Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer

Hundreds, if not thousands of people, are gathered at a large stadium today.

All of them are wearing their combat gear or something that they think is appropriate for the event that's about to unfold.

Some people were nervous and fidgety, others were trying their best not to show it. People of all shapes and sizes were around, there were men and women, there were also some feminine men and masculine women around as well as androgynous-looking people.

All of them went here on this day for the same purpose, to register for the examination held by the Mystic Guild.

With the prestige of the Mystic Guild, any move they make causes a stir in the populace. Everyone here is hoping to join their cause and enjoy the benefits of being with the guild.

Amongst these people was the calm-looking Dylan, who's sitting on a chair while playing games with his smartwatch to distract himself, and the very nervous-looking Fred, who doesn't know what to do with himself.

Thump!

"Ow!" Fred hissed, bringing his knee towards his chest while wincing.

"Dumbass." Dylan commented without looking away from his game.

Fred was so nervous that he was subconsciously bouncing his legs. Well, the table in front of them was low so when his legs bounced a little too high, they accidentally hit the table.

"You're not helping." Fred glared at his friend.

"You don't wanna be helped so why should I bother?" Dylan snorted, "I told you to play a match with me so you could calm down but you didn't want to so don't blame me."

Fred pouted and continued nursing his knee. He hit it pretty hard so it did hurt a lot. Now, this just adds to his worries, what if his knees start to hurt when he's in the middle of an important test? Wouldn't he fail then? That's bad, if he fails now, he'd have to wait for at least a year before he could try taking the exams again. But what if the guild decided that they already have too many people and won't recruit anymore? Does that mean that he's wasted his chance? What if—

Thud!

"Ack!" Fred nearly bit his tongue with the sudden pain he felt. He clutched his other knee and glared intensely at Dylan.

"You bitch!"

Dylan was unfazed by his glare and just said: "There, now it's even."

Fred was unaware that his anxiety was getting out of hand, so much so that Dylan could actually see it. Dylan doesn't really know what to do so he just did what he thought was a good idea.

He kicked Fred's other knee, it hurts Fred just as much as his other knee felt because Dylan's wearing shoes with iron soles, and it somewhat worked cause now, Fred was no longer simmering in his anxiety.

"I swear to god, one of these days I will deck you in the face." Fred huffed while nursing his knees.

"Looking forward to it." Dylan nonchalantly replied.

Ding! Dong!

A crisp jingling sound alerted everyone in the stadium. All of them watched as the lights started dimming, focusing their attention on a single spot.

A massive screen blinked to life and displayed an Android. It bowed to them and said:

"Greetings, everyone. I hope you are all doing great today. My name is Jerry, I am the AI tasked by the Mystic Guild to watch over today's recruitment exams."

Dylan turned off his smartwatch already focused his attention on Jerry. Everyone else did the same. This was the moment they'd been waiting for, finally, it was starting.

"Based on the list we gathered, there are a total of 4,037 people who registered for this year's examination. The age bracket we set was 16-35 years old, it's due to this that we have this many people around."

"Unfortunately, as much as we would love to have everyone here to be a part of the guild, I'm afraid that our resources wouldn't be able to support you all. Hence, we will only be accepting 100 people this time."

The mention of that caused people to once again feel nervous. There are more than four thousand people here, yet the guild will only allow 100 people to join.

It's a bit harsh but that's just the way how it is. Nobody blamed the Guild since they are clearly being responsible for every action they make.

"Same as the previous examinations, there will be a ranking system which will determine whether you'd be chosen as a member or not."

"Written Exam, Practical Exam, and Spiritual Exam. These will be the tests all of you needed to go through. Each exam gives a set of points depending on your performance, the total amount you receive will be the basis on whether you'll get accepted or not."

"..."

Silence pervaded throughout the stadium. The atmosphere was tense and everyone was holding their breaths. Even those who were pretending to be calm now looked somber.

"Well then, I won't prolong the agony." Jerry said.

Then, under everyone's surprised gaze, the stadium's ceiling started parting, causing sunlight to flood the entire place.

After the ceiling parted, the walls began falling slowly, revealing an even more massive field that stretches as far as the eyes can see.

"This is Field Alpha, it will serve as testing grounds for all of you." Jerry's voice returned them to the present.

Then, a series of green LED lights in the shape of arrows pointing south appeared.

"Everyone, please follow the Green Arrows. Those should lead you to the place where the Written Exams take place."

After saying that, Jerry disappeared from their view.

While most people still stood rooted on the spot, Dylan tapped Fred's shins with his shoes and gestured for him to stand up.

Fred was initially startled but he didn't complain. Instead, he followed Dylan's lead and they started walking away from the initial area they were in.

Their movement caused ripples in other participants, causing them to start moving too. Before long, everyone got up and started walking toward the direction of where the Written Exams will take place.

Things were initially calm, after all, they were just going to another area. However, at some point, someone couldn't hold it in.

Nobody knew what this person was thinking but they decided to run ahead, leaving behind the mass of people who were calmly walking towards the examination site.

This person's action was questionable, but it was enough to spark a reaction from others. This was a competition, after all, so even though they didn't know why this person suddenly decided to accelerate their speed, they instinctively reacted and followed suit.

One person started it and it didn't take long before thousands began doing it as well.

Things became chaotic so fast that people started fighting each other because their egos were clashing.

Fred watched all of this happen and his anxiety was being triggered once more. He subconsciously started increasing his pace, darting his eyes left and right as if on the lookout. He was subconsciously anticipating that someone would launch an attack at him so his body was preparing itself to react.

Thud!

"Oof!" Fred yelped and tripped, causing him to fall face-first on the ground.

He didn't mind this though, instead, he picked himself up and started looking for the person who kicked his butt.

"Calm down, you idiot. You're getting swept away by the crowd. Take deep breaths."

"Why did you kick me!?" Fred glared at Dylan.

"Cause you're letting your stupidity ruin you again. Seriously, where did all that stress training go, huh? It's like you never learned anything."

"But...but they're getting ahead!" He complained.

"Getting ahead? In the Written Exams or on the way there? Are they getting bonus points by eliminating other participants or they're just wasting time? How about you tell me? Didn't you study how previous recruitment exams went?"

Dylan's barrage of questions got Fred thinking. He then realized that he was indeed acting stupid.

Did Jerry give them a time limit? Obviously, not.

He said that they will earn points on each exam they took and the total amount they receive will determine if they will be chosen as a new guild member.

Jerry never said that they have to complete their examination within a certain amount of time, so why was there a need for him to hurry?

'You're getting swept away by the crowd.'

This sentence repeated itself in his mind. Mostly because it's true. He wasn't able to think clearly because he was nervous thus allowing him to perceive the crowd and go along with them instinctively instead of focusing on what he knows.

Dylan stretched out a hand and he took it. He patted his behind and took a deep breath. How many times has he embarrassed himself at this point? Well, that's no longer important.

What matters is how he performs on this exam.

Seeing that his friend calmed down, Dylan sighed in relief. At least Fred now has his head on the game. Hopefully, he'd be like this for the rest of the exams as well.

After all, nobody could truly predict what was going to unfold due to the seemingly simple actions of people around them.