I hadn't stopped patting her head or stroking her hair since I sat down and it was now morning. It was the day of the exam to grade us and put us into suitable classes after our development.
*Mghh*
She seemed to stir every once in a while but she never woke up but it was getting close to the time we would need to leave.
"Morning sleepy head we need to get ready for the academy."
"5 more minutes"
"Nope we don't have five minutes,wake up."
Pinching her puffy cheeks she eventually opened her eyes. Those sapphire-like eyes looked at me and only at me.
"A-ah N-noir what are you doing here!"
"What do you mean you asked me to stay here last night."
"I did? "
"Do you not remember, you were pretty worked up last night."
"I didn't do anything embarrassing did i?"
"No in fact you were cute if anything."
"Really?"
Her tail started to sway side to side sometimes hitting my arm, it was ticklish but pleasant nonetheless.
"Anyway you need to get changed so I'll make some breakfast how about that? Does a sausage sandwich with lettuce and lightly toasted bread sound good to you?"
"Yeah it sounds perfect."
"Great it'll be done soon then. Don't forget the tie to your uniform this time."
"Got it"
~
Grabbing a pan I turned on the stove and added some butter to coat the pan before adding a few sausages. Letting them cook I grabbed a lettuce and began to pluck the leaves and clean it before cutting off the bottoms to make extra sure before drying them. Coming back to the pan I added the slices of bread to let it absorb the butter and part of the fat. If this was earth it would be unhealthy but in this world it was fine as far as I could tell.
Eventually the sausages and lightly toasted bread was done and Evelyn was walking down the stairs. Her nose was twitching from the smell and her tail was swaying vigorously.
Putting the sandwich on the plate I placed it on the table with some orange juice and a fruit bowl just in case.
"This smells really good"
"It's not as good as the hidden bar food but it should do."
"Am I prepared enough for the exam?"
"Well going from your progress you should be perfectly fine if not one of the best. Your physical abilities have caught up to your intellectual abilities. Just give it your best and all shall be well. I'll deal with any... Problems if they arise."
"Thanks Noir!"
"Now eat up, we don't have much time to make it to the academy."
~
Finally making it to class we sat down just to be told to get back up. Apparently we were going to an artificial island like the one that was used in the entrance exam. Instead of a battle royale it would be something else however that something else was unknown to us.
"Alright class please line up and present all weapons and spacial devices if you have one. For this test you will not have access to your personal effects."
A majority of the class groaned at that statement but I wasn't too concerned. The cheap and small spatial ring I owned was filled with snacks and a dagger so it looked like I used it but everything else was in my dimensional storage. However I couldn't use anything publicly if we weren't allowed personal items.
Walking up I was met by an elf. It was a great decision since they were sensitive to mana and they could detect artifacts easier. He had an apathetic expression on his face that said he didn't want to be here.
"Please provide all your weapons and artifacts."
"They are all in this ring."
Looking me over and using an artifact just in case he confirmed I didn't have any artifacts.
"Your spatial ring will be categorised and stored for the duration of the test. It will be in safe storage so do not worry."
Walking past I joined the group that were already searched as I waited for Evelyn to be processed.
~
"Alright class! I will now brief you on your test. You and the other first year classes will be teleported to an island under the academy. This island had low-ranked beasts. Your mission is to survive for a week or find the exit portal. You will gain points based on the number of monsters you kill along with your skill, teamwork and adaptability. Those in the top 30 in both this exam and the theory exam will be placed in class S- class (60 total [+30 more students in S-class])"
"Those from the top 100 - 31 in the exams will be in A-class and so on and so forth all the way to F."
"On that note we will be watching the exam starts now."
A nauseating amount of mana filled the room as a magic circle teleported us to a beach. It seems I was wrong and it wouldn't be an illusion. If we die we die. Finding Evelyn I pushed through the cluster of people until I reached her. While it said teamwork it never said as a whole class. After all the class weren't all the same, some were stronger and some were more intelligent. They wanted us to work with someone that could compliment us not the entire class, although it would increase survivability.
"We need weapons"
Grabbing a branch I felt its weight. It would snap if it was to hit anything even if I coated it in mana however it could be used for firewood.
"Can you use your heightened senses to listen for anything in the forest while we travel. Smell won't work well since there are so many people around us it would be sensory overload but once we get deeper your senses could save us."
"I'll try but it won't be very accurate"
...
...
...
"There are branches snapping further in that way."
"Great let's scout the area out to see if it is other students or a beast. Setting up a shelter where we can come back to after hunting should be our top priority."
Moving through the thick brush we were met by the sight of a couple of students who weren't part of our class fighting against a small pack of mana enhanced wolves. These students dealt with the wolf pack effortlessly barely gaining a sweat. I knew a couple of their faces since I was temporarily in their class.
An arrow whizzed past my face and towards Evelyn but she managed to slap the arrow out of the way. Extreme reflexes for a mage, luckily you don't need much strength to change the course of an arrow just the reaction time to counter it.
"Where did they get a bow and arrow from?"(Noir)
Next a swordsman pushed towards us so I waited until he was close to the bushes before grabbing his arm and twisting him over my shoulder and slamming him back first into the ground before twisting his arm further eliciting a deep groan as the guy dropped his crude wooden sword.
They created these? The craftsmanship was shoddy but it makes sense, it's not like they have a blade to sharpen the wood with they probably used flint or something similar.
"Friendly were friendly!"(Swordsman)
"Didn't seem that way from how you shot at my friend."(N)
"I didn't mean to, I could feel a deep corrupting miasma and thought it was a beast. I apologise."
"You shot an arrow at me! Did you not think to check beforehand!"(E)
"Wait... You're the source of the miasma?"(Kiera)
"She's a special case she doesn't have control over the Miasma that leaks from her, What a coincidence to meet you on this test princes."(N)
"Wait she's a princess and you know her?"(E)
"Calm down you haven't done anything wrong and, Yeah I was in the same class for a little while before I was hospitalised." (N)
"Noir what are you doing here? Where is the rest of your class?"(Agidyne)
"We separated from them. The test says to hone your teamwork skills not the number of people you have to work with. People tend to avoid us so it was easier this way too. Although it seems that you decided to stick as a class for the test huh? still for attacking us were keeping this sword, here Evelyn."(N)
Chucking the sword to her she deftly grabbed it out of the air and gave it a few swings before practicing a block and a parry.
"This should do for defence but what about you noir?"(K)
"I'll coat my nails in mana to elongate them and use them as a weapon, I can use my fists too and slam whatever I'm against into the ground, it's a bit muscle headed and moronic but it works."(N)
Before we could move to leave we, well I mean I received a proposal from the elf princess.
"Why don't you join us Noir. With your skills it would be easy to reach the top 30?"(K)
"Would you allow Evelyn to join too?"(N)
Elves were the typical race described in books. They loved nature and had strong ties to earth and plant magic which differentiated from other races through how they used their spells. That didn't mean that elves couldn't harness other elements but it was rare and said element would be extraordinarily powerful.
Ah I got distracted there. The reason I bring this up is because they hate all things impure. Dark spells, Curses and miasma being just below tainted mana in terms of what they hate most they even hate dark emotions like greed and lust but that's not exactly useful.
Her face was the perfect mask to people around her but I could still see a hint of disgust in her eyes.
"She's got a deep rooted miasma emanating from her Noir! She can't even come close to us, the deep power inside that miasma would kill us."
"She's right, Join us Noir We could use your skillset Plus she is a lost cause." he wasn't even hiding his condescending smirk.
(Prince Agidyne)
I could feel a deep hatred lingering within me. This was someone who I had spent a majority of my time with in the recent months. She was misunderstood, not given a chance due to her curse. Before I could do anything she burst out in rage.
"Who are you to say what he does!? You have no authority over him even if you are royals! He has his own mind to make decisions with. Why are you trying to separate us?! Can I not have anything!"
She raised the sword that I had given her over her head ready to strike!
She was losing her mind cracking under the chance that I would just leave her to join the others.
With gentle and tender movements I grabbed her arm before giving her a firm squeeze communicating with my eyes the message I was trying to express.
(I'm not going to leave you so calm down)
It only hit me then that maybe I was being too overprotective, coddling her like a child that knows nothing, she could fight her own battles that was for sure.
The princess trying to rectify her mistake apologized.
"I-im sorry I didn't mean to come off so bitchy, I have a natural disinterest in anythign that holds dark mana. I'm sorry for treating you like that." The ever elegant princess bowed in apology.
"N-No forget it you're forgiven just try to respect the people around you more, some of us have no choice were thrown into certain circumstances that we have no control over"