After the eventful day, Michael and Anne returned to the dorm while casually chatting about the exam and catching up. As they arrived at the dorm, they parted ways, and each one returned to their respective room to sleep.
The second part of the exam was scheduled for early in the morning at an open academy area to accommodate every student who successfully passed the first part easily.
Waking up from his sleep earlier than the time of the test, Michael got dressed, headed towards the cafeteria to eat breakfast, and then headed to the place where the talent assessment would take place.
Nothing of importance happened neither when he opened his door, neither when he went to the cafeteria, or when he ate, something that pleasantly surprised him because he was sure he would meet either the growing stalker, Elina, or the yet-to-be-confirmed protagonist, so yes, he was pleasantly surprised.
Arriving at the open field, which looked like an ancient Greek stadium, Michael just stood there and waited for the professors to arrive while looking around the stadium.
'I guess the ancient civilizations of my world inspire this whole academy. Maybe the next thing I'll see will be the pyramids,' thought Michael.
After a short while, many more students began to arrive, and soon the whole stadium was filled with students, which could be numbered around a thousand. Even though so many people were gathered together, not a single sound was made, probably due to nervousness about the whole aspect of the exam.
Measuring your talent? Many people would probably not want to know what their real talent was and live their lives in ignorance. Imagine being told that you could only advance in D-rank and any other effort would be futile. Would every one of the participants be ready to cope with that outcome? The answer, of course, would be no, so the phrase ignorance is bliss would be most fitting in this situation.
The nerve-racking atmosphere soon came to a stop when ten of what seemed to be professors arrived in the stadium, and then one middle-aged man with a handsome appearance spoke up,
"Since this will be the second consecutive year where we put as a prerequisite that to be admitted to the academy, your talent should pass a certain threshold, let me inform you about the whole process. First, the device has been tested multiple times, and the error margin is negligible, so don't make a fuss when something you didn't expect shows up.
Second, to clear some confusion, the shown rank shows that your ascension to a certain rank will be a lot easier compared to the ones above. For example, if it is shown that your natural is D-rank, your ascension to that will be the same as the one with a natural C-rank talent. Before some of you jump to conclusions on your own, let me tell you that passing the natural cap of your talent is possible, but you will not have the time to do that.
'Isn't that like saying that our death will come first before we can rank up? So what's the point of saying it's possible?' That thought passed almost every participant in the stadium.
"Lastly, the academy WILL only accept students with a talent above or equal to the D-rank," finished the professor while emphasizing the last part.
Soon murmurs began to form among the students. Some were saying that the acceptance rank was too high, some were starting to cry, and others were waiting for the easiest part of the academy admission to finish.
"SILENCE," commanded the professor who did the introduction.
"We don't want to spend our entire day here, so you will all form ten lines, each corresponding to a professor where you will measure your talent. Start lining up," said the same professor, and then all students began forming a line quietly to not get on the professor's bad side.
Each professor placed a crystal sphere on a table, and all the students had to do was put their hand on the sphere and pour some mana, and the sphere would show the result in a holographic way. The brighter the rank it showed, the higher your sub-rank would be.
"Before starting, everyone who passes will wait here to be informed about tomorrow's last exam, and those who failed will leave without making any fuss. Now begin," informed the same professor who made the opening introduction.
Soon the talent assessment began, and the results for the first ones were announced,
"High D-rank. Pass,"
"E-rank. Fail," and many more results were heard, accompanied by the crying or cheering of the students, each one depending on the situation. Even though many of the ones who had failed wanted to complain, they stopped their thoughts from becoming action once they remembered that they were in the most prestigious academy of all the kingdoms.
Even though Michael didn't care in the beginning if he was tested last or first since the whole process was relatively quick, he changed his plans because he wanted to witness the protagonist's rank. Yes, he slowly became obsessed with wanting to know about him and everything around him. Could someone blame him? Being in a new world, not knowing why he came here and for what purpose, and even the recent addition of the protagonist, he surely wanted to learn everything about him, something that almost everybody in his shoes would do.
After about ten people, Michael's turn came. He placed his hand on the crystal sphere, poured some mana in it, and then the holographic screen that hovered above the crystal showed the result,
"H-High S-rank," announced the professor, with a slightly shaky voice that coincidentally was the same as the one who conducted the second phase of his first exam.
As soon as the rank was announced, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their heads toward the place where the sound came from.
"Isn't that Michael Dacre? Handsome and talented. Life is truly unfair," a line repeated many times among all the students there. Some were burning with envy, while others were lamenting about the unfairness of life.
The professors? Exhilarated. Last year when the talent assessment as a test was introduced, there was not a single S-rank talent among the students. And this year, there was one, and a high S class at that, meaning that he would definitely reach S+. So how could they not be excited about teaching a future powerhouse?
Five minutes after the announcement of his rank, the voices died down, and the assessment once again continued, and then Michael moved behind the professors so he could have a better view of the participants.
The first one that caught his eye was the princess, which was the first time he had seen her since his birthday party. She also followed the instruction, and soon her rank was announced,
"Middle A-rank. Pass," announced the professor, and soon cheers began to erupt, congratulating the princess since they couldn't possibly curse at her or her luck.
After her, Michael patiently waited and soon saw the stalker, Elina, and his childhood friend, Anne taking the test at the same time, and both their ranks were announced,
"A-rank. Pass," announced both professors at the same time.
'I'm getting more and more certain that she has something to do with the protagonist,' thought Michael as he watched Elina, who was looking back at him with a big smile, 'Creepy. Now, where is he?' thought Michael once again while patiently waiting for his assessment to begin. And he didn't have to wait for long since the protagonist's turn soon came,
"The main dish has arrived," murmured Michael while a smile unconsciously formed on his face, enchanting the lucky ones who caught a glimpse of it.