Chapter 96: Class Test

Olivia eventually moved on to her next instruction.

"Pack up your belongings and send them over to my desk, then pull out your notebooks for today’s test, covering Mythology and Mysteries."

The whole classroom shifted into motion at once.

Chairs scraped steadily against the floor as students gathered their things. Several let out heavy, resigned sighs at the announcement, while others simply complied without protest. Various students reached down for their bags, beginning to sort through their materials.

Nobody actually needed to carry anything by hand, though.

One after another, school bags vanished from beside their owners in a brief flicker of magic, reappearing neatly stacked around Olivia’s desk instead. The quick, practiced spectacle barely registered with most students by now, long since accustomed to that kind of casual magic woven into everyday classroom routine.

Olivia waited patiently as students finished preparing, pausing until most had their notebooks and writing materials properly laid out before continuing.

"As for today’s broader assignments and homework, there’s a fair amount coming your way, but I’ll flag a few key ones ahead of the test itself. Each of the following subjects carries its own separate workload: Harness of Summon Creatures, Summoning Magic and Techniques, Ancient Tales of Summoners, Mana Age and Apocalypse, and National Economy."

The entire room’s energy dropped almost instantly.

A wave of resigned groans, murmured complaints, and heavy sighs rippled through the students. Several slumped back in their chairs with visibly exhausted expressions, while others stared blankly down at their desks, as though the mere mention of that workload had already drained them completely.

It was a clear sign of just how burned out most of them already felt from the endless grind of paperwork and dense theoretical lessons. Plenty of them clearly preferred the hands on, practical use of their summons during competition season instead, where they actually got to move, demonstrate real skill, and feel the genuine thrill tied to wielding their own power.

Written assignments were an entirely different beast altogether.

The sudden announcement of so many subjects stacked at once left several students trading quiet, despairing glances with one another.

Hermione, though, didn’t seem fazed in the slightest.

If anything, her mood ran directly opposite to everyone else’s.

She simply adjusted her textbook and materials, looking almost fully prepared to tackle the coming workload head on. Her expression stayed calm and composed throughout, clearly not sharing in the widespread frustration rippling across the room.

Mark caught her reaction from the corner of his eye.

He wasn’t particularly surprised by it either.

Hermione had always seemed to carry an entirely different relationship with studying compared to most of their classmates. What everyone else treated as exhausting drudgery, she usually approached as just another opportunity to absorb new knowledge and genuinely test herself against it.

The test itself finally began shortly after.

Glowing magical inscriptions bloomed steadily across the paper sheets sitting in front of every student in the room. Symbols formed and shifted across each page in slow, shimmering patterns before finally settling into legible, readable questions. The faint magical glow reflected softly across each student’s face as they turned their focus fully toward their individual tests.

The room grew noticeably quieter.

All earlier conversation faded away entirely.

Only the soft scratch of pens, the occasional rustle of turning pages, and the faint shift of students adjusting their seats remained audible. ℴ

Mark stared down at his own paper.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, reading carefully through the first two questions. His expression settled into thoughtful focus as he weighed exactly what information each one required. He tapped the end of his pen lightly against the desk a few times before finally beginning to work through them properly.

After a moment, his attention briefly drifted toward Hermione.

She sat completely absorbed in her own test.

Posture straight, eyes locked firmly on her page, hand moving in steady, confident strokes as she wrote. She’d deliberately angled her body to block anyone seated on either side from catching so much as a glimpse of her answers. Her entire posture made it abundantly clear she had zero intention of letting anyone copy off her.

Mark shook his head slightly, letting out a quiet sigh.

He found her level of caution a little absurd, honestly, though he understood exactly why she bothered with it regardless.

Kai let his gaze drift briefly over toward Max’s paper.

Subtle, barely noticeable, but his eyes lingered just long enough to catch a glimpse of the answers written there. Roman quietly offered a bit of discreet help to someone nearby, careful not to draw any unwanted attention from the teacher.

Olivia’s eyes, meanwhile, stayed sharp as a hawk’s the entire time.

She swept her gaze methodically across the classroom, the steady, practiced vigilance of someone fully prepared to catch even the smallest attempt at cheating. Her attention moved deliberately from student to student, occasionally pausing on one for several long seconds before continuing onward.

The overall mood during the test grew noticeably tense.

Every student understood clearly enough that getting caught would carry real consequences, and Olivia’s watchful presence alone only compounded that mounting pressure further.

Some students pressed forward confidently, writing without hesitation.

Others paused repeatedly, visibly straining to recall details from earlier lessons.

A few simply stared down at their questions, frustration building plainly across their expressions.

Mark kept working steadily, his attention fully settling back onto his own paper.

The earlier smoothie argument already felt like a distant memory by comparison.

For the moment, nothing else mattered beyond the test in front of him

***

Later, once class break finally arrived, students spilled out into the hallways to enjoy their limited stretch of free time. The corridors quickly filled with noise and movement as students poured out of their classrooms all at once. Some headed straight for the food stalls or nearby recreational spots, while others clustered together in small groups, comparing notes on the test they’d just finished.

The overall atmosphere outside felt considerably more relaxed than it had during the exam itself.

Amanda and her friend, who also happened to be her seatmate, chatted easily as they made their way toward a locker along the wall. Amanda glanced around briefly before opening it, rifling quickly through its contents.

Her movements carried a deliberate, practiced precision.

After a few seconds, she pulled out a small notebook, snapping the locker shut behind her with a loud, echoing bang.

"This is it, exactly what I’ve been telling you about, and you kept brushing it off like I was just making stuff up. This is the actual report book I managed to sneak out of the staffroom. It’s got our grade records in it, sure, but also the full questions and answers for every single test scheduled this week! Can you believe this?!" she blurted excitedly.

Her voice carried a mix of visible pride and nervous energy. She held the little notebook carefully, almost reverently, as though cradling something far more valuable than an ordinary school record.

Her friend let out a light chuckle.

"Yeah, I guess that’s pretty wild. But shouldn’t you be a little more worried about what happens if you actually get caught?"

She sighed, glancing nervously up and down the corridor before continuing.

"Look, I genuinely didn’t think you’d actually pull something like this off when I called you out as all bark and no bite earlier. Let’s just be really careful this doesn’t get out, okay?"

Amanda rested a reassuring hand on her friend’s shoulder with a confident smile.

"Relax, don’t overthink it. I’ve got this handled, alright? No room left for second guessing or hesitation when it comes to locking in good grades and..."

Before she could finish that thought, someone else came marching straight toward them.

Mia.

Her expression alone was enough to instantly shift the mood surrounding Amanda and her friend.

Mia’s face carried an unmistakable warning. Fists clenched tight, steps firm and deliberate as she closed the distance. There was absolutely nothing casual about the way she approached.

Amanda spotted her first, frowning immediately.

Her friend, though, had no idea what was going on or why Mia suddenly looked so furious. Sensing the brewing confrontation, she instinctively stepped between the two girls.

Mia didn’t hesitate for even a second.

With one sharp, dismissive swipe of her hand, she shoved Amanda’s friend aside before closing the remaining gap to Amanda herself, who gasped in shock, suddenly only inches away from her.

The friend lost her footing entirely, landing hard on the floor in a stunned, slumped heap, staring upward in confused disbelief.

Mia pointed a finger directly at Amanda.

"Don’t even think about pulling Echo or Symbiosis right now, because I will absolutely beat you black and blue without a second thought. I’m just here to give you one clear warning for being a sneaky, snooping little idiot with those eyes of yours. I’ve caught every single one of those loaded glances you’ve been throwing my way lately. I don’t know exactly what you’re plotting or planning, but this is your final warning, or else."

Her words landed sharp, deliberate, impossible to misread.

Amanda stared back at her, unable to respond right away.

Mia held the confrontation steady for several long seconds, expression firm throughout. She never needed to raise her voice. The sheer gravity in her tone and the unshakable confidence behind her warning said more than enough on their own.

She let the silence hang between them a moment longer before finally turning and walking off, never once glancing back toward either girl.

The corridor slowly settled back into its normal rhythm as Mia disappeared into the distance.

Amanda’s eyes stayed locked on her retreating back the entire time.

Only once Mia had put real distance between them did Amanda finally look back down at the notebook still clutched tightly in her hand.

Her fingers tightened around it instinctively.

Had luck not been on her side just now, things could have gone considerably worse.

Mia could just as easily have ripped the notebook straight out of her grip and discovered exactly what it contained. And if that information had ever made its way to a teacher’s desk, or worse, the headmaster’s office, Amanda knew there would have been serious consequences.

The thought made her swallow.

She exhaled slowly before extending her hand toward her friend, intending to help her back to her feet.

However, instead of accepting the help, her friend sharply snapped at her.

She looked at Amanda with clear disapproval, her expression suggesting that she had already begun suspecting the real reason Mia had appeared there.

Amanda’s reassuring smile faded.

For a moment, neither girl said anything.

The little book remained firmly in Amanda’s hand.

The test answers inside it had suddenly become far more dangerous than she had imagined.