Following the flow of people, Astr walked out of the auditorium.
He didn't feel anything special, and his calm face was in sharp contrast to the excitement of the candidates around him.
After all, he's a seasoned warrior. With the heart of "Old General," Astr is as steadfast as ever. Moreover, he is confident in his victory, penning the entirely correct answer without hesitation.
Including the first multiple-choice question.
The corner of Astr's mouth curled up slightly. He knew the "correct answer." Well, how could he make such a stupid mistake?
'I did that on purpose. First, I want to come into the spotlight, and second, I want the principal to invite me to a dinner of great changes, which means I want to talk to the principal face-to-face.'
Astr walked slowly, his eyes wandering around the carriages, looking for his driver.
At this time, a long-drawn voice that made people want to punch the speaker came from the side.
"Astr. Serene, you really came to take the exam." Astr silently quickened his pace.
Nevertheless, a candidate obstructed his path. His gaze lingered on the person's face for a moment, and his initial displeasure softened. With a smile, he remarked,
"Master Louis called for you; didn't you hear?"
"... .."
'No, because I heard that's why I quickened the pace. I don't want to deal with this stupid young master.'
Astr sighed, turned around, and looked at the blond boy in the crowd - Rafeal Louis.
"How did you fare in the exam?" Rafeal's face reddened. Before Astr could respond, he muttered to himself, "I performed as anticipated, matching the renown of historical geniuses."
"Yes, that's awesome." Astr nodded and said it perfunctorily and sincerely.
Rafeal: "..."
It was clearly an expression of approval, but inexplicably, Rafeal felt as if he had struck cotton. Far from any sense of satisfaction, he was brimming with anger.
Rafeal took a few deep breaths, gritted his teeth, and said, "You can only be tough now. When the results come out, you will know the huge gap between us."
"I will be the first in the written test and the first in the actual combat; the overall score is first!" "And you will regret the price of your rudeness."
When Astr heard the words "First in the written test", Astr raised his eyelids and took a serious look at Rafeal.
'How many drinks have you got to get drunk yourself? But if it weren't for me, you might really be number one.
After all, you have been surrounded by stars since you were a child, you have received elite education, and you have worked hard to reach what you are now, but...
Consequently, the "cheater" suddenly emerged, which means I will fucking poison your smooth path after your hard work, Mr. Louis'.
Contemplating this, Astr couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for Rafeal.
Stared at by this look from Astr, Rafeal's face became even more ugly.
Rafeal was obviously taller than Astr. Astr only reaches to his shoulders, but he inexplicably sees that person in front of him looking down at him from a height.
When Rafeal has a fire in his heart, even if he doesn't understand what it is, he will never hold it back.
Just when Rafeal was about to scold Astr, he suddenly felt a feeling of creepiness.
His vision became distorted and blurred, like looking out through soap bubbles, and the edges were stained with strange phantoms.
After Rafeal tried to wipe his vision in panic, Rafeal's face turned pale, and he stared at Astr, with fear, for a long time slowly the scene started becoming more and more chaotic. Just as Rafeal was on a verge of breakdown.
Astr gave him a strange look, and he nodded. After that, he turned and left.
Behind him, a portrait painted with chaotic colours gradually disappeared.
"Pah!"
After Astr left, Rafeal gasped for air, like a drowning man breathing air.
"Master Rafeal, are you okay? What's wrong with you?"
The candidate near Rafeal said it eagerly and worriedly. He wanted to come forward to help, but Rafeal waved his hand away.
"Go away!"
Rafeal roared hoarsely, and his face and voice were filled with anger.
"..."
The examinee's face suddenly turned red; he licked his lips in embarrassment, and he backed away angrily.
Rafeal stared at Astr's leaving figure, and his eyes fixed on the conspicuous white-haired boy. He clenched his fists with anger, he muttered.
"Astr Serene..."
Rafeal barely suppressed the trembling that lingered in his heart, chewing on the name like a heyna eating meat.
......
A week later.
Late at night in Astral Academy's large teacher's conference room.
The large conference room is located on the top floor of the main teaching building. Under the towering circular dome is a huge circular wooden table.
In the bright light, a heavy machine several metres high was huddled in the corner like a giant, shaped like a pipe organ.
Streams of steam are constantly ejected from the exposed brass air pipe, and the precision gears mesh with each other, driving the bearings to operate at high speed, giving it an alternative mechanical beauty.
With a "click-click" sound, a long printed form gradually spits out from the centre of the machine.
"Finally, the statistics are almost over." A man with a big moustache and a monocle on his one eye patted the machine. "Ha, thank you for your hard work, my lovely Miss Diana."
The machine sprayed out a stream of water in response. If it is really "Miss" from looking at steam, then its physique is probably that of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
This man, who looks like a bard, is actually an instructor at the Knight Department, named Byron Richard.
"If you didn't drink last night, I guess we wouldn't have to sit here tonight."
Felix Radar, the head of the Alchemy Department and the examiner, mocked
On the side, Professor Herbology Keal Pafra smiled naively, and he tried to smooth things up, but....
"Proper relaxation is helpful for physical and mental health. Okay, I'll shut up." The head of the Department of Alchemy glanced at him, and Keal immediately shrank in the corner as if he didn't exist there.
Now comes the final statistical review stage. There are only three of them in the huge conference room.
There were other professors who also wanted to help, but Felix rejected them all because he felt it was more efficient to do it alone.
'If not for the rule mandating the presence of three individuals for any task related to the examination paper, neither the herbology professor nor the knight instructor could stay.' Felix thought and looked at two other people with him.
After a beeping sound, the indicator light on the machine began to flash.
"It's finally printed." Felix couldn't wait to take the long list and murmured, "Let me see who the two candidates with close to perfect scores are this year..."
First place Rafeal Louis
Felix nodded as expected, and he looked down for the next person.
The words "Second place Astr Serene" came into view.
"——What?!" Felix let out the most rude cry in his life.
"How could, how could this happen there must be a mistake yes there must be a mistake I don't believe it " Felix shouted again getting the attention of other two people around him.