Get off work and become a magical girl

Chapter 370 Random Talk in the Magic Armor Assessment Room
The so-called "qualification certification" assessment system, in its inception, was more about "protection" than "honor".

The system was drafted jointly by the Magical Affairs Institute and the Research Institute, solely to prevent magical girls, whose power was not yet strong at the time, from blindly attacking beasts beyond their capabilities.

Do not attempt to engage a pupa stage without reaching the White Rank; do not attempt to challenge a molting stage beyond the half-molting stage without obtaining the Character Rank. Linking strength to "qualification," rather than solely judging strength based on the Opening Stage, is a system that prevents the meaningless loss of valuable reserve combat power.

For this reason, in the early days of the qualification certification system, there was no so-called "written test". At that time, the qualification certification only had two "practical" projects: one to test magic equipment and the other to test spell mastery and other basic abilities.

As times have changed, many things have come to pass. The symbolic meanings of "white cards" and "character cards" have gradually shifted, no longer merely representing "qualification certificates for conquering," but rather bestowing upon them more honors, rights, and obligations. Simultaneously, the test content for white card and character card examinations has gradually become distinct. Today, white cards and character cards represent two vastly different tests.

Even the White Card Test itself has evolved from two single practical tests to four written exams and four practical tests. This is all to evaluate a new magical girl's abilities in a more multi-dimensional way.

However, one thing has remained unchanged since ancient times: the "magical armor" test. It should be said that since the system for assessing magical qualifications was established, the "magical armor" test has never been removed from the white-card assessment.

This is beyond doubt, simply because magical equipment is the absolute core of a magical girl's abilities. A magical girl who cannot properly develop her magical equipment abilities is almost destined not to go far.

Capabilities, scope of application, application areas, development potential, stability... these are all indicators that the examination board will consider. Only after combining these test contents will the examiners give a comprehensive rating for the magic equipment.

"The Soliflore class represents the highest level, like a single blooming flower crown; the Aster class symbolizes a shining star; and then there's the Briza class, corresponding to the blue sky, atmosphere, and breeze..."

Hua Zhu kept uttering one obscure word after another from her foreign language, leaving Bo He and Lin Xiaolu bewildered. Luckily, they weren't completely ignorant about the assessment, so they guessed that these words probably referred to the true meaning of the "S," "A," and "B" grades they had heard before.

"You should know that the potential of magical equipment is related to the complexity of its external form, right? Pairs of magical equipment have more potential than single pieces, and groups of magical equipment have even greater potential."

Hua Zhu, who had already broken away from the small group of graduates from the Silver Corridor, took the empty seat between Lin Xiaolu and Bohe like an old friend and explained to them, "That's why the kid who said he was a B-level student probably wasn't telling the truth."

"Why?" Lin Xiaolu asked curiously.

Knowing that the other party's target was her, not Cui Que, she felt she had no reason to refuse and agreed. Since someone had brought the message to her doorstep, and following the principle of "might as well listen," she naturally wanted to ask a few more questions.

"Because I've never heard of any non-'paired' magical equipment in the Silver Corridor ever achieving a rating of C or higher."

Hua Zhu's tone was calm: "From the appearance of the child's magic armor, it is just a very simple single piece. Although I don't mean to discriminate against others... but from the lowest E grade to C grade, a single piece of magic armor must cross three grades to reach the B grade evaluation. Such an achievement has been rare since ancient times. She doesn't seem to be the kind of person who can do such a thing."

"It's impossible for a single piece of magic armor to be C-grade or higher?" Lin Xiaolu was a little unhappy when she heard this.

Although she didn't say it to anyone, she knew very well about her situation; her magical outfit was actually just a "single piece".

"It's highly likely, or rather, almost impossible in the white card stage."

Hua Zhu seemed oblivious to the emotions in Lin Xiaolu's words: "Some magical girls can evolve their magical equipment from a single piece into other forms after reaching the Lei level. But this is the result of personal effort and opportunity. During the White Card assessment stage, the examiners cannot raise the score for the sake of a vague future."

"What if that child is exceptionally gifted?" Lin Xiaolu was still trying to argue.

“Perhaps, but it’s definitely not that child.” Hua Zhu glanced at Lin Xiaolu. “Hmm?” Lin Xiaolu sensed the implication in her words.

"One of the outward manifestations of my magical abilities is that it allows me to discern the truthfulness of others' words to a certain extent."

Hua Zhu looked at Lin Xiaolu with her heart-shaped irises: "So I could tell that the child was bluffing."

"...What the heck? You can read minds?" Lin Xiaolu subconsciously took two steps away from the wedding candles.

"It hasn't come to that point. As I said, it's just about distinguishing between the truth and lies."

Hua Zhu didn't pay attention to Lin Xiaolu's actions: "For example, you just said that she might be exceptionally talented. I can tell that you yourself don't believe what you're saying."

Lin Xiaolu fell silent.

"So, does that mean that pairs of magical equipment are guaranteed to be at least B-grade?" Lin Xiaolu didn't speak, giving Mint, who was listening in, a chance to ask a question.

"Generally speaking, a pair of magical equipment will only be rated C grade if it performs really poorly."

Hua Zhu spoke frankly: "Just like a group of magical armor, only when their performance is really bad will they be rated as B grade."

"That outfit?" It was Bai Jingxuan's turn to ask.

"Undoubtedly an S." Huazhu's answer was also precise: "It should be said that, from the beginning of the kingdom's history to the present, there have only been a handful of magical girls who have been able to get their magical equipment to an S-rank rating at the white card stage. The vast majority of them have become famous in history books, and some can even still be seen as important figures in the kingdom's upper echelons today."

Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan exchanged a glance, and the two children almost simultaneously thought of the same person.

"Then, you said cornflower..." In the end, Lin Xiaolu couldn't wait any longer and asked the question.

"Cornflower didn't participate in the white-label assessment; she skipped it."

Hua Zhu gave Lin Xiaolu a meaningful look: "The word card test doesn't test magic armor, so no one knows what rating her magic armor should be."

"Oh, that's true." Lin Xiaolu didn't want to meet her gaze, so she awkwardly looked away.

The group leaned against the corridor wall, chatting idly. After finishing discussing the information related to the assessment, Mint took the lead and started talking about various strange stories and gossip... It has to be said that Mint has an extraordinary talent for creating a lively atmosphere and generating topics, so even though Huazhu was a stranger to them before today, they could chat for hours.

And so, as the four of them got more and more into their conversation, to the point that they almost forgot why they were there in the first place, the door to the examination room in front of them finally opened for what seemed like the umpteenth time.

This time, Bai Jingxuan was the one whose exam number was called.

(End of this chapter)