Hilia looked at the finished product in her hands, feeling a bit regretful.

"The artificial heart of the magic puppet can’t make the arcane furnace reach 100% efficiency. The limitations of this standard rune are too great. Even with every effort, it can only reach 95%. Fortunately, the consumption of the heart of the magic puppet is reduced by 90% from the original baseline, so I should be able to get a passing grade."

The efficiency of the arcane furnace is important, but the consumption of the heart of the magic puppet is also crucial. An artificial heart of a magic puppet isn’t like a natural one that can be used for a long time; a person might die, but the heart of the puppet can still be used.

Judging from the operating conditions, the lifespan of this artificial heart used for the exam is about 10 years.

Hilia felt that the reduction in consumption she achieved might extend the usage lifespan of the magic puppet’s heart by at least 10 years.

The only thing to consider is that generally, no one uses it for ten years; they replace it with new ones after a few years.

"This should be enough, right?"

Though Hilia felt there was room for improvement, she had already reached the limits within three hours.

The voice of the proctoring mentor came from the platform: "The exam results will be announced tonight, in the form of rankings, displayed on the school’s Star Spirit Curtain Wall. You can connect to the school’s Star Spirit Network to check them."

Amid the sounds of classmates discussing how they could have done better, Hilia walked towards the door.

But halfway there, Doris approached from the side, saying proudly, "Hilia, are you ready to practice with me for three months?"

Hilia looked up at her, "You’re that confident?"

"Hmph, of course. Don’t worry, over these three months I’ll show you how wonderful it is to be my accompanying mage!"

Hilia let out a light hum, said nothing, and walked past Doris directly.

Doris called after her, "Remember to come to my house after the holiday trials!"

"You’d better prepare the Tier Two Ice Element materials."

"Don’t worry, I’m very generous to my following mages, I’ll have it ready for you."

"..."

Having already moved away with the crowd, Hilia couldn’t help rubbing her forehead.

"This Doris, it’s indeed impossible to talk sense with her."

The girl was deeply suspicious, does Doris really want her to give up the Holy Daughter qualification?

Why does it seem like she wants a Holy Daughter to serve her more?

Hilia doesn’t quite understand, so she chooses to keep her distance.

Rose said, "You might have an alluring succubus-like quality."

"I don’t have such an evil trait!" Hilia protested.

"Really? I see you’re quite popular, everyone likes you."

"Not at all, I don’t have many friends."

"No friends, isn’t it because you seldom reply when others try to chat with you?"

"I don’t have time for meaningless socializing. If I had the time, I’d rather practice more. Vanessa’s mom said that a Holy Daughter doesn’t need to maintain too many social relationships. It’s important to keep an aura of mystery to inspire reverence."

"Is it really so? Isn’t it just because you don’t know how to reply in a way that makes others happy, so you pretend you don’t see?"

"..."

Hilia’s cheeks tinged with a blush.

It’s so annoying to always be seen through!

After the magic puppet exam, the next was the scroll exam.

This exam was originally scheduled for the morning.

But since the magic puppet exam required too much time, Alina eventually arranged it for the afternoon, starting at one o’clock.

It’s now eleven o’clock, with a two-hour prep time.

With these two hours, Hilia didn’t know what to do, so she simply meditated after lunch.

At one o’clock in the afternoon, she arrived punctually at the magic scroll examination venue.

Compared to the complexity of the magic puppet exam, the scroll exam was much simpler.

Given limited materials, a regular blank scroll, designate a Tier One magic to rate based on the time taken to draw and the scroll’s release time and effect.

The exam consisted of magic not commonly seen, from some obscure corner, called [Fog Dispelling Skill], a Tier One magic with an effect to disperse water vapor, no auxiliary effects, no offensive effects, even less useful than a chicken ribs.

The number of people taking the scroll exam was quite significant, about half of the magic puppet exam. In the current environment, scrolls are a popular career progression for mages, mainly serving the mercenary industry.

Whether for harvesting materials, finding pets, hunting demons, or exploring ancient ruins, a large number of mercenaries is required.

Often, due to the limitations of spells existing within magic puppets and the difficulty for mages to learn spells, they purchase scrolls specifically to have them on hand, crucial for survival in critical moments.

Thus, scrolls are seen by not a few as a future development direction, worthy of deep study.

"Compared to the magic puppet exam, the scroll exam is much easier."

Having already been capable of drawing Tier Three scrolls with a success rate above 90%, Hilia understood the magic patterns of the Fog Dispelling Skill after just two glances, even noticing quite a few areas that needed improvements.

From starting the exam to putting pen to paper, Hilia took only ten minutes to complete the exam, even managed to finish scroll production in less than half an hour.

At this moment, there’s still an hour and a half left until the exam ends.

Thinking of the upcoming array exam, scheduled to start at 3 o’clock, Hilia chose to submit her work and leave the venue directly.

"Just one last exam, then the holiday trials will begin!"

Hilia cheered for herself. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Rose noticed the keyword: "What mainly happens during the holiday trials?"

"It’s an important activity led by the school, exploring ancient ruins," Hilia explained.

Rose raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Ancient ruins, are they from a thousand years ago or even earlier?"

"Unknown, those ancient ruins, due to the era of calamity, are nearly impossible to trace back to any specific period."

Rose nodded, "Then, those ancient ruins might be worth exploring, to see what they’re about."

"Great! Once my exams are over, I’ll set out with the school!"

Hilia arrived at the final array exam venue.

The venue for the array exam was in a rather unexpected place.

The school’s Modest Tower.

"Do we really have to conduct the array exam at the node of the school’s protective array?"

Hilia curiously looked at the tens-of-meters high tower.

She remembered Rose mentioning that the school’s protective array is something called [Starlight Seven Towers], a very old array, which was phased out in Rose’s era due to being easily broken.

However...

For the current era, it should be the most advanced tower now, right?

The seven towers guard the entire Divine Magic Academy, protecting this magic institution that has stood for hundreds of years.

Hilia’s thoughts were quickly shattered by Rose: "Wrong, this is a hundred-year-old array."

Hilia: "?"

"Your school’s protective array has been used for a hundred years. Whether it’s outdated, I’m not sure, but it’s already very old, likely won’t last many years."

"It’s very old? I thought it was new."

Hilia looked up at the ancient tower, green moss growing on it, filled with the marks of time.

"...Take back what I just said."