Sylfie and I talked about many things, from the culture in the kingdom of Paura to the laborious trip across the mountains and through the Great Plains. I listened to the stories that Sylfie told with great intrigue, happy to learn about the things I had not written.
Sylfie's cheerfulness matched well with my carefree nature. I finally had a good chat with someone of this body's age for once. Lily and Virion were simply no fun to talk to.
I had already finished my food at some point in time, but as Sylfie and I were talking about the test for spiritual mana users, I stayed for a bit longer.
Lily left before us, and Virion ended up waiting awkwardly by the side. I noticed his discomfort and thus, I decided to end the conversation there.
"See you around, Sylfie. Don't worry about not making it in. I can guarantee that you passed the entrance exams." I said as I left.
Sylfie bowed her head and smiled, "Thank you for having such confidence in me, Cael. I'll definitely see you around!"
I chuckled as my footsteps brought me away. I did not simply have confidence, it was in my writing. She was a tragedy inspired by a certain anime I once watched.
With breakfast done, I went over to the training rooms and honed my Rushing Shadow Art as much as I could. I slew dummy after dummy, experiencing countless failures to look for the most optimal positions possible.
When I was tired, I began engraving Blur onto different parts of my body. I started with my feet and hands and then moved inward from there. I did not get much done, however, as the announcement hour swiftly arrived.
Bzzzt—!
My ring vibrated fiercely.
"I passed," I laughed, "Just as planned."
I then put a pause on my training and made my way towards the central area of the dorms. There, enchanted bulletin boards loomed over all those who loitered about the area. They were gigantic.
At least two stories in height, and about as wide as four parallel-parked cars.
I walked with the other examinees who passed the exam as we all flocked towards the bulletin boards.
Once there, we watched as one of Deuzetai's assistant wizards pinned the results onto one of the boards. Instantly, the other bulletin boards depicted what was pinned, and we all saw the rankings.
[]=[]=[]
1. Caelum Phricius
2. Lily Ilventire
3. Virion Von Santos Sol
4. Allyas de Nuantra
5. Jiontar of the Phristines
6. ...
...
[]=[]=[]
Out of the 60,000 examinees, there were only 999 initial passers. It was 333 more than I had originally set. It seemed like my actions might have helped a good number of the examinees.
Despite my aid, however, this was an abysmal acceptance rate. Deuzetai was incredibly strict with how he graded people, directly throwing out those with average talents. If one did not have at least one relevant High talent, then they would have had a very small chance of making it through.
I looked around the central area. Everyone here was a part of the 999. Those who did not receive a notification through their ring looked at us in envy from afar.
Their expressions were full of frustration and sorrow.
Ah~
How nice were those eyes. Shattered dreams and lost expressions... such a combination almost drowned out the joyous atmosphere of those who actually passed.
Celebration was rampant around me, creating a stark contrast with the area beyond, as thousands of other students turned around, depressed.
They still had a chance, though. There was going to be a midterm entrance exam for those who participated in this one.
The school had realised how strict Deuzetai was, and thus, wanting to earn more from donations and tuition, they created what was called a midterm entrance exam. All to accommodate more students without tarnishing Deuzetai's honour or stepping too much on his toes.
A different professor was going to be in charge of that exam, so the examinees will be able to rest easy.
Anyways.
Seeing that my plan had come to fruition thus far, I could lay back and train without worries for the following month.
Nothing super important was going to happen, and most of the secrets that I wanted to uncover had yet to sprout. In [ Evergreen Passage ], this window of time was a time skip where I allowed the situation in the North to worsen.
The royal families that I had mentioned to King were all going to be seeking refuge here in this city. Some fled because they felt the impending coup d'etat, while some had to abandon their kingdom entirely for the time being. Calamitous beasts were simply foes that no regular human could match.
As the coup d'etats would happen over the course of this month, its complete effects would only reach the city when they were all finished. Just when Aethercaller's classes would begin.
Of course, there were important small events that would occur during this month. But they were beyond my power level, so I had no intention to dabble in them.
High-level assassins were forces that would instantly spell my doom.
I was going to hole myself up in Aethercaller's training grounds until I achieved enough mastery over my abilities.
In a sense, I was going to mimic what Virion originally did in my story. He was going to train his body so that he could wreak even greater devastation with his battleaxe. On the other hand, I was going to use my talents to swiftly get used to fighting.
Aethercaller's training room dummy system was my saving grace. I could fight stationary dummies, dummies that fought back, or dummies that simply fled.
There was a lot of variation to my practice, all of which would have been impossible to have had I not entered Aethercaller.
Thus, I repeated a single routine over the course of an entire month. My skills grew rapidly, and I was confident in being able to kill livestock now.
I was no longer the panicking, scrambling, and frustrated beginner fighter I was before. My dagger would slice where I wanted it to slice more consistently.
Although my movements were simplistic, it was a good enough start.
The basics were within my grasp.