"AMAZINGLY, WE MADE it on time. Hah…" Rufus mumbled as he panted, Hades was standing next to him as well. Hades was panting, is it because he suddenly had to run? He didn't even have enough time to stretch. He's not really one to get tired over a one kilometer run. They managed to arrive in the training hall in a quick three minutes, and change in their training clothes in barely two minutes.
"I win, so you treat me to dinner once the exam is over." Hades reminded, and Rufus just clicked his tongue. It was barely a second difference, Hades won even when he was not in his best. And Rufus was so frustrated.
'Why is the world so unfair?! He's got the looks, the brains, the manners and the skills! He's got everything, and the only thing that's left is his background!' Rufus grieved inside his head. He doesn't know if he should be lucky or frustrated by having a man like him as his friend. He'd definitely be more frustrated if he learned of the fact that Hades is not a commoner.
"Examinees!" Professor Yahto was there up on the stage, he called everyone's attention. "Line up in fourteen rows, now!" His voice was firm and loud, befitting of a knight department professor. Most of the examinees flinched at his change of tone, but acted fast. Barely half a minute passed, and all hundred and forty seven examinees lined up in fourteen rows as instructed. Half of the rows contained eleven examinees, and the other half only contained ten.
Yahto smiles at the sight of their determined expressions. "This practical exam makes up seventy percent of your passing rate. We already know that meatheads like you can only pass if you show great potential, if not in academics. HAHAHAHA!" They remained silent as Yahto laughs.
'He's not wrong…' some thought to themselves in gloom.
"Anyway! This test has a total of three qualification parts: foundation, strength, and skill. I, the observer, has lowered his standards to match yours, and if you do not meet that standard, you will ultimately fail." Yahto explained thoroughly, with a firm tone. And not long after that, some of the examinees started murmuring.
"They definitely want us to fail."
"Isn't the academy desperate for students? Why do they have to make such troublesome entrance tests?"
"Yeah, at this rate no one will pass. Isn't this what we learn inside the academy?"
"This test is different from what I thought. I thought we'd be dueling each other right at the start."
` And other more complains, why are they complaining? It's because you only get one chance to take the entrance examination, that is why you must pass on your first try. It doesn't matter if you're over the age of eighteen, as long as you're less than twenty five and as long as it is your first try. That's why some take their time to train and learn before they take their first examination, that's the case for commoners, but for nobles, who received proper education since childhood, it's not.
Whether they are confident or not determines the result, that's why the not-so-confident ones are, of course, the ones complaining.
'From what I heard, this much is predictable… the others might've thought that this insanely old academy would bend its own rules just for official students', Hades thought to himself and couldn't help himself scoffing at the complains. 'They underestimate the academy too much.'
Suddenly, a loud laugh was heard from the stage, it immediately silenced the examinees talking among themselves. Yahto was laughing too hard, and that alone was terrifying to hear. After a moment, Yahto finally calms down as straightened his posture.
"Hah, gods. Did you really think that academy would decrease the percentage of difficulty just because we are desperate for official students? You'd have to be a complete fool to believe that!" He said and frowned.
Yahto felt disappointed, they are supposed future knights, but they are mere cowards after all."I—we don't care if we get less than ten official students. I've said it this morning already, Golden Crown Academy accepts only raw talents regardless of rank, background and gender. If not talent, confident or not, at least show us potential." He stated once again, firmly.
The examinees were silenced completely with Yahto's words, because what he said wasn't wrong. There were long seconds of silence before the professor decided to speak once again. "Those taking the shield, archer, and spear course, leave the line and make yourself comfortable on the sidelines. The sword course will be the firsts to take their practical exam."
About half of the examinees walked to the sidelines, leaving only sixty one examinees, Hades and the Imperial Prince included. Everyone's mood lighten as they became excited to see how they will do. Rufus himself was particularly excited because he finally gets to see how good of a knight Hades is, and watching the Imperial Prince as a bonus. Damn, I wish I bought me some snacks, Rufus thought to himself.
"There are boxes of wooden swords in front of you. Take one and line up in six rows with a two meter distance on front, back and sides. We'll be starting with the foundation qualification test." In a matter of minutes, the examinees each have a sword on their hand and is lined up as to the professor's instructions.
'Are they going to fight each other or something?' Everyone was rather expecting to see something else, they've forgotten that this is a test, not a show off, sigh. "You must do what I ask, and if I see you as clumsy, I will mark you as a fail." Yahto mentions as a man approached him to give him a paper, containing all the names of the examinees.
"First, straighten your posture." One instruction and the sword course examinees stood straight and proper, each swords held by one hand on the side. "Second, do a hundred solid downward swings while counting aloud. I will be observing each movements you make and you will be graded properly. Now, do it." Professor Yahto jumped off from the stage and walked down to the examinees, who begun swinging without another word.
While the ones on the sidelines were disappointed. 'I guess we won't be seeing some action today', they thought.
"One!... Two!..." And so they continued with a loud and firm voice, Yahto walks and observes all of them closely from head to toe, from their swings to their expressions. No matter how unbothered his expression was, he was slightly panicky inside.
'I was all talk earlier because I didn't think they'd be all this bad. My batch of examinees are mostly contained of noble brats, I'm pretty sure they'd at least be a little decent but I can't even see enough potential in them! This is quite concerning, I worry I might not have any sword course official students—oh?'
Yahto came to a pause, his eyes were glued on the Imperial Prince. He had a firm expression, his voice was loud and he focused solely on swing. He's doing a good job maintaining his foot on the ground, he doesn't waver while he swings.
'Impressive, as expected of a imperial prince', Yahto though as he continued to walk as well. After observing five rows, Yahto only saw two more potential passers, sadly that's just it. Walking to the sixth row, Yahto wasn't expecting much but he saw the peculiar white haired examinee.
'…This is mind blowing, this guy is a commoner right? I thought he's only smart and at least more decent than the others, but to think that he's this calm and confident in the practical as well. And the way he swings as well… It may look like a simple downward swing, but it's solid and powerful without any unnecessary movement. His posture is close to perfect, it's fascinating to watch his every movement, almost alluring', Yahto thought to himself and simply smiled.
With this simple observation, he had proper predictions of the results in the next two tests.