The next week passed uneventfully. Lake stood before the Association building once more as he took a deep breath before walking in.
In the last week Lake felt his progress with the Steel Body had slowed down so he spent most of his time studying past exams to get a better grasp of what could come for the test but he simply couldn't make sense of the evaluation criteria set by the association.
Each year the association would change the method for evaluation in a completely different direction making it impossible for the candidates to predict what would come. For example, in last year's test, the candidates only had to complete an obstacle course within the given time limit. Naturally the obstacle course was extremely difficult with only 40% of the students passing. The exam before that was a duel type exam where candidates had to fight the instructors in a one on one battle while being evaluated by a group of judges on the side. That year only 20% of students that took the test passed and the year before that was a week long survival test on an uninhabited island where only 10% of students passed.
Feeling a headache just thinking about it, Lake cleared his head as he looked around the association. He had come close to the meeting time so he immediately saw that other three candidates gathered together when he arrived. They were grouped up near one of the elevators with instructor Derek besides them.
Walking over to them, Lake saw Instructor Derek check his watch before speaking, "Alright, since everyone is here, let's not waste anymore time, follow me."
Heeding Instructor Derek's word, everyone followed as they stepped on the elevator platform before quickly descending. After a few seconds, the elevator stopped as everyone got out and followed Instructor Derek through a short corridor. During the walk, Lake noticed that Kate kept looking at him with a strange expression, making him feel slightly uncomfortable.
Smiling awkwardly, Lake turned his head to ask, "Is there a problem?"
Kate stared at Lake's face for a few moments as she furrowed her eyebrows, "Not at all."
Lake watched as she quickly turned her head away before walking ahead of him. Lake shrugged to himself before continuing along behind the group.
After walking for a bit, they arrived inside a strange room with a circular platform in the center. The platform had intricate patterns carved out on it with a blue glow flowing through them.
"This is the teleporter of the association. We will be using it to travel to the exam site, where you will meet up with the other candidates to take the test." Derek said as he casually walked up onto the platform.
Everyone followed silently as they stepped up onto the platform. When Derek confirmed that everyone was on, he imputed a command into his stopwatch before saying, "Prepare yourself. Teleporting for the first time can be extremely disorienting."
"Huh?" Everyone looked over to Derek with confusion but before they could ask a blue light flashed across the platform before disappearing with everyone on it.
When the blue light flashed, Lake felt his vision go momentarily black as he felt the space around him twist and turn as if he was in a cyclone. When his vision returned, he felt a little disoriented as he rubbed his head, trying to stabilize himself. When he finally stabilized, he raised his head as he began to observe his surroundings.
As Lake looked around, he was slightly stunned as he seemed to find himself in what appears to be a beach. He was currently standing on a platform similar to the teleporter back in the association. Surrounding him is a large clearing with the sea facing his back. Lake could see around six to eight hundred students in front of him walking about. Beyond the students and the clearing was what appeared to be a vast wilderness where a group of instructors seemed to line up with a set of crates and racks filled with various weapons.
After everyone returned to their senses, Derek quickly led them off the platform to a gathering point where Lake could see a small flag with the words 'Sunset' written on it.
"Instructor Derek, where is this place? What kind of exam is this going to be and who are the other groups of students?" Allen asked as he looked around.
"This is an uninhabited island where this year's examination will take place. The other groups of students are people from different branches of the association in the country. The flags next to each group represents which city that branch is located in. As for what kind of test will be coming, I have no idea."
"Huh? You mean even you don't know what will be coming for the test?" Allen asked with a slightly dumbfounded expression.
This time Kate answered the question for Derek, "The association doesn't reveal the contents of the test until the very last second, not even to members of the association. Only a few members of the higher ups know the contents of the test and they don't spread it around to prevent any leaks from happening."
Derek nodded his head in agreement with Kate as he looked at the time on his watch, "The test will begin shortly. I suggest you all take this time to do any mental preparation for whatever the test may be."
After hearing his words, the group nodded their heads as they began to think about what could possibly come for the test. While everyone was doing that, Lake was busy observing the fate of those around him. From what Lake could see, around 30% of the students that had gathered here had white Fates mixed with blue, while the remaining 70% were mostly white Fates with a few green Fates among them.
As Lake was waiting for the exam, he was busy going through all the blue fates, as he wanted to get a feel for what the competition would be like. While Lake was observing he suddenly spotted something that left him completely stunned.
A short distance away Lake could see a young man currently standing still with his eyes closed. The young man was extremely handsome, comparable to the likes of Lake or possibly even better. He had short black hair and sharp facial features. As he stood there he released a certain charm that was hard to describe. However, that was not Lake's reason for being so shocked. What left him stunned was the Fate that had already taken a shape above the young man's head which means that he was already a martial artist!
However, not even the fact that he was a martial artist was enough to stun Lake, at most he would be slightly surprised. What left him stunned was the shape of the Fate which had formed and intertwined to create two 'words'. That's right, not a weapon, a body or some form of a technique or skill but two words that made one title. This title had sparks of electricity radiating from it, but the sparks were silver in color making it blend in with the other white tier Fate around it, that's why Lake didn't spot it at first when he swept his gaze through the crowd. Staring at the title in a daze, Lake slowly muttered the name in his head.
"Lightning Emperor."
Soon Lake regained his calm as he took a deep breath before returning his gaze back to the Fate. Excitedly, Lake tried to observe the fate of the young man as he wanted to uncover the secrets that he held for him to acquire such a unique fate but when his eyes tried to observe the fate a system notification appeared in front of him.
[Observer of Fate skill level does not meet the requirement to peer into the target's Fate.]
"Huh?" Lake was dumbfoundedly as he read the message in front of him. However, before Lake could understand what just happened, a giant hologram appeared above the crowd of students, causing everyone to quiet down.
The hologram showed the image of a man who looked to be in his late thirties.
"Good day everyone. My name is Alec Malcom, and I will be briefing you on the contents of the test before you."
Hearing his words, Lake forced the previous matter to the back of his head for the time being as he listened to Alec explain the contents of the test.
"The test that has been decided for this year is a hunting test. The wilderness before you has been filled with low tier monsters that have been captured from rifts and fields. Naturally these monsters are extremely weak and even a person who hasn't stepped into the martial realms could defeat them. There are a total of 3 tiers of monsters inside the field, Normal tier that are worth 5 points each, high tier that are worth 10 points each, and boss tier which are worth 50 points each. There are only 4 boss tier monsters on the field. In order to pass this test you are required to achieve a score of 100 by killing these monsters.
You will be provided with basic weapons from the association to assist you in killing these creatures. You will also be given a wristwatch that you will need to use to scan the corpse of your defeated foe in order to register the points. The watch also comes with a map of the island and a creature identifier which you can use to identify your target and the points they cost. Due to the nature of this exam you will also be given a piece of protective gear that will generate a shield in case of any life threatening danger before sending a warning signal to one of the many instructors in the area. However, if this shield is activated it will be considered as you having failed the exam. If you feel it necessary, you can also team up with fellow students to a maximum of five people using the wristwatch. However doing so will significantly lower the amount of points that you will receive.
The test will last for 5 hours. If you reach the required points before the time is up, you may continue to hunt for more points which can be used as a special currency in the Academy if you pass or you can simply wait out the timer. When the time is up, a message will sound from your stopwatch for you to return. These are the rules of the exam. The test would begin in the next 20 minutes in order to give you time to pick out a weapon of your choice if you so desire."