In a massive auditorium located somewhere on academy grounds, the seats were filled to the brim with people.

These people were all aspiring students of the Generic Magic Academy. There were hundreds of them.

To be exact there were almost 900 of them currently seated.

This number was quite normal for an entrance examination into the academy.

Some were nobles, some came from wealthy families and others were just commoners.

Everyone who thought they had a chance to enter the academy was allowed to take the test.

You had to be 15-16 years of age to be eligible for the school.

The people seated here today had the goal of entering the academy, and learning enough to become successful...

At least some of them did...

The current batch of students... no, the current generation of youths were a bit peculiar.

You usually enter an academic institution to gain from it.

But the academy had another purpose for some who didn't need that.

For the nobles it would act as a means of building connections with influential people.

After all this was a place where the best of the best would gather.

Nobles could get close to other nobles, cozy up to nobles of greater rank than them or get vassals out of nobles weaker than them too.

They could also rub shoulders with the continent's future powerhouses.

Who knew? Maybe a past classmate would turn out to be a general one day and come save you in battle.

Or maybe you happened to be friends with a powerful healer just when your relative catches an incurable disease.

The power of connections was not to be underestimated.

A percentage of commoners also had a slightly odd reason to be here.

They might find grace in the eyes of a noble and enter their employ.

Maybe as a bodyguard if their fighting prowess was high enough.

Perhaps even a valued logistics manager if the noble thought they were smart.

To the aspiring commoner, the academy represented a way out of mediocrity.

These groups were the typical students you'd find in the Generic Magic Academy.

Of course, there were others.

Some were-

"Hey! Will you stop monologuing? The test is about to start."

Kasen turned toward Luu, who had interrupted his very important inner monologue.

"How did you even know I was monologuing?" Kasen said, looking at the sea of students in front of him.

It turned out that he and Luu were almost late to the exam, arriving only after all the seats had already been taken.

They were currently standing near the auditorium entrance, with Kasen leaning against the door frame doing his...

"Of course, I knew! You do it all the time!" Luu pouted, flailing her arms around dramatically.

"You do realize it makes you look weird, right?" She covered her face with both her hands,

"This is why I'm embarrassed to be seen with you in public!"

Kasen stared at her for a moment before reaching out and pinching her cheeks.

He kept pinching and stretching her cheeks, shaping her face into bizarre expressions.

SLAP!

"What are you doing?!" Luu seemed stunned at first, unsure how to react to Kasen's antics.

"I wondered what you were doing at first, but you really like to play around don't you?!"

Luu started playfully hitting Kasen on the chest, but he barely reacted and continued observing the academy candidates.

This annoyed Luu so she slowly ramped up her 'punishment'.

From playfully hitting his chest she resorted to stepping on his toes and pinching his arms.

While Kasen flinched or winced in pain from time to time, he didn't give Luu the reaction she was looking for.

So, she decided to raise the bar again, jumping on Kasen's back and biting his ear.

"Ah! What in the blazes are you doing?!" Kasen started thrashing around trying to throw Luu off him.

"Hah!" Luu smiled in glee while latching on to Kasen tighter "So I've finally gotten your attention?"

"Yeah. Me and like half the building." Kasen reached his hands back behind him trying to pry Luu off his back.

Their spectacle quickly became a comedy show for the candidates seated in the auditorium. A lot of fingers were pointing at them in amusement.

"Tsk. These feeble mortals don't scare me. And this is your fault for brazenly playing with my face."

Luu then climbed up even higher and sat on Kasen's shoulders.

She tilted his head back which allowed full access to his face as well.

"Hahahahahah!" Luu laughed triumphantly as she started playing with Kasen's facial features like clay.

She poked his eyes and stuck her fingers inside his nose all the while Kasen futilely tried to resist.

Their struggle eventually ended with both of them falling over with Luu on top of Kasen's back.

She sat down comfortably, even crossing her legs. "That should teach you to keep your grimy hands to yourself."

Kasen was grumbling face-down, "It was a joke don't take it to heart."

Luu harrumphed as she climbed off him. Kasen dusted off his clothes and faced back into the auditorium.

That was until he noticed a line of black hair brush past him.

Since he was facing the auditorium, he didn't get to see the face of the person who had arrived even later than him.

He looked at the back of the newest arrival and shrugged.

Whoever participated in this exam...

He would win regardless