Unduh Aplikasi
88.23% All Consuming Beast System / Chapter 15: Exams

Bab 15: Exams

Planning to sleep early, I eat as quickly as possible and begin up the stairs.

"Fionn honey, how are you? Are you excited?" My mother, holding my hand in hers asked, unwilling to let me escape the conversation. "There's so much talk about it in town. And once you get in we'll be able to tell everyone about our amazing son that made it into the academy. Noksal's quite difficult to enter you know, even if you reach 5th level, they have the exams, picking only the top 30 students that managed to reach 5th or above. We are so proud of you Fionn, and we know you won't let us down now will you?" her tone suddenly dropped, causing memories to flash in my head, warning me of her sudden mood swings.

Oliver, unconcerned about the potential failure immediately refuted the possibility, "as if any child of ours could possibly fail to enter our alumni school. Those three short years were among the best in my life, though of course monster-level talents that reach B rank before the 3rd year's end could graduate early." Clapping his hand on my shoulder he left, bringing away my mother and leaving me on the stairway, wondering how long it would take to reach that level.

The exam began at 6:30 in the morning, the sun barely having risen over the horizon, and took place in the assembly hall used for the naming ceremony, however, the location had some temporary adjustments made for it to be used for the occasion. Between the sparring ring, the written examination is filled with tables and chairs, and the scanning area, where a skeleton of a woman waited. Her skin, stretched tight across her bony features made her look undead, however, her stern voice and commanding aura grabbed our attention.

"Group up in here you lot! Once the doors shut, no one will be allowed to enter, and we will begin." As the doors slammed shut, dead at 6:30 there were gasps of surprise from around me, seemingly shocked by the sharp drop in population since the name day. From then, the 109 had been cut down to 80, the previously packed room, seemingly sparse with room. The pressure from the deadline pushes people to challenge creatures beyond their capabilities. After the shock faded the bag of bones that was directing the exam shouted for us to line up by name, and so one by one we were called into a small tent and were then returned back to the group. Four amongst the earliest called group had attempted to sneak into the exam, having failed to reach 5th by the deadline. Each of them was thrown out of the hall by another of the assessors, a giant of a man, with a bald head and scarred face. The moustache on his face was neatly groomed and delicate in appearance, a stark contrast to the rest of him, and the brutality of his evictions, throwing the failures into the dirt, breaking both their bones and their hopes of entering Noksal.

"What do you reckon they emphasise in their assessment?" The small boy behind me, Megnar or something asked. "Oh, I just mean, I am not much of a fighter. Not my speciality you see, so I was wondering whether you think that I will be at a disadvantage in this."

"Well the school wants hunters, powerful enough to support the academy once they've reached their peak, and in a society run by the strong, I would, in their shoes, select the best fighters, or those with the talent for it, so unless you're a genius, I'd say you're at a disadvantage."

"Well genius is relative, but I appreciate your honesty." stretching his hand out he chirped up, "I'm T.. Mattius, Mattius Megnar." Looking him over he was frail looking and pale as if he'd spent the last few months sitting in a cave or a dungeon, but there was something that made him special. His eyes were clear and expressive, but he looked so bored by the whole crowd and ordeal, and he's now bright eyes had looked dull until I responded to him, as if something in my words brought him to life.

Taking his hand I return the greeting, "Fionn Malkor. I take it you're some kind of mage?"

"...yes. I specialise in word magic, limited only by creativity, and mana. You will get the chance to see it later on in the duels." While seemingly nervous when explaining, I could sense some anger as he spat the word mana.

"Mana?"

"Oh haha, stamina for mages was traditionally called mana, or so I read in a book somewhere." This time the nervousness seemed real, the sudden avoidance of eye contact and the self-comforting behaviour of clasped hands. "Anyway," he continued, hoping that I would forget the slip of the tongue, "I use stamina, or mana, to write a word in the air, and then manifest that thing in the air. Technically I think I summon the item, but regardless I can only hold possess it for 10 seconds. The more complex the item or thing, the more stamina it requires."

"That's ridiculous, how could anyone wield that power at such a low level? Though limited by the duration and your lack of stamina, instantly summoning a lion, or a shield with which to defend yourself is powerful."

"A lion huh? That might be feasible, after all the appearance doesn't match strength. My creations are limited by my rank too, regardless of my will. More importantly, it will give me time to maneuver or strike." Taking my rough idea, Mattius had sunk into thought, now silent and calculating potential uses for his word magic. Luckily, he returned from his thoughts, and began speaking about his 2 weeks in preparation, "actually I didn't get out and hunt that much, I spent most of my first week in the library, as I felt nervous about our new lives in the academy. 'He's not a noble, or his family would have told him everything he needed, and he'd have used a private library, but his speech is so clear, articulate.'

"Malkor!" comes the old woman in the tent, and leaving Mattius I duck into the scanning room. Bare but for the table and the old woman sitting across from me there wasn't much to look at. "Give me your hand boy," she commands, already having grasped my wrist, and a faint glow emanated from her hands.

*Ding! User's level has been revealed*

"Noted. Fionn Malkor, Age 17, Level 7. Melee fighter..... You may go now."

The wait for the remaining teens didn't take long, but there were those that were annoyed at being required to wait. 'Nobles no doubt. I'm sure that being forced to wait a few minutes is their definition of hardship.'

"All examinees follow me into the written assessment area." Seated in rows and surrounded by assessors, cheating was difficult to achieve, and presumably, magic cheating would be somehow restricted too. "You have one hour. Begin!" Flipping open the test paper my body's instincts took hold, allowing me to write in a fairly legible writing. The test was split into sections, discussing monster details, military tactics and ethics, and the history of the city and the nation of Tianmar in which it resides. Looking at the monsters, they were easy to identify, but if it was;t for the former Fionn's studious nature and interest in monsters I would have failed, however, the amount of information he held was absurd, giving me confidence in passing even if I had to rely almost solely on his knowledge. While my time in the library had given me some knowledge of the city, and Fionn's parents had occasionally explained things about the nation itself, I was not confident in this section, the feeling only growing as I moved to the military tactics and group hunting formations. At the end of the question paper, there was a final section, unlabelled but with a question and room to respond. "Why do we kill monsters?" For teens that have little understanding of people, this would be difficult, as would it be for those blinded by grief or revenge, who would respond that they are a threat or because they are wild beasts.

Handing in my paper I waited in the combat arena.


Bab 16: Exams contd.

Handing in my paper I waited in the combat arena.

Waiting for the hour-long written exam to finish I watched those that came in. Though I got a few odd looks from those that caught me looking, nothing stood out about most of them, physically, only a few were abnormalities.

"Now that you have all completed the written exam, your other assessors will mark them before the end of the combat exam. You will be asked to fight with two of your peers, and before any of you attempt to select your opponents, this will be random, and any complaints can be kept to yourselves." Recollecting the group's attention with a whistle, the elderly assessor continued, "while some of you may be confident, I promise you that if you don't demonstrate your current ability and skill, you won't be selected, so show us your powers and fighting prowess. Be quick, be strong, and be brutal. Our expert healers can heal any living wound and can reattach dismembered limbs, so don't hold back." Finishing her speech she moved over to the arena to spectate with her fellow assessors, leaving us alone.

"Fionn!" Benji called, moving as if to slap my shoulder before pausing, and lowering his hand. "By the gods that test was hard, I only passed the military section due to my dad's lectures, but at least we can relieve some tension on our opponents." As I talk with Benji a wave of static rushes over me, causing the hairs on my body to raise. With the sound barrier over the arena to quieten the loud fighting, spells and screams, I had missed a small girl, with pale blonde hair and fair skin throwing lighting at her opponent, his metal plate armour only increasing the effectiveness of her attacks.

"Georgina Volta Wins!"

"Fionn Malkor & Rebecca Smyth"

Jumping up onto the elevated stage, I stand opposite a well-built young girl, a bow in hand and a dagger at her hip.

"Begin." we hear and instantly Rebecca leaps backwards creating distance as she draws and fires quite smoothly, the arrow blocked only by my hand, piercing through it but causing little damage.

*Ding! 14 HP lost*

*Barely a Scratch activated.*

Keeping my blade flat in front of me, my hands high and blade pointed down, the wide flat of the blade acting like a shield as I walk forward, deflecting the incoming arrows up and over my head and allowing me to parry and swing quickly. While Rebecca rolled and sidestepped, I cut off her movements, trapping her in the corner, flipping my sword and bashing her skull with the flat side of the blade, stunning her before I push her off the platform with my left hand, showing the crowd my healed hand.

"Winner Fionn Malkor."

Barely 10 minutes later I was called again, this time against a tank of a man, armoured in ornate full plate and carrying a tower shield big enough for an average-sized person to use as a bed, and a mace, the blades jutting out of the sphere. I had seen him fight before, his aggressive push towards a dextrous knife wielder, that while quick for a Level 5, couldn't deal any wounds to him due to his equipment.

"Hey bro, I'm a level 6 tank, you're not going to be able to cut me through my enchanted armour." His confidence pissing me off slightly I readied myself to pounce as soon as the match began. Unlike in his previous round, however, the boy was on the defensive, hidden behind his shield. Sprinting at the metal man, he sinks into his stance, lowering his centre of gravity and thus making it harder to be flipped or knocked over, leaning forward to receive my charge. Noticing this I continue charging, and just before reaching the striking range I stop, throwing him off balance and sidestep him swinging my blade into the inside of the elbow joint, taking his arm clean off. 'That's the problem with plate, while its defence is high, not only does it restrict you, limiting your vision and movement, but the joints are extremely fragile, as the joints are designed to allow movement.' Throwing my sword behind me I grab the top of his shield, tearing it from his grasp before kicking him onto his back, and bashing his shield into his chest plate, caving in the steel until the assessor called for an end to the fight, and the pathetic screams of the boy as I sat on top of him beating him with his own shield.

"Winner, Fionn Malkor."

A few minutes of rest gave me the opportunity to rest before, "Mattius Megnar" was called summoning him to the arena. He was facing an assassin-type fighter, however, he looked confident, even smirking lightly as he faced them off. Seeing his magic in action was interesting, it looked somewhat like the runes of the Norse, but with iconography. While I couldn't understand what he had written, the lean lion appearing from thin air and attacking the assassin gave me an idea. Summoning a javelin, Mattius waited as the assassin fended off the feline, throwing the spear into his chest as the lion pounced, ripping him to shreds.

"Winner, Mattius Megnar."

Rounds continued on while I waited, even those of the Elementalist Melani, who's expert use of earthen spears through the floor won the battle while her wind blades put them on the defensive. The magus, Hugo had reached level 8, the same as Milani, and had made a scene with his anger at having failed to surpass her. While he was a mockery of a person, his ability to cast touch-range elemental spells through his warhammer was devastating, with flames, and lightning sparking on the face of his weapon, exploding in fury as he made contact with his opponent. The rest of the duels took around an hour, so I found some wall space with Benji and Mattius and sat down.

"Hey guys," I begin, curling up more, "wake me up if you see someone wielding a spear and using rune magic. It will look like Mattius but it's not limited to objects."

*Assessors POV*

*sigh* "I never get to watch the combat assessments, but at least this year I'll be given my pick of the 1st year classes." Reading through hours of written exams and open-ended responses I stopped, taking in the answer in front of me. The exam itself was average at best, with disordered handwriting and minimal understanding of military maneuvers and hunting formations.

"Why do we kill monsters?

While true that humans kill monsters because they are both a resource and a threat, Tianmar has placed emphasis on the importance of monster hunting in order to create peace. To establish a goal, one enemy, in order to unite all of the nobles and cities that would otherwise be tearing at each other's throats. The reason we hunt and oppose the monsters, even the intelligent ones, is to establish and maintain peace."

Twirling his moustache the assessor leaned back in his chair. "Hmm...snarky, condescending but well thought out and a solid argument. Fionn Malkor was it? I want him."


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