Aethernea : Soulbound [Book 1]

Episode 39 - Past Expiration Date

Deora, on the other hand, had plenty of time, and he almost burst out laughing. What is she doing? Don't tell me she is analyzing the trigger spell in attempts to change it? Or is she analyzing the enchantment on the glass orbs?

If Deora weren't afraid of his laughter disturbing the other examinees, he would have been the first one to burst out laughing and pointing at her as if she was a clown.

Zerel still had a smiling expression, but no laziness or boredom could be seen in his smile. Instead, what the minute change of expression revealed was pondering. His understanding of enchantments and magical artifacts was much higher than Deora's. In fact, he even authored several books on the subject of ancient enchantments and magical artifacts.

Is she doing what I think she is doing?

Several minutes passed without Elaru casting a single spell. Soon, there were less than two minutes remaining.

Suddenly, Elaru's eyes snapped open, and she started casting spells.

Deora chuckled. Finally, she gave up and started practicing the trigger spell like the rest.

Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he stopped chuckling.

Fast!

Her spells were cast so quickly that he couldn't even catch what it was that she was casting.

Yet, what baffled him, even more, was that she made a large pause between each spell. As if she wasn't satisfied with what she cast and had to ponder how to improve it. If she didn't make the pause, she could possibly even reach his speed. But with the pauses, her speed was abysmal.

Deora chuckled. If my weaving was as terrible as hers, I'd stop to ponder the meaning of life too.

The spells that she cast couldn't even light up the ball. Deora attributed it to bad weaving.

Half a minute passed, and Deora was more and more astonished. Even an idiot would have learned how to weave the trigger by now! It was specifically designed to be very easy to learn and weave. Yet her balls still aren't lighting up! How did she ever hope to enroll in Muni with such abysmal weaving??

When there was only one minute of sand left in the hourglass, suddenly the ball in Elaru's hand started lighting up.

Better late than never. Deora shook his head in pity. Her pauses between spells decreased. However, it still wasn't enough to compare to his speed.

When the last grain of sand trickled through, Deora immediately commanded: "Stop! 5 minutes are up!"

When his words fell, everyone without exception stopped weaving. No one wanted to lit up this firecracker.

Deora waved his hands and all papers and balls in the hands of examinees flew back to the teacher's desk.

He then looked at every examinee, as if trying to decide who'll take the test first. His face suddenly spread into an evil grin that didn't suit him at all, making him look funny.

"You!" He pointed his finger towards Elaru. "Come on up and take the exam."

He wasn't a patient person, so he wanted to enjoy the entertainment right away. He was looking forward to seeing what speed the redhead could achieve.

Elaru didn't hesitate for a second, smiling happily with steady graceful steps she went up to take the exam.

She handed him her exam pass. When Deora saw the number written on the pass he looked at it dumbfounded for several seconds. Didn't I choose this batch of 20 because it would include this number? I thought it would be cool.