Examination

"Souta, don't put your real name on it, but use your name if something real happens," said a man with a faint image.

"Why?" The boy asked.

"You will know when the time is right; remember that our family was one of the strongest in ancient times," the man said calmly.

"Ieshi? But I've never read Ieshi in Japanese history," the boy questioned.

"I'm not from this country; I'm from somewhere far away. Go ahead and play," the man said, looking at the cloud.

"All right, grandpa."

"Blood? Is this your chosen name here in this game?"

"Yes."

"Next time when something similar happens then use your real name, Souta Ieshi. There will be people who will help you because you are an Ieshi."

"I understand."

"No matter what happens, don't forget what I said today."

...

Souta woke up early in the morning. He quickly got up and took a shower. Afterward, he came down and ordered breakfast.

"The same as always," he said loudly enough for the waitress to hear.

The waitress understood what he was saying so the waitress went inside the kitchen.

After a few minutes, the waitress came out with Souta's order. She put the food on the table.

"Thanks for the food!"

He eats his breakfast quickly. He's rushing because it's exam day at the Ladro Institute. The test will take place today. He cannot be late for this test because it is dependent on whether or not he enters.

Since it's the examination day, this only means one week has passed.

This week was full of events. Souta becoming a Rank E adventurer was one of them. During this time, he completed ten quests that required him to advance in rank. He has an excellent track record. The completion rate and speed were both high. He quickly completes the quests he had taken on.

Within a week, he had advanced to the rank of E adventurer. He finished the quests he started with Yuko. The Rank F quests are simple to complete, so it's no surprise that he completed it in a week.

After he finished his meal and paid the bill, Souta went to Yuko and he fed her the delicious food that she likes.

"Just stay here, for now, I will quickly finish the test," Souta said to Yuko while patting her head.

"Muu." Yuko stopped eating and she looked at Souta.

"All right, I'll bring you back the fruits you like so much," Souta said wryly.

...

He changed his clothes and went to the Institute to take the exam. He arrived twenty minutes before the exam.

He opened the door and stepped inside. There, he saw a lot of people were already in their seats.

The other examinees looked at him and he just ignored those gaze. He took out his stab and looked at his seat number.

"Seat 52, huh?"

He looked around and found his seat in the back. He sat there and observed his surroundings. The people here were too tense as he could see sweat forming in the forehead, even though the weather was quite cold today.

The whole room was devoid of any sound as nobody dared to make a noise here.

Turning his head to the left side, he saw a beautiful girl sitting beside him. She has beautiful silver hair that drapes down to her shoulders onto her back. Her golden pupils that have a hint of red were like a piece of expensive gem. She was wearing a simple white blouse and a black mini skirt with red linings.

Souta could feel some sort of strange aura coming out of her. Yeah, it was really weird. It feels that was not her true appearance and she's concealing her real identity.

The girl noticed his gaze so she turned her head and looked him in the eyes.

"What is it?" She asked with a cold tone.

"N-nothing..." Souta gulped and turned his head. He was captivated by those beautiful eyes of hers. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

After thirty minutes, a man with short orange hair wearing a black coat entered the room. He walked straight to the table in front which was reserved for the examiner.

He placed down the bunch of paper he was carrying on the table before looking around.

"Cough... I'm John Myer, your written exam examiner," the man said, clearing his throat. "There are seventy examinees in this room, so don't make any noise or you'll overwhelm me."

Some of the examinees sighed in relief when they heard his words and tone. They were glad that he's not a strict person like the other examiner. It feels like a huge burden has been lifted off their shoulders.

"As you are aware, the entrance exam is divided into two parts: written and practical, and you must pass both in order to be admitted to the institute," John, the examiner, said as he looked around the room. "All right, we'll start the written exam right now."

John placed a stack of papers on the desk of the people in the front row. "Take one and pass the rest to your back."

The examinees started to pass the test paper around. In just a minute, all the people here were holding a test paper.

"The passing score is 70, and anything less is a fail, so answer carefully. You all have two hours to answer the test, that's it, and good luck," John said before taking a seat in the front. He was watching every examinee, looking for cheaters.

Souta turned his attention to his test paper. He read it silently.

'I don't know some of the questions, but that won't stop me,' he thought after reading through all of them. Even if he doesn't know the answer to a question, he will still pass the test. After all, the passing grade was 70 points.

Time passed by quickly and one by one the examinees finished answering their test papers. And Souta was the first one who finished answering the test. Everyone looked at him but he knew that he had only answered all the questions that he knew. Why would he answer a question he doesn't know the answer to? So some of the questions in his test were blank.

"Since you've all finished before the time, you can go now to take the practical exam," John said as he arranged all the test papers.

The girl beside Souta stood up as soon as the examiner said those words.

Souta looked at her as she left the room. He then also stood up and left the room. The others followed them and went to the place where the practical exam will be held.

The practical exam where the place were examinees going to showcase their skills and abilities.

...

They were in a very wide place. Dummies for practicing close combat were neatly arranged at the corner. There were also weights and shooting targets here. This place was one of the training grounds of the Ladro Institute.

Those things that were needed in training were all made from tough materials. It couldn't easily break or shatter.

Even using yellow equipment wasn't enough to break those things here in the training ground.

The examinees were gathered in the center of the training ground. In front of them was a man wearing a black tank top. His muscles were bulging out of his clothes.

"Yo! I'm the one who's going to test you," the examiner said, smiling. "I'm going to keep track of your abilities here and see if you're really qualified for the institute."

Souta knew that as long as a person knew some skills or had enough firepower that person would pass the exam. It's a simple test to check the potential of a person.

Right now, he has three spells in his arsenal. [Ice Shot] and [Fireball] were enough for this kind of test.

"Who wants to go first?" The examiner asked while looking at the examinees.

"Me," Souta raised his hand while walking to the front.

"Okay, as long as you've hit me that's enough. I will give you one minute." The examiner said with a smirk. He then placed an alarm.

Souta nodded and the other examinees took a distance away from the two.

"I'm going," Souta smirked and he dashed towards the examiner. He doesn't need to defeat the examiner, he just needs to showcase his abilities. He knew that even if he used his full power he wouldn't be able to defeat the examiner.

Souta opened both of his palms and casted two spells simultaneously.

[Fireball]

[Ice shot]

The two spells went straight towards the examiner. He was surprised for a second but he quickly regained his composure. He lifted up his thick arm and waved it towards the two spells.

Bang! Bang!

The fireball and ice exploded in his arm. But it didn't leave any scratches at all.

Souta expected so he once again dashed towards the examiner using the skill [Dash].

"You are going for close combat," The examiner looked at Souta who arrived in front of him.

"Of course, after all this is my specialty," Souta said and he threw a powerful punch containing his mana.

Swooosh!!

The examiner tilted his head and avoided the punch. Then he noticed a light above him. He looked up and saw two fireballs going straight at him.

"Good!" The examiner smiled and took a deep breath. Powerful mana burst out of him. Pouring his mana, he blew the two fireballs away. He then quickly waved his arm towards Souta.

Souta bent his body barely avoiding the arm of the examiner. He kicked the ground and using his feet as a medium, he casted [Ice Shot] twice. He then opened his mouth and [Fireball] came out.

"This level of control...?" The examiner crossed his arm in front of him to block the spells.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Souta was about to attack again when a powerful aura swept out. He then saw a fist appeared in front of him.

"You're still smiling, huh?" The examiner said as his fist was going straight to Souta's face. The shadow of his fist slowly covered Souta's smirk.

Suddenly...

Ringgggg!

A sound of alarm echoed in the whole training ground.