Aspiration to the Heavens: Becoming the Supreme Mage Vol. 1- Novus Magus

[Revised/Edited] Episode 22: Winds of Rage

*Lei*

Wanikiya watched as Ayawamat left to ask one of the other proctors to record him as he took the sensor section part of the exam. "Damn that guy. Why is he always trying to cause trouble for us?"

I nodded. Ever since elementary, that jerk had always been a thorn on my side. Especially during middle school.

The white-haired, golden-eyed proctor touched the tube. "Bullying is done by those who are missing something in life. Usually, that something is paternal love or friendship."

'Missing something? That's right, I remember hearing that Ayawamat could do whatever he wanted as his parents were never home. Was the lack of restraint related to the way he treats us?'

No, that couldn't be it. I grew up similarly. Mother always allowed my siblings and me to play around, and Father was rarely home during the day. Then the reason wouldn't be the freedom of not having his parents around to enforce the rules, but the lack of something else. Then it must have been as the proctor said, the lack of paternal love. Was Ayawamat really that sentimental of a guy? No, that couldn't be it, the guy had a heart made out of cold iron.

Though it was odd that he would come here. Ayawamat had never shown any interest in attending a magic academy before, despite having the ability to use magic. Magic was something which only a shrinking percentage of Wahkan's citizens now had. To my knowledge, he was the only mage in his family, meaning he must've learned it all on his own. If he hoped to get in, he better have polished his skills as far as he could, or else his chances at entering Nine Petal Academy were awfully small.

"Hey, proctor," I called out.

"Please call me Koukyuu," the golden-eyed lady said, smiling warmly.

"Koukyuu. That guy just now, do you know his scores?"

A glimmer appeared in her eyes. She summoned a gray tablet. "I'm not the one watching over him, but I can pull up his info here if you give me his name."

"It's Ayawamat Zihna."

With a few swipes of the tablet, multiple screens popped up. "Let us see, after elemental adjustments to the scores... he is tied with you. You both got the fourth highest score."

I grinned slightly. So he didn't surpass me after all. Though the thought of being tied with the guy wasn't exactly very pleasing.

"What are the surrounding scores?" I asked, wanting to know who the rest of my competition was.

She glanced at her tablet. "Hmm, third place is a boy called Hikaru Mikado."

"Hikaru?" I asked. "That's great!" He must've used his metal magic for this section. Especially as it was hard to hit stuff with time spells. How would that even work anyway?

"You know him?" Koukyuu asked.

I nodded. "He's a long-time friend of my family. I've known him since he was born!" My turquoise eyes scanned the gym. "Where is Hika?"

"He's with your sister," Wanikiya responded, chuckling.

"Honestly. I still don't get how they can always be together when they argue as much as they do." I shifted my eyes back toward the proctor. "So who's first and second?"

"Your sister is first. Second is Nyima."

"And sixth?" Wanikiya asked.

"Sixth is you, while rounding up the top seven is a girl called Zelde."

I patted my bud on the back. "Good job. You outdid Zelde!"

Wanikiya smiled. "Hahaha, it was nothing."