2 days passed in the most boring way possible, Connor spent days enjoying and experimenting with the food and drinks served in the cafeteria for 3 meals. He often found the black-haired beauty doing her own thing. Sohan also joined in for a single lunch, he just spent the day inside the dorm room training like Connor.
Connor's training consisted of mana control, it wasn't anything too special. Every human is required to learn basic control and treat it as second nature. They use it to empower their bodies, heal faster, and some super minor telekinesis.
The mana capacity is on average at a level one going into adulthood. It allows daily use of it for basic requirements. The highest recorded mana quantity has been level 8 out of 10 levels. An increase in level doesn't increase quality in any way only in quantity.
Level 8 for example allows the person to use mana for an entire month with no breaks. Level one at most can mean using it for half a day but even that's pushing it.
There is no way to increase level other than through consistent use, elixirs, and medicinal plants of the magical variety with varying effects. Connor is halfway to level 2 since even compared to a normal person he used it during his journeys into the woods in front of the town he did tonnes of hiking and used mana to help ease the journey.
Mana has no particular side effects on the body in fact it improves the body's growth dramatically. The effects of high mana drainage can result in at least extreme vertigo to a coma at most.
Connor was attempting to up the ante on his teleportation training rather than focus on his concept "Masks". It was better to hide your full capabilities after all and it was rare for someone that doesn't belong to a particularly rich family to have one.
He'd also rather avoid questioning about his concept since he doesn't even know when and where he got it. So yeah as I said boring. The day went by and examinees were astonished in finding the sparring area which was around a kilometer in length and width on a flat grassy plain. It was now around 2 acres in size and had hills and treetops.
What's even stranger was that no one could ever witness the process of this creation since there was actually a giant, dark looming wall that no one at their current levels would be able to look over.
Through that darkness, around 4 silhouettes appeared and a single small one was in front. It was Amber Ross and a few other people probably professors or assistants as well.
"Ok, sorry to have kept you all waiting... in the dark..." She snickers as she points towards the dark wall thinking she's funny in some way.
"*cough* ... Moving on first we need to tell which of you are eliminated since you didn't pass the scoring threshold; the requirements were to be in the top 8% and to reach that this year you had to have scored at least 96% on your paper. It is actually the highest it has been in the last 2 years so you were a bit down on your luck a lot of you will surely be able to come back next year to do better."
The people who hear these numbers are aware of how they performed so there was already a feeling of gloom in the air. While a surprising few hold their heads up high as if confident in their performance. Connor and Sohan just look expressionlessly at the staff of the RCA and wait for them to continue.
"So from now on Dalil will be announcing who will be leaving..." Amber had a pitiful look on her face, as Dalil was surprised to have to say anything and clicks his tongue, "Tch!"
It reverberates in the silence of the teens and young adults. So Dalil started calling out names of those who unfortunately failed. Supposedly there were 416 people in the crowd and an insane 78% were removed from the remaining leaving 92 people to take the next exam. Though what came next was a surprise,
"Actually since a much higher than expected of potential students were unfortunately failed there has been a significant change. Instead of taking another exam the lot of you have been decided to have passed by default."
A loud, "WHAT!!!" resounded around the students, while Amber continued
"That's right you are all now students of the RCA Arias branch you will be able to select your elements after filling a form stating your elemental potential and you will be allowed inside the selection room privately."
She begins to give a briefing of what their living situation will be like and that actually classes would begin in around a week's time to give them time to move to the city or determine if they'd be staying in the school dorms. Connor notices that in between her rant Dalil came over and whispered into her ear, not that it was hard to miss though.
"Oh! one more thing students there actually is going to be a test still, even though the exam isn't happening. That's why we didn't stop our work on making a forest since this is part of the change in plans."
"All of you should group into teams of 4, there are G rank magic beasts that are weaker than the average human without using mana. It should be a good experience, no matter the field you wish to join; in this realm where we still do not have full control of the beasts that travel in our forests, caves, and in nature all over it's best you make sure you are prepared against experiencing dangers as early as possible."
"We will give you any weapon you wish to use all of them are weapons made of steel grade materials so they cannot be broken by G-class magical beasts. We've gathered all sorts of them, and don't worry this test is not without rewards. You will be scored based on how many beasts you manage to "gather" together with the most magical beast bodies and we will have some staff watching over you to make sure none of you get critically injured."
Everyone was sort of caught off guard by the fact that a test would happen, so they more or less nodded along with each other as Amber spoke more. Connor just waited for it to be over since he was mentally prepared to fight to go into the original practical exam just now the fighting spirit needed to be aimed at a top spot of this test.
Since the reward for getting a spot in the top 5 was an E-grade artifact and the next five would receive an F-grade one...
Connor stood there silently while keeping the smile that's always on his face waiting patiently to begin everyone's first hunt.