"Hey! Heey! Wake up, William!"
William stirred as someone shook him. Opening his eyes, he blinked blearily to find Ethan beside him.
"Teacher's here, Will. Time to wake up."
With a yawn, William sat up, stretching. Today was the second day of the academy—stat exams.
He didn't feel entirely ready but didn't plan on letting that slow him down.
Yesterday, he'd found out by chance that Ethan actually lived in the same apartment complex.
'Not a bad arrangement'
"Good morning, cadets."
Their teacher, Mister Oliver, began. His voice was crisp and commanding. Old-school.
"Today is your stat examination. We'll start with Mana, then move to Physical, Perception, and finally Endurance."
William sat up a little straighter as the teacher explained.
"Mana will be first," Mister Oliver continued. "The exam is very straightforward, you will just put your hand on the orb infront of me and it will do the rest.
But remember—having a high capacity alone isn't enough. Control is essential. Wasting mana due to poor control can be fatal in combat."
He glanced over the room.
"So don't fret over the grade. Work on your control, and any difference can become…negligible."
William smirked inwardly.
'Nice sentiment, but not exactly true.'
While theoretically control can actually bridge the gap, that only holds truth if the person with the high capacity has zero control over his Mana. Which is a case that rarely—if ever— occurs.
In this world, people with high talent work insanely hard to achieve their potential. So most people with high capacity have insane control over their Mana. While people with low talent usually slack off and don't work as hard, as they have no potential to achieve. Even if they spend day and night working hard, they will never be able to reach even 1% of a high talent's potential. Of course there are exception to both sides.
"Now for the test. Cadets, Please come forward from the cadets sitting at the front to the cadets at the back. Each cadet will come forward individually. now, please begin."
William watched as each cadet placed their hand on the orb, some nervously, others with a quiet confidence. Most ranked between F+ and E.
Cadets gradually went up to the teacher and from the results, William found some interesting things.
Firstly, he was above average in terms of capacity. In terms of control however, he didn't need an exam to know he was the worst of the worst.
Secondly, in terms of talented people, he was also average. A talent neither ground breaking nor negligible.
Ethan, unsurprisingly, received a D, the highest in the class so far.
Ethan strolled back to his seat, his expression stoic, until he finally reached William, where he now had a smug look on his face.
"Congrats, looks like you're top of the class," William said.
Ethan shrugged, though he couldn't hide his satisfaction. "I knew it was high, but yeah, didn't expect that high."
Then, Mister Oliver called, "Next!"
William's turn. He approached the orb, feeling his heartbeat quicken.
"Go ahead," Mister Oliver said.
As William touched the orb, a warm sensation washed over him, seeping into his veins like liquid fire.
After a moment, Mister Oliver checked the reading. "E+—not bad, cadet."
William exhaled, nodding, and walked back to his seat.
Ethan patted him on the back as he returned. "Nice try, man! Not as good as me, but hey, we can't all be special."
"Oh, just wait until the rest of the exams. Then we'll see who's special." He shot Ethan a mock glare, and they both laughed.
***
The Physical Exam was also straightforward but grueling—testing pure strength. William's turn came up quickly. He stepped forward and managed to lift 300 kilos, ranking a solid F-.
'Average here is F+, so I am way below average, Ethan is going to have a field day mocking me'
He sighed inwardly.
Ethan's turn was right after his, so when they passed each other, Ethan looked at him with a mocking grin, he then made his way towards the weights.
He easily lifted two and a half tons, earning another D. After seeing Ethan's score, William made his way to where the backpacks where located.
Ethan approached him looking very happy with himself.
"Need help lifting that backpack, grandma?"
"Oh, just you wait until the next exam," William shot back.
***
The Perception Exam was held next, alongside the Endurance test. The exam was very straightforward. You would be put in a virtual world where you had to detect enemies and avoid attacks. To get the highest score you have to find one hidden item. The Endurance exam will also be held at the same time. How it works was not explained.
The cadets were guided to a row of virtual pods, where they would undergo the tests in a simulated environment. William settled into the pod, feeling an odd sense of weightlessness as he put on the VR headset.
In an instant, he blacked out.
***
William woke up in a back alley, he was laying on the ground. He got up while grunting and started to check for his stuff.
"Hmm... Looks like only my gun is on me, rest of the stuff I don't know where."
He then started making his way out of the alley. Yet, right after he stepped out to the street, he felt intense panic and a tingling sensation on the right side of his head. That made him immediately duck to the ground.
*Swoosh*
Something flew right above him, exactly where his head was supposed to be.
"Shit."
He got his gun out, and started running towards the other side.
*Swoosh**Swoosh*
Arrows whistled past, missing by inches as he zigzagged, ducking and dodging, frantically as he crossed the street. And when he could, he shot at where the arrows where coming from.
"Where the fuck are they shooting from, and why the hell is this street so wide!"
William kept running and dodging untill he finally reached the other side. He saw a back alley and immediately into it to take cover. After he got in, he collapsed on the ground, his heart beating wildly.
"This was intense!"
He said in-between gasps.
He rested, laying on the ground for a bit, but his heart was yet to calm down.
'Something's off.'
William couldn't see clearly even if he looked around as it was dark, so he depended on his hearing to check if there anybody approaching.
Suddenly, William rolled to the side and jumped to his feat.
*BAM*
A sword struck right where his head was.
*Bang**Bang**Bang*
William shot three shots into the darkness, in-between each round there was enough light emitted to see a silhouette of a large person holding a sword, which was stabbed into the ground.
All three shots hit the person, causing them to fall to the ground. William walked over to the fallen person, cocked his pistol, then shot again. This time to make sure he was dead.
'This is fucking terrifying.'
****
A/N
Mana (MN, where 10 MN is equivalent to casting 1 fireball, Lowest consuming spell.)
F-: 1000 F: 2000 F+:3000
E-: 5000 E: 6000 E+:7500
D-: 10000 D: 12000 D+:15000
Strength (Where 1 STR is the ability to lift 1 Kilogram)
F-: 300 F: 500 F+:700
E-: 1000 E: 1300 E+:1500
D-: 2000 D: 2500 D+:3000