Chapter 56: Lost First Place by One Point!

Under Mashiro’s arrangement, the witch named Nina stayed behind to assist Miyo with the repairs, while the others walked toward the next examination hall.

Along the way, Elsa couldn’t help but cast a suspicious glance at Charlotte beside her.

To be honest, she still couldn’t believe that Charlotte’s magical power was so outrageously immense.

More importantly, she had confidently declared that she would surpass her and become the most dazzling girl in the exam, yet she had been utterly defeated by her in the very first round.

There was no way she could accept this!

But it was fine. There were still many tests left. As long as she gave it her all in those assessments, there was no way Charlotte would have a chance to surpass her.

She would prove with her strength that she was the one who would become the strongest witch in the world.

“Listen up! You only won by a fluke just now. I won’t hold back anymore! Get ready!”

Before the second test, Elsa challenged Charlotte with a look of classic tsundere arrogance.

And then, ten minutes later.

“Eh? I lost again?” Elsa stared at the ranking in disbelief. Charlotte’s score of 100 points crushed Elsa’s 99 points.

The content of the second test was for the girls to use the most basic shooting magic to fire ten consecutive magical bullets at a target a hundred meters away.

The academy provided the wands. Of course, the girls could use their own wands, but very few people bought a wand beforehand without knowing if they would even pass the academy’s entrance exam.

The incantation for the shooting magic was handed to each girl. By chanting the spell with a sincere heart, they could successfully fire a magic bullet. Combined with the wand’s aiming, hitting the distant target became simple.

This test was designed to evaluate how skilled the girls were at learning and using magic, as well as their accuracy in casting.

As expected, Charlotte was once again placed at the very end of the line.

She severely suspected that the woman named Mashiro was intentionally placing her last.

She was silver-haired, just like Mashiro. Why was she constantly targeting her?

As for Elsa, she had originally been scheduled to go first, but at her request, Mashiro moved her to the last spot, allowing her to take the test simultaneously with Charlotte.

“You won’t be able to show off all by yourself this time!”

And so, Charlotte and Elsa watched the other girls take the test.

For these girls, without a Master’s guidance, even using the most basic shooting magic was incredibly strenuous.

Some girls had issues with the very first step of how to hold and use the wand, others were too introverted to say the incantation out loud, and some had their shots wildly miss the target.

“Candidate, please don’t point your wand at the other candidates!”

Fortunately, with many official witches guiding them, the girls overcame their obstacles and achieved decent scores.

“It looks like everyone is quite suited for learning magic!” Elsa couldn’t help but praise. “It seems academy life won’t be so boring after all.”

Soon, the other girls had finished the test, leaving only Elsa and Charlotte. No, there was also Noelle, who had just returned from the restroom.

Noelle took the lead. She picked up the academy-provided wand, aimed at the distant target, and softly chanted a few spells. Instantly, a magic bullet shot out, hitting the dead center of the target with perfect accuracy.

Seeing this, the witch next to her kindly reminded her.

“Um, Noelle, this magic can actually be fired consecutively. It seems you didn’t finish chanting the second half of the incantation.”

“Ah? There’s a second half? I just realized!”

It was clear that this was a girl who was very good at learning magic but perhaps a little slow-witted.

But even so, Noelle achieved a good score of 90 points, placing her tenth in the rankings.

“Wow! Tenth place! I really am a magical genius!”

She was only tenth, and she was already bragging.

Elsa, standing nearby, shot her a look of utter disdain.

“There are still two people left to take the test,” Noelle finally noticed the two girls standing behind her after the witch’s reminder.

“Sorry, I didn’t see you just now.” Noelle politely apologized. “But I think my tenth place is pretty secure. After all, this isn’t a score everyone can achieve.”

The average score for new students was around 70 points. Even if those two girls were exceptionally good, they would probably score a maximum of 85 points.

“Hmph, I wouldn’t be so sure!” Elsa walked up with a look of absolute confidence.

Charlotte, meanwhile, walked silently to the spot next to Elsa.

It was now time for Elsa and Charlotte to take the test simultaneously.

Unlike the other girls, Elsa had prepared her own wand long ago. She pulled out her wand, softly chanted a string of spells, and instantly, ten magical bullets accurately hit the dead center of the distant target, one after another.

She had started learning magic several months ago.

After months of hard work, Elsa had already mastered all the low-level spells and could use them flawlessly.

Hitting the dead center of the target ten times in such a short time was naturally effortless for her.

However, after firing her ten magic bullets, she turned her head and saw Charlotte still standing there, spaced out. She hadn’t used the academy-provided wand, nor had she pulled out her own.

“Hey, are you so shocked by my awesome shooting that you’ve gone dumb?”

Elsa was about to start mocking her when the other witches suddenly let out gasps of amazement.

“No way! Did she also hit the dead center every time?”

“Also?” Elsa looked forward in confusion and was horrified to see a target with all shots hitting the dead center right next to her own perfectly hit target.

That target was, without a doubt, Charlotte’s.

“What?! When did you shoot? You were even faster than me? And you didn’t even use a wand!”

‘I’m reporting her! Someone is cheating!’

Charlotte, faced with Elsa’s interrogation, merely frowned slightly.

“What? Is it weird to be able to use magic without a wand?”

“Huh?” Elsa stared at Charlotte with an expression that said, “Let’s speak Chinese here.” “What do you mean, using magic without a wand?”

Since ancient times, witches have always fought on broomsticks with wands.

Now, someone was introducing a setting where one could use magic without a wand. Who could accept that?

The other witches, having witnessed Charlotte’s move, were also too shocked to speak.

Only Mashiro looked completely composed, as if she had known all along that Charlotte would do this.

“Hmph, even if you can use magic without a wand, so what? The exam is judged by who shoots more accurately, not who shoots more elegantly! I started learning magic months ago. In terms of experience, I’m stronger than you!”

However, before Charlotte could respond, the score announced by the testing witch slapped Elsa hard across the face.

“Elsa, 99 points. Charlotte, 100 points!”

“What?!” Elsa was aghast.

In a corner nobody paid attention to, Noelle, who had dropped to twelfth place, had a look of doubt about her life.

“Why are there so many geniuses in this world?”