~ 10 days remaining. ~
After more than half a month had passed, the atmosphere between the examinees had gone from tense to weird.
It was as if they were resigning themselves to fate, but also trying to fight it in a way.
It's weird, indeed. Was this natural?
Thought Yoel, as he entered his dormitory.
He had forgotten the one piece of equipment that he had kept with him throughout the entire duration of his stay here; the cube.
It was his guide and his only crutch in this world of cruel independence. He had relied on it since the start of his days there.
So naturally, he was quite confused as to why he had forgotten to take it with him when going out.
However before he could get to the elevator to take him to his floor, a crowd formed in front of it.
To add to his displeasure, the crowd suddenly started cheering, as if watching someone fight.
This scene was quite the contrary to the atmosphere of the academy a few days ago.
Many believed that they were ready, while some had given up. Regardless of what they chose, most of them were gathered there and were blocking his way.
It annoyed Yoel, but his curiosity eventually won.
He walked closer to see what the commotion was about, and the sight left him with more questions than answers.
He saw a new face, someone he hadn't seen before, or noticed before staring down the girl who gave him weird looks whenever he practiced his technique.
The man had blonde hair with a lean build, his expression was that of arrogance and pride, which would be well deserved if people learned of his feats.
Those being.. blessed by The Ones Above.
His awakening chance was abnormally high.. way too high.
However, he had kept it a secret from everyone.
Yoel didn't know that, however, which painted the man in a bad light for most already..
When an arrogant boy and a beautiful woman stare down at each other, who would one root for?
I think the answer is obvious.
Thought Yoel, as he listened in on the streak of insults the crowd was throwing at the man.
"Stop being so dramatic, prick!"
"That idiot really thinks he can beat her.. what a dumbass."
"She's the granddaughter of one of the damned founders of this place.. is he really that stupid?"
The insults were.. quite bold to say the least.
There was no pretty way of insulting someone, at least in this place.
The man knew that, however. He knew more than they did, actually.
As the waves of insults kept rushing in, someone pushed through the crowd.
"Move."
These were the only words he spoke, yet they carried a strange danger behind them.
A rather average man appeared in between the blonde man and the girl, allowing side-by-side comparisons.
In conclusion, he really was average. Average height, body build, face..
All of it was average, really.
However, he seemed to push through the crowd of people with ease, despite looking average in every sense of the word.
That gave way for more people to pass by, so Yoel rushed after the man before the wall closed once again.
After that, a weird moment of silence came.. and then they were at it again.
Seriously, how do they have the energy for this?
Damned children.
Today was an important day for Yoel too.
Boring, but important nonetheless. He figured that while being here, reading about the world itself wouldn't hurt.
There might even be an exam that involves answering questions about it in some kind of trivia quiz.
The Ones Above knew what would happen, so he believed it would be best to be prepared for anything.
Either way, a lot of rumors had started to circulate about the exams.
Many claimed to know what they were, saying that the information about them was compromised.
Many of those people were offering that information in exchange for DP. With no refunds, as well.
It was quite a gamble, to say the least.
Thankfully, however, Yoel had good hearing, one might say.. so he heard a few rumors about the exams revolving around humanity's history.
It was a peculiar subject and a boring one as well. It didn't fit the intense aura the mention of the exams first gave off.
With a sigh of resignation, Yoel turned on the cube and proceeded to search for the most important parts of history.
He also searched up a world map, so he could study it just in case he's not cut off by some random geographical question.
As he scrolled through the books section, passing by any possible fun-to-read books, he finally arrived at the one he was looking for.
The title of it of course was quite the boring one, as you'd expect from these books.
[Pick: "Planet Earth's History" ?]
[Yes/No]
Hesitantly, he pressed the yes button.
This experience was sure to be torturous..
Without further complaining, he steeled his resolve and tried to gather his thoughts and concentrate on the book.
It was a rather average-sized book with a ton of pages. Seriously, it was no joke.
He opened the first page and began reading. Slowly, he became immersed in the story.
The book was not what he expected it to be. When you think of "boring history lessons", you wouldn't think of this.
The book tells tales about the mighty humans and their feats long before this era.
Further on, it began describing the many different races populating Earth long ago, and how they had all gotten wiped out due to unknown means.
It also spoke about how Avon and Enigma abilities were simply referred to as "mana" and "magic" and were trained after that idea.
What was also interesting was, that the humans in the past who were referred to as mages were as rare as they came.
When one thought of a mage, they usually instinctually compared them to an army of men.
While now.. these so-called "mages" were not so rare anymore.
Instead, it was like they were defective and common nowadays..
Instead of freely being able to control avon in the environment to alter their surroundings, they could only augment their body or perform actions with the avon they had since awakening.
What was more than that, however, while mages from the distant past could freely control the way they strengthened themselves, the mages of today were forced to progress their abilities in a specific manner.
Yoel had heard about this phenomenon before. It usually happens when one first awakens..
It's almost as if their instincts are rewritten to accommodate the information of their requirements to ascend to the next stage.
Well, it can actually come in many ways. Some say it's like an instinctual desire, while some say it's like a monotone voice in their heads.
Thought Yoel, as he pondered if he would ever be able to even awaken to experience those problems for himself.
As he flipped onto the next page, he read about the classifications of those mages from the past. There were only three stages a mage of that time could reach.
Third Class, Second Class, and First Class Magician. There was also the National Class, which was reserved only for the country's best mage.
However, that rank was abolished a little bit after its creation due to circumstances.
Today, there are only three ranks a human can reach, or was it four..? There are only three confirmed ones, and another surrounded in mysterious rumors, yet to be confirmed by official authorities.
They are as such.
"Blessed", which is the first stage of awakening. This awakening connects the person with the world of Avon, being able to sense it to some extent, and becoming capable of controlling the avon within them to form avon pathways, while further enhancing their newly formed core. The pathways they can form on this stage are crude and primitive, but it serves as a foundation for the later ranks. At this point in time, they are still considered human, for the most part.
Their awakenings came in dire situations, some examples being, while on the brink of death, in an extremely disadvantageous situation... things like that.
"Apostle", the second stage of a Blessed gifts a person with an immense analytical prowess over their own body, being able to note many things about their body, even down to very small muscle groups. These people begin to create pathways for those muscle groups, in order to let the avon flow freely allowing them to achieve results faster. There was also something else, allowing them to influence the avon of the world... but nothing is written about it in this book except a few mentions of it.
"Champion", the third stage of this supernatural journey... was shrouded in mystery. Nearly nothing was written in this book about this stage. The most that was written was that attaining this stage was a dangerous process.
As for the rumoured fourth one... nothing was written in this book, as it was not officially recognized as a point one could progress to.
The names for these ranks were heavily inspired by the humans' belief in the gods.
For example, "Blessed" was pretty straightforward. To awaken such mystical powers and be like heroes of old was something everyone thought at least once, right? So, in a sense... whoever awakens is believed to be blessed by some kind of deity, one way or another.
As for "Apostle", it meant that the people who have progressed to this stage are quite adept at what they do, and are knowledgeable about such things. Therefore, many opted to teach younger individuals about how to reach their level. It was almost like, they spread various beliefs about different religions...
And lastly, "Champion"... this one, Yoel was unaware of what it could correlate to, maybe a chosen champion picked by the Ones Above themselves?
Seemingly satisfied with this answer, Yoel continued reading.
But... come to think of it, why had the humans believed so eagerly that deities existed? Even the ranks are influenced by them, along with many other aspects of life.
Yoel found himself weirdly drifting away from these thoughts not even minutes after having thought of them.
Scratching his head a bit, he simply shrugged and continued reading.
It was kind of weird that this book had information on general knowledge such as this, but Yoel really didn't mind it. He could use some help in any subject, really.
Feeling a bit tired, he sighed.
However, he had no intention of stopping here for the day.
Right now, every second was crucial.
..It was almost ironic saying that while reading a book about history, instead of preparing his body for the events to come.
Soon enough, he stumbled upon the history of the central land. The land he stood on in this very moment.
Alecaster.
Alecaster was once a barren land with no opportunities to grow plants. Hence why living conditions back in the medieval ages were quite harsh.
However the stubborn humans living there persisted through the challenges that found them on this land and eventually conquered it for their own.
They created their own soil.
Soil in which one could plant seeds, soil which would give back rather than just take.
It was beautiful overall, its transformation from completely barren to being called the center of the world. It was admirable to say the least.
Yoel nodded with approval as he read through the information about it. He was satisfied.
Next, was the land that never seemed to evolve. It was as if it's people were stuck in time.
Kleim.
It was just a small nation at the edge of the world.
Jungles flourished in this region, with many creatures residing within them, both evil and good. It was where their warriors honed their skills.
The people of that nation believe it was better to experience the real thing over and over rather than repeat a motion countless times, only for it to fail because one was not used to real situations to even use their accumulated knowledge.
They are known for a few things specifically, however..
When the entirety of the world was evolving, they refused to evolve with them. They merely refined their techniques, over and over..
This land was known for its exceptional warriors and their extraordinary medieval equipment. While yes, it was medieval.. they had been upgraded to their peaks, almost.
So quite weirdly, they produced both good warriors and fantastic weapons. However small it may have been, it was very important to the world.
That is because one cannot take modern weapons to time dungeons or to space.
But even though their weapons are incredible, their ships are too underdeveloped to reach the central land in hopes for any trade.
To counteract this, they make use of enigma users with portal-like abilities.
Although it's not as effective, it gets the job done.
Yoel turned to the next page, quite fascinated by this weird nation.
Ebenfield.
Ebenfield was covered to the brim with snow, wherever land was, snow would follow. Wherever lakes were, ice would follow.
If someone looked at it from a far, it would look like a pure white expanse.
Its freezing temperatures were of no joke either, to have lured even the strongest of men with delicate and gentle snow to the fiery flames of the underworld.
It was quite a bizarre land, and not one humanity could explore right now. It's state went beyond logic.
And finally, Yoel flipped into the last pages of the book.
..Croex Star.
A land once prosperous and filled with life, only for it to all be lost by a mere touch of the finger.
The land was said to be grazed by The Ones Above at some point in their wars for control and power.
Amongst the empty and lifeless expanse lies a core of pure, blazing darkness in the middle of the island.
However that last part was only a rumor. Nobody could get close to the island to find out.
It is said that a fraction of The Ones Above abilities caused the star to form, and its formation completely incinerated all humans and animals residing in that continent, allowing monsters to take their place.
Those abominations were said to be simply terrifying, but they wouldn't cross the water after the island even if they wanted to.
It was as if the Core of Darkness located in the middle of the island was holding them hostage to it, in some way.
Not that people would care, of course. All they'd wanna do is get away with their lives.
With a sigh, Yoel put the book back and leaned on his chair. The book slowly disintegrated into the cube again and Yoel scrolled through a bit more before giving up.
His eyes swept through a few books, none of them interesting enough.
At that point in time, Yoel just wanted to be done with it.
He scrolled a bit more until one book in particular caught his attention.
The book was named..
"The Ones Above…" and with microscopic writing after that, it wrote..
"and their counterparts."