UNLIMITED SPEED

The whiteness quickly vanished after a dense wave of blue flames spread out in all directions inside the room. The ground and the whole place shook, but nothing was actually damaged. The tier 4 spell had been powerful, but the building's structural integrity comfortably withstood its power.

The dense gray smoke the attack released eventually wore off, and a shocking, scene; one that most partially expected, but were shocked nonetheless unfolded in their eyes.

The brown dummy stood perfectly still in the distance unmoved by the terrifying spell. The only sort of damage that could be seen on its figure was the large black spot on its chest, but the golden inscriptions vanquished it, leaving it unchanged after the attack.

However, the golden numbers casually floating above the training dummy caught everyone's attention immediately after the quick inspection, and Lady Edna's voice soon rang out.

"One hundred and forty thousand! Not bad for my weakest spell," she chuckled slightly but found that her audience looked to be in shock.

'Fuck,' Noah thought staring at those numbers. If those points were even slightly close to how the system calculated damage, then he could understand how overwhelming the attack was. Noah even struggled to accept that scene. He knew tier 4's were untouchable by tier 3, but that was too much.

"In short; this is what you are going to do for the next three hours straight before your one-hour break arrives," Lady Edna announced to the mesmerized experts, before waving her right arm.

A series of barriers appeared in the room's expanse at her wave, and dummies rose from inscribed circles to fill them up.

"Tier ones are to take the area on the far left, tier three's the right and tier two's in the middle," Lady Edna declared gesturing at the different enclosed areas carefully planted and having enough space between them.

"Your group leaders will give you the rest of the information. You all have twenty minutes to be ready, after which you are to start," she explained waving her hand in a way that her audience translated as a go-ahead.

In less than ten minutes the various categories were inside the enclosed spaces apportioned for their level of power. Focusing on the tier 3 category, Noah found himself staring at a dummy identical to the one Lady Edna attacked, except that it stood only at 6ft in height.

"The base point for you all is 7000 per minute. You are to maintain this number for the entirety of the three hours given to you. The bracelets are connected to the dummies and at the end of the day will show how many times you failed to meet that requirement," A man who felt no less strong than lady Sophie explained. "You are allowed to cast as many spells or as little as you like, so long as they reach the 7000 points per minute mark. Note that if you exceed this number in one minute, there will be no transfers of any sort."

The expert taking was a man that looked to be in his late forties, he had short brown hair, black eyes, and a cold air surrounding him.

Noah stared at his dummy intently while thinking about his next action. 'I'm low on Essence,' he thought heaving a sigh. The only option available to him of course was his potions, and he could do nothing but utilize one of them. Thankfully two more had been added to his stash allowing him to utilize one comfortably.

Their short five minutes of preparation soon ended and a countdown appeared high above the experts signifying that they had started.

Essence bubbled within Noah's black and constantly rotating core. Browsing through his skill, he looked for the cheapest spell he had, since he felt sure that all his skills would meet the minimum requirement.

[Lightning Bolts: Create bolts of lightning, Cost 100SE. Duration N/A, Cool-down N/A]

Noah felt less than five seconds go by before he activated his spell. He understood that he could create lightning bolts from his control over lightning, but it wouldn't be anything as cheap as the one the system provided. At least for now, from his calculations, he estimated that he would need to utilize his potions three times before the whole trial ended.

'I might be overdoing it with this,' Noah thought but activated the skill anyway.

A yellow magical circle quickly expanded on Noah's outstretched right palm. Having gained an understanding of how magical circles worked, at least by a bit, Noah understood that the more circles within a magical circle the higher its tier of power.

Meaning the magical circle that expanded on his palm contained three different circles, each holding its own set of runic symbols.

An intense crackling sound boomed out in Noah's surroundings, followed by the appearance of a bolt of yellow lightning more than twice the size of an average fully grown man.

The crackling mass of destructive energy shot out of the magical circle to travel the exactly 20m path between Noah and the dummy. They were allowed that distance to either move closer or farther away from the dummy. And Noah had chosen farther.

The lightning bolt's passage brightened up the environment, effectively catching the eye of everyone in the tier 3 category.

Its arrival on the dummy caused an incredible explosion to spread out. However, inscriptions lit up on the linear path allowed only to Noah; to block the effects of the explosion.

Needless to say, many glanced at him in bewilderment, his show of power defied the very reason for that trial, to learn effective management of their mana reserves.

The cloud of smoke eventually dispersed to reveal a shocking scene. Above Noah's dummy was a golden set of numbers, and its sight caused those who had not witnessed his display in the pond to see him in a new light.

'I definitely overdid it,' Noah chuckled inwardly when his eyes fell on the numbers above his dummy. "Twelve thousand points. Almost double the required number," he muttered.

Unknown to Noah, his display was being watched by the important individuals of that guild, who had already gained a deep interest in the white-haired man dominating every test thrown at him.

It quickly became common sense that such a young monster had to join their guild or the competition would snatch him. Thankfully it seemed he would succeed in the tests without needing them to break their fairness.