JIva smiled and said.
"There is a fee for the admission test of the academy. It is five gold coins for each student.
As you know it is a very large sum. Some ordinary people couldn't even earn that much in their whole lives. So, the academy gave them a way out.
They can participate in the test, if they pass everything is fine, but if they don't they would have to work inside the academy as a servant for a decade. For a lot of people, this is a win-win situation. After all, their professions outside are barely enough for them to survive.
They also have to deal with life threats every day to make a such a small amount of money.
But here, if they pass the exam, their lives will change significantly. Even if they fail, they could get stable jobs. Of course, if they want to leave they have to pay the penalty on top of the five gold coins.
Still, don't you think being stuck here for 10 years is not such a great deal? After all, academics are not the only places for learning cultivation. If they are lucky, they might get some fortunate chances outside, but ten years is a long time for them to wait for it.
Anyway, the rule is the same for everyone whether they are a noble or a commoner, but there is one group that is a complete exception to this rule."
"The Orphans from our orphanage."
Viswa said as he understood the situation.
From what Sir Warden said before they left for the exam, he is paying their fees, so even if they fail, they can choose to stay in the school and work as servants or they can go out and live their lives.
They are basically escaping all the consequences.
He also understood why everyone is hostile toward them. They have a privilege that even the major nobles cannot posses on these academy grounds.
As for being freeloaders, it is pretty self-explanatory at this point.
Viswa understood the hostility and just decided to mind his own business.
Sir Warden already took care of their application procedures before and they were handed some stone tokens with a weird ink mark inscribed on its back.
They were all led by an attendant through the main building and left through the rear entrance and finally stopped at a large wooden gate.
The attendant looked at them with a smile and said.
"The examination will take place after the other candidates also come, it would be on the otherside of the gate. You just have to wait here.
You might be a bit nervous, so take this time to relax. It will take some time for others to finish their procedures and come here, so no one will disturb you."
"Thank you." Jiva and Viswa thanked the attendant. The remaining three kids are way too nervous to think about manners now.
Jiva looked at them and said.
"Please take a deep breath and relax. You trained very hard for this and from what Sir Warden said as long as we are confident and have enough physical strength, we should be able to finish this test easily.
Even if we didn't land on top places, we should still be able to pass."
The others nodded in understanding, but they are still nervous. After all, they don't have the safety net of the orphanage anymore. All these days, no matter what happened and what they needed, Sir Warden was there for them.
But they have to bear their responsibilities on their own. This is a big change.
Meanwhile, Viswa decided to warm up. He started stretching and did a light jog along the wooden fence. But even after ten minutes, he didn't see the end of it.
He came back and stretched once again. His muscles are warm, if it is just a physical test, he is very ready to go.
Soon, one person after another started coming. They are all participants taking the test that day.
Viswa looked at all of them as if he is sizing them up. They are all fifteen years old. He doesn't know why there is such a threshold, but it seems universal at this point.
As he looked around, he sensed a hostile gaze and turned to see that it was the boy in the silk robes that he met previously. The one that tried to humiliate the orphan children.
Viswa didn't show a single change in his expression and just waited. Soon, the gates opened.
All the students walked in, while the guardians and adults that came along with them left. As they are walking suddenly, Viswa stopped in his tracks with his eyes widened in disbelief.
He touched the back of his neck hurriedly.
All this while, every day he is feeling a constant burning sensation on his neck. It is the sensation that comes from him going against his status as a slave and staying so far away from the Demon Noble he was contracted to.
And this burning sensation fluctuates with his movements as it is dependent on the distance between him and the nobility that he was contracted to.
He noticed that when he arrived at the academy, the sensation went down a bit, but he didn't think much, all of a sudden the pain disappeared. He is shocked. Because the only time the pain is not there is when the noble is within a hundred meters.
He hurriedly looked around as sweat dripped over his back. Jiva looked at him and pulled him by his hand.
"Come, everybody is gathering there. Hurry up."
Viswa turned around and walked forward in a daze. But his mind is in a mess. It should be impossible for the noble who contracted with the original body to appear here. At least from the memories of the slave boy, that he what he knew.
It is one of the greatest regrets of the Baron.
As a Sea Demon, he wasn't able to cross the sea and conquer the lands in this continent.
Viswa still held his neck as he walked and he turned around to take a look constantly.
Jiva thought he was just intimidated by everyone around them and tried to calm them down.
Viswa also shook his head to clear himself of these thoughts. If the demon is really there, he should have been able to identify them by now. But all he could see are regular human kids.
He could only sigh and continue with the test.
Soon, all candidates reached an open area and behind that all they can see are forests. There is a large dais in the middle.
A middle-aged man is standing on it while there are a bunch of people standing while wearing brown uniforms behind him. All of them are adults who seemed to be their early twenties or late teens.
The middle-aged man looked at them and said.
"Welcome to all the candidates participating in the admission test.
I will cut to the chase and wouldn't waste your time. If you look straight ahead, you should see the peak of the mountain far away into the forest from here. He said as he pointed in a certain direction."
All the candidates looked and there is indeed a peak visible albeit faintly.
"Your final goal of the test is to try and reach that peak, in three days. You will all be given a survival kit which will be barely enough for you to survive for these three days. So, use it carefully.
Whether you reach the peak or not, the test will be over after three days. Do remember that there is no limit to the number of students taken in, so don't try to plot against each other.
And the final decision will depend on me and me alone.
Finally, the forest is a treacherous place even though we have strict control over it. There are some beasts that are in a half-evolved state on this ground.
They might try to attack you, but of course, it is a bit much for kids like you to face them, so we are sending this team of people that are standing behind me to guard you along the way.
They are your seniors and they are all on the path of their cultivation, although a bit too slow for their age. They are still useful for your current situation.
But still, be careful.
And the stone token that was given to you. If you are in danger smash it with something. Anything that you could get your hands on. Someone will come to your rescue, but from that point onwards you will be out of the test and your result is yet to be determined"
The faces of the people standing on the stage twitched as they heard the middle-aged man's words.
Soon, he left the stage and the candidates are directed by these ten people in brown uniforms.
Viswa looked at them and noticed one familiar face. It is the man who almost killed Manavi three months ago and this young man already went to the future lord of the Black Sand Region.
This scene made many of the youngsters jealous. A lot of people tried to get cozy with the seniors and elders within this place, but they rarely succeeded, so when they saw that someone actually had some friends this deep in the academy, they really felt a bit envious.
Meanwhile, Viswa ignored them and looked at the peak with a frown.
Jiva looked at him and asked.
"We are going to stick together and move. Do you want to join us?"
Viswa looked at him and other candidates from the Orphanage and nodded his head.
He decided to stick together for now.
But he still had that frown on his face. He felt that there is something wrong with this test.
"What happened Viswa?"
"Don't you think the test is too long? Even though the peak is indeed far away, I am pretty sure it is not far enough to take three days. In fact including the scaling time, an average person could finish it in a day at most.
So, why is the exam three days?"
His words made the rest of them fall into thought as well.
Viswa is pretty good at estimating the distance, he has a lot of field experience as a soldier. Even though his forest experience is only considered decent compared to his sea adventures and covert operations, it is still more than enough for him to gauge what it takes for the current test.
"I guess we don't need to think too much about it. After all, we can find out after we start with the test."
Jiva said and with that, the whole group started walking.
The people in the brown uniforms are moving at their own pace. After all, there are a couple of hundred candidates but only ten of these guards. They have to be on constant alert to keep track of these people.
Many people started walking in groups while a lot of them walked alone as well.
Viswa and the rest of the orphanage group walked into the forest and they suddenly felt some pressure being borne on them.
It felt like their bodies themselves became a bit heavier and as they stepped forward there is some unknown resistance.
Even though it is very faint, they noticed it. After all, all of them have decent control over their bodies with the way they worked out and they knew their strength.
It seems like without much delay they already got an answer to Viswa's question. There is this weird pressure on them. It is as if the air itself became dense and they need to put in the physical effort to even move forward.
Viswa noticed that the rest of the candidates are also showing the signs. Of course, the pressure is not too much at this point and it is very easy to do as long as they exerted a bit of force.
So, everyone increased their speed and started moving forward.
Even though the middle-aged man said that there is no limit for the seats and never mentioned anything about this being race, a lot of the kids in silk robes seemed to think this is a race and decided to behave as such.
They became competitive right from the start.
Meanwhile, Viswa looked and checked the supplies in his survival kit.