‘Here I am, back in the testing hall… Feels like just yesterday I was in here taking the practical.’ The boy shuddered.

  The hall was large and grandiose, the stone canopy stretched high above them with arcing bows of quartz. In the center of the massive hall 30 seats were perched. Each high backed and drawn out under the desks—those were made of a dark red, wood. Kai approached the desk assigned to him and felt a spell wash over him.

  His vision flickered as the room around him faded, a calming grey room appeared around him.

  ‘Oh this is fancy…’ He reached out but the walls continued to draw back, avoiding his touch. Almost as if the room would expand indefinitely in any direction he traveled. This was the school's defense against cheating. The paper on his desk was titled ‘Magical Engineering Cumulative’ Kai cracked his knuckles, taking the straight quill out of its holder and dipping it in the ink he peered at the first question.

  -What are the 3 basic requirements for magic engineering artifacts.-

  Kai nodded along as he wrote down his answer, this wasn’t too bad.

  ‘Stability, Function, Reproducibility’

  -Compare the risks and benefits of embedding autonomous vs. command-bound enchantments in weapons. Which would you use in a battlefield setting, and why?-

  A long question but doable, ‘Autonomous spells are passive, meaning that they’re constantly triggered in a summoned weapon or armor. Such as increased durability, fire attunement, weight enchantments. The risks of such are that they drain mana constantly from the user, which can be an issue as they are not able to be turned off, they are also independent of the user’s ability. The benefits of an autonomous spell is that it is not reactionary but proactionary, which means that you do not have to worry about an augmentation not coming on in time to block an attack.’

  He yawned— ‘Command-bound enchantments require active input, therefore they are only triggered by a conscious effort from the user, such as a sword with a built in mana blast, or a shield that can be expanded with a trigger. The risks of such an enchantment are that they rely on the user’s ability alone: their reaction speed, mana power, and shaping talent. Thus meaning that a sub par mage may not be able to trigger the enchantments function properly. The benefits of this system however are that it allows the user to be more freehanded, creative, and frugal with how they use their power.’

  Rubbing his eyes he started to write his conclusion. ‘Therefore, both systems offer distinct advantages: autonomous enchantments provide consistent defense and reliability, while command-bound ones offer flexibility and strategic control. The choice depends entirely on the mage’s role and capabilities in battle. For frontline infantry, autonomous enchantments might be more useful, while a duelist might prefer command-bound ones for greater control.’

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  -Without using a magic circle, create the design for ley lines in a wind glider.-

  Kai smirked. As a wind mage, he was extremely familiar with attuning trinkets to his powers; in the first week alone, he’d been charged with syncing an everyday object to his affinity. He chose a paper crane—turned it into one with the ability to fly. A novel idea.

  He began to draw. Wind liked freedom, so there would have to be numerous paths for mana to flow through the artifact. This was a practice hailing all the way back to the Barbaric Age—something the records from back then called aerodynamics. After sketching the curves and lines flowing from the nucleus at the center of the glider—one stretching out to the wing ends as stabilizers, another running over the surface in rows like speed channels—he finished his draft with one final line. The most important one. It allowed wind to burst out in a rush, instantly propelling the glider forward.

  Another novel idea. Not required—but Kai figured it’d be fun to add.

  Overuse could destabilize the whole thing… but in a pinch, anything helps.

  The rest of the questions on the exam were miscellaneous easy questions about general channels and engraving–easy stuff. After checking the rest of his answers twice he focused on the last question…

  –Design a theoretical fail-safe for a volatile enchantment embedded in a personal artifact. Explain how it activates, how it stabilizes the artifact, and what trade-offs or side effects it may cause.–

  He blinked a few times and cracked his knuckles again. Tapping the pen against the desk, he thought back to three weeks ago, when they had covered volatile enchantments in class… his hands had burn scars for days after Valencia decided to test without a failsafe.

  ‘To produce a failsafe for a volatile enchantment, a grounding rune should suffice. Such a rune would allow the volatile source of energy to passively dump excess into the rune to prevent reaching the explosive threshold. The best elements to use would be wind or earth attunement. Wind wouldn’t require the user to empty a reservoir of some sort, but it would passively release energy, ruining any chance of stealth if one was trying to hide from prying eyes. Physical remains of earth are easier to hide, and the grounding would happen inside the artifact, therefore leading to no energy leakage. In most general cases, wind would be a better choice—but assuming it’s an assassination artifact, earth would be the best decision.’

  Once more rifling through his answers Kai cross referenced the things he had said, making sure they all fit into one cohesive congruent thought. Satisfied with his performance he signed his name at the bottom of the test, stood up, and rolled the scroll in his hand. After sealing it with a black glob of wax the grey room around him disappeared, and the scroll was then promptly confiscated by the grim man at the front desk, his hand flicking as the paper flew towards him. Kai cracked his back and bounded down the steps of the academy.

  First test complete!