-1st person-
7 years later,
There are 4 academies, one Purple, one Red, one Blue and one united.
The United is currently the most coveted, where most students want to go.
That is the school I want to go to. Or the school I'm going to go to.
It's a school with Blues, Reds and Purples altogether and it also has the best facilities, the support of the Imperial Family and so on.
It also doesn't discriminate against factions or nobles or commoners.
However, it's a more military-like school that trains students to be killing machines that can defeat the Gods in the future. Even if, at the surface it seems like the most lenient, the true training apparently starts after half the year.
Students that are suspected of buying their way in school are treated as less than humans in order to exercise discipline. And using that method, there was a lack of nobles due to the fear of mistreated.
Don't worry, even if you're mistreated because of that, they do treat true students properly and with humanity.
Right now, I'm going to take their entrance exam. This usually is filled to the brim with students from different factions, cramming in their last studies and so on. The problem is, I've already studied all the topics and I don't plan to get 100%. All I need to do is get above average in both the practical examination and the written examination.
The current passing mark is 39.5%. Low, right? The reason is that all of these topics are supposedly way too difficult for 12 year old children to get high marks on and even with the miserably low passing grade, so many students failed to the point of adding another rule within the school
[If a student fails the written examination, their practical examination will decide whether the student enters.]
In a nutshell, they add both the scores and decide your entry based on that. The passing mark for that is 72% since the practical examination is what most people are best at.
Yeah, believe it or not, most students get over 85% for the practical examination.
Well, anyways, I walked inside the castle-like building that seamlessly intertwined the colours red, blue and purple. It looked futuristic, yet not overwhelmingly so and it also had a large amount of paintings and murals all over. Depicting life before Aetil and also showing the Imperial family before the Reds appeared. Of course, the Imperial family still use portraits rather than photographs because portraits are believed to be more true (and cooler).
There were multiple students using different ways to move along the corridor, some kids used floating machines to get to other classes whilst other students used mana to fly. Some used super speed and some directly teleported. It was a nice sight but that only looked cool if you could directly see the mana. It swirled along the corridors abundantly as if overflowing and it joined together. Creating a mural of it's own as if it was also greeting the students just like the teachers waiting past the entrance for us.
"Greetings, from our school. We are the teachers of United." An older man walked forward from the crowd of teachers and spoke. "Hello, it is truly an honour to see our young talents. We all look forward to teaching the future of humanity." An invisible heaviness passed over the atmosphere as he finished his sentence but it soon disappeared as if it never existed. His gaze passed over every child as it stopped on my face momentarily, then it went to my hair, and back to other people.
Well, it's not a surprise considering the fact that I disappeared for '1 hour and 30 minutes' and came back with pitch-black hair. It's not my fault that it wouldn't change no matter how I tried to [Camouflage] or dye my hair... And wigs would even corrode.
"We'll begin with leading you to the written examination hall, which is used for written examinations every year. The other group will be conducting their practical first. Please randomly take one of the papers in the air and walk to the chair with your number written above it. Before the examination begins, we will inform you that any cheating caught within these halls will cause an instant fail. You will fail if you try to speak and even glancing over to another persons [Screen] will cause an instant fail." Gasps and sighs erupted from students as the first sentence was spoken. But the previously rowdy crowd quickly quietened as the next sentences were spoken.
[Screen] referred to a certain spell which created a kind of digital paper with mana or technology depending on the child using it. The reason it's [Screen] and not [Digital Paper] is because it can also be used to go online, however, there are ways to block certain accessibilities and stop students from searching the answers.
I quickly took one of the papers that were floating with the help of mana as a number appeared in my head. I leisurely walked over to seat 759, sitting down as a screen popped up in front of me. It was blank, but as soon as everyone sat down and the exam started, words would fill the [Screen]. We were informed by the letter that appeared at our house 3 months ago.
I waited for a few minutes and then the booming voice emerged again.
"The test will begin in 30 seconds, please prepare and ask the teachers at the side for assistance if there is an inconvenience before the exam begins."
The clock ticked as people bustled nervously, checking their things hundreds of times to make sure they didn't forget anything. This is because some questions require certain things that the school doesn't prepare, it's kind of an extra test to see if people can be organised and also contributes to the total marks.
I'd already done the same before I left and even now, I was checking everything with mana. I had everything and was ready.
"12, 11, 10, 9, 8..." The countdown continued as it slowly got to 0.
Tick, tock, tick.
It hit 0. The room was filled with shuffling sounds as all sounds died out and I looked at my questions and answered. I answered some difficult questions wrongly and randomly to make it seem like an accident. However, there were questions like,
[What is the name of the First Imperial Emperor?]
[Expand 5(23x - 7)]
[What is the 5th rank called?]
[Name 7 different weapons.]
[Explain the ideals of one of the 3 Factions.]
And so on...
I just answered all the questions and then, I waited for others to put their hands up.
1, then 2, then 3, then 4. I placed my hand up just after the 7th.
And then I laid my head down and slept as a teacher came to get my test.
Time passed and soon everyone was finished with their tests like me. I was still asleep then but just before I had to be waken up, I got up myself, as if I was a machine.
It was truthfully like a built in device at this point though... I would wake up at the point when I want to or if I don't want to wake up, I would just wake up right before I need to.