บท 7: Writing Exam
The next day.
After spending the night at a nearby inn, Mika was on his way to the academy.
Just like yesterday, the weather was great with the sun shining brightly.
While walking, Mika passed by a lot of shops, stalls, and people.
"I know that this is the center of Loogam but I still can't get used to this atmosphere here yet…" he muttered with a hint of astonishment.
The streets and huge plazas were already lively despite it still being not noon yet.
"Good morning, Mika!"
Mika turned around after he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.
It was Lily Hayth. Even though she looked exhausted, she tried to greet him with her usual energetic self.
"Good morning. Didn't you get any sleep last night? You look quite tired, you know?"
"I'm more amazed that you look so refreshed and carefree…" she responded defeated.
Mika just tilted his head a little while the two were walking side by side.
"I spent last night with studying for the exams but before I realized it the sun was almost up again…" she stated regretfully.
"Were you studying?" she asked.
He scratched his cheek with his finger awkwardly.
"Hehe, not really…" he answered bashfully.
Lily sighed.
"I see. I guess you're confident in your academic ability…" she admitted.
Unknown to her, she was far from the truth.
"But does it even matter now if fail or pass the upcoming exams? I thought that the exam from yesterday already decided who may enroll in the academy." Mika wondered.
"From what I've heard about the exams from the past years, the first exam determines who will receive the right to enter the academy just like you thought. But the other two exams determine the class you get in." Lily explained.
"Class? Are there any differences between the classes?"
"Yes. Overall, there are four separate classes sorted by one's individual rank. And depending on which class you get, the way you get treated and educated will differ."
"To be honest, I don't care about the way I get treated or how others see me. I just want to get the best possible education at Loogam. And to achieve that, I have to score high in every exam." she declared firmly.
"You sure are ambitious, huh… I've never met someone who was as keen as you to learn new things or challenge random people you've never seen before." Mika commented impressed while referencing yesterday.
"Well, I guess that's true, hehe…" she giggled shyly.
She looked ahead.
"But in the end, this is what I must do to achieve my goal." she stated with a resolute smirk.
"Your goal-"
"Oh, look! It seems like the exams are about to start!" Lily interrupted Mika as she pointed forward to the crowd in front of them.
Naturally, the people forming the crowd were the same people who passed yesterday's exam.
They were chatting with each other but as soon as they noticed Mika, they all faced him with beaming smiles.
"It's Mika!"
"Hey, can I sit next to you during the exams?"
"Did you learn for the exam?"
Mika broke into a cold sweat as he saw them running at him.
"Must be nice to be so popular, right?" Lily teased him with a playful grin.
"Do I look like I enjoy this…?"
He was about to run away when lightning suddenly struck down the space between the crowd and Mika.
"Silence!"
The crowd turned around whereas Mika and Lily faced forward. There, they recognized the figure of a woman with purple hair.
It was Ophelia, who ordered them to tone down the commotion.
Beside her were her assistants again. But in comparison to yesterday, this time instead of an open space multiple tables and chairs were placed.
On each of the tables were sheets of paper as well as pencils.
"The writing exam will commence in a few minutes. Take a seat in the meantime." Ophelia said sternly.
Thus, every examinee sat down at a table randomly.
Mika sat somewhere in the last row with Lily coincidently sitting right beside him.
"Good luck, Mika!" she said with an innocent smile.
"Yeah, thanks. I wish you good luck, too."
He faked his smile a bit.
He did not need luck.
Compared to her, he was everything but ambitious.
He just needed to get accepted into the academy. Everything else was irrelevant to him.
He did not need the good education he could get from the high-ranking class.
After all, he was originally here just because of the quest.
His goal was to survive and that was guaranteed due to him passing yesterday's exam.
"You have 60 minutes for the exams. Of course, talking or any kind of cheating method is forbidden." Ophelia explained.
She looked at the examinees.
"Alright, you may start now!"
With that signal, everyone began writing their answers down in panic. It seemed like everyone yearned for a place in one of the high-ranking classes.
Mika took his pen and wrote down his name on his paper.
Thus, he began and at the same time finished his exam.
[Are you sure about this?]
Mika nodded.
As he stood up, he felt the perplexed gazes of his fellow examinees on him making him even more nervous.
He walked to the front.
"What the…"
Even Ophelia could not hide her bewilderment. It was her first time seeing someone turning in their paper after a minute.
"I'm done." Mika said.
"S-sure…"
Ophelia, who was still baffled, slowly took his paper.
While she watched him walking back, she had one thought in her head: He had to be a genius.
The examinees started to whisper amongst them and even Lily muttered something to Mika after he sat down.
"Are you some kind of genius?" she asked admiringly.
Mika smirked proudly.
"By far not."
"What?"
Lily could not believe her ears.
"M-Ms. Ross, please calm down!"
At the front, Ophelia's grip on Mika's paper tightened so much that she was about to rip it apart.
Her assistants tried to stop her, but they were reluctant to do so due to her emitting an aura of wrath.
"Mika Elbar… You humiliated me and the academy not only once but twice…" she muttered.
"I'll kill this brat here and now!" she yelled enraged.
"P-please stop!"
Multiple assistants held her back as she tried to assault Mika, who relaxed in his seat ignoring her killing gazes.
During the entire duration of the exam, Ophelia was not able to completely calm down, but nonetheless, the exam ended without any other interruptions.
This time the assistants went and collected the papers of the examinees while Ophelia proceeded with explaining the next and last part of the entrance exam.
"After a short break, we will commence the magic aptitude test. This will be the third and final exam."
Just like she instructed, almost everyone began to relax and rest during their break.
"The magic aptitude test, huh? In my hometown, the people told me that my magic could be at least a B-rank. How about you, Mika?" Lily asked as she did some light arm stretches.
With the upcoming exam, the examinees will get their first official magic assessment from a scale from F up to S with F being the worst rank. D-rank magic was considered as barely average.
"Hahaha…" Mika giggled awkwardly.
"Don't tell me… Are you an F-rank?"
"What, F rank? No, no, it's not that bad."
He waved his hands in denial.
"I see…" she sighed relieved.
However, the following words will make her speechless.
"I'm more than positive that I'm an E rank." he stated confidently giving her a thumbs-up.
"…"
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