The journey to Blacklight City went without issues, and they arrived after a day.
After a security check at the gates, their carriage was allowed into the city.
The carriage made its way to the adventurer’s guild first to drop off Mike.
“I guess we’ll see you soon, Mike,” Silva said as Mike got down.
“Yeah, take care of Lia for me, keep her safe,” Mike said.
“You know I would burn the world for her safety,” Silva replied. Mike nodded at him and then turned to enter the guild.
The coachman started moving again, this time heading for the academy.
“Will Mike be alright?” Lia asked.
“Yeah, he will be fine. He’ll probably become a well-known adventurer in the city. I don’t think there’s anyone who puts as much effort as he does,” Silva said.
After that, the carriage fell quiet as the anticipation for the exams built up. There was no time to rest or anything; the exams were right away.
Silva, on the other hand, was busy editing his stats.
He tried to use the status hide skill that he got long ago, but there was an issue.
The skill refused to allow him to reduce more than a thousand of his strength, even when he upgraded it. It refused to let him go lower than seven hundred, so all his stats reflected seven hundred.
That was peak A-rank stats, maybe even S-rank. He did all he could to suppress this, but it wasn’t working.
“Why can’t I edit my stats? Why won’t it let them go lower?” Silva asked.
[The Law of Order has refused it.]
The system actually responded, but that Law of Order was bullshit. What the system was saying was that Ophelia might have caused this.
If she was the one, then it meant she wanted him to be just about that strong in the academy. The reason was unknown, and he had a feeling he wouldn’t get the answer even if he asked.
“Sigh, if this is part of her task for me, I’ll just play along, but I can already sense the troubles coming my way,” Silva said to himself.
The carriage finally made it to the academy. They all got out and took time to admire the magnificent building.
Even on Earth, no university or college could compare to this grand building that stood before them.
Silva was actually surprised. His perception of the academy changed; it might be possible for this place to teach him some things from the looks of it.
They all took their luggage and went inside. Based on the academy rules, you came with your things before the exam because if you passed, you would be admitted straight away and start living there immediately.
If you failed, you carried your things home in shame.
They walked through the gates, along with many other young people their age. As soon as they passed the gates, they saw some adults directing the kids.
They followed and finally ended up in a large hall, with over five thousand seats, and it was more than halfway full.
The admission percentage of this academy was very low, as it took in about five hundred students, and there were about five thousand examinees.
A very competitive issue at hand.
More and more kids kept entering until the hall was filled up, and the doors were shut.
The hall got darker, and a spotlight turned on on stage. A man in a suit walked to the center with elegance. His cultured movements were complemented by his white hair and handsome face.
“Welcome, all of you, to the first stage of the examinations. Your journey to becoming a student has already begun.
You will be passing through five exams in total, three of which are practical and two theoretical.
Right now, you will be taking a theory exam. All of you will be isolated using a special spatial magic that has been built into this hall.
You will have an hour to finish your exam, and the people who pass will move on to the next exam.
The rules and regulations of the test will be explained when you are inside the isolated room.
But for extra emphasis, all questions differ from person to person, so if you have already planned a way to cheat, it will not be possible.
Also, the space detects any sort of mental or telepathic communication, and if you are caught, your entire exam will be over.
This exam covers the topics that the academy released a year ago for this year’s exam.
You have all had an entire year to get ready, so no excuses.” The man finished talking. He didn’t allow questions; he snapped his fingers, and all of their minds were transferred to isolated spaces.
_________ __________
Inside his isolated space, Silva was at a desk, waiting for the exam.
A small floating square appeared in front of him and started explaining the exam to him.
{You have an hour to complete the exam. If you haven’t answered everything in an hour, you have failed.
You are not to pause for more than a minute. If you pause for more than a minute in your writing, you have failed.
You can’t skip any questions and come back later; the questions must be answered in order. If you skip, you have failed.
There is no erasing of answers. Whatever you put down is twisted as the answer.
When you finish, the exam will be marked immediately and scored. You will be told if you passed or failed.
If you pass, stay in the hall after returning. If you fail, immediately leave the hall after returning.}
The cube made the exam paper and a quill appear.
{You may now start.}
The timer appeared in the cube and started counting down.
‘Most of these rules are just to weed out the numbers. Following the rules may be even harder than the rest itself,’ Silva thought as he picked up his quill and took a look at the question paper.