And then his Glyph of Unity flared to life. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. All his complaints melted away.

All his aching exhaustion turned into a mellow, temporary state of fugue. Yulkaviel was nearly at tip-top shape again. He was also far, far from himself too. Ironic, since a part of him, a part that was still free, had thought he might have been able to regain a bit more sense of self if he could have gained more distance from Rhel. How wrong he had been.

"Are you alright, Your Worship?" the Headmaster of Arcoryx Academy asked. If there was one thing Yulkaviel could be thankful about, it was that he was mostly dealing with Alaric Holcrow. The man wasn't like most of the other powers he had interacted with so far. He didn't really want anything from Yulkaviel. If anything, he wanted his new guest gone. Poor man was busy with a great many things too, so Yulkaviel was just a distraction. There were quite the strange rumours floating around…

And Yulkaviel had just seen one of those rumours in action the other day. But the point was that Alaric's reaction to his presence was far more honest than all the simpering and haughtiness he had experienced so far. Right that moment, Yulkaviel was enjoying a seemingly peaceful tea time in the Headmaster's office. It was a comforting little break from the humdrum he had been subjected to on Vyrd. And that wasn't even taking into account how the Vyrdian air was causing tiny pimples to erupt on the back of his neck.

So annoying.

"I'm alright, Headmaster," Yulkaviel said. It was a lie, but polite society was built on lies.

"Merely concerned about the outcome of my stay here on Vyrd."

"Oh? How so?" The Headmaster wasn't having any of his tea, but that was fine with Yulkaviel. One of them could remain relaxed. That was good enough.

"My intention on Vyrd has always been to strengthen Rhel's relation with Vyrd. I believe I've been doing well to achieve that thus far. I've met a lot of figures who are interested in all that Rhel has to offer and are interested in forging closer ties and bonds."

"And yet?"

"And yet, I believe there is even more I could be doing." Alaric took a second to consider everything.

"We have a lot going on. Between our two worlds, I mean. The exchange between our premier institutions will happen at the start of next semester. And soon enough, you'll be meeting the real dignitaries of Androvia. Your presence has drawn the attention of the Royal Court and even the Prime Minister." Yulkaviel hummed. He wasn't fully convinced if it was enough.

"That is true…" He decided to take things in a slightly different direction.

"But they aren't coming just for me." Alaric's expression slightly darkened. Yulkaviel had likely hit a sore spot.

"That is also true. Visiting an important dignitary from the newest addition to the Accords is just an opportunity they're using to pay Arcoryx City and Academy a visit too."

"They're interested in ongoings here, aren't they?"

"Indeed."

"Well, I would be in their positions too. You've had quite a lot going on recently…" Alaric cleared his throat and finally took his tea. Yulkaviel frowned. Was he changing things up too?

"And you've swiftly changed the direction of the conversation, Your Worship."

"Have I now? I thought I was merely dragging the conversation into the same converging lines." They both fell silent at that. Yulkaviel wondered if the Headmaster had caught onto what he was getting at. If so, then— Alaric jerked his head at Yulkaviel.

"You mean him, don't you? What in the world for?" Ah, now there was the real question. What in the world did Yulkaviel want anything for? Although, the question that lay even deeper than that was the concern about who and who he ought to be revealing things to. Because after all, the answer could tip the fate of an entire Realm in one direction or the other.

"Wouldn't you like the source of these ghastly rumours, the origin of all these misfortunes you've been suffering, removed?" Yulkaviel asked. He had now forgotten his tea, content to converse more directly with the Headmaster than he had done in ages.

"Not permanently, of course. At least until you've regained proper control over… everything?" Alaric's nostrils flared. One of Yulkaviel's many protective Inscriptions warned him about the presence of dangerous magic, but he was fine. Kindly Mavar wouldn't have sent him this far out without adequate protections. Especially when the Glyph of Unity was burning so bright with endless life.

"I would caution against suggesting that I am in need of any assistance of that sort," Alaric said. Ah. That said a lot to Yulkaviel. He had misjudged things a smidge.

"My apologies," Yulkaviel said genuinely.

"I was only seeking for us both to benefit. But you are right. Perhaps it would be best to wait until the real meetings are done. After all, as you say, the most powerful people of Androvia are going to visit soon." Headmaster Alaric didn't look satisfied by that reply. His eyes were still rather suspicious. Yulkaviel didn't mind much. It would be sad to lose Alaric as the rock he had come to be on Vyrd for Yulkaviel, but the Glyph of Unity pulsed again, and he was reminded strongly of his real goal here.

Kindly Mavar, the ruler of Rhel, the greatest of the champions who had gathered over the ages on their forsaken home, wouldn't be satisfied if Yulkaviel returned without Marionys Ryland in tow. For the history he had on Rhel, the significance of his impact on his home world, was perhaps second to none, not even Kindly Mavar. The Glyph of Unity pulsed almost painfully in Yulkaviel's chest, but he'd live. He wasn't wrong, after all. Even if Kindly Mavar refused to see it that way for now. Hmm.

Maybe Yulkaviel did retain some of his individuality. Ryland took his scripts and answer sheets and headed to his indicated hall. To prevent any issues of potential bias and such, Academs weren't allowed to invigilate exams for subjects that they taught. As such, the course Ryland was invigilating was far from the Intuitive Magic he was most familiar with. Still. Mana Manifestation was an undoubtedly fun class, one that was perennially a favourite among academy students. This midterm should be satisfying.

The hall he made his way to was enormous. It was at least half the size of the one that Arcoryx Academy had reserved for magic duels, filled to the brim with desks and seats all widely spaced from one another. Each of those seats now held an enterprising, third-year academy student, all of whom were eyeing Ryland like he was the next dish at dinner. Ryland took out all the question scripts and exam sheets. When he looked up, he found that none of the students had gotten off their seat to come and take their exams.

Not even the ones in the front row merely a dozen handspans from Ryland. Hmm. So it had already started. That was fine with him." [Translocate]," he incanted. The pages all fell into the rift that Ryland had opened. At the same time, a rift opened over every single table across the entire field-long hall, depositing a single script and paper for each student. They were all perfectly placed on their tables. With the midterms handed out—or rifted out, rather—it was time to start.

"Begin," Ryland said.

"As the rules state, you may cheat by any means necessary, but I am also at liberty to stop you by whatever means I deem necessary. Including seizing your papers if needed. Is that understood?" The students nodded and murmured their assent. Those were general rules about the whole midterms, so they had no choice but to agree. That said, individual classes could and often did need their own, individual rules.

"Sir," one of the students said, raising her hand.

"We're allowed to use whatever magic we deem necessary too, yes?"

"Not just magic," said another student.

"Are any actions allowed, so long as we don't do anything too dangerous or harmful?" Ryland took a moment to consider the question. He also took some time to deliberate on the fact that he had been granted this specific subject to proctor. This was one of the most difficult courses to invigilate, according to the academy administration. He hadn't been forced to take it. Ryland had done so himself, deciding to give it a go because of his very specific capabilities. It was now time for him to step up.

"You're free to do whatever you wish to succeed," Ryland said. The students all perked up, several of them exchanging almost evil grins. But Ryland continued before they could get too excited.

"But as I keep saying, I will do what must be done. So if you can accept that, feel free to start the exam." The looks now varied from student to student, but one thing remained constant. They were determined to succeed. In the next instant, magic sparked across the hall. Ryland blinked, then laughed to himself. It seemed the academy administration was right. His work really was cut out for him.