"Candidate No. 42, enter the arena. Candidates are strictly prohibited from carrying any magical devices or spell scrolls apart from their staff. Violation will result in immediate disqualification and a one-year suspension from retaking the examination."0

Outside the simulated combat arena on the seventeenth floor of the Tower of the Scholar, the voice from the transmission array announced the next examinee. No. 42, a young man barely past adolescence, stepped into the circular arena with a nervous expression.0

A translucent mana barrier rose around the arena, sealing it off from external interference while still allowing spectators to observe.0

The moment No. 42 entered the arena, he was met by a barrage of chained fireballs from the examiner, forcing him into frantic evasions. As he ran, he attempted to conjure magical barriers on his staff to fend off the flames.0

But his shields were crude...0