Like any reasonable person, I chose to stay with the stranger who saved my life. After all, if Ms.June had evil intentions, why even bring me back to the city? Also, the military respected this woman enough to salute her. Who would willingly want to be an orphan over staying with a powerful magic user in a fantasy world? My decision was a calculated move to guarantee a future for myself. An orphanage would limit my growth and resources compared to a person who could provide resources to me quickly. Even if that woman was a demon servant from hell, I could respect her grind.
If one would ask why I call her a demon servant from hell, that'd be because the next day after I agreed, she woke me up early in the morning to 'train.' I worked until I fainted day in and day out. Some days, I considered escaping but couldn't get past the house's security systems. The training and workouts I had to suffer were more like beatdowns. However, after a month, I began to see results. At that same time, she began to include homeschooling in the repertoire so I could get a basis on the world's information. Due to my fine basics in other subjects, I didn't have to do much.
The adoptive mother of mine, Ms.June, made sure I had gotten physically and mentally challenged. I also got the best from the best tutors and 'etiquette' classes to conduct myself correctly. Since I was 'advanced' for my age, I didn't require much teaching. Although most classes were tiresome, I enjoyed the ones around combat as I became formidable in hand-to-hand combat using various martial arts. I even learned to use multiple ranged weapons like pistols and bows. I hadn't even learned magic yet, but I had all the power to beat someone physically. That was, however, based on the standard of my home world rather than this one, so I still needed to work to become strong.
In the World of Terra Nova, as they called it, it was a completely different timeline than mine. In the year 2020, when the COVID pandemic hit the world, humanity was able to awaken a gene laying dormant within them. It was a mutant gene that caused a change in not only humans but all flora and fauna. Dragons weren't just legends here but apex predators that one had to watch out for. The change in the genes resulted in fantasy species such as elves and dwarves being born who had an even deeper connection to magic. The atmosphere soon filled with magic as the flora released magical energy everywhere.
The world was further separated from mine as the current year was 2499. It was hundreds of years in the future. Magical energy is even said to have increased the size of the world by ten times, but it has yet to be proven. The most significant information I'm sure many conspiracy theorists would like is that Ms.June said the world's core had an entirely different world born from magic. I felt like I was living in a video game.
Magical energy also spread into space, causing changes in the stars. The solar system remained the same, but life sprouted on other planets. It's better to say portals of unknown realms opened, and creatures poured out. Ms.June told me not to worry about what was beyond our sky, as stronger individuals like herself handled things. There was enough in the World of Terra Nova to focus on anyway.
There were at least a thousand in Terra Nova compared to the two hundred before. I could only continue to research to understand my geography better. While some countries were still here, some had fallen. The emergence of mana was both a good and bad thing for everyone. Looking from another perspective, I also realized I needed to be stronger. The humans of the past suffered a chaotic age when all the wild animals and plants evolved.
The wild began to raid cities as animals who had evolved into magical creatures started to tear everything down. If not for the fact some cities weren't close to a zoo or much wildlife, the world would have fallen. I also learned that humanity's greed knows no bounds, even in a world-ending crisis. There was a massive incline of violence of humans against one another. Some nations' nuclear bombs weren't even focused on the magical beasts but on other countries that they suspected were causing the emergence of mana. It was a dark time for humanity as the weapons we initially held dear couldn't kill beings that had tough hides strengthed by magic.
It was not until about 2050 that people began to understand how to use magic like the beast they were fighting off. The remaining ten percent of humanity works together to fight off the beasts and establish cities that beasts couldn't break into. It wasn't until about 2200 that humankind began to develop its nations again. Some magical beasts were too strong to handle, but most seemed content staying in thier territory. The study of magic also became popular, so a better understanding of the world could be found.
For some, magic is used for everyday life, while others use it primarily for battle. It was both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing due to the advancements in science and other related fields but a curse due to the rising crime rates. For every four good people, a fifth would want to stir up trouble. On the bright side, capitalism had no place in the world, but magical strength, on the other hand, did. As long as you were powerful, nobody would mess with you.
As the study of magic continued, scientists discovered the many forms it could take. Classifications were added for the various levels of magical ability that individuals had achieved. While everyone had an inherent level of talent, hard work played a huge part in how far someone would come. An individual also, however, needed to have experience fighting and studying magical beasts so they could improve thier strength. Being powerful would mean nothing if you had yet to see the battlefield. It allowed for more flexible thinking.
I not only gained enough knowledge to catch up with others my age but also to surpass them. My additional studies ended up paying off, as the test I took to get into a high-ranked magic academy for high schoolers was more complex than I thought. The questions and theory would only suit those who read excessively, like me. The assessment was nothing short of bullying. On the other hand, this test was for the best magic high school in the city for the average student, but it was unstable since that school was the highest ranked in the city. I can still vividly remember the day I went in for the assessment. I was so happy on that sunny Friday, but the test administrators ruined everything. If not for the fact I was told by my foster mother they did so to test the mental fortitude of students, I may have fallen for their schemes.
However, they still managed to get under my skin; I did not react. Not only were they late, but they treated the students from my school horribly. They started by telling us we wouldn't do well on the exam based on the rubric they had given and we should give up. Though they didn't say that word for word, they were clever in thier wordplay and held an arrogance in everything they said. I almost applauded their acting as I would have believed without my inside information.
I still needed to show them how incorrect they were even with the act. My face, however, had to keep calm since my adoptive mother told me not only were thier cameras around, but examiners hidden using magic were observing everyone. Points could be added and subtracted after all. The test only accounted for about 20% of the total score they would give us. Knowledge could be taught, so there wasn't no need to worry.
The entire test was a free response, so one couldn't hope to get lucky with answers for the most part. I blasted through the test like no tomorrow since most of the obscure knowledge they asked about I had learned about. My adoptive mother made sure I was prepared for whatever questions came up. The test was more fun than anything to me. It made me feel like I was getting challenged as the time for it wound down.
After I reached about halfway, I realized the room had somewhat cleared out. There were fewer people than at the beginning. Some people got either escorted out because they lost too many points or gave up themselves. The exams for other magic high schools would occur soon anyway, so there was no reason to worry. Each school had a different admissions process, so few had gloomy faces. They knew going in it would be difficult.
However, if people had stuck through it, they would have also learned that you get points for finishing the test. Ms. June also told me that sometimes cheating isn't discouraged. As long as you used a loophole they hadn't sealed on the test, you could do it. One also had to deal with the fact that getting caught cheating could result in being blocked from all top ten magic high schools, so people didn't do it. Out of the fifty or so in my testing room, only fifteen to twenty people stayed. It was a cutthroat test, but I didn't know people would give up so easily.
I thought this magic school was more of a home for thieves, spies, and criminals, but Ms.June explained it to me. In a world of magic, one couldn't be easily shaken by what's around them. Of course, it was admirable to take a step back if you couldn't do anything, but giving up proves this school wasn't the right fit. When danger lurked at everyone's corner in the wilderness, you didn't want the teammate who only prioritized thier own life but one who worked with the team to get away.
The test looked at multiple factors of an individual to get a comprehensive understanding of them. Before the practical test began, they interviewed all the remaining students in the room. They asked us a few questions to learn what wasn't on our application. It felt more like we were going to college than high school. I began to understand why they are ranked so highly now. If a school did all of this for the freshman, I wondered what it was like for the current students.