Ch.4138 – Aptitude Assessment

“Teacher Jacqueline Carroll?”

“Ah, NoName student. Call me Jackie. What brings you here?”

“Teacher Jackie. I don’t have an EMR (Etheric Mark Recognition) pen. Could I borrow one?”

“As luck would have it, I have one. Return it after the exam.”

I didn’t know there would be a test on the first day of school.

Fortunately, I was able to easily borrow an EMR pen from Teacher Jackie, who’s the homeroom teacher for Class 2-A.

Out of curiosity, I asked why they use ‘E’ instead of ‘M’, and she explained that in English-speaking countries, mana is called ether, hence the term ‘etheric’.

It would be nice if they standardized the terminology, but just like with units of measurement, they always make these decisions however they please.

“NoName… fighting…!”

Seo-ri whispers from a distance.

Though her voice didn’t reach me, I could read her lips well enough to understand her intention.

I responded to her encouragement with a slight smile.

Even for an important exam, there was no need to separate our desks.

The test papers had a special coating that made them impossible to see unless viewed directly from the front.

The same applied to what was written with the EMR pen.

The aptitude assessment clearly weighed heavily on the students’ minds – even Seo-ri, who had been chattering away during break time, was now closing her eyes in prayer.

The same was true for Si-hoo beside me, Ji-hye in front, and even Yu-na behind me.

Not a single voice could be heard, only the soft sound of breathing filling the classroom.

Thirty minutes for twenty-five questions definitely doesn’t leave much time to spare.

Especially for young children sensitive to others’ opinions, class rankings would matter a lot.

“The exam will run from 1:10 to 1:40. Don’t turn over your test papers until instructed by the announcement. When 1:40 comes and the end announcement plays, everyone should raise their hands above their heads. Understood?”

Teacher Jackie delivers various instructions.

“The EMR cards can’t be modified, so if you mark something incorrectly, quietly raise your hand and I’ll come replace it for you.”

The exam is now just five minutes away.

“This is just an aptitude assessment, so I hope you won’t be too nervous. There might be content you haven’t learned in school yet, and if you encounter many unfamiliar questions, it’s absolutely not because you’re inadequate. Please have confidence.”

Some children quietly nod.

It makes sense for a homeroom teacher to say encouraging things, but from the students’ perspective, this isn’t an exam they can simply ignore.

The academy system is quite ruthless.

Not only does it rank all students based on untaught curriculum, but it even transfers students who don’t meet expectations to different classes.

Even Kaizen Academy would have to admit this is harsh management.

The children, already hardened and accustomed to this pressure for a year, stare at the second hand of the clock with determined eyes.

Will the snotty first-graders I saw today eventually transform into students like those in our class?

[Ahem. The 2051 Cephiron Academy First Aptitude Assessment will now begin.]

*rustle*

Excluding the cover page, the exam consisted of three pages, from page 2 to page 4.

Suddenly, a very old memory came to mind – this looked exactly like the science section of the college entrance exam.

In this world, the college entrance exam was abolished decades ago and replaced with KGSAT, a graduation standardized test for university admission… anyway.

I picked up my pen and carefully examined question 1.

[1. Find the pattern and write the appropriate rune word in the blank.]

A very simple multiplication problem.

I just needed to find the corresponding rune word and enter it as the answer.

17 times 7 is 119, so the answer is 4, “Zignitrescenka.”

Well, what did I expect from a second-grade elementary school problem?

I quickly moved on to other questions.

[6. Figures 1 and 2 show joint casting forms of the 1st circle ‘Light’ magic. If the mana required for casting ‘Light’ magic is 10, which pair correctly represents the mana required for each casting?]

The answer is 1: 20-35.

[15. The following is a magic circle with incorrectly arranged runes from ‘Nul’ to ‘Epsilon’. What is the minimum number of modification expansions needed to cast any magic from this?]

4 times, so answer 5.

[Short answer 1. Write the appropriate angles in the blanks.]

45 degrees, 15 degrees, 225 degrees.

“Haa… haa…”

Eventually, I reached the last question.

The current time is 1:23.

There was actually a reason I was rushing despite having more time than expected.

‘Bathroom…’

I drank too many potions during lunch…

Come to think of it, I only went to the bathroom once this morning.

Thanks to that, my body weight is probably approaching 19kg rather than 18kg.

If the liquid ratio in our bodies is 70%, I’d estimate mine has increased by about 1.88%.

Why is my metabolism so fast… Cursing my young body, I looked at the final question.

[Short answer 5. Record all magic circles of 2nd circle or below that satisfy the following conditions.]

Thank goodness.

Really, truly.

The last question was about drawing a magic circle.

Despite having three conditions, I only needed to draw two magic circles.

There are many ways to quickly draw magic circles, but my preferred method uses symmetry.

By grouping common areas to establish symmetry axes and appropriately mixing symmetry matrices and rotational transformation matrices, a beautiful magic circle extending in eight directions is completed.

Then, by making modifications according to conditions 2 and 3, I can draw magic circles in minimal time.

Done!

“Teacher!”

“Just keep your hand raised quietly and I’ll be right there.”

“That’s not it… I need the bathroom…!”

While firmly raising my right hand, my other hand was desperately clutching my skirt.

The children who had been focused solely on the exam now glanced at me.

How could the urge come so suddenly after just 10 minutes?

It’s embarrassing with all the kids watching.

Teacher Jackie knelt beside me and whispered quietly.

“If you need the bathroom, you’ll have to go with another teacher to prevent cheating. Can you hold it a little longer?”

“I’m submitting my test now, so can I just go right away?”

“Oh? Um, yes… you can go…”

“Excuse me…”

Damn these potions.

I really need to look into other forms besides liquids when I get home.

*rattle rattle*

Why won’t this classroom door open!

* * *

“NoName, are you okay…?”

“Why?”

“That exam… you left without finishing it.”

“What do you mean I didn’t finish the exam, Seo-ri?”

Since it was the first day of school, there was no 6th period, and we headed home right after the exam ended.

All the kids in class were looking at me with pitying expressions, so I quickly left school with Seo-ri out of embarrassment.

Ji-hye, who had a gloomy face because the exam was too difficult, widened her eyes when she heard the news.

“So you just went to the bathroom? If you’d waited a bit, you could have come back and finished it.”

That’s true.

I don’t usually act like this – was I nervous without realizing it?

But at that moment, it was truly an urgent situation I couldn’t hold back.

“But I wrote all the answers and submitted it, so it should be fine.”

“That’s good! Like Ji-hye said, the exam was difficult, so if you just guessed in a line, you can make up for it in the next exam.”

“Huh? No, I didn’t guess – I solved everything.”

I mean, it’s just an elementary school exam after all.

“You solved everything in 15 minutes? Time was really tight!”

“Are you serious?”

“Then what’s the answer to question 15? The one about modification expansion?”

“The answer was 5, four times.”

“What about multiple choice question 20?”

“Number 2.”

“Seo-ri, is that right?”

“I couldn’t solve it so I don’t know either. What about short answer 5? Did you draw that magic circle?”

“It was a simple wave synthesis problem, so I’ll just show you directly.”

It’s actually easier for me to do it in 3D in the air than recording it on paper.

“Condition 1 specifies an amplitude of 2m, so assuming a 1:10 scale, that’s 20cm here.”

I complete the outline of the magic circle based on three symmetry axes.

“Condition 2 requires a 135-degree angle of contact, so you either use a 180 minus 45-degree rotation transformation matrix, or at elementary school level, decompose each term with a 1:1 horizontal-vertical ratio.”

But what made short answer 5 tricky was the third condition.

“Condition 3 unusually included mana loss during synthesis, in which case you need to assume loss rates from each wave source from the beginning and make modifications to get the right value.”

To make the magic circle more visible, I stopped after completing the recording and just before injecting mana.

The characteristic humming sound of wave magic resonated in my ears.

Since I didn’t activate it, it would disappear in about 10 seconds.

“Holy shit, that’s insane…”

Seo-ri exclaimed in amazement.

*clap clap clap clap*

Ji-hye just stared blankly while applauding mechanically.

Come to think of it, this problem would be quite challenging for the elementary school curriculum.

It’s not impossible, but definitely difficult to reduce recording time so dramatically.

Having relied on such technical skills, I wondered how I could explain it more simply.

“By the way, what’s the answer to number 1…?”

“Number 4, Zignitrescenka.”

“Phew, that’s a relief… We learned it in the first semester but I forgot for a moment…”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Sob… will I at least get 30 points on this exam…?”

Tears welled up in Ji-hye’s eyes.

In her mind, questions like multiple choice 20 or short answer 5 weren’t the issue.

She had struggled from question 1.

“It’ll be okay.”

Seo-ri tried to comfort her, but she didn’t look very confident either.

“NoName, was this exam easy for you…? Please answer honestly…”