In the first ten minutes of the test, nobody moved or even tried to pick up their pen.
Everybody stood still, carefully reading the test and showing the same expressions on their face.
A look of utmost confusion.
And then, for another while, the students did nothing, before slowly succumbing to despair.
I suppressed a smile, as I watched my students despairing, finding it to be amusing of some sort.
However, around fifteen minutes after the test began, one by one, they gradually began to grasp the concept of the test.
Contrary to usual tests, it wasn't one that just forced the students to recall some memories, but to actually think by themselves and look for a creative solution.
For example, instead of asking things such as 'How to beat a hunter', I twisted the question and forced them to think of a more creative answer.
'Hunters are beasts that steal the armor and equipment of their victims. Assuming that the hunter's equipment is vastly superior to yours, how would you react to such an opponent if you are injured and escape is not an option?'
It is a question that required the student to gather all their pieces of information about 'hunters' and devise their own plan on how to proceed.
I am under the impression that just asking my students for something that I could just read in the book wasn't the way to go.
Instead, I wanted them to use all the information they had at hand and devise their own plan.
Thus, even if the students didn't have all the information at hand, they could still solve the question by trying to simulate such a situation in their minds and describe their way of reacting to such a situation.
After all, I wasn't here to teach them how to recite information from a book, but to teach them how to survive in this world.
In the first place, a memorization quest wouldn't work anyway, as Ophelia existed in my class.
She could've just used 'shared memories', and gotten the answers to the questions.
While I would still probably detect it, I didn't have any concrete evidence that she had used it, which meant that I couldn't give her an unjustified bad grade.
Although it would mean that there was more work for me to do, as I had to rate each answer individually, it was worth it.
If individually grading my students and rating their plans would help them improve their abilities, and thus help them survive, a little bit more work for me was something that just had to be necessary.
At first, it seemed like they didn't really know what to make of that type of test, as they were probably already used to just plain reciting tests.
However, after a while, slowly and one by one, each one of them started to pick up their pen and write.
While the expressions of horror on the faces of my students were amusing, I also felt some sort of relief when they all seemed to gradually understand the contents of the different questions.
There were only 5 different questions, and they had around 3 hours of time for it, so I was guessing that they should have been fine with that much time.
Instead of just not doing fine, with the passing time, the students subconsciously began to smile when doing the test, as if they were actually enjoying it.
Tic— Tic— Tic—
The rotating clock had released a quiet click with every passing second.
For the rest of the three hours, nobody said anything and just concentrated on the test.
Surprisingly, instead of anyone submitting the test early, they rather chose to revise their own answers and maybe even change them.
Clap—!
With a clap, I signaled the end of the test, ready to pick them up.
Across the room, I could hear my students groaning in exhaustion as they dropped their head on the table.
***
***
"How did I do, brother?"
Ophelia instantly asked with an excited sparkle in her eyes, looking at me with great expectations.
I had only entered my own home, and she sat in front of my apartment door, seemingly waiting for me.
"I still didn't have the time to look over it yet."
I calmly explained as I put my coat away..
"I see..." Her voice sounded disappointed, but she didn't pry any further. "I really liked the task! It was fun."
"Is that so? What was so fun about it then?"
Crossing her arms, Ophelia furrowed her eyebrows as she started thinking.
"Well...it was like writing a story, I guess.?"
I raised an eyebrow, an amused smile forming on my face.
"Really? How so?"
"It's because there was so much freedom in what you could have written. Rather than a test, it felt more like a game. I bet that each and every answer is different from each other, right?"
I nodded.
She was right.
The original purpose of this test wasn't for me to grade what my students knew, but how they utilized their knowledge.
I didn't particularly care whether they knew that a 'Enforcer' used a style that was similar to the imperial style, but with slight alterations, such as them having a delay between their attacks, that vary between 0.2 and 0.75 seconds.
That information would essentially be useless to most people, especially when they're in a battle.
As such, I chose to ask questions that didn't have a definitive answer, but one that the students could create themselves.
While it still wasn't 100% accurate, the time limit represented the limited time to devise a plan in a battle.
Instead of asking about their academic knowledge, I wanted to find out their 'Battle IQ', and occasionally even help with furthering it.
"That was the intention of the test."
I laughed, patting her on the head and ruffling through her hair.
"In the end, the intention of my class is deeply rooted in practical combat and survival, so rather than asking for what you know, I wanted to see how you used the information you knew."
Nodding her head, Ophelia released an sound of approval, before letting out an deep sigh.
"I see...but you know..."
"Yeah?"
"...I didn't actually have to study for that, did I?"
She was right.
Due to Ophelia's vast knowledge that almost certainly exceeded even mine, I didn't expect her to study as hard as she did, but it was a rather pleasant surprise.
In the first place, I only encouraged my students to study, so that it would've been easier for them to create a plan for the different situations, but it wasn't necessarily required to get full marks.
"Yes, you pretty much wasted your time."
"All that time..." Ophelia complained, as she brushed over her face, twisting it in agony. "I could have used it for something more fuuunnn."
Admittedly, I also didn't tell her because I was curious about how she would react when she found out about it.
I gradually began to understand why there were parents who loved teasing their children,
She just acted so utterly adorable that I just couldn't help but tease her.
"But you rather chose to study. You're such a hardworking girl."
Laughing, I grabbed her cheeks, twisting them, as she grumbled in response, trying to take my hands off her face.
"Sthop iiit!"
Ophelia complained, fidgeting around, before finally managing to take my hands off her fast, panting.
"Haaah." She sighed. "When are you gonna finish correcting the tests, then?"
Putting a hand on my chin, I started to furrow my eyebrows, pondering about the answer.
"Probably after the school festival?"
"The what?"
Ophelia tilted her head to the side, looking at me with an expression of confusion.
Right.
She probably hasn't heard about it yet.
"The school festival." I explained. "It's starting tomorrow."