Chapter 258: These Were The Lies They Told (Omniscient + Han POV)

The Primrose Siblings, Angelika, Penelope and Elliot came at a time where it wasn't too late, and though the second sister asked about Timothy's whereabouts, she had let the matter drop to converse with her siblings and Diov... albeit, one ought to use Sir Diov Brande, or Sir Brande for short if one were to be truly respectful and in accordance to the man's position.

When the Lord Harrington and his reliable friend Donovan came about the table for breakfast—there was barely enough time for them to eat breakfast. It was a strange thing to witness because the man was always lively and chirpy during the mornings, someone who was always willing to take on the world, but he looked drained right now.

"You look kind of dreadful," Lady Angelika said, not mincing words at all. It elicited some laughs from the group and even from the young Noble himself.

Diov raised a brow, "Have you gotten any rest at all? It doesn't seem like you did."

"I have to agree with them." Han said, too busy scarfing down his sausages to give much attention. "Almost like a zombie...er, if that's not too bad of a thing to say?" He looked back up and gauged the reactions of the other people, he had never encountered someone who was a Necromancer here so he wondered if that was a bad thing to say.

The young Noble simply smiled, "Ah, is it that bad? I was busy with some tasks, trying to facilitate the social event that I think I slept past midnight." He wasn't one to lie, but if it was necessary then he would. He had promised after all. Albeit he gave a sidewards glance towards Han and only received a confused look.

"Well, one can hope that this doesn't make your performance sloppy." Russel said.

The man earned a glare from Teresa who shook her head and glanced at the Nobleman. She had already made a striking appearance with Diov who already knew her well, but to Sir Harrington? That was a different matter.

Sir Leon only scratched the back of his head and plopped down on a seat, "I do hope the same. Sir Uriel is a Professor that does enjoy pushing us to our limits, but I'll live."

"Good for you," Diov said with a sigh, "Not everyone of us here has stellar records in the Year Ranking. The man still thinks it's terrible that I use gauntlets to fight and want me to try a sword."

It was almost similar to Han's own problems.

He cleared his throat, "I think he's very insistent on what path we should take... but it's a helpful suggestion, you know? Look at it that way."

Diov gave him a look and then nodded.

"Let's hope he doesn't fail us, albeit he's a lot more kind than Professor Carnus during Ranking Tests." Russel said in agreement. "So there's a lot more chances that we'll survive the tests."

Lu Rei scratched her cheek, the plate in front of her already very clean. "We don't really know who that is..."

"The Battle Mage is strict for good reason, he has good standards." Penelope said, justifying the man.

Han scratched the back of his head, "Might be the same man who'd allow Timothy to get shot by an acid orb too."

The woman fell silent after that, frowning at him until she said, "Now's not the time to dawdle around, we have to get to our first class. If you wish to stay here and complain, then the two of us shall be leaving Eli." In this group, it was only them who pursued Primary Mage combat.

Russel cleared his throat and stood up, "I'm also going to Professor Pierce's class as well, may I join the two of you?" It earned him a stare from Penelope and a much less kinder one from her brother, Elliot. Teresa snorted and Diov looked a bit conflicted on whether he wanted to hang his head in shame or something else entirely.

"Let's go, I'll catch you guys at our next classes." Han said, standing and deciding for himself that if Timothy wasn't around... at least there was Russel. He seemed fine enough. The man would look around one last time around the dining hall and didn't find the presence of Ellynn, although he did notice the Top Three Students in their own group and table.

He and the others would head to their classes.

.

.

.

Why was there a written test right now?

What kind of institution for learning that taught magic has actual test papers to answer... actually, this was fine. It was understandable now that Han thought about it, it was Magical Theory too, but Timothy was nowhere to be found so he didn't have anyone to compare his answers with—not that he'd do that. But the options were there.

Ellynn was on the opposite side of the room. Russel was three rows in front of him and even if Penelope and Elliot were in the back rows, he doubted that they'd let him take a peak at all. Timothy had been his best bet, but the guy was probably working hard to learn a Spell for Professor Carnus.

The only problem was... this was a Ranking Test.

[ Rank: 999+ ]

Could he even get lower than that? And he hadn't even realized that there were at least a thousand Students in Kraelonia Academy, were they in higher year levels? Was there a Night Class for some older Students that had worked to attend to? Now that he thought about it, that did kind of make sense. He hadn't seen that many older people except for the Professors themselves when this was supposed to be an Academy for all Warriors and Mages that wished to get stronger.

But once again, not the point.

He glanced at the test questions and it was a good thing that he could read. Or that the characters used in here resembled something almost translatable, maybe the System did it for him? He glanced at one of the questions that resembled a multiple choice.

1. Based on the text documents of the Scholar-Mage Antsel Houdiver, the component of mana is simply but one of the many ways to produce magic or what is known as Spellcasting. What is/are the other prerequisites to perform Spells?

A. Magical Ingredients and Alchemical Compounds

B. Matrices and Runes

C. You Only Need Mana

D. Weaving and Transformation of Mana

E. Hand Seals and Formations

F. Verbal Use To Put Spells Into Effect

G. Somatic Components

...there were actually at least five more letters in the test paper and that just made it all the more confusing. Han held the quill in his hand and his own source of information—media, movies and the like now seemed inappropriate enough to use. Or they just made things even harder. Formations weren't spells. But what about those magical circles to increase Spell Power? Or was this like a very grammatical kind of test. "Prerequisite." One could use magical circles but they weren't a prerequisite for Spells unlike Mana right?

Key words.

And maybe you could perform a Spell by just infusing mana into the air right? No. Han encircled the letter D and then moved on to the next question. He would read each question very carefully and took out answers that obviously didn't make sense, and it was a matter of elimination really.

31. There are six houses of magic, but outside of it are other activities deeply related to magic. What is not considered to be under the broad scope of magic?

A. Enchantment

B. Alchemy

C. Healing

D. Divination

E. Druidism

F. Astrology

G. Shamanism

Han thought he got this one down—at least after hearing Professor Carnus berate him over and over for absorbing mana like he was shamanic. And yet that was tribal magic wasn't it? So it still did fall under magic. He would scratch his head and look up slightly... Elliot had already passed the paper to Professor Pierce. And that old lady gave him some kind of candy treat reward too?!

Was that like one of those things he'd see on Halloween? Candied apples with some weird but delicious green sludge over it. Han gulped, and focused back on the test. He wanted a reward too! But more importantly, he needed to rank up and prove himself. The better he got here then it was better for him as Han Jing.

Han would continue to take the test and after twenty-five more minutes stood up and handed the paper to the Professor.

[ You Have Leveled Up in Student Class! ]

[ You Have Gained a New Skill! ]

"—where's Timothy?"

"Huh," Han blinked and then turned back to the Professor with a sheepish smile. What was he supposed to say? He needed to give an excuse or Timothy would get an automatic Fail in the Ranking Test wouldn't he? "Ah... I think he got a severe case of a flu, or ate something wrong that didn't sit well with his stomach. He's got a terrible case of loose stools."

Lies—!

But the older woman furrowed her brow and sighed, "Well, that's too bad. Once he feels better then I suppose I can give him another separate test. Please tell him to feel better alright? Do you know what he has eaten? Perhaps you could request the cooks from the dining hall to prepare him something from the Magical Recipes For Health and Well-being. They have a copy there, so they'll know. This is one of the things that can't be solved by a Healing Potion which is a pity and Potions just aggravates it."

... This person was so considerate unlike Professor Carnus. Han could have leapt in joy and bowed his head, "Thank you, Professor Pierce. I'll do just that?" Maybe it was because someone like her had grandchildren? Then again, if she was wedded to the Headmaster... Han couldn't imagine that either.

But this was just the first class, Professor Carnus' one was coming up next.