บท 103: Resonance City Alchemists, Making Waves
Charles breathed a sigh of relief after leaving his examination room. He walked towards the waiting area and as he expected, Albert and Marie were already there.
"Oh? There's no one else here?"
Charles asked Albert and Marie.
"Yeah, this makes me nervous…The exam questions were too easy so I'm thinking that there might be a catch or something…"
"I thought so too in the beginning so I reread all of the instructions on the exam papers but there's nothing wrong with my answers so I just submitted my papers and hoped for the best.
While the three of them were chatting, the door of the waiting room opened and two young men who seemed to be friends entered the room.
One of the two young men who entered was the one who humiliated Albert.
Seeing that they weren't the first ones to finish, the two young men were annoyed.
He didn't want to talk to this no-name trio but he didn't have a choice. He wanted to give these no-namers a piece of his mind.
"Hmmph! Look at these three hillbillies trying hard to look like geniuses. Answering the questions quickly to desperately garner the attention of the grandmasters. Pathetic!"
After saying his rude words, the pair of young men walked to an empty corner far away from the three of them and sat there to wait for the others to finish the exam.
The three of them wanted to retort but they ultimately stopped themselves. They shall let their results speak for them.
A few more minutes passed and more and more apprentices of the grandmasters walked into the waiting room.
Although some of the arrogant youngsters ignored them, most of them came over and talked down to them.
Still, the three of them chose to let their results do the talking.
Finally, after 2 more hours, all of the examinees were in the waiting room. Some of them looked happy, some had despair written all over their faces, while others were anxious.
The three of them were among those who were anxious. The exam was too easy for them so they couldn't help but overthink.
A few minutes later, a staff member walked into the room.
"Hello examinees, the exam results are now posted on the bulletin board. You may check the board for the results."
"If you are in the top 500, Please show your examinee number to that staff member over there to register for the second phase of the exam."
After announcing that the results were out, the staff member left the room.
Those who were anxious immediately sprinted out of the room to check the results.
"Hmmph! Look at these idiots, They don't even know if they passed or not! Pathetic!"
"I agree, in my opinion, if you're not good enough, then don't try in the first place!"
The apprentices of the grandmasters mocked the middle-aged and old men who were anxiously running out of the waiting room.
Albert, Marie, and Charles were also anxious but they let the older guys go first.
When they saw that the entrance wasn't so cramped anymore, the three of them finally walked towards the bulletin board.
On the way, many were kneeling on the ground and crying, some of them were so frustrated that they were even punching the ground with their fists.
However, there were also those who were celebrating. After seeing the various reactions from the other examinees, the three of them became even more anxious.
Will they cry on the ground or will they celebrate after seeing the results?
After a few more minutes of walking, they finally arrived at the bulletin board. However, there were still a lot of people so they waited for a few more minutes at the sides.
Once they saw a chance, Albert quickly sprinted through a gap and successfully got in front of the bulletin board.
He quickly skimmed through the top five hundred and he was slightly nervous after not seeing his name immediately.
However, his eyes widened in surprise after looking at the top 10 scorers.
1. Albert Brinestine
2. Marie Theory
3. Charles Barwynn
Top 3! All of them were in the top 3! Albert was practically smiling ear to ear as he approached Marie and Charles.
He then hugged the two of them and said
"We're in the top 3!"
"T-Top 3?!"
"Woohooooo!!"
The three of them jumped up and down happily after knowing that they were in the top 3.
While the three of them were celebrating, the young apprentices of the grandmasters finally walked towards the bulletin board.
They looked at the three of them with disgust before looking at the bulletin board
"Hey, how about we make a bet? I bet 500 silver coins that I'm top 1"
"Ha! Sure! I bet 600 silver coins that I'm top 1."
The young apprentices even made bets regarding who the top 1 is. However, upon arriving in front of the bulletin board, their eyes opened wide due to utter shock and disbelief.
"Who are these three?!"
The apprentices knew who each other was so they were shocked upon seeing that the highest score among them was only at fourth place.
They quickly walked towards a staff member to protest.
"What is the meaning of this?! Who are these three? Albert? Marie? Charles? Haven't heard of them! Are you sure there's no problem with the results?!"
After hearing the commotion, all of the examinees including Albert, Marie, and Charles walked towards the direction of the commotion to watch.
"S-Sir Eusford, I checked it just now and these three indeed have the highest score out of everyone. Albert Brinestine had a perfect score while Marie Theory and Charles Barwynn got 499 correct answers out of the 500 questions."
"What?! Then what about me, Brax Eusford?! What's my score?!"
The guy named Brax Eusford was going crazy with anger along with the other young apprentices of the grandmasters.
"S-Sir Eusford, according to the results, you scored 486 correct answers out of 500 questions."
"N-No way! I don't believe this! I'm gonna complain!"
500, 499, 499, 486!
The gap between the first three and the fourth place's score was this huge! Brax Eusford was becoming crazy due to the humiliation.
Not only that, the young apprentices could hear the commotion among the ordinary examinees. It seems that these unknown top three examinees were gaining lots of attention that should've been theirs.
Finally, after a while, a young apprentice couldn't stand it anymore and called the three of them.
"Albert Brinestine! Marie Theory! Charles Barwynn! Get the hell out here and show your faces!"
After being called out, the three of them looked at each other and decided to walk out from the crowd.
"H-Hello I'm Albert Brinestine."
"I'm Marie Theory"
"And I'm Charles Barwynn"
Everyone's eyes went wide after seeing that this group of three youngsters were the ones who got the top 3 spots.
Those who mocked them earlier started hiding at the back of the crowd due to the humiliation.
The young apprentices couldn't believe what they were seeing. They lost against people who are the same age as them?! Unacceptable!
"So it's you three huh?! Come! Tell us! How did you cheat?!"
Marie was so angry with indignation. She could stand being insulted but not being accused as a cheater!
"W-What do you mean?! We didn't cheat at all! Why would we need to cheat when the questions are so easy?! Stop being ridiculous!"
After hearing what the young woman said, the ordinary examinees almost fainted due to the shock.
The questions were so easy?! Their brains almost popped trying to think of the answers!
"W-What do you mean the questions are so easy?! You bitch! How dare you lie to all of us! I'll make sure to expose your cheating ways! I'm gonna report yo–"
"Silence please, the examination papers were carefully checked by grandmaster alchemists and veteran proctors were watching the examinees so there's no way these three could have cheated."
"Please settle down, we need to proceed to the next phase."
Fortunately, the old man finally entered the waiting room and stopped the commotion.
After getting a warning from the old man, most of the young apprentices looked down dejectedly and accepted their defeat.
However, the young man named Brax Eusford wasn't willing to back down.
"No! Why would I stay silent after being robbed of my first place? You must punish these three cheaters!"
The old man couldn't stay calm anymore after being disrespected by a youngster.
"Brax Eusford is it? You think you're invincible just because you're Grandmaster Allison's apprentice? Men! Take this young man away! He's banned from taking the master alchemist examination for a year!"
After hearing the old man's verdict, Brax Eusford finally came to his senses.
"N-No! I'm sorry…Please, my master will disown me! Have mercy! Please!"
"Hmmph!"
The old man merely snorted at Brax's plea as he was taken away by the guards of the headquarters.
The other young apprentices didn't dare to make any more trouble but they stared daggers at Albert's group.
This time, Albert's trio didn't shrink back. They knew that they were better than these arrogant apprentices so why would they be scared?
"Hmmph! You want to take revenge? Try it! We're just gonna humiliate your inferior skills again!"
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