Chapter 1037 Exam
The day for the fourth exam – the Rank 5 Artisan – had finally arrived.
With little to almost no time to rest, Emery walked towards the first building of the iconic landmark of the Apothecary Institute – the Triple Tower. Entering the venue, although he didn’t have the prerequisite rank, fortunately, the receptionist seemed to have gotten her hand on his records.
She quickly greeted him with a bright smile before proceeding to take out the necessary procedure Moreover, just like before, his status of privileged acolyte allowed him to be exempt from paying the 100,000 spirit stone exam fee.
“Wow, I seem to recall that the second exam only cost 30,000… Why is this one so expensive?” Emery exclaimed in surprise.
After completing his registration, Emery quickly made his way towards the examination hall where hundreds of people had gathered. Looking at the uniforms they were wearing, it was clear that all of them were Rank 4 Apprentices and were here for the Artisan exam.
“Brother Emery, have a good exam.” The little girl said before walking away, and Emery smiled wryly. He wasn’t sure what to feel seeing that she didn’t even try to give him any good luck wishes.
As he went to join the crowd, Emery noticed that a man was walking towards him.
“It’s you again…” said the young man Emery remembered as Sabil, the same person who took the exam with him last time. Seeing the familiar face, Emery beamed a smile.
“Hey, What a coincidence!”
The young man looked irritated when he heard Emery’s reply. He said, “A coincidence indeed. I finally get to beat you this time!”
Emery smiled at the young man’s provocative words and said, “I think… that was what you said the last time, Good luck though. I wish you all the best.”
After saying that, Emery turned and walked away from the young man who was clearly annoyed by their interaction just now.
Before long, the examiner of the exam – Grandmaster Hazard – finally arrived in the examination hall. Walking to the podium, he then began to give a speech about the history of the Apothecary and how there would be no Magus without the existence of the institute. Basically, the exact same thing he said yesterday.
Apparently, this grandmaster really loved his apothecary speeches.
“For today’s exam, there are a total of 101 participants.”
When the grandmaster said the last two words, Emery was sure that the old man cast his gaze on him.
After that, all one hundred and one examinees were told to join him on the basement floor of the institute. Once inside, Emery was very surprised to find that there was a giant cave with a space the size of an island. In addition, there was also a dense forest in it.
For a moment, the place reminded him of where the first exam was held. At a glance, the two places looked really similar. However, he could tell that the forest in front of them was filled with high-level plants and natural materials.
“The place is normally restricted to only those of Artisan rank, but specifically for this exam, all of you will be allowed to experience what it is like to be an Artisan Apothecary,” said the grandmaster with a proud tone.
Given the size of the cave and the Golden City that was supposed to be above it, Emery came to the conclusion that there was some sort of space magic involved in the construction of this place. Otherwise, there was no way this place could exist.
On the other side of the cave, there was a place where 101 workbenches had been prepared. The place was also surrounded by various pieces of equipment that could be used freely during the exam.
After all the examinees took their positions in front of the workbenches, dozens of people could be seen entering the place. These people were Artisan-level figures who came to be the referee and make sure no one cheated on the exam.
As soon as everyone had taken their positions, the grandmaster then began to announce the rules and the main theme of the exam.
“All of you are only allowed to use ingredients found in this place for your end result. You may use any technique and method, but it must be something original and never registered in the academy database. The requirement to pass is Tier 3 with level 3 originality or Tier 4 with level 2 originality.”
Grandmaster then paused for a moment, causing tension to pervade every examinee. Everyone held their breath and fell silent because the next words he said were what they had been waiting for.
“The theme for today’s exam may not be the most important, but it is the most needed for the current situation of the alliance.” Murmurs began to be heard among the examinees and with a proud expression, the grandmaster continued, “In the next 12 hours, all of you are required to create a healing potion or pill”
A commotion broke out as everyone started muttering. Healing-type potions was pretty basic since most acolytes and magus depend on their spells. However, there were rarely any high-tier healing potions.
To put it simply, it was an easy type of potion to make for the low tier, but very difficult for the high tier.
Emery cast his gaze around and saw that many seemed to be starting to get demoralized by the theme. On the other hand, the grandmaster seemed satisfied with the response. The next moment, he announced the start of the exam.
“The exam starts now!”
Immediately after, all one hundred examiners shot towards the forest at high speed. The forest seemed to be shaking as they all frantically searched for materials they could use for their original potions.
Emery also went into the forest. He used his [Nature Sense] to quickly look at the plants available in the place and he was amazed by what he found. But then, he suddenly realized something and was stunned by the realization. The way it is now, he was in a very, very bad predicament.
***
Outside the exam room, two figures were seen standing. The girl seemed to be waiting cheerfully, while the man looked a little anxious about something. A thought seemed to come into the girl’s mind as she turned and asked the man.
“I never ask, but why did brother Emery need the private exam in the first place?”
“He needs to help someone harvesting raw ingredients in Hyperion, mostly Tier 5 plants. So he needs those Rank 3 skills from the Rank 4 Apprentice.”
As soon as Cedric finished his words, they both looked at each other with wide eyes. The two of them had just realized that Emery didn’t have the exact skill needed for this exam.
At this point, the cheerful Karin was no longer cheerful. She asked the crucial question.
“How can brother Emery succeed if he doesn’t use Tier 5 plants?”