The Examination

I found myself situated on the second bench, just behind Ember, in a massive examination hall, packed to the brim with students of all races

"I suppose they arranged the seating according to the entrance exam rankings," I muttered to myself, taking a quick look around. We had arrived thirty minutes early for no apparent reason, and everyone seemed to be staring at each other, almost sizing one another up.

Despite their obvious strength and confidence, each student appeared anxious, with some biting their nails and others scratching their heads.

There were over 200 individuals present in the room, all vying for a spot in the top 20, which would secure their place in the Elite class.

While the Honor and Advanced classes were still considered admirable, but any student from nobility or royalty would never accept being viewed as lesser than their peers, especially if they were commoners.

As I sat there, I couldn't help but overhear two students sitting in the next row, discussing their chances of making it into the Elite class.

"I've heard that the entrance exam is incredibly difficult," one of them said, sounding nervous.

"I don't care how difficult it is," the other replied. "I refuse to settle for anything less than the Elite class."

Their conversation was a stark reminder that everyone in the room was competing fiercely, regardless of their background or status.

As I sat lost in thought, the professor finally entered the classroom, a watch in hand. "I hope you're all well prepared for the examination," he declared, pausing to scan the sleepless faces of the students before nodding in satisfaction.

I couldn't help but yawn at his satisfied grin. "What is he so happy about? Does he take pleasure in seeing us struggle?" I wondered.

Just as I was lost in thought, the professor's gaze met mine, and his face twisted as he spoke. "Let me make this clear: any student caught cheating will be expelled immediately," he warned, giving me a sharp side glance.

But I decided to brush off his childish behavior. After all, as the old saying goes, "if you don't get caught, you weren't cheating."

Triiing—

The sound of the bell ringing interrupted my thoughts, signaling the start of the exam.

The professor, using his telekinetic powers, distributed the question papers to each student present.

"You have exactly 2 hours to complete your examination," he announced, "and if any candidate finishes before the allotted time, they can submit their answer sheet and leave. Now, begin!"

With that, the rustling of papers filled the room as students began to read through the questions on their papers, myself included.

"The difficulty of the questions seems to increase with every next question," I mused as I examined the paper. Then, muttering to myself, I asked, "What's the answer to question one?"

Suddenly, my Completionist Insight ability activated and the answer appeared before me with a satisfying ding sound.

Ding!—

[Q1: How do you make a potion of invisibility?]

[A1: To make the potion, one must combine the essence of a ghost, the eye of a newt, and the hair of a unicorn, and brew it under a waning moon for seven days.]

I nodded in satisfaction upon seeing the answer, before I started writing it down.

I quickly moved on to the next question, muttering to myself as I glanced at it. Almost instantaneously, the suitable answers appeared in front of me, as if they were being plucked from thin air.

[Q2: What is the difference between elemental and dark magic? Provide examples of each.]

[A2: Elemental magic is based on the manipulation and control of the elements of nature, such as fire, water, air, and earth. An example of elemental magic would be creating a gust of wind to push away an enemy or summoning a rainstorm to extinguish a fire.

On the other hand, dark magic is based on the manipulation and control of negative energies and entities. It involves using dark spells that can cause harm or destruction, and can sometimes have dangerous consequences for the user. An example of dark magic would be casting a curse on an opponent to weaken them or summoning a demon to do your bidding.]

Without wasting any time, I continued to write down the answers, my pen moving at an extremely fast pace. The only sound in the examination hall was the loud scribbling of pens on paper.

As soon as I began to scribble down the answers at a breakneck pace, I felt the eyes of my fellow students and the professor on me. But soon enough, they all turned their attention back to their question papers, thinking to themselves that I was just a madman hastily filling up my sheets.

Meanwhile, Fiona seemed to be having a hard time keeping her snarky comments to herself. "Argh, this idiot is embarrassing himself, again," she muttered under her breath.

On the other hand, Adeline had a sly smirk on her face as she thought to herself, 'You will end up in a class where you actually belong after this examination, Caius!' She couldn't help but imagine the pleasure of seeing Caius end up in a basic class, as it was a common snobbery among the students from the top classes to look down upon those from the bottom class. And even the professors wouldn't give the bottom-class students the time of day.

"I will make you into my dog once again, Caius! Hehehe," Adeline muttered to herself, starting to giggle uncontrollably.

But then, the professor caught her in the act. "You over there, what are you giggling about? Did you find some jokes in the question paper? If so, please share them with us," he said, staring at Adeline with a stern look.

"S-sorry sir, it was nothing. My thoughts were elsewhere," Adeline stammered, quickly refocusing on her paper.

The professor just shook his head and turned away from her. But as for me, I knew exactly what was going on in that devious villainess mind of hers.

I grinned as I finished writing the last answer. "I will have to disappoint you, Adeline. I won't be ending up in the basic class, nor do I have any plans of becoming your dog like that of previous Caius," I mumbled to myself before submitting my exam paper.

!?

As Caius handed in his paper and left the exam hall early, the professor raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"What? Did he give up already? But there's still an hour left!" The professor muttered in confusion as he took Caius' paper.

Meanwhile, the other students were trying their best to focus on their exams, as for Adeline, she was too busy scribbling away at her own exam to even notice Caius' early departure.

However, Ember couldn't help but stare at Caius' departing figure, her eyes widened in surprise as Caius left the exam hall with an hour still left on the clock. "...Is he done already?" she thought to herself.

She looked down at her own paper, the questions getting progressively harder. "I can barely make sense of the sixth question, let alone the last three. Did he really skip them?" she murmured to herself.

Ember's mind was racing with questions as she tried to focus on the remaining questions. But the image of Caius, the slacker, leaving the exam hall in a record time was too much to ignore.

She couldn't help but wonder if Caius had skipped the last three questions, which were notoriously difficult and required a great deal of critical thinking.

"Did he just skip those questions?" Ember whispered to herself, but shook her head, deciding not to waste any more time thinking about it and instead refocused her attention on the exam in front of her.

***

As Caius stepped out of the hall, he let out a deep sigh. "Even copy-pasting the answers seems to be a drag for me now," he muttered to himself before making his way back to his dormitory.