Ascension Of The Failed Mage

As instructed, Ciara brought the survey forms of all her classmates to Noir during break.

She simply, coldly, dropped the forms, and then left. No words were exchanged, and she certainly did her best not to meet his gaze.

Noir, of course, reciprocated her actions—whether this was intentional or due to his intense thoughts on how to deal with his adversaries, remained a mystery.

"Thank you, Ciara." He finally said as she nearly exited his office.

Ciara jumped in surprise when she heard his voice, though pretended not to care as an afterthought.

"Y-yeah…" A murmur escaped her lips, and she proceeded to leave.

Upon gently shutting the door behind her, she was finally able to breathe. A flustered expression remained on her face as she took very deep breaths, releasing sighs soon after.

"Noir… you…"

Her lips were flushed with pink, and she could feel her chest beating fast. Something about his tone sent shivers running through her—or was it the way he said her name? Either way, Ciara realized how easy it was for her anger toward Noir to fizzle out.

She actually missed him, and it had taken all her willpower not to meet his gaze during their just-concluded interactions.

"Haa… what am I doing?" Ultimately, she was still his student.

Despite what everyone in her class kept talking about their feelings for either Noir or Trevor, she knew full well that they were all shallow—the comments, that is.

In the end, no one was going to act on their feelings, and they were far too young to make such decisions.

Besides… as someone who belonged to High Nobility, it was not even within her control whom she would eventually end up with. It certainly wouldn't be a stranger who would up being the teacher, would it?

"Argh! What am I even thinking?" Ciara yelled at herself.

It was awkward doing that in the hallway, even though it was empty. Realizing this, Ciara silently returned to her class, hoping no one was close enough to hear something so embarrassing.

*

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[THE NEXT DAY]

After sorting through your surveys, I made an interesting discovery…" Noir spoke calmly and softly to his students.

All forty-one of them were staring at him with warm eyes and curious gazes. They all wanted to know who would be representing their class, after all.

"None of you chose not to participate. How intriguing." He even leaked a smile as he stared at each student.

It was surprising, wasn't it? None of the kids chose to throw in the towel!

"I have to say… I'm impressed." Noir nodded.

He was sure that at least a few would tap out, considering how limited the slots were for the participants. Certainly, the untalented pupils would also be throwing in the towel… right?

WRONG!

It amazed him everyone chose this path, but that only warmed his heart more.

"Unfortunately, only ten of you will be required to participate. That means we'll need to set some of qualifiers."

With the snap of his fingers, Noir sent an orange glow spreading through the room. The students recognized this well.

After all—

>VWUUUUUUSSSHHHH!!!<

They ended up in a familiar place—the training room where they had visited during Noir's first teachings. Was this really going to be like that time? Was Noir going to teach them something cool?

The students were eager to see it!

Another snap of Noir's fingers sent exactly forty-one box sets floating in front of each student.

"Within the box are materials you'll be using for this qualifying examination. There's a certain stone there—it's a special item used as the base for Rune Stones."

Usually, Runes came in form of Rune Stones or Rune Scrolls. This was used for the former.

"Rune Stones are usually combinations of using special Magic Stones and the Runic Inscriptions to produce desired results. In your case, that serves its role properly."

Just as Noir explained, within the boxes were the stones.

"You're expected to transcribe a functional Tier 5 Rune onto the Rune Stone. The first ten to succeed will participate in the competition."

It was a harsh objective that required them to be swift and decisive—just as reality often entailed. If they wanted to make the cut, they had to put in the work.

The question was… just how many would succeed?

"B-but, this stone… its quality isn't enough to make a Tier 5 Rune Stone!"

Noir smiled the moment someone pointed that out. At the very least, it proved they were being observant students.

"I understand. That's why there are three other low-quality Mana Crystals in the box. Use them as you see fit." The moment Noir said this, the really observant students understood the implications.

They had to somehow transfer the Mana within the Mana Crystals to the Rune Stone. That required a Grade 2 Rune, at least.

They had three low-grade Mana Crystals. If they consumed one or two of them on the transfer, redirecting the power source of the last core to the main stone, they would be able to generate enough power to make a Grade 5 Rune Stone.

Of course, this depended on their skill in making a stable Rune that would conserve enough energy while also ensuring the Mana was conducted perfectly without any excesses. Given the fact that only the first ten would succeed, it meant they were on a clock.

This was a very difficult examination, for sure!

The students realized this, gulping instantly.

"What are you waiting for? Begin."

Thus, the scramble began. They had all been given equal resources, equal time, equal opportunities. However, the true winners would be decided upon by one critical factor—ability!

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*

"I'm done," Mia spoke softly, approaching Noir with her finalized Rune Stone.

It was glowing red, and a perfect crest lay on the stone's surface. It looked perfect, and the girl gracefully handed it over to Noir for inspection.

As no one would expect, she was the first to finish—and it was by a wide margin.

Many of the students were yet to complete the energy transfer process, talkless of engraving the rune on the stone itself. Even Ciara was just starting her engraving process, making her way behind Mia in terms of completion.

"It looks perfect, Mia. Well done." Noir smiled, nodding at the highly expectant student.

Mia's face lit up instantly, her eyes widening in excitement. She thoroughly enjoyed Noir's praise, much to the dissatisfaction of a particular girl among the students.

This girl, rather than focusing on the task at hand, was glaring heavily at the exchange between Noir and his oblivious student.

"Looks like we have our first candidate." Noir declared, hurrying the rest of the students.

He was still smiling, and for good reason.

'Mia is even more impressive than I thought.'

Noir had been observing all the students, but the one who had the better parts of his focus was Mia—and it was because of her rune grafting method.

Most students would start with the energy transferal, then move on to the stone itself. However, Mia had taken an entirely different approach.

'She first transcribed the rune, ensuring the final results were achieved as accurately as possible. No, she actually did a double-layered rune. Smart girl!'

Mia had engraved the Tier 5 Rune he wanted the students to achieve, but since the stone wasn't of such quality, the Rune wouldn't have enough charge to activate. However, she added another Rune to it, which allowed it to absorb the three low-grade Mana Crystals.

By directly transferring the Mana to the stone, and not through another elaborate Rune, both time and energy were conserved. The stone was able to complete the transfer since it had more than enough energy for that, and it was boosted back to its status—then even beyond.

That was the reason why she was able to finish so quickly.

'Impressive. Truly.'

*

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The contest finally ended, and the ten students were selected.

Ciara won second place, and then the troop kept storming in after that. Serah placed sixth, and Sam was fourth. The others were either very talented, or simply more skilled at using Runes. In any case, the gap between each weren't that high after the first and second.

Once the qualifiers were over, Noir addressed every student once again.

"I appreciate the fact that you all attempted to be among the students to be chosen. Even after the ten were chosen, none of you stopped your work. This gumption of yours has earned my respect as the teacher of your class." Noir truly meant every word he said.

"Take this as a lesson. Try harder next time."

Even during the contest, it was trite that many—if not all—among the ten would lose. It was only natural in a competition, after all.

"The ten who qualified will be split into groups. Two members will be in a group, and I've already created a roster." Noir snapped his fingers and a scroll appeared in front of him.

The declaration of the first group members surprised everyone.

"Ciara and Mia. Group One."