“Haaa! I thought my mind would blow up!”

“That was really hard.”

People walked out of the hall one by one. Some were nagging about how hard the questions were and some just silently walked out with sad faces.

“Oww my eyes.”

Serria massaged her eyes as she walked out of the building. She turned back and looked at her two friends.

“Hey guys, how did you do?”

“It was hard.”

Kairen scratched his sore back and complained about the test with a tired face. The test just now was really hard. He literally could feel his brain cells burning.

He knew that they had to take a written exam, but he didn’t expect it to be this hard. The exam was full of complicated problems and hard-to-understand tests. If he had known about the difficulty of the questions beforehand, he would spend the last week studying, not training.

“Yeah, it was hard.”

Reyan nodded in agreement. He seemed to have had a hard time as well.

[Good afternoon, everyone.]

People who were leaving the hall all turned to the loudspeaker.

[Cogratulations on finishing your first part of the entrance exam. We wish you all get the results you deserve.]

The yard that was full of chatter just moments ago went silent and only the beautiful voice of the woman could be heard through the loudspeaker.

[The second exam will start in three hours. You are free to go home in the meantime but make sure to come back before the second exam starts. Food and drinks have been prepared for all of you for free. You can get them from the cafeteria by showing your ID cards.]

“OOOH! Free food!”

Serria clapped her hands and cheered happily. She pulled Reyan and Kairen’s sleeves.

“Let’s go to the cafeteria. Hurry up!”

They were hungry as well so they obediently followed her. Other people were already eating in the cafeteria so the place was quite crowded. They each received a plate full of food and drinks and sat down at a table.

“What do you think the next exam is?”

Reyan answered Serria’s question.

“I heard that there will be an exam to test our ability in teamwork, battle experience, and ability to judge and react to different situations.”

“OOO!”

Kairen chimed in the conversation.

“But how are they going to test those things?”

“The method is different every year. We have to wait and see.”

Serria drank half of her soda in one breath and put down the bottle with a BANG.

“Sir Heartz here seems to really know everything. As expected from the academy’s rank 7.”

Reyan glared at Serria who was purposely pointing out his rank.

“Shut up.”

“Woo~ So scary~~~”

“….”

Reyan took a deep breath as if to calm himself down and concentrated on his food.

Serria also looked at her food. She put her spoon in her empty plate with sorrow.

“Won’t they give me a little bit more? I’m still hungry…”

“You shouldn’t eat a lot before a practical exam.”

“Come on, Kairen. There are still three hours left till the exam. The food they gave us was just too little.”

Kaien looked at his plate. ‘Too little?’ He thought. The food was more than enough to fill your stomach completely. Kairen was already full and still half of the food remained on the plate.

Serria looked at his remaining food and opened her mouth.

“You haven’t touched the rest, have you? Is it clean?”

“…It is?”

The remaining food was untouched and clean.

“And you seem full…”

“…Yes?”

“But I’m still hungry…”

“….”

Kairen looked down at his plate, then looked at Serria’s face. She was staring at the food as if she has met the love of her life.

Kairen put aside his spoon and fork and pushed the plate towards Serria.

“Yours.”

“OOOH, Thank you!”

She happily picked up her spoon again and dug in the food.

“….”

Kairen peeked at Reyan. He was about to finish the food as well.

‘Is it because they use aura and physical strength? They sure eat a lot.’

Kairen leaned back and silently waited for them to finish their food.

.

.

.

[Attention everyone. The second part of the entrance exam will start in ten minutes. I repeat. The second part of the entrance exam will start in ten minutes.]

There was no need to repeat it again. Almost every participant was already standing in front of the building where the first test took place.

The door of the building opened and someone exited it. The middle-aged man came forward and stood in front of the people who were waiting outside.

“Please follow me.”

Everyone followed the man and walked into the building. They walked down the stairs that headed to the underground.

The staff checked their ID cards and made sure that everyone was present. Then they guided them to another room. Once they entered the room, they could see a shiny circle drawn on the ground.

“Please step into the teleportation circle in the order given to you. You will be teleported to the place where the second exam will take place.”

There were about 30 participations. They weren’t all cadets like Kairen. Actually, Reyan, Kairen, and Serria were the only ones who were brand-new graduates from the academy. Some were people who had failed the test before and were now taking it again for the second or third time. Some were people who wanted to switch jobs and some wanted to just test their skills. There were many people with different reasons to take the exam.

People stepped into the teleportation circle one by one. Kairen also stepped into the circle and closed his eyes. Once he opened them again, he found himself in a room. There were three people in the room other than him.

Kairen moved away from the circle and looked at the other people. They were other participants in the exam.

OONG

They were all looking at each other with confusion when the teleportation circle shone again and a woman appeared in the room. She also looked at the others and stepped out of the circle.

[Good evening everyone. Hope you all have rested well in the past few hours.]

The sound of the woman drew everyone’s attention again.

[Your second exam will start in a few minutes. Please stay in your rooms and listen carefully to the guidance.]

There was a short pause before the voice continued again.

[Your second exam is prepared to test different factors. In this test your ability in working in teams, your ability in judging the situation, and act in the best way will be observed. The ones who are sharing a room will be your teammates for today. You will be given ten minutes to converse and get a brief idea of what your teammates’ abilities are.]

There was a short pause between the woman’s explanations again.

Everyone in the room looked at each other in that short time. They quickly observed the others in silence and tried to guess what each person’s power may be.

[Different factors of your powers such as strength, speed, accuracy, control, and appropriateness will also be observed carefully. So, try to do the best you can. We wish you the greatest of lucks and hope you all get the results that you desire. Then, your ten minutes starts now.]

“Um…”

The woman, who was the last one to enter the room stepped forward as soon as the ten minutes started.

“Let’s introduce ourselves with our names and powers.”

She looked at the others hesitantly. Everyone nodded their heads at her. Seeing others’ reactions, she opened her mouth again with more confidence.

“My name is Ida. I’m a support-type mage.”

A man started talking after her.

“Arran. Swordsman.”

Everyone introduced themselves one by one after that.

The man who introduced himself as a swordsman folded his muscular arm and started talking in a serious tone.

“Then, we have a swordsman, someone who uses guns, a support mage, an attack mage, and someone with the ability to create mist. Is that right?”

“Yes.”

He thought for a moment before continuing.

“I think the test might be something like killing monsters or fighting the other teams? We have to use our powers and fight something, that’s for sure.”

The woman with the power to create mist agreed with him.

“I’m sure that’s the case. My power won’t be that great against monsters but it will be a great help if we are fighting against other people.”

The swordsman nodded his head and looked at the others.

“Then I guess we can tell how our formation is. I will be in the front. The one with the guns in the back. You misty girl stay in the center with the two mages in your sides.”

“We mages will create shields to protect everyone. That boy can attack the enemy with his offensive spells. The swordsman will fight in the front and the gunner can defend the back and the sides. We can also use the mist to obstruct the enemy’s vision.”

“That’s right.”

“I agree.”

Kairen was only listening to them silently. He didn’t have that much experience or knowledge but felt that there was something more to this test. He felt as if there was something wrong with their formation and plan, but he didn’t really know what that was. It is not like there was any other way to form their group. With the members they had, this was the best thing they could do.

“We also need a leader.”

“How about you become the leader?”

The female mage pointed at the swordsman with her finger.

“Um… What do you guys say?”

“I agree.”

“I don’t see any problems.”

[Attention everyone. Your ten minutes are over.. Please leave the rooms and follow the staff.]