The room they told me to enter is a room with currently around 10,000 other students. There are no separated desks but long seated rows with a long table in front of the rows. There are ten rows, with each row seating around a thousand people.
This first test is the written portion. Based on the book I read when I was younger, the test is made up of three sections: common-sense, magic, theories. Each section gets harder as the test goes on. The first section and second section have 20 questions each, while the third section only has five short-answer questions.
The passing grade is 70%. It used to be 80%, but most students could barely reach 80%. This percentage can be overridden if more than 1,000 students pass the test. The test is here to cause the number of students to a smaller amount, so only 1,000 students are allowed to pass in each room.
I took a seat in the front seat to the far left side, where there were barely any students. After taking my seat and a couple more students entered, the tester came into the room.
"Hello, everyone! Today, I'll be your written exam tester. I'm here to make sure no one is cheating and to answer any questions before the test. This test has 45 questions in a 30-minute time frame. Those who do not finish the test are automatically disqualified, so make sure you answer all questions. I'll now pass everyone a pencil and the test."
"Also, tomorrow morning will post the exam results. Come in tomorrow to see if you passed and what your grade was. Those who pass will need to see the receptionist see what will happen next..."
The tester came to each person and handed them a test packet and a pencil. Since I was on the most far left side on the first row, I was the first person to get everything. Then someone shouted as I was receiving my test.
"Umm... Tester? Isn't this a bit unfair? Those in the front will be getting a 5-10 minute head start! Even if you start the timer after you pass everyone the test, they get an extra 5-10 minutes to take the test."
"That is a fairly good point, but you did choose to sit there. Luckily, I have already made arrangements. These packets are unable to answer until I deactivate my skill. Will this comfort you?"
"Uh... Yes! Thanks."
After the interruption, the tester continued to hand out tests and pencils. Once she was finished, she moved to the front and snapped her fingers. The test we had before was unopenable. I can't say how, but there seemed to be invisible chains attached to it; however, now, it opens easily. Oh, well. Time to take the test!
After about 6 minutes, I finished the common-sense and magic portion of the test. They were reasonably straightforward. The common-sense questions were... common-sense...
Some questions asked what the months are; others ask how the skill-tree worked. All of these were common-sense. Thankfully, I read up on the months, and such so this portion of the test was much more manageable.
The magic portion talked about what the elements are, how to cast spells, how to get mixed elements, and how to cast different levels of spells. Magic is one of the skills I'm most fond of, so I been using them almost regularly. Essential magic helps around the house while advanced magic helps in combat situations...
I took another 6 minutes on the short-answer portion, which was also easy. I mean, the theories it askes are common-sense too! Wait, if the test is this easy, how did people fail to get 80%?
Maybe the test was much harder when it was at 80%? Yeah, that's probably it... I mean, these questions... 'The legendary [Spell Engineering] skill functions differently than spell asking, why is that?' This question is baby talk! And these questions...
'Is it possible to eliminate an activated skill or spell from another person? Why or why not?'
'Is it possible to reduce EXP costs? If so, how? If not, explain why.'
Are these questions not common-sense? I'm starting to doubt myself now. I mean, all these questions ask about the skills I have. Hmm... Oh, wait. Without that reduce EXP skill, I wouldn't be able to get most of my skills. The nullification spell would have cost 50,000 EXP without that skill, which is possible but not as a 13-year-old...
Okay, let's forget about the questions and turn them in... I get up from my seat and walk over to the tester.
"Huh? Is there a question about the test, or are you giving up?"
"No, I'm finished with the test."
This shocked the tester, but she recovered fast.
"O-oh... Okay. You may leave..."
I bow to her and take my leave. I could feel some presence eying me as I walk out. After leaving the exam room, I decided to go home. There wasn't anyone around, so I decided to teleport home.
It was a bit afternoon, so I decided to train on my abilities until nightfall. During nightfall, instead of hunting, I decided to take it easy and go to bed.
The next day came fast. After waking up and eating breakfast, I teleported back to the school to see my test results. Outside of the school, billboards were stationed out to show everyone's test scores. Each board showed a test center and the 1,000 who passed.
There were 98 boards, showing that the whole day had 98 test centers, making a total of 980,000 students applying to the school. That makes 98,000 students who pass the test. The next test will down this number to a total of 5,000. Let's see, where is my name...
I walk over to the 37th board and look for my name. I started from the bottom and made my way to the top. I didn't find my name near the bottom but when I reach the top...
'Huh, I'm the number one?'
Even though being number one surprized me, what surprised me, even more, was that I beat the other students by a wide margin. The 2nd place student in my board had a 27/35, while I had a perfect score. Most of the rest places had the same score of a 26/35 while the bottom of the board had 25/35, with some exceptions of some lower scores.
Man, that test was relatively easy. How did they fail so readily? I took a glance at some other boards... The results were similar. Some of the first places on the boards had 80-90%. I did notice a couple of boards first place winners having a 95-99%, though no one had a 100% like me...
Okay, let's ignore this and see the receptionist. I'm ready for this physical exam...