“Takahashi Ren?”

  The examiner called out.

  “Yes, sir!”

  Takahashi called back. He walked up, almost running. Once he had stopped, the doors slid open, and he entered the chamber.

  It was sleek and modern with white, grey, and black parts. The chamber was around 12 feet tall and 10 feet wide, creating an almost spherical cylinder of sorts. The doors hastily retracted into the chamber with a smoothness that rivaled grocery store doors.

  “Get ready…

  Cast in three…two…one,”

  The proctor almost yelled, making sure Takahashi could hear.

  As the engines whirred as if being turned on again, he spoke,

  “Oh Hephaestus, look upon me. Allow me to use an element which you control and you alon…”

  As he spoke, I, along with my fellow classmates who were lined up behind me, looked in anticipation. Takahashi, after all, was a student at our school, Stranfhash Academy, who was well-known for his aptitude in fire magic.

  One in the chamber does not necessarily need to fully exercise their spell — we are specifically told not to as not to break the complex machinery.

  As a spell is chanted, a glowing hue forms and grows more opaque around the caster. It usually diffuses, but it was currently incapable of doing so because he was in an enclosed space. The deeper the hue, the more powerful the potential spell grows to be, and the more tangible the magic around the caster becomes.

  By the time Takahashi reached the end of his incantation, the red aura around him had made it quite difficult to see him, around 40% of the way to being fully opaque if I had to guess.

  “Hell’s gates, open and let the flames escape as I speak, ‘Flamethrow—’”

  He abruptly paused. The hue around him faded rapidly, thinning until it vanished completely. I really hope Hephaestus does not take the cut-off personally.

  “And…rank 5, Acerbus,”

  The proctor spoke so profoundly as if he were preaching. Murmurs within the line emerged with lauding phrases:

  “Takahashi is crazy strong!”

  “Rank 5 so early on?”

  “Okay…next is Kurosawa Kuramiti: head to the chamber.”

  I felt a shiver down my spine as the proctor called my name, anxiety flooding me. I am not well acquainted with many, so I do not expect anyone to earnestly care about my results, but it still induced anxiety.

  As I stood before the chamber, its doors opened, even before I could contemplate my life choices. I stepped inside, turning around to see the doors robotically trap me.

  My brain was fumbling about in an attempt to not forget the incantation I had studied. It was a shorter yet still satisfactory water magic spell.

  “Get ready…

  Cast in three…two…one.”

  “Oh Poseidon, l-look upon me and grant the hydrogen and oxygen atoms which only you c-control to me and let me cast as I speak, ‘Aquatic Siph—’”

  I cut myself off right before I finished. I had almost gone on for slightly too long.

  “Kurosawa Kuramiti…rank 3, Praelusor,” the proctor said.

  Honestly, not too shabby. Still, I admit that I had hoped to have magically gotten something like rank 6, Virtus.

  I walked up to the proctor who was behind the chamber and next to the doorway. He proceeded to hand me a ticket of sorts.

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  “10:30

  Gunman Aptitude Test

  Guns are provided.”

  I had only applied for these two aptitude tests since, at this point, I knew I was only remotely adept at handling magic and guns.

  ***

  You know, it’s a shame that I was only given two aptitudes. Takahashi, at the time of his first calibration, was determined to have three aptitudes: magic, swordsmanship, and physical dexterity. Furthermore, he was awfully skilled at all three, whilst I had two aptitudes, and my most promising one offered average results.

  As I entered the room for the Gunman Assessment, I spotted Shinomiya Haruki.

  “Heya, Haruki!”

  I shouted to him, waving like a jolly preschooler. I stepped behind him in the line — luckily, he was the last person in that line.

  “Woah, funny seeing you here!”

  If Takahashi was someone I couldn’t dream of speaking to, then Haruki would almost fit that category.

  “See, I got rank 4, Artifex in magic despite Earth magic having the fewest courses!”

  Rank 2, Discens is the average score for Earth magic, so, although I hate to admit it, he is skilled at it.

  “Lucky bastard, I got an average rank for ice magic. Plus, I already know you are better at handling a gun than I am. I could paint a whole garden of plants with how green with envy I am right now.”

  “Settle down, artist, at least I only have two aptitudes as well.”

  “Wooooaaaaaahh!”

  A few people exclaimed, pretty obviously hinting at an impressive feat being done.

  “What the…?”

  Haruki and I said in sync.

  I looked over, taking a half step over to the left and tilting my head slightly. It was Fujimoto Yui, an honest to God beauty. Her yellow-orange hair was that of a bright star, coincidentally matching her personality. Her fair skin glowed as well. Every girl wanted to be like her and every guy wanted to date her, so if she were to ask me ou—

  “D-cup for sure,”

  Haruki said, luckily only loud enough for me to hear.

  “...What?”

  “Kuramiti, don’t you see — a uniform usually hides the breasts whilst a bra accentuates them; so, taking those into consideration, she has to be D-cup.”

  “...It’s impressive how you don’t ask why people said ‘woah’ and, instead, analyze her breasts.”

  I expected silence in return.

  “Hey, what happened?”

  Haruki had asked the guy in front of him.

  “Apparently, she just achieved rank 6, Virtus!”

  When Haruki turned to tell me to make sure I had heard, he saw by my shocked expression that he didn’t need to. Having already acknowledged that ranking up gets exponentially harder the higher the rank, I was wholly flabbergasted.

  “If…if only I were a handsome man who just happened to hit bullseyes blindfolded,”

  I muttered under my breath.

  “Ope, guess I’m next,”

  Haruki said, promptly looking away and marching forward. He had a confident stride for what would probably be an average aim, yet I could not watch to figure it out as I was called on next.

  “Kurosawa Kuramiti, Station 5, please,” a proctor said.

  Unlike Haruki, I had no pep in my step. I was walking, indeed, but if there were a breeze indoors, I would topple over shivering.

  As I stood behind the solid fencing that was almost up to my waist, I blew upwards at my garish orange hair to try and get the curly top off my forehead.

  A sniper, a rifle, a pistol…

  I grabbed the pistol as it had the least recoil and required simple handling skills yet was the hardest to aim with. I tapped the pistol with the palm of my left hand, making sure it was working and confirming that it had a full round.

  I was trembling, knees weak, arms heavy.

  I will do better. I need to. I want to do something: discover something or create something new, unheard of, revolutionary. This is when I can. If I can set my feet on a solid basis of test scores that signal potential, then people may acknowledge me. I can, even with average test scores, grow to differ — grow to, in some manner, be unique.

  I put on the headphones that were nestled upon the opaque fencing, prompting a robotic voice to start speaking:

  “Before shooting, make sure to set headphones comfortably upon your head and in direct contact with your ears. Furthermore, confirm that your weapon of choice functions properly — if it does not, hold a thumbs down and an instructor will come to assist you.”

  I put a thumbs up, just to make sure any instructor nearby knew my pistol was alright.

  “Now, please take your position…

  Ready, set, start.”

  As soon as the voice fell silent, the targets yanked upwards from lying to upright, as if they were suddenly awoken to do so by an undefiable command. With a one-minute timer, I shot as swiftly as I could, although steadily enough as not to completely miss.

  ***

  Certificate of Completion

  You have, based on your score, achieved Rank 2, Discens

  To receive an up-to-date identification card, head to the front desk.

  Wow…this is terribly depressing. I had honestly expected to achieve Praelusor rank, but Discens? It’s disappointing. Forget making a breakthrough, I can barely hold a gun in a practice range. What about in a real paper cut explora—

  “Oh, you’re finally done. So…how did you do?”

  Haruki commented and asked.

  I glanced up at him.

  “Rank 2, Discens. I might as well shoot myself in the head, but hell, I might even miss that.”

  “Well, I am not much better off — I only achieved Rank 3, Praelusor myself. If you’d miss your own head, I’d probably graze my ear.”

  “Yeah, yeah — are you heading to the front office?”

  “Yes, ma’am, to receive my proper ID card, ma’am!”

  “I’ll give you ‘ma’am!’”

  I exclaimed, almost tackling him over. As I got off him, I lamented:

  “The average score for a gunman at our age at this academy is Rank 4, Artifex, so how the hell, even after getting enrolled at Stranfhash Academy, did we both get below average scores by one and two ranks!?”

  “Makes you think, I guess. Although there is no chance anyone can ever give up, even if they are that bad. Once you have an aptitude or aptitudes, your only choice is to try your best at improving in those. Hell, they even have ‘intelligence’ as an aptitude, which seems uncanny to me.”

  “Seriously!”

  “Oh, there it is!”

  I turned my head to see, immediately feeling insanely sleepy at the sight of around 100 students lined up in front of a desk with an old lady behind it.

  “I’ll never be going to the front desk after this,”

  I said, yawning.