Amazon Apocalypse 4: Chapter 12 (Patreon)

We wandered out to join a small group of well-dressed students a few minutes later. There were about thirty of them in total, compared to several hundred taking the general test. Among them was Borelius, who glanced at the two of us curiously. But before he could wander over to us, Official Rykard began speaking.

"Alright, you should all know the rules, but if you don't, you must pass at least three of the five tests to be accepted, with some allowance for exceptional performance in one or more tests. You're all early C-Grades, so you've undoubtedly seen some combat. You'll be pleased to note there will be three practical tests and two written ones. The practical tests will involve accomplishing a goal, while the two written ones will be on magic-related scholarly pursuits and the history of the Dragon Lodge. Best of luck to all of you."

My heart dropped. I was taking the elite exam, which assumed extensive magical training from an early age. I didn't have any of that. If I wanted to get into the Dragon Lodge, I'd need to pass every one of the practical exams. I adjusted my sleeves. Earlier, I hadn't cared much about getting into the Dragon Lodge's school, but I remembered that look of confidence Cyra flashed me. I couldn't fail when someone put that kind of faith in me.

"The first practical test is something all of you have been doing for years. Spell target practice. There's a row of targets. You must hit a certain number of them to pass. No, I'm not going to tell you what that number is," Official Rykard explained. He snapped his fingers and an illusion faded before, revealing rows of clay urns balanced on an array of posts.

The urns ranged in distance from a few paces away to nearly a half mile in the distance. All the targets reminded me a lot of a driving range for practicing your golf swing.

"Who's up first?" Official Rykard looked around, eyes landing on Cyra for a moment, since she was one of the talest people present. Over my shoulder, Cyra frowned with concern. I knew why in an instant. She didn't have any ranged spells. The best she could manage was that extended sword strike she'd shown me earlier, but she was a close-ranged combatant. This was a trial she was going to struggle with.

Rather than let Official Rykard call on her and embarrass her, I stepped in front. I was reasonably confident in hitting all these targets with my Mana Bolts. Borelius was still holding his staff, so I assumed they wouldn't take away my Spellsniper's Bangle. Between that and my high spellsniper proficiency, I was pretty sure even the half-mile distant target wouldn't be hard to hit.

"I'll go first," I volunteered.

"Good! A skilled wizard needs some boldness. Go on." Rykard gestured me to the front.

I stepped into the circle while everyone else stared at me. I'd never cast spells with so many eyes on me. The pressure on me was palpable. I used the first layer of mania to keep it from throwing me off. Dissonance made the attention fade away, along with most other emotions.

From there, I eyed each of the targets. Inspecting each of them, there was more to the task than simply hitting them with a spell. Each of the clay urns were filled with a certain type of mana. They either would or wouldn't shatter, depending on what they were struck with. Of course, overwhelming force was always an option, but to me it looked like this was more a test of finesse than brute power.

Doomseeker appeared behind me. Normally I let it levitate over my shoulder using telekinesis, but this kind of crowd might identify me as a Master Artificer by that skill, so I simply held it in my off-hand while I drew my best spell-sniping wand. It was just a simple D-Grade stick taken from a dungeon, and compared to the tools everyone else was wielding, it must have looked downright primitive. But right now, it was the best I had.

My staff seemed to produce far more murmurs than my wand had, though.

"What kind of staff is that. It looks like an evil tree!" a girl whispered.

"There can't be any focusing circles in that thing at all. It looks like it's literally an enormous mana reserve. That's pure madness! What kind of mage school forgoes focusing tools in favor of raw power?" someone else replied.

"This is ridiculous. He's probably going to blow his arm off wielding that thing. Someone stop him!"

I put their concerns out of mind and focused. Dissonance made that easy.

Mana swirled overhead. Normally, I restrained myself to just three Mana Bolts since that was the most efficient way to use Mana Barrage. The more bolts I sustained, the more the mana draw to sustain them went up. But this wasn't a combat situation, so I could use as many as I wanted.

So I began conjuring as many as I needed right away. I'd need three lightning aspect mana bolts, four earth, three fire, two water, one wind, and I wasn't sure what the last one was, but was pretty sure void mana did the trick. It was a good thing Sharky's voidlings left those kind of cores behind, otherwise I wouldn't have any of that aspect to wield.

"Wait, is he casting Mana Bolt? The most basic combat spell ever?" someone snorted.

I frowned. Mana Barrage was based on Mana Bolt, and one cast individually would look like a simple Mana Bolt. While I was prepared to ignore criticism, part of this test might include the caliber of the spell I was casting.

I needed something more than just a Mana Bolt. So I used Lightsculptor's Brush for the first time. I'd experimented enough with it to make colorful lines in the air, and right now that was all I needed. I made a few swirls around myself, weaving them in the shape of a few symbols I'd picked up from artificing. They trailed around me as streams of mana, confounding and obscuring the actual spell I was casting.

This could actually be a pretty good use for the new ability. Doubly so if I found a way to make the symbols drifting around me work instead of simply obfuscating my spell. Already, I could think of a few ways to make a magical lense that might focus a Void Cannon and turn it from a flying ball to an energy beam. If I could do it well, I might be able to apply tricks from artificing to combat, which would be a big boost to my combat abilities. But those experiments would have to wait for another time. For now, I had targets to hit.

The one who'd snorted quickly went quiet, along with everybody else behind me. No doubt the instructor had hushed them so I could concentrate. Not that something like conversation could distract me. I'd learned to fire these spells on a battlefield. Compared to that, target shooting was child's play.

With mechanical precision only possible thanks to Exploit Weakness and Dissonance steadying my aim, I unleashed my Mana Bolts. one at a time. Surrounded by energy from Lightsculptor's Brush, they looked far more impressive than normal.

Starting with those closest, I struck one target after another. Water mana reacted with fire mana, exploding an urn. Nearby, lightning and earth did the same. Blood and death reacted a moment later. Thanks to Time Stutter and all the time I had to prepare, I unleashed a hundred Mana Bolts in quick succession. Everyone was a direct hit. Within moments, almost every target on the field was cleared. All that was left was the last one. I took a moment to aim that one properly, then unleased a final bolt, which soared with the speed of a bullet and exploded the last target.

Behind me, there was silence.

"Very well done," Official Rykard said, and I felt pleased with myself. I'd hit every target and done so quickly and efficiently. Surely that had to be a passing score.

"Alright, who's next?" Rykard glanced at the crowd. Nobody stepped up.

Eventually, Rykard called on Cyra, who put her best effort in. She had to resort to her magic slash, which added about fifty yards to her range. She couldn't manipulate mana aspects like I could, so she was restrained to simple force magic. Her enchanted sword helped, but I winced when she was only able to take out the nearest dozen targets. If I'd known this would be part of the test, I would have enchanted something that would amplify her new magic slash ability.

Up next was Borelius, who gripped his fancy staff in hand as he pointed it. He spent nearly a minute breathing deep and activating one enchantment after another lining the length of his staff. I paid careful attention, since this was my chance to see the staff in action. I was right in thinking most of the functions boosted focus. It also had something in it similar to my spellsniper's bangle. There was a mana reservoir too, but instead of raw monster cores, it used a refined powder made of unaspected mana.

When he was done preparing, Borelius hoisted his staff up to his shoulder like a rifle. If he was going to use it like that, he'd be better off with something with sights and a shoulder brace, but surely his family knew what they were doing regarding staffs.

Borelius took careful aim and a beam of light shot from his staff. The nearest dozen urns exploded. He didn't counter the elements within each urn, but instead just relied on raw power to destroy every one of them. He had a few misses, but by the end of it managed to get every urn, even the far one in the distance. When he was finished, he grinned wide, and a few people clapped, though the jubilation was muted since they'd just seen me do the same thing a few minutes earlier.

The rest of the applicants were less than impressive. Apparently, Cyra wasn't the only warrior looking to add a bit of spellcasting to their abilities, and many of them couldn't hit any besides the nearest target. Of those that were actually spellcasters, none of them got the trick with elemental weaknesses. And only Borelius and I had the accuracy to hit the furthest target.

Had the official been feeding us a lie when he told us the elite exam was harder? Maybe everyone here was well-connected and would be accepted to the Dragon Lodge's graduate program regardless, but the Dragon Lodge didn't want to ruin their general exams with obvious corruption. That was the only explanation I could think of for the, frankly, pitiful display of spellcraft.

The next test seemed better suited to those of warrior origins.

"Now, spellcasters are infamous for being glass cannons. Admittedly, this is true of a lot of youths who graduate from our academies. But having some level of survivability is important! Some of our former students may remember this from the other end of the exam. You're about to face the combined combat power of one thousand junior students casting basic offensive spells, most of them fresh-faced children who just learned the dragonbolt spell!"

We strode over to the next test, which found us at the center of a colosseum-like structure. A thousand students in Dragon Lodge robes were on the stands all around us. Most of the were E-Grade and were of a variety of ages from ten to thirty. A few D-Grades were mixed in toward the back, but no more than fifty. Though, each of the D-Grades had maniacal expressions on their faces.

"I will cast a defensive barrier that will make a shield bubble. When your defenses give out, simply step behind my barrier. Otherwise, your task is to avoid or withstand the incoming barrage of spells as long as possible.

"From a thousand spellcasters all at once!" a young woman cried. "We could die!"

"You're C-Grade. You should be able to withstand the anger of a few children, at the very least," Official Rykard said without a trace of pity in his voice.

There were a few more grumbles. Cyra wore a smile, though. This, at least, was a test more up her alley. The other warriors seemed happy as well. She and the other warriors had far higher innate defenses than their mage counterparts.

"Enough arguing. If you want to forfeit this test, you may. Otherwise, the students are eager to get their practice in. Begin!" Rykard called up to the stands.

"Wait, wait! My barrier isn't up!" Borelius yelled, but Official Rykard ignored him.

The low-ranked crowd started charging spells. Several of the warriors pulled out shields, and in a few cases full sets of armor. Next to me, Cyra didn't bother with any of that. She simply crossed her arms and closed her eyes.

"You're not going to pull out your shield?" I asked, hastily shifting from one foot to another.

"It's yours if you want it. You made it, after all. I don't need it. In fact, you're welcome to stand behind me. That should shield you from half the crowd."

I chuckled. "That wouldn't be in the spirit of the test!"

Besides, this seemed like a perfect scenario to keep grinding a few proficiencies. Thanks to upgrading Deflect to Hand of Fate, I'd ground my Dodge proficiency down to nearly nothing. Now was my time to bring it back up to my usual standards.

"Uhm... the Limstave Family would greatly appreciate you shielding me for a minute!" Borelius said, crouching behind Cyra. "Just until I'm finished activating my staff's barrier spell!"

"Fine," Cyra replied, not bothering to uncross her arms as the first of the spells struck.

There were so many of them that the air was hazy with mana. It's true most of these people were weak, but quantity had a quality all on its own. If I'd still been working with Deflect, I would have had a lot more trouble with this test. The spell would have been triggered instantly, leaving me helpless for the next ten seconds until it was active again. I would have had to regenerate through the damage, which was what Cyra seemed to have in mind. Still, I wasn't Cyra, and using that strategy would have been much more painful.

Thankfully, Hand of Fate was on another level, and it dealt with this constant barrage of low-level spells far more gracefully than Deflect ever would have. Between it and my fancy new Fate Harbinger bloodline, all I faced was the occasional close call. I hadn't even been hit yet.

Most of the spells were some manner of elemental mana bolt. They were roughly as strong as the ones I made back during my earliest levels. Some were neutral mana like mine had been, while others had an innate affinity that hinted vaguely of dragons. Those had to be the Dragonbolts Official Rykard mentioned.

The barrage of spells started and never seemed to end. It looked like the average junior student of the Dragon Lodge could cast one of these bolts every thirty seconds or so, which was hardly better than a skilled crossbowman. But scaled up a thousandfold, and the sparse rain of magical projectiles became a constant barrage that never ended.

For them, this was a test of maintaining steady attacks. For us, it was a test of endurance. No C-Grade should fall to D-Grades, let alone E-Grades, barring exceptional circumstances. But these were just such circumstances. A C-Grade might be a thousand times more powerful than an E-Grade, but sometimes there really were a thousand E-Grades attacking you all at once, like right now.

This was a test of endurance. Blocking the E-Grade spells took little effort individually, but they added up. It was mainly the occasional D-Grade projectile that took concentration, which was probably why the test included them in the mix. Nearby, the other test takers had erected magical or mundane shields. The E-Grade projectiles they could weather, but they were being careful to take the D-Grade ones on the strongest parts of their defenses.

I carefully watched all the D-Grades, and whenever one came my way I sidestepped it. I had no barrier or shield, but I didn't need one when I could make sure nothing hit me. To anyone watching, it probably looked like I was fidgeting as I swayed side to side, miraculously avoiding nearly every incoming attack. A few E-Grade bolts snuck through, but none of it was something I couldn't handle.

If this test was going to last days, I might run into issues as they slowly ground my health pool down, but by then, all the students up in the stands were sure to have run out of mana. I could keep dodging until I'd outlasted them.

Cyra didn't bother dodging or moving at all. Every attack from D-Grade the weakest E-Grade attack struck her and accomplished nothing much at all. I knew her vitality reserves were massive, but only now did I have a good idea of how massive they were. These attacks were like bug bites to her.

The next few minutes was little more than maintaining our defenses. The mage-types struggled the most with this. Borelius crouched behind Cyra. A bubble made of hexagonal plates of magic surrounded him, projected from the tip of his staff. It appeared to be one of the sturdier defenses on display, but even he had shrunk it down dramatically. Now, he was crouched on the ground with his legs curled up to make himself as small as possible and reduce his shield's surface area.

Others were faring worse. What shields they had were more like bubbles of mana than interlocking plates of magic. I could see a tear ripping along the length of the shield of a young woman next to me. And a man next to her had dropped his staff in favor of a plain brass shield with a defensive enchantment on it.

Besides me and Cyra, it seemed like the others were already out of mana and relying on items to keep them safe. That seemed a bit like cheating to me. I had plenty of defensive talismans, curtosey of Morgathor. If I deployed one of the high-ranking C-Grade talismans he'd so kindly donated to my cause, this test would have been simplicity itself.

I didn't do that, though, since this was a golden opportunity for me.

Your Dodge proficiency has increased by 10 levels!

Your Dodge proficiency has increased by 15 levels!

Your Dodge proficiency has increased by 25 levels!

As my proficiency ranked up again and the bonuses stacked, fewer and fewer magical projectiles hit me. By the time Cyra and I were the last ones standing, I was edging closer to 100 again, where the Accelerata racial bonus would run out and future proficiency points would come slower.

Cyra cracked an eye half open to look around and saw only me outside Official Rykard's barrier. Borelius was limping back to cover after his shield shattered under the constant barrage. Behind the barrier, everyone else looked like they were about to keel over. Official Rykard was distributing a few basic healing potions, though most students were pulling out their own items of greater potency. Out of everyone, only Cyra and I had the endurance for this test. It was a bit disappointing. I wondered how many would actually get into the Dragon Lodge's graduate program.

"Think you can outlast me?" I asked.

"Do your best," Cyra replied, in a tone that clearly implied she'd win.

I considered that a challenge, but we'd never find out who'd last the longest between us. Our attackers gave out less than a minute later.


<Note>
Another bonus chapter! The things I'm taking care of in the background aren't going as smoothly as I'd hoped, but fortunately, the words are still flowing! This ended up a pretty long chapter.