Ray naturally reached the waiting room. However, after looking at the waiting room, it looked more like a hall and had enough space to accommodate at least 500 people. Other than that, there were about 400 people present inside the hall. Ray found an empty seat towards the back of the hall and quietly seated down. He did not have any intention of talking to anyone and wanted to find a way to meet the dean so that he could tell the dean about his problem hence, finding a way to maximize his learning output from the Academy while also finding the most efficient way to handle his system.
As Ray was seated at the back of the crowd, he did not notice when all of the students had arrived. The place became lively as many students chatted with each other while some approached one another to make friends. Ray was jolted awake from his line of thought when he heard a harsh bang.
"Bang!!, Bang!!, Bang!!"
When he looked up, he saw a person standing in front of everyone holding a cymbal while he struck it with a stick thrice. As he garnered everyone's attention he said,
"Good morning everyone, I will be your instructor and examiner today, the test will happen during the training so please follow me to the training room in an orderly manner". As the man said it, he turned around and started walking while everyone followed behind. Ray, also followed behind and kept thinking of a way to meet the dean, he then realized a detail that nearly made him facepalm himself. After all, how could he forget such an essential piece of information, when he had applied for the test, he was told that anyone who got the first position in the test would get a chance to meet the dean and possibly attain some reward.
For Ray, the reward was not much, but the chance to meet the dean was monumental. Therefore, he made sure to get first place in the test. Soon, everyone reached the training hall.
As they entered the training hall, Ray was left stunned due to its resemblance to training halls in "SYSTEM ONLINE". It had wooden dummies along with simpler walls and racks that consisted of training weapons and other items. Most importantly, from looking at the dummies, Ray was sure that they were the same magical dummies as were in "SYSTEM ONLINE" due to their immense resemblance to them.
The instructor led everyone into the room and said, "Your test will be very simple. It will be divided into two parts. One will be the normal part that would allow you to join regular classes in the academy while the other would be for special candidates, those special candidates could join the elite class on passing the test while they could also receive many benefits such as rewards for gaining a position in the test. Furthermore, the test results would be judged based on student performance and time taken to clear the test while a whole list of their stat points would also be recorded for perfect evaluation of their combat strength. Therefore, I suggest you all give it your best and try to advance to the special class as it has various benefits that you would be told on your first day of school in your respective classes".
Then the instructor continued, "Your goal would be to pass the test before you could be evaluated, therefore to pass the test for a regular class, you would have to fight the combat puppet at level 5 and defeat it while for special classes you would have to take two different tests, first would be to defeat the combat puppet at level 8 before advancing to the second stage that would be revealed when you pass the first stage. Moreover, if those who tried for the special class failed to defeat the level 8 combat puppet, they would not even be able to participate in the test for the regular class. Hence, I recommend you to choose carefully, you have five minutes to choose what you shall do".
As the instructor said this and finished his explanation, the facial expressions of the students changed drastically as they had been changing throughout the explanation, as when they first heard of special class and rewards, many could not help but cheer inwardly but their enthusiasm died the second they heard of the requirements for joining the special class. However, there were still some people who thought of giving a try to test of special class and try to defeat the level 8 combat puppet, yet they were destined to be disappointed as the instructor's final words acted as the last nail in the coffin and their enthusiasm died as well. Therefore, only a select percentage of the 500 youths had calm expressions on their faces as they were prepared for it all.
Meanwhile, Ray also understood that for him to meet the dean, he would have to show the best combat strength and get the top spot in a special class test. Hence, he clenched his jaw and got ready for the test.
After 5 minutes, the instructor spoke again, "I'm sure all of you must have made your decision, therefore, all those who want to take the test for normal classes please step to the right while those who want to take the test for a special class please step to your left".
Immediately after the instructor spoke, around 400 students took a step to their right while about 100 of them took a step to their left. After seeing the results, the instructor grinned while he thought, "Oh!, so there are about 100 this year, it will be an interesting sight to see".
After everyone had chosen their side, the instructor said, "From here onwards another instructor will take the test for normal class students while the students for the special class test would follow me".
Ray and everyone who wanted to join the special class started following the instructor while another instructor took over the test for a normal class.
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Meanwhile, as Ray was following the instructor, he felt a prick on his back as if someone was watching him. It was the result of his upgraded perception after he gained it from the system. Therefore, he looked around but failed to discover anyone looking at him did not find anyone and just shrugged it off.
While in a room adorned with various illustrations and magical artifacts, a man was sitting in front of a table while he looked into a screen that showed Ray following the instructor for the test. The man then muttered, "Interesting, for a mere newbie to feel something while I watch on him, very interesting. Hmmm, I'm starting to suspect that this kid would surely be meeting me very soon".
As the man was talking to himself, Ray and all the students following behind the instructor reached the area where their test would be conducted. It was a room similar to the previous training room but had subtle differences, while the instructor leading them said, "Welcome to our top-of-the-line training room for a special class. This is where your test would be taken."
...
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