Oliver looked at Silva and recognized him. The defeat that day was engraved in his head; he could never forget it—it had haunted him.
The disappointed look his father gave him that day, the crushing realization that he could never be stronger than this boy.
All that anger boiled in him, yet he couldn’t act on it.
“Sorry, I was in a rush,” Silva said with a smile and started walking past, but his sister, Sage Terron, the twin of Oliver, held Silva by the hand.
“You bumped into a noble; you should apologize,” she said.
“Sigh, let go of me. I am an advocate of gender equality. I don’t mind bashing your face in right now,” Silva said. His eyes showed that he was not joking—it was like a predator looking at prey. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Sage flinched back in fear and let go of his hand.
Silva walked by without sparing a second glance. Everyone there watched the scene in shock.
It was evident that Silva was a commoner, yet he spoke so rudely to the daughter of the Duke.
After that, everyone cleared a path for Silva. It was clear they shouldn’t mix with him.
_______ ________
Inside the second room, it was a very large room, capable of holding all of them with enough space to spare.
When all of them were inside, the man started explaining.
“This room is a full obstacle course, and only those who make it to the other side will pass. You can try several times, as much as you can, until the time is up.
The speed and efficiency you use to get through will determine your score. All of you will start at the same time.
Now, be warned, the pain you will feel will be real, one hundred percent, though you can’t die and will only be transported to the start after getting hit. But you will feel the pain,” the man finished, and like before, he didn’t allow time for questions. He snapped his finger, and over three thousand wooden dolls appeared, holding swords and staves.
Aside from that, there were several magical circles laid out on the ground, and some were hard to spot. As for what they do, they were yet to find out.
“Alright, begin,” the examiner said.
All the candidates rushed in, all wanting to be the first.
But a few stood back—the Terron twins, as well as several others.
Lia and Fay stood with Silva; they understood why he didn’t move. Rushing headfirst would simply cause more harm than good.
Out of the people that were waiting a bit, Silva saw a few that caught his eye: a girl with sky blue hair and a slim sword, a boy with blazing red hair, and another girl with jet black hair. He could sense their concentration; they were waiting for the best time to move.
“Fay, Lia, you guys should start moving,” Silva said. They both nodded and dashed into the course.
Silva walked in at a steady pace. He could feel the gaze of the examiner on his back—it was evident that this man was watching him closely.
By this time, several hundreds of candidates had failed and had to start over. No one had made it through to the halfway point.
A doll ran up to Silva at full speed to attack. It swung its blade, but Silva sidestepped, dodging it with little effort.
He sent a punch to the head of the doll and shattered the head in one blow.
Everyone who saw this was shocked, even the examiner. These dolls would require powerful techniques and spells to break through, but Silva just punched it.
His action upset the balance of things. Those that were waiting back felt pressured to move because if they let Silva, he would be first.
Even the three that Silva had been watching started moving. They charged through and started battling.
Lia, on the other hand, was moving with caution. She used her ice to probe and find formations, which allowed her to dodge them.
As for the dolls, she simply engaged them from a distance, freezing them and shattering them. Her speed was second only to Silva, who was basically walking through the whole thing.
This led to higher panic from those that were near them. They had to move faster, but the dolls were very strong.
The dolls would fight them and push them into a formation that would kill them and send them to the beginning.
Many of the candidates refused to even get up after getting sent back. The pain they felt had traumatized them; they didn’t want to feel it again.
The time limit for the exam was an hour to get through, and after ten minutes, no one had made it past the halfway point except Silva.
The closest to the halfway point were the Terron twins, Lia, the red-haired boy, the girl with jet black hair, and the one with blue hair.
It seemed Silva had judged them correctly—these were the ones who were the geniuses of this set.
Fay, as well as many others, were also keeping up and fighting diligently. Their speeds could be considered very fast, but they still fell short of that of the geniuses.
That was just how cruel the world was—a genius would have an easier path in everything, as long as they put some effort into it.
As time went on, the sounds of explosions, swords, and the cries of the candidates filled the air.
More and more gave up—they couldn’t handle the pain, but those that were stronger kept pushing.
_______ ________
Silva finished his exam after twelve minutes, which was another record time for this particular exam.
All he did was use his Mana to destroy the circuit of any formation that came his way while pulverizing any doll that came his way.
When he finished, he leaned against the wall and started watching the others that were coming.
He wanted to observe those three and see what sort of abilities they showed.
When the three felt his gaze on them, they looked at him, filled with anger that he had made it first.
But that wasn’t the worst part—the fact that he got the first position, and yet he had a completely calm look on his face, meant that it wasn’t a struggle for him at all.
And that pissed them off even more—it acted as fuel that made them want to go faster.