A page flashed on the monitor, displaying a set of instructions. Jyorta glanced on them, hovering his gaze above three important lines.
[The Questions are multiple-choice based, with each question having a single correct answer.]
[Correct answer gives you +3 marks while a wrong answer gives you -1 mark. Unanswered questions will be awarded 0 marks.]
[The final score will be out of 300. The credits awarded will be the score divided by 3 and rounded off to the nearest digit.]
Jyorta read through them in detail, etching the instructions to memory. He clicked an icon at the bottom right corner, refreshing the screen.
The serial number '1' appeared on the left, separated by a column. To its horizontal right was a question, spanning a small paragraph. Below the paragraph were four options, marked 'A', 'B', 'C', and 'D'.
Next to each option was a Radio Button—a tiny circle when clicked gets filled with green—placed at appropriate spots, un-glaring to the eyes. To the right of the screen existed another column, displaying row after row of numbers in a shade of white, pertaining to each question.
As Jyorta answered a question and proceeded to the next question, the row belonging to 'Question 1' became green.
There was also a line of buttons—four in total—at the bottom of the screen.
[Answered] (Green in colour)
[Mark for Review] (Purple in colour)
[Reset Choice] (White in colour]
[Finish Test] (Light Blue in colour)
Jyorta continued to breeze through one question after another, finding them simple.
As he clicked on a question number in the right column, the respective question appeared on the screen. To him, they were easy, not worth an effort. Pulling the rough notebook closer to him, he scribbled variables and numbers on it, solving the question within 3-4 steps.
Some questions took him more than 30 seconds to solve while others didn't even require him to think, thanks to the answer present in his memories. All he did was check whether the questions were the exact same as the ones in his memories.
9:34 PM, Jyorta clicked the light blue button at the below, finishing the test. The screen turned white, refreshing after 20 seconds. It displayed his final score, green in colour, its size taking up half the monitor.
[Score: 300/300]
[Credits obtained: 100]
Jyorta stood up and stretched his arms, exiting the room. 'That was quicker than I had expected.'
Having completed a 3 hours exam within 35 minutes, Jyorta still had some time left to give another exam. He then completed the preparations to take it and once again entered the small room.
10:50 PM, Jyorta exited the room, a smile etched on his face. Even though the second test took longer than the first, he had still scored a centum on it. Taking a glance at his watch, Jyorta returned to his dorm, planning to sleep.
11:00 PM, entering the Indigo Building and arriving on the third floor, Jyorta noticed the sounds of murmuring from the room adjacent to the stairs.
'Haesha too is working hard.' With a smile, he entered his room, taking out his trolley bag from the cupboard overhead his bed. He then fished out the small box secured with ropes, untying it with patience.
He placed the box on the bed and sat before it, infusing his psychic energy into it, erecting the spherical barrier. Taking a deep breath, he parted its lid by a margin, receiving the full brunt of the aura, symbolising the strength of a Tier 5 being.
Within an instant, he retracted his hand, suffering from the convulsing of his body. The convulsion was lower than the previous time but was still higher than his first attempt. His hands shivered as he involuntarily began to clatter his teeth, producing a sonorous sound.
11:20 PM, heaving out a sigh, Jyorta downed more than half the contents from his water bottle, feeling a strain in his muscles. There was a constricting pain that made it difficult for him to breathe, inconveniencing him.
Jyorta stretched out a little and went to the restroom, splashing water on his face. He returned to his room and placed the small box in his trolley bag, secured with rope. Once he stashed it overhead in the cupboard, he took a towel and wiped the water from his face.
Taking a glance at the time, he went to the cafeteria and ordered some snacks to eat, feeling a sense of hunger that was increasing in magnitude. Finally, done with the day, he returned to his room and slumped on the bed.
He picked up a chemistry book and glanced through the first 30 pages, his gaze not lingering on each page for more than 10 seconds. He then placed it on the table, taking a perfectly flat position on the bed.
Using his blue soul to sever some connections, his body quickly entered a state of rest, falling into slumber. The blue soul though, was active since it didn't need any rest. Pulling out the memories of the past five minutes, it converted the information stored in the form of images into lines of text, using a part of the brain to help with the process.
'For chemistry, most of it functions on memorising stuff. Very few concepts require calculations. I'll use my sleeping time to accumulate the knowledge of all the theory subjects. Even though accessing the information from my soul takes longer than through my brain, this is efficient considering my time constraints. Moreover, I have the leeway of time during the tests since the questions are of the MCQ type.'
7:30 AM, the gentle rays of the morning sun shone through the window, falling on the face of Jyorta. His eyelids squinted; his body turned to the other side, facing his back to the rays of light.
"Turn off the damn alarm!" Followed by an ear-piercing shout, loud, thumping noises resounded from his door, serving to irritate him. Jyorta pushed the bedsheet aside, making it hit the wall near his feet.
He walked towards the door and pulled it open, his actions rough. "What is your problem? Don't you have the common sense to not disturb my sleep?"
"That should be my statement. Switch off your damn alarm. The sound woke me up." A voice trailed back, its owner possessing a tall stature. He also had a lot of muscle growth on his limbs, creating a sense of oppressiveness.
"Getting up early is good for your health." Glaring at the boy, Jyorta slammed the door shut, producing a loud thud. He then returned to his bed and pulled his bedsheet over his body, trying to sleep.
Finished with converting all the information, the blue soul became inactive during the middle of the night. After all, it used the brain to think and sort out the thoughts and information. If it went overboard, Jyorta would feel tired after waking up, looking like he had pulled an all-nighter.
Thanks to its ability to sever connections with the body, Jyorta's sleep quality was high.
Looking at the door slamming shut, the boy wanted to curse. It was then he noticed sweat forming on his forehead, making him wonder the reason. His hands also faintly shivered, the effect almost negligible. Linking it to his anger, the boy shook his head, returning to his room, planning to get ready while he was at it.
"He's a real bastard."
8:15 AM, Jyorta sat in the cafeteria, eating his breakfast. After seeing the face of the annoying guy, he no longer felt like sleeping. Hence, he had gotten ready early, giving him the time to eat breakfast.
"Morning, Haesha." Jyorta waved his hands, greeting the girl that approached with a plate in her hands. Placing the plate on the table, Haesha began to eat her food, a slight sense of urgency in her actions.
Jyorta pulled out the poster—the one with the timetable—from his pocket, using his left hand to wriggle it in the air, unravelling it after a couple of attempts. He then noticed the class, realising the reason for her actions.
Taking a glance at Jyorta, Haesha pointed at the timetable, "They will be teaching us the fighting techniques used by Espers. It is the most important class of all."
"Then, let us hurry and occupy a good spot." Jyorta gobbled his breakfast, feeling his hunger abate.
8:25 AM, grunting at the number of floors they had to climb in the Yellow Building, the duo finally reached their designated class, looking at the Espers from their batch filing in. They hurriedly entered the room and looked at the varied scenery.
The walls on the side had numerous compartments installed in it, forming closed racks. The room was 30 metres long and 50 metres wide, segregated into 10 steps. Each step spanned the breadth of the room, spanning 3 metres in cross-length, forming a row.
Each step was a metre higher than its precedent, instilling the room with a feeling of steepness.
"Let us occupy a spot as lower as possible," Jyorta whispered, taking a glance at Haesha.
"I too prefer the same. The room has a weird structure and is making me tense." Haesha nodded, pointing at a spot on the third row.
Floor mats—spanning 2 metres in length and breadth—were placed at equal intervals, numbering 15 per row. It was a bit difficult to climb the metre high steps as the duo finally seated themselves on adjacent floor mats, sitting cross-legged.
Soon, all 131 Espers had arrived, occupying 9 rows, with the 9th-row seating 11 Espers. They were seated high up in the room, feeling nervous, gazing at their classmates sitting further below.
One of them looked jittery, experiencing a sense of vertigo. His eyes darted to and fro, intending to swap places with someone on the first row, situated on the ground level. Unfortunately, before he could open his mouth, a teacher walked in, looking fierce.
8:30 AM, the teacher gazed at the faces of everyone present, etching them to her memory. Her gaze sent chills into them as they involuntarily bowed their heads, unwilling to make eye contact.
"Good, it seems the October batch is filled with punctual students." Followed by her statement, all the compartments arranged along the walls opened, gushing out numerous objects, raining them down on the students.