This is it. Sixteen hours of training every day for the last month, all for this: The Academy Qualifying Exams. They only take place once a year. This is my only chance.
Blocking his sun with his hand, Arthur looked up at the thin pike-like structure stretching from one of the several towers that made up the campus. Even in the most advanced city of the most advanced nation, the Academy seemed out of place, it was greater. It contained several buildings, each as large as a castle, and no pair of eyes could view the entirety of it at once. It towered over everything that surrounded it, and even the sun seemed to be dwarfed.
Sweat dripped from his chin as he walked.
The sun struck fiercely through the clear sky. He moved into the shade, but at some point, he found that the paths he could take narrowed to just one. All he could do was follow as the crowd of ants around him moved. Luckily, they were heading in the same direction as him, the Academy.
Today is supposed to be the last group taking the examination. But there must be more than five thousand people here!
"Sorry about that." Arthur said as he squeezed past two potential students, just like himself.
Of this group of thousands, and the tens of thousands who took the exam each day the nine days prior, only five hundred will be selected for the School of Magic, that's the way it's always been.
Of these, the thirty applicants with the highest scores have the privilege of enrolling into the Honor Class. The strongest and most talented, given the most resources, and destined for greatness after graduation.
Though, there's no way I'll be part of those twenty as I currently am. For now, my only goal is to pass the entrance exam. But I may fail to achieve that goal as well.
He comes to a halt as the force of his walking transferred to the boy now on the ground. The boy's lower back became partially exposed after he fell. It was nearly entirely black. Taking a closer look, the blackness that covered his back wasn't uniform throughout. Instead, the color seemed to result from countless markings that overlapped on top of each other, each individual one had a unique circle around it, creating a dense web that could even trap light.
"Ah, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"
What is that black stuff under his clothes–
"Cedric? Is that you?"
The boy brushes the dirt off his knees and stands up. "Oh, hey Arthur!"
The twins are forced to continue their conversation walking as the crowd behind them pressures them to continue moving.
"I haven't seen you in over a week. Mom and dad are also worried about you."
Arthur's eyes avoided the direction of his jovial counterpart. "I have been doing fine."
"That's great! Are you nervous about the test?"
Stupid Blessings. Even after a month, I still haven't received a single one. I left home just to get away from him, and lived in the forest for the past week so I could be closer to the spirits who I hoped would acknowledge me. Every day I've prayed for hours to the Spirit God, and the Celestial God, and all the other gods, in complete silence; yet it was all in vain.
"Yes." He said, but the expression on his face wasn't fear, nor was it confidence.
"I'm also extremely nervous, but I'm sure we'll both pass if we give it our all.
My all? I've done all that I could for my efforts to amount to nothing. Even if I get a perfect score on the Written section, without any blessings, I'll have to get a perfect score on the Written exam, and do better than half of all applicants on every other section.
He glared at Cedric with viperous eyes.
And while I struggle as much as I can, you will be given a seat in the Honor Class even if you received a zero in every other section.
"What number are you?" Cedric asked while holding his ticket to the height of his chest.
Arthur replies dryly. "Three hundred twenty one."
"That's so cool! My spot is three hundred twenty! We'll be taking our exams right next to each other!"
Look at how confidently you speak. It's as if you don't care that strangers can hear everything you're saying
You have everything I want. You're so perfect. I want to hit you.
The crowd began to form into five uniform lines as they entered the building and neared what seemed like the Registration Desks. The twins joined one of these lines, sorting themselves in the order of their number.
"School of Magic or School of Academia?" The person at the desk asked while taking his ticket.
"The School of Magic Exam." Cedric replied while smiling politely.
"Head over to Hall 2-8c. Good luck on your exam." Shredding his ticket and handing him a thin bronze card as she spoke.
Cedric looked up and over to his left and then his right.
Is that all the information we get? I've counted thirty two doors since entering the building on my right side alone. How am I supposed to find it?
Cedric turns back to Arthur. "Good luck!" He said before casually walking off.
Why did he stick his index finger out?
Gray combed hair, a silver monocle extended onto his right eye, and his mustache that was equal on both sides covered the entirety of his mouth. He wore a black bow tie that matched the color of his suit, and had a silver watch in his left coat pocket, beside it, buckled to his waist like a sword, a stick that resembled a tree branch was holstered to his side. He stood straight and tall, carefully observing the room. This was the person Cedric was pointing at.
That's not a student, and there's no way those fierce-looking guards at the entrance would let some random person inside the academy… He must be an instructor. But why would an instructor be at the entrance of the academy and not be examining applicants?
Could it be that the exam has already begun?
A scream rose above the chattering of all the applicants. "Where is the damn Hall 2-8d?!?!"
I recognize him, he was the red haired noble standing two spots in front of me in the line on my left.
The sound of pencil on paper draws his attention back to the front. "Vicktor Vulivar". Next to it, a single tally mark.
We are being tested already!