"Name?"
"August Opal."
"What academy?"
"Saint Palmer's"
"St. Palmers..St. Palmers.. Ah here it is. Just go right through the gate, and I wish you luck on your exams."
"Thank you."
Walking through the gate, I was greeted with a large stadium that easily spanned for more than 2 football fields. This was definitely the most amount of people I had seen in Augusta for a long while.
I also met the leading noble family of the city to boot..well not really. Just the infamous kid, but he's the highest ranking noble I've met in my life time. Then again people talk pretty carelessly about him...
Also a cool thing to boot, looking around, I saw all kinds of races inside the stadium. It was definitely a diverse crowd. I see people of East Asian descent, South Asian, African, European, South American.
I'm mildly surprised..at school I saw none of this.
Weird...
"Hello, you're participating in the exams, correct?"
"Ah..Yeah, I mean Yes I am."
A decently average height kid who seemed to be from...the Dominican Republic came up to me and started talking to me. He had long, dark dreadlocs along with brownskin. Wait how does he have a Dominican Accent..
He's also, loud...Still nice but definitely has a booming personality
"PERFECT! My name is Sol Ignacio, from house Ignacio, what is your name?"
"My name is August Opal, it is nice to meet you."
"Do you come from Jamatown? I can hear the accent."
"No, I'm from Augusta. The outskirts however, I originate from farmers."
Jamatown..? What's that? I kinda overlooked the Jamaican accent my parents had when speaking..wait how was I able to communicate with them..?
..
..I don't have time to think about this. My future is at stake, lets not have an identity crisis right now.
"Ah, no noble's control that land so we usually don't put any jurisdiction over there."
"Oh, that explains a lot then."
"Well, I just wanted to introduce myself and wish you luck!"
"Thank you, and I wish you the best of luck too!"
For a noble he was pretty nice. Polite and loud, but not the usual "I'm above you" attitude. Like politicians, I'd say. A public figure running for office.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
"HELLOOOO, everyone. We'd like to begin the examinees placement testing so please go to your respective lines. The lines are categorized by last name so look for the first letter in your last name."
Walking over to Group O where there seemed to be about 100 of us. It seems the academy houses a lot of students if this was one of the smaller groups, unless if they had cutthroat requirements.
"You guys that are in Group O will now be taking the first part of the placement tests. Core measurement, although it will not be a major factor in determining your class, it will be noted. So we hope that you guys will be satisfied with your results."
We were to form a line and wait for our name to be called, so they could measure and note down our specs.
"August Opal, come in!"
I moved into the examination room. It seemed similar to the cathedral room I visited when I was younger just much larger and more advanced. It was the same process albeit shorter.
"..alright..lower sky core...thank you, you're good to go."
..They don't seem that surprised. Are there that many good talents coming in here? I wanted to be really favored..
Oh well, it is what it is, I will still be first ranked!
________________________________________________________________________________________________
I definitely will not be first rank.
Everything was going fine for the first tests, my magic was cool and new making the examinees practically swoon, then the test came.
It's as if the difficulty curve went all the way up out of no where. Started incorporating mana with math, to calculate energy how it transfers...For such an outdated and backwaters world, they have really complex theories and formulas
"We hope you guys did well on your tests, and will be satisfied with your exam results. We just have to test 2 more things and you will be able to receive your placement class and rank on the first day of Academy."
"First, you should begin to get ready for the Mana limit test. You will be inputting your mana into a mana absorbing stone, we'd like you to stay and put as much mana into that stone as possible. That way we can get an approximate amount of Mana, each of you hold."
________________________________________________________________________________________________
A large orb giving off a multitude of colors, stood at the center of many rooms, organized for the test.
One by one examinees would go in and place their hands onto the orb, inserting as much energy as they could in order to get as high as a score as possible. Many almost passed out due to overexertion, but they were prepared for this.
Those with healing abilities stood outside the rooms just in case things went south, and the rooms were covered so the examinees could feel as little pressure as possible.
"August Opal, come in"
'..This seems pretty similar to our core testing...oh well'
"Begin whenever you are ready. Also keep in mind, the more relaxed you are, the easier this should be so take your time."
I nodded ahead and placed my palms onto the stone. A deep green color began to surround me as I began to pour my mana into the object.
A low hum began to reverberate in the air as my mana pressure spread out. After about 30 minutes, my arms began to tire from holding them out that long.
'They couldn't have let me sit down or something..?'
After about another 30 minutes, I felt my mana beginning to bottom out. My legs and torso ached, especially near my left pec. Right next to my heart, I felt a sense of loss and tiredness.
I guess that's where my core is located, wait so where would my soul be...? After about another 10 minutes, I took my hand off of the stone and staggered back.
One of the healers outside walked in at the signal of the examiners and made a yellow light envelop me. The light began to rejuvenate me and my left pec didn't feel as sore.
"I began the process of mana returning, in about 10 minutes all your mana should be back. Also congratulations! You only have one more test, so hang in there!"
"Yes, thank you."
I made my way out of the room as they called on the next examinee and sat in the waiting room.
"Hey, I heard that the Starling kid's been in the room for a while..."
"That trash? No way.."
"Yeah, he's been in there for the past 3 hours holding up his entire group!"
"Wow, I'll believe it when I see it."
...3 hours....
..Wow.
Hopefully, he doesn't stay in there forever. Can't have him showing me up when I don't even know the guy.
Then again I don't really know anyone here.
..
I'm lonely.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
It took that Starling dude, 5 hours...
5 hours till he was left collapsing on the floor in a dramatic manner. Everyone was suprised by how long he lasted and it really looked like he gave it his all so no one could knock the kid.
'..show off..'
It was just a limit test, really don't need to all of that if your Core is good, and you did well on the exams. He's a noble so he should at least be smart.
"Sorry for the wait everyone, there was an anomaly with the students, but the tests will still go on. It is only the early afternoon as of now, so we can begin the last test shortly."
"In this test we will be placing you against controller monsters with varying levels of strength. How you beat these monsters is of no concern to us, utilize as many ways you can, and that you have available."
"This is more of a survival test than of a strength one. So stay on your toes, and do what you can."
"Also do not worry about possibly getting injured as these monsters are controlled by us, and healers are on stand by."
Some coffee would be nice right now.. Almost bottoming out and I've been up since 4. Let's just leave it all out there during this last test.
"The monster's will be designated by levels from level 1-20. You will have approximately 30 minutes to defeat each monster, the shorter time you take to defeat it, the higher your score will be."
'And there goes my strategy'
"Please head to your designated groups and begin to organize yourselves."
Watch that Starling guy reach like the highest level or something...dick.