2 Chapter 2 - Entrance Exam Part 2

"Indeed." The Examiner nodded once more. Just as she was about to say something to Mi Young, the torches that lit up the whole pavilion once again vanished and the main lights came back. Mi Young could now clearly see all the eyes of the crowd laid upon her. Not used with the attention she was receiving, Mi Young bowed her head in embarrassment. "Don't look down, child. Everyone! The first part of the entrance exam has now ended! To the remaining examinees, please leave your papers on the table and wait for your scores to appear. It will usually take two to three minutes before your papers are checked. Aside from that, are there any examinees who managed to get a golden bracelet like this?"

All of the examinees looked at each other one by one, asking and wondering if anyone also got the golden bracelet Mi Young had. But to no avail, Mi Young was the only one who managed to get the golden bracelet, which means, she is the only examinee who passed the exams with a perfect score.

"What's a golden bracelet got to do with the exam?"

"If I had known that the only way to get a perfect score was to have a golden bracelet then I should have let my dad buy me one before taking the exam."

"Who is that girl anyways?"

"Yeah, who is she? I've never seen her on our side of the kingdom."

Questions flooded through the minds of all the people present in the pavilion. Even the previous students who are now seniors in the academy are wondering who was the girl who managed to have the highest score in the exam.

If Mi Young knew that she would get this much attention just by having a perfect score in the exam, which is purely out of luck, she would have never walked up to the Examiner the moment the golden bracelet appeared before her.

The Examiner clears her throat when she hears the huge commotion coming from the other examinees and the crowd. She touches her throat using her forefinger and her loud voice echoed all throughout the pavilion, "SILENCE!"

Everyone inside the pavilion stopped talking. Even the people outside the pavilion who were not able to enter the hall can feel the tremor running through their bodies when they hear the Examiner's voice. When she saw that everyone had finally settled down, the Examiner started talking once more, "The scores are now here. I will announce the top 300 students along with their scores. If your name is called, please sit down on the chairs on the side of the stage."

Everyone feels agitated hearing that the Examiner will now announce the results of the first part of the entrance exam, while the examinees are praying and hoping that their names will be called out.

The Examiner clears her throat and a golden scroll appears in front of her. She touched the scroll and with a loud voice that echoed all throughout the academy, she started calling out the names of the top 300 students who passed the first part of the exam. "For the 300th place with a score of 29 over 100, please step forward, Yu Jun Su. While on the 299th place, may I call Ms. Lee Chae Yeon….."

A couple of minutes have passed and there are only 6 remaining slots. Mi Young knows that five of them belonged to the children of the four great clans, while the other is dedicated to her. As if hearing her thoughts, the Examiner starts calling out the names of the four children from the great Mage clans. "Sixth place goes to Kwon Ji Hyun with a score of 42. Followed by his brother, Kwon Jin Young, who has a score of 43."

The twin brothers high fived each other as they both stepped on the center stage. They bowed at the Examiner before proceeding to sit on their respective seats. It was evident that they are both happy-go-lucky-type of people.

The Examiner had a small smile on her lips before she looked at the scroll once more. And so she continues, "Allow me to introduce Ms. Park Min Ji from the Park clan. She has a score of 45 and will take the seat in fourth place."

Park Min Ji rose up from her previous sitting position, which was beside Jeon Shi Yun, and walked towards the center stage with an unbelieving look on her face. She quickly bows towards the Examiner and sits on the fourth chair.

"On the third place is Ms. Shin Shang Min with a score of 47. Please take your seat beside Ms. Park." The Examiner says as she points at the seat beside Park Min Ji.

Just as Shin Shang Min was about to sit down beside the fourth placer, Park Min Ji stood up and raised her hands, drawing the attention of everyone inside the pavilion.

The Examiner cocks her head towards her and asks, "Is there any problem Miss Park?"

Park Min Ji gives her a dazzling smile that could take away any boy's breath, but to the Examiner, it was just nothing. "Can I trade seats with Miss Shin? I want to sit beside Shi Yun."

The Examiner sighs at her antics. She adjusts her eyeglasses before shaking her head softly, "No you can't."

"But—"

"It is by the rules of the academy that everyone should sit according to their ranking. If you want to sit beside Mr. Jeon so much, then you should have studied more diligently in order to get a higher score."

The words she spoke left Park Min Ji's face in a deep shade of red. She huffed and stomped her feet before ultimately sitting down on her respective seat once more. She glanced at Shin Shang Min who offered her a small and shy smile but she rolled her eyes at her. Mi Young shook her head at her attitude.

The Examiner then coughs awkwardly before continuing her announcement. "And in second place is Mr. Jeon with a score of 60, which is higher than the previous highest score."

Jeon Shi Yun stood up, but right before stepping towards the stage, he glanced at Mi Young, which the latter found weird. Jeon bows at the Examiner and sits beside Shin Shang Min. Mi Young sees Park Min Ji trying to get the attention of the young man but she is again, ignored by the son of the Lord Jeon.

"And now…for the first placer who has made history for Mistwood Academy. Everyone knows that before Mr. Jeon's higher score, no one, not even the King himself, scored a higher score than 52. But today's generation is indeed filled with many talented students that can be the future pride of Mistwood Academy. And with her perfect score that no Mage has ever made, may I call Miss Kang Mi Young to step on the center of the stage and claim her seat in the first place?"

Mi Young took a deep breath before stepping towards the stage, immediately different murmurs and whispers from the spectators and other participants could be heard. The young lady ignored them and went to stand in front of the Examiner. The lady had a small smile on her face and there was an obvious proud look that reflected on her eyes. Mi Young just smiles at her softly because she was not used to getting this much attention.

"Congratulations." The Examiner says before she held out a hand to Mi Young and led her to the seat where the first placer should go.

Right after everyone has finally settled down, all of the students who failed the test were either sent home, if they wanted to, or they could join the people on the bleachers and watch the remaining parts of the entrance exam.

However, Kang Mi young still couldn't believe that she had gotten a perfect score on the first of the entrance exam. While taking the test, she thought that she wasn't the only one who noticed the secrets on their exam paper, but taking in the results today, she knew that she was the only one indeed.

Okay, so here's what happened. During the exam, when she looked at her paper, she knew that something was indeed not right since everyone said that the exam should be hard. So when she finally started scanning her paper, she then realized that the instructions written on the paper were too long. In fact, it had twenty sentences in total. Most of the examinees may have skipped the instruction part because it was way too long so they probably didn't notice that at the seventh sentence, the words "Look to your left" was written, which is the only sentence that is out of the picture. So when Mi Young looked to her left, there were a couple of mist-like words written on the air that said, "look at the back of your paper", which is why Mi Young was able to answer the riddle in the exam paper. And as for her answer on the riddle, she simply answered that she will ask the genie to beat her half to death, and her sibling will of course get two times the beating so she will die and she will soon be the richest and most beautiful girl in the world. It's simple logic, really.

She thought that she was not the only one who was able to pass the exam but sadly, it was only her. Now that she realized it, she kind of feels a little superior to other Mages, but Mi Young didn't let that thought get to her head and ignored the whispers thrown at her. She then goes back to listening to the Examiner and focuses her full attention to her.

"So now that the 300 students have already taken their seats, it is time for us to proceed to the next part of the entrance exam." The Examiner starts again, and with a wave of her hand, the entire center stage of the pavilion changes.

The previous stage where a lot of tables and chairs were placed are now replaced with four round tables on the front part. There is also a small platform on the center of the stage that looks like a large cauldron. In fact, it was indeed a real cauldron that was so huge that one or two people could fit inside. Now, what the hell is the use of that cauldron? Mi Young knew she wasn't the only one thinking about the weird and large cauldron in front because the other examinees were also looking at it weirdly.

As if sensing everyone's question, the Examiner smiles gently before proceeding to announce the instructions for the next part of the entrance exam. "Everyone! This is the most ancient cauldron here in the entire kingdom. This cauldron is even more ancient than the Big Four. In fact, this cauldron was the same cauldron they used when they were also freshmen students. As to the old students, you probably knew what this cauldron is for. However, these new faces don't know it yet."

The Examiner looked at the top 300 students sitting in front of her before she continued her explanation, "This cauldron is used to examine which faction you belong to and that also includes which element is best suited for you. If you drip your blood inside the cauldron where you are standing, one of the tables in front of you will light up. The table that lights up is the element that you will cultivate here inside the academy. Of course, if you were to graduate you can change the element you want to use but that would totally be a long journey and you will have to restart all over again. Keep in mind that this cauldron is very exact and will give you a result that is best suited for you. The cauldron also knows that there are only 150 students to be chosen so if none of the tables will light up, it means that your magic is not enough to be recognized by the Divining Cauldron. However, you can have the privilege to apply to our sister academy, the Westwood Academy, where you will learn basic and general magic techniques."

The thought of being able to know their element agitates almost all of the examinees that are seated below the center stage of the pavilion. However, there are also a number of examinees who are scared to take the test because they think that the cauldron might not choose them. As for Mi Young, the second part of the exam is a huge thing that can really help her a lot in knowing what kind of element is best suited for her.

You see, Kang Mi Young has a secret. And that is, she never once knew what element is for her. Mostly, Mages her age will already have an element for their power. Kids around 8 to 10 years old would already have manifested signs of the element that they are going to use. But Mi Young never had the chance to explore hers. Because for all she knows, no elements love her. She once thought that she's going to be a Water Mage since her father is from the Water clan. But when she tried bending the water to her will, she caused a tsunami when she was 8 years old. There was also a time during grade school where she and her friends were playing with fire and a friend of hers caught her hair on fire. Mi Young tried to help her by using her water magic so she could put out the fire, but instead, the fire grew bigger. And on the third time, when she and her father had an argument just as she shouted, the ground beneath them shook so hard that the neighboring houses beside theirs collapsed. That's when Mi Young realized that none of the elements loved her. As for the Wind element, she never tried investigating it, afraid that she might cause another catastrophe. So up until now, Mi Young doesn't know which element is right for her.

"Before I call on the first student, I would like to remind you guys that it is not you who will choose the element. Rather, it is the element that would choose you. Which means that even if you are from the Pyro clan, there are chances that the element that would light up will be the Hydro element." The Examiner says before eyeing everyone, and most especially the children from the Four Great clans.

It is a known fact that if a child from the Four Great clans will not possess the element that runs through their blood, they will immediately be cast out from their families. For them, it is a form of embarrassment. Mi Young notices that the children from the Four Great clans looked perplexed and anxious at the same time. To the normal Mages like Mi Young and the rest, this kind of test is helpful. However, to them, it is a huge obstacle that they will have to face.

After confirming that everything is set and everyone has gotten the idea of the exam, the Examiner calls on the student from the 300th place. And one by one, they all came to the center of the stage.

Mi Young saw a couple of students that jumped in relief upon seeing one of the tables light up, there were also students who went down the stage with tears in their eyes upon not being chosen.

Finally, the moment everyone is waiting for has finally arrived. Now is the turn for all of the children from the Four Great clans to step inside the cauldron. The Examiner calls on the sixth placer which was one of the twins, Kwon Ji Hyun.

Ji Hyun steps inside the cauldron and he heaves out a huge breath before taking the knife on the side and cutting a small part of his skin. He then let out a small amount of his blood and let it drip inside the cauldron. Immediately, right after his blood touches the surface of the cauldron, the table with the Geo element shakes and the table instantly lights up. Kwon Ji Hyun let out a huge sigh of relief when he saw that the Geo table lit up. He then shoots his twin brother a wink before proceeding to sit on the seat where all Geo element users are placed.

Kwon Jin Young also stepped inside the cauldron the moment his twin brother settled on his seat. Instantly, the Geo table lit up even without the young man dropping his blood inside. He shrugs his shoulders and immediately goes out from the cauldron. When he reached the seat where his brother was sitting, they instantly high-fived each other.

Mi Young thinks they are both cute and innocent so she somehow wants to protect them. She shook her head, slapped her face to wake herself up and focused on the cauldron in front of her. She whispers small words of encouragement to herself. "You can do this, just relax."

Mi Young didn't even notice the amused look Jeon Shi Yun was giving her.

The Examiner then proceeds to call on Park Min Ji. She stands up from her seat and casts a smile towards Shi Yun before saying, "Watch me."

And she goes off to stand inside the huge cauldron. Everyone watches as she cuts her hand and waits for one of the tables to light up. The Anemo table shakes before it emits a pure white glow. Min Ji looks so proud of her achievement and she instantly looks at where Shi Yun was sitting but her face immediately fell when she saw that the boy wasn't looking at her. Instead, the Jeon boy was talking to the girl from the Hydro clan, Shin Shang Min, which totally upsets Park Min Ji.

She gets out of the cauldron and was about to go and attack Shin Shang Min, but she was immediately stopped by the Examiner. The lady had a small smile on her face before she held Park Min Ji's hands and led her towards the part of the pavilion where a couple of Anemo users were sitting.

After the small drama, everyone once again turned their attention towards the remaining three examinees. When it was Shin Shang Min's turn, everyone turned silent as she gently got inside the cauldron. She then drops a small amount of her blood on the cauldron and the Hydro table instantly glows. But people noticed that the glow of the table is brighter and whiter, which immediately gained the attention of everyone watching.

Upon noticing this, the Examiner walks closer towards the stage and her eyes widen before she composes herself and announces that the reason behind the bright and pure white glow the Hydro table is emitting is because the Divining Cauldron recognizes Shin Shang Min as a maiden with a pure Hydro element body. This means that she cannot change her element even if she wants to because the Hydro magic coursing through her body is very pure and strong. This of course, did not upset her even a bit because it means that she is a true and deserving maiden from the great Water clan.

After Shin Shang Min took her seat in the Hydro faction, the Examiner then turned towards Jeon Shi Yun and called out his name. Everyone immediately looked towards the young man as he took his place inside the cauldron.

Now, everyone knows that Jeon Shi Yun will be selected by the Pyro table since he is the only son of the Jeon family and all of them possess strong and pure Pyro magic. When the boy drips his blood, the Pyro table shook so hard and a fiery red glow emitted upon it. The Pyro table never lit up before anyone and it's the first time it lit up, which means that Jeon Shi Yun is the only student who was chosen by the Pyro element.

When Shi Yun finally settled on his seat, everyone's eyes turned towards the only Mage examinee left. Mi Young gulps down her saliva before stepping inside the cauldron. She wishes herself a small good luck before cutting her skin and letting her blood drip on the surface of the cauldron.

Now, it will usually take three to five seconds before a table lights up and students must wait one or two minutes before stepping out of the cauldron. Mi Young was already standing inside the cauldron for almost a minute and everyone was already guessing that she's not one of the chosen ones.

"So it was just pure luck that she perfected the first part of the exam then?"

"Or maybe the exam was just really easy this time?"

"I was almost convinced that this kid is powerful, turns out she was just lucky."

"That's just sad. I was really hoping she would turn out to be a Hydro Mage so I could befriend her."

A bunch of other words circled all around the pavilion as everyone took pity on Mi Young. She can almost feel the huge disappointment curling inside his stomach upon not being chosen.

"I knew it." Mi Young whispers to herself. "I really am not fitted for any element."

Just then, two minutes passed and Mi Young was about to get down the cauldron when an earthquake shook the whole pavilion. It wasn't too strong but it was enough to shake everyone around. The Examiner looked at the faction of the Geo users thinking that they were the ones behind it but all of them looked shocked as well.

When they were about to start looking for the reason, all of their eyes widened in shock upon seeing the sight before them.

There, standing inside the cauldron with a shocked expression was Mi Young, who was looking at the four tables that lit up in front of her.

"F-Four elements chose her?"