We lived about 30 minutes away from town. I'm not too sure of the reason, but dad says that it was because they didn't like the crowdedness in the city. I have been to town a couple of times before with dad, but with my skills, I can reach it instantly.
This town is the 2nd most famous town in the kingdom, with roughly 1 million citizens. The only reason why it is popular is because of the school that this town hosts.
This kingdom is known for one school, Roji's Magical Academy. The school is placed in this town, which has been nickname Roji's Town. This academy is the number one choice of school in the world, hosting many of the TEN's children inside. Those who graduate are guaranteed any job they wish to have, especially military-related jobs.
I heard the school also has a ranking system like the TEN. The top ten students are showcased throughout the world. Since the military sponsors the school, there are many competitions for showing these students. It is also rumored that the number one in the school's TEN will be considered for being with the TEN.
I'm not too sure what the conditions are for joining the TEN, but I heard that it requires you to be robust and to pass a sort of test. I'm not really after being in the TEN, so I haven't been reading up on them...
The academy is heavily academic. Those who don't show good educational signs will be terminated immediately. I heard many cases where the school kicks out anyone who causes troubles or falls behind in their academics. There are relatively standard tests throughout the year that all students must pass to stay in school.
Today is the first of three days of the entrance exam. The first day is a written exam, the 2nd test is a combat and skill tests, and the 3rd test is a combat competition. Millions apply to the school, so they determined the three tests are the best to determine who's allowed in or not.
There are about 5,000 students who make it to the third test. After that, only 1,000 students are allowed to enter the school. Now, this test doesn't determine your rank. After school starts, there will be a school-wide optional competition to determine everyone's rank. All three tests do assess your class.
There are six classes, S to E. The class size is different for each class. Class E has the most students, whereas class S only has eleven students. Class S usually has the top ten ranking students, if those in the class do the optional ranking test.
I walk to the school's entrance, where there are countless amounts of students walking throughout the area. A small station is at the opening of the school with a couple of female receptionists inside. I walk up to one of the receptionists.
"Hello! Are you here to register? Can I please have your name?"
"Yes, it's Nii Sho."
"Nii Sho... Ah, I see. Here is a tag card with your number. You are number 365,748. Please keep this card on you the entire three days. It will serve as your entrance inside to take the tests and allow you to partake in each test. If you lose the card, you will automatically be disqualified. Understand?"
"Yeah."
I grab the card from the receptionist, but man. It's still early in the day, but almost 400,000 students have already registered... I thought the millions who apply were jokes. I heard that millions applied, but they only allow a million students to take the tests. I guess the saying 'early birds get the worm' is right in this sense...
"Your exam will be with the 37th batch in two hours. Please return in 1 hour and 40 minutes. Once your back, you'll be sent to your testing zone, which is testing zone number five. Thanks for registering. See you back in 2ish hours."
She smiles at me, sincerely. I smile back and nod, then took my leave. As I walked away, I could sense some evil presence passing me, though I tried to ignore it. So, what should I do to pass the time? Well, I guess I could teleport back home and train some more, though that's a bit boring.
Instead, I decided to find an open area by some trees and rest there. I open the GUI to look at my skills. Let's see; it has been two months since I used all my EXP. Wonder how much I have now. You get EXP for doing daily routine and for defeating monsters/quests with the guild. Now thinking about it, I heard that defeating a high-ranking beast gives you more EXP than those of lower creatures.
I remember that when I defeated all those E class monsters, I would get roughly around 0-1 EXP per kill. I didn't bother picking an EXP grinding skillset, so I'm not currently maxing out my potential of getting EXP, but I think that's okay. I read a book about someone who had skills giving them lots of EXP. For instance, when they would kill an E class monster, they would get 3-10 EXP, which is a big difference.
There wasn't much info about a world-destroying beast, but I assume they give off lots of EXP. Let's find out...
'Remaining EXP -> 10,000 EXP'
Oh, man! That is a lot more than I expected. Well, they are the most robust type of beast in the world, so I guess that makes sense. Plus, there was the EXP I got from just training, though the amount of EXP is insignificant. Maybe I got 5 EXP during those two months...
I did learn that my Max Reduction has a significant downside effect... The amount of EXP I usually get is significantly decreased. I might have gotten a lot more EXP from that beast if I didn't have those skills, but I think it was worth it.
But that doesn't matter right now. This is great! There are two skills I wanted. They are called Skill Nullification and Magic Nullification. These skills allow me to cancel out people's magic or abilities. The only downside to these skills is that it only works on one target at a time and only magic/abilities that are being activated.
For instance, if someone casts a fireball spell at me, I can't dispel it; however, if they are continually shooting a spell, I can stop them from casting anymore. I notice the most prominent use of the skill is to cast it on a target at first so they can't cast any magic or abilities. These skills also work for midway activation. If someone can cast a spell, I can stop it before it's fully activated. So it's not all that powerful but still useful.
'Spell Nullification (Total of 4,250 points to MAX), Skill Nullification (Total of 4,750 points to MAX)'
After maxing these skills, a new skill appears in my vision.
'New skill -> Total Nullification (Requires 1,000 points to MAX)'
Sweet! Well, I'm not sure of the difference, but I'll still get it.
'Total Nullification (Replaces Spell and Magic Nullification): MAX -> Nulls all types of skills and magic at a 100% chance rate. Works on two targets.'
Oh, sweet! I don't know what other differences it had, but it allows me to use two targets instead of one! It kind of makes sense, though, since I can use both skills on two targets, but I can do two of the same type of skill. Nice, my defenses have increased!
I look at the time to notice that 25 minutes remained before the test begins. Better hurry and get ready for the test! I walked back to the receptionist and followed the person to my testing center...
Let the test begin!
...