Fio closed her eyes.

She placed her pale palm against the crystal pillar. Through the touch of her hand, it felt as though a path had opened between her and the pillar. Then she began pouring magic into it.

The markings on the crystal pillar’s gauge crept upward. Fio focused completely as she released magic into it, feeling layer after layer of resistance.

But to her, those barriers were as thin as paper. She pierced through them without much effort.

She pushed toward the limit, until at last she reached a barrier.

This barrier was thicker than all the previous ones combined.

The others had taken several minutes to get their results, but Fio had run into trouble after barely ten seconds.

With her eyes closed, Fio could only guess what was happening from the sounds around her. The testing area had gone eerily quiet, and she could feel everyone’s intense stares.

W-Whoa! Everyone else has gone quiet. I must be way too weak. Leon said I couldn’t embarrass him too much, or I’d get in trouble again later.

Dragon King Fio! Magic core, full power!

Remembering Leon’s warning to keep a low profile, Fio didn’t dare absorb anyone else’s magic. She used the magic stored within herself to break through the barrier.

Brrrrr—

A sound came from inside the crystal pillar. A tiny crack appeared in the barrier. Fio seized her chance, quickly increased her output, and rammed all her power into the cracked spot—

BOOM!!!

Something exploded.

“Huh?”

Fio opened her eyes and saw the crystal pillar shattered into pieces all over the floor. Everyone around her was staring wide-eyed, as if they’d witnessed something impossible.

Looks like... I did something stupid.

The silver-haired girl’s forehead began to sweat from the tension.

The staff member who’d been teasing her moments ago turned deathly pale. When Fio gave him a confused look, he even took several steps back.

“I-It can’t be! Could you have magic that surpasses the Great Sage’s?!”

“What are you talking about?”

“According to the Mages’ Guild’s ranking system, the magic-testing pillars can measure magic levels of LV10, LV20, LV30, LV40, LV50, LV60, LV70... What you just showed was LV70.”

Before he could finish, someone else cut in to explain.

“If your magic surpasses mine, then the magic-testing pillar can’t withstand it. The capacity of this test was designed around the limits of humanity. And I am the limit of humanity.”

The speaker was none other than the Great Sage. His face had gone rigid with shock.

“May I ask who you are, to possess magic that surpasses the limits of humanity?”

“N-No, I don’t! I haven’t...!”

Fio didn’t dare answer the old man directly. She turned her head to the side and spotted Leon.

Leon was biting his lower lip, looking angry, his hands clenched into fists.

This is bad. I messed up. Leon’s angry.

Fio felt terribly wronged. In human form, she was a whole level below her Dragon King form. So why was her magic even stronger than the Great Sage’s?

Do humans have so little magic?!

If this keeps up, I might reveal my true form right here!

I need to come up with an excuse and bluff my way out of this...

Fio looked around and spotted the guy who’d been watching her from the side the whole time.

She pointed at the staff member who’d mocked her earlier.

“Tell me, why did this thing explode?” Fio asked.

“M-Me?” The staff member looked completely dumbfounded.

“Yes... Come on, tell me! I don’t know, but you must!”

The staff member thought for a moment, then hurriedly explained.

“I-I think this thing malfunctioned, and that’s why it exploded! It definitely wasn’t because it couldn’t handle her magic. How could anyone in the Donghui Kingdom have more magic than the Great Sage? Right, everyone?!”

The staff member kept raising his voice until it carried to every corner of the testing grounds.

People began discussing it among themselves, whispering to one another.

That’s right. The staff member had a point. No one could believe that a mage stronger than the Great Sage had suddenly appeared—and that she looked like a silly little girl, too. It was impossible.

“Exactly. The Great Sage is a powerful mage who’s lived for almost two hundred years. He’s the pinnacle of humanity.”

“Unless that little mage is some kind of Dragon King.”

“Right! How could a little brat like her possibly be the Dragon King?”

...

As the crowd talked, opinion gradually shifted toward the explanation they preferred to believe. One by one, they agreed that the thing had malfunctioned.

Seeing this, Fio quickly pressed her advantage. “Test me again! He’s right, this thing malfunctioned. Test me one more time!”

“...All right.”

The Great Sage hesitated, then used a spell to move the shattered crystal pillar away and summon a spare.

Fio stepped up to the crystal pillar again and placed her palm against it.

Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo... Don’t look at everyone else. Stay calm, stay calm!

After taking a few deep breaths, she got ready. This time, she kept her eyes fixed on the gauge.

Then she released her magic and fed it in slowly, just like the others had done, making the gauge climb more gradually.

Fio controlled it with precision, bearing the pressure of everyone’s eyes on her.

In the end, she stopped her magic just before the Transcendent-level mark. The staff member announced Fio’s result: Advanced.

After discussing it for a while, everyone accepted what had happened: the crystal pillar had malfunctioned earlier.

Fio forced a stiff smile, then slunk off the stage.

“...”

The Great Sage stared straight at her, making Fio’s scalp prickle.

Fortunately, the Great Sage said nothing. He walked away, weighed down by his thoughts.

The staff member announced that the test was moving on to the next stage, bringing the farce of the first test to an end.

I absolutely, absolutely, absolutely can’t let the next test turn into a disaster too! Fio clutched her staff and prayed silently.