The Retaking of the Exam Part 2: Chapter 38

{Next up, Hamil Crux. Please proceed to the testing room.}

Hearing this announcement made my heart beat. It was a sign that I was excited but seeing that I was the only one left in the waiting room, no one was there to wish me luck. But remembering the time that Ranzy told me to do my best, it motivated me.

I smile, knowing that I am expected to do my best…I smile knowing that my life in this world as a student might finally start. I know full well that this life is better than my last…its now more exciting like how I always wished for it to be.

"hoooo…lets do this." I say as I exhaled my breath out in preparation for the test.

As I walked out of the waiting room, I was greeted by a woman who wore a simple light blue uniform. I could tell that she was a guide that would lead me to the test room.

"Please follow me." she said as turned her back and started walking down the hall.

I simply followed her down the hall, seconds later, I was now in front of the entrance for the test room. Looking at the woman, she approached me and asked me her procedural duties.

"Please wear this during the test. It'll act as armor and a measuring device to take in your results." she said as she passed me a suit vest.

"Thank you." I said as I put on the material and tried to feel the texture of the suit. It was rubberized and flexible so it was easy to put on but it also felt like it was thick and tough at the same time.

Seeing that they only needed this suit to measure my strengths meant that they were quite advanced in the fields of technology more than the Hunter's Organization. It was understandable since the academy itself was always in the research process of better equipment. Looking at the vest and its somewhat fit look, I could say that a student probably made this, a student on the field of engineering.

"What weapon do you specialize in?" she said as she could see that I was in fit of the vest.

"A Spear and a Shield." I said while admiring the vest.

"Okay then." she then proceeds to tap on her tablet a few numbers and codes and seconds later a side door opens in one of the halls and she walked in. Not long after, she came out carrying two weapons, a spear and a shield.

"..." looking at the two , I could tell that it was a basic spear and a basic round shield fit for any beginner hunters. As I received the two, I quickly wore the shield and held the spear with my dominant hand.

"Are you ready?" she asked as she

"...Yeah."

"Please follow the instructions of what the professors will try to test of you."

"I will."

"Okay then, you may pass through the gate.

As she said those words, I simply braced myself for what was to come.

As the gate slowly opened, I was greeted by the shining light of what seems to be the bright sun.

*THUD* as the gate fully opens, what stood before me seemed like it was a giant stage fit for a gladiatorial battle.

"..." As I made my first step in, I was greeted by sight of a few people standing by the balconies and seats. Some were adults who wore white coats, others were noblemen who wore fancy frilly clothes and some were the kids who were with me in the waiting room and were now looking beaten and exhausted from the test.

One particular person that stood out of them all was one girl who waved her hand at me. It was Ranzy. She smiled and said something out of reach from my ear which was clearly a cheer. With her beautiful dress and all, she cheered for me from the balcony along with her personal butler who seemed to join her in this event.

In response to her cheering , I simply waved my hand back and smiled at her direction.

[Please proceed to the stage.] said the speaker as it instructed me what to do.

I simply followed their orders and walked up to the stage.

[Now then, proceed with test one. Please exert mana out of your body and the results will be shown in the screen above you] as the speaker said this, a giant screen from above suddenly turned on and showed a picture of me along with my name and age.

"...Okay then." saying this, I began my test by exerting mana in the most stagnant amount possible.

"..Hnn!"

As mana exerted out of my body, the vest in turn reacted to my mana and glowed a bluish like color. I exerted enough for one mana circle to be filled just like how I did in the exam in the Hunter's Organization.

"...!" seeing this happen before Ranzy's eyes made her amaze by the color of my mana. She fidgeted over her chair as she watched my test, as it can be seen in her excited eyes.

As I finished, I waited for the response of the practitioners.

[...Mana limits under the body capacity seems to be lacking, please try to exert more mana into the vest.] said the speaker.

"What? But I exerted mana as you instructed. I have to try again?"

[From how your body seems to be at a normal and calm state, which means that you haven't brought out everything into the test. If you try to hold back for the sake of hiding your potential, then we can consider this act as a failed attempt…you will fail the mana capacity test if you try to repeat the same results.]

"..." hearing this, I couldn't help but think hard of what I should do at the moment. Should I hold back or should I give it my all…if I give it my all, then the fact that I'm a strong student will surely catch the attention of some nobles and characters I don't intend to interact with.

[The Academy does not accept a half-assed attempt from any student. We only entertain those who are willing to give everything in return of progress.]

As I stood in conflict over a choice, I looked over to Ranzy and tried to see if she reacted in a bad way…to see if she look disappointed that I lied to her.

But as I turned to her, all I see in return was a look of excitement in her expression. Its as if she didn't care if I hid my strengths or not…only that I was hiding my strength that got her excited.

Seeing that look in her face made me finally choose what I was going to do.

"...okay, lets go all out."

Readying my position, I clenched both of my hands as tight as I could and exerted my mana as high as it could.

"HNN!"

A sudden explosion of energy came out of me and flowed all over my body like it was a raging river, clashing and flowing against the surface of my skin.

It was hard to control it and I tried holding my breath as long as I could from the extending pressure of the mana…my breathing was ecstatic and the feeling of something swirling inside my chest kept to a level so hard to control, I felt like I was losing consciousness. But I persevered and kept my mind level. Soon after the expending pressure of me releasing all of my mana, my mind began to haze and I felt like I was drunk for some reason because what I was feeling was an extreme headache. Besides from that I felt like something bigger than my previous mana was circling inside my chest. I stopped the test and tried to touch my own chest to realize what it was.

"!!" after feeling it for a few seconds, I realized that I finally broke through the first mana circle and created my second circle. Seeing this happen, I was ecstatic by the result.

*Drip*

Suddenly something drip off unto my hand. As I looked into it, I realized that blood was dripping from my nose.

"...Damn." I said as I wiped off the blood from my nose.

As I stood in the stage wiping off the blood, I noticed that the speakers weren't responding, no commentary was being said in the stage.

I turned to look towards Ranzy and noticed that she was standing from her chair with her mouth agape. It was clear to see that she was shock to see the results of my mana capacity. And Henry as well was quiet but unexpectedly wary of my results.

"...did I make the wrong choice?" I said to myself while trying to think if what I did was right.

[...Results are…valid, continue with the second test.] the speaker moments later finally came back and continued on with the test. The results were great but their reaction towards my efforts felt lacking, as if they knew it was great but they didn't show compassion towards the commentary. It was like this was all an expected show of my body's result if I tried hard enough.

The test for the mana capacity was over, I wondered what the next step was and judging from how the previous participants were injured and tired, it was as if they went through a rough battle for the test.

I wondered if it was a fighting test, should I show my physical ability to fight the enemies at full strength or not…although some people were talented in the capacity to exert their mana, it didn't reflect towards the physical attribute of their body. If a hunter were to have two circles of mana but didn't have the physical capabilities to confront an enemy worth two circles of mana, then the chances of them winning was minimal to say the least except for a battle of magic.

So showing my physical capabilities next was a questionable matter, I couldn't think of any way for a vest to measure the fighting capability of a person, so I should be safe in the matters of hiding my physical capability.

[Proceeding with the second test is the ability to fight an opposing enemy. Please prepare the weapons for the upcoming Combatant test.]

[Combat Doll number 5, on standby.] as the speaker said this, two people were approaching the stage opposite of my direction. They carried with them a cart that had a drape over something that seemed to stand tall. As they finally stood in the opposing side, they pulled the drapes and showed a metallic doll that had no face and had carried with it a standard short sword.

[Combat test proceeding in 5…4…3…2…1] When the speaker went quiet, the combat doll reacted to the silence and turned on. Its basic battle position was standard and ready. As it made its first step, you could hear the clinking and clanking of the metal foot as it touched the floor, but that didn't ruined my focus over the approaching enemy.

At its tenth step, it stopped in its tracks and focused its viewpoint on me.

[The level of this test is concurrent for any passing student of our academy, defeat the doll and you can pass the test.]

As we faced it each other front to front, the doll made its first move and dashed towards my front. With its sword in the position to do a side strike, I readied myself to counter the sword with my shield. As it swung at the right distance, I countered the sword away with my opposing round shield. As it parried away, I continued on the attack with my spear on front and thrusted the spear straight at its head.

"!?" unexpectedly, the doll reacted and somehow tilted it's head in an irregular fashion and swung back its sword to my face. Seeing this happen I realized that what I was facing wasn't a human but a doll…it wouldn't fight like a man so its action to avoid my attacks were natural in their sense.

My shield was at an awkward position and so was the spear so I reacted back to the swing by simply kicking away the doll at its chest. As my feet connected, I pushed it away so hard that it tumbled down the floor.

From that kick alone, I could say that the doll was heavy…its reaction speed was at the level of a D-ranked hunter, so it was understandable that the dolls were able to injure the other participants. And since I choose to level my strength around D-rank, we were at match with one another.

I positioned myself again and this time, I was the one to charge at the enemy. With my shield covering the whole of my chest and the spear at the front, I ran at him with the spear first. Unexpectedly, the doll reacted by readying its position to do a side swing again but something was off…the doll was more threatening and an invisible aura was surrounding the doll.

'It's using Mana!' I thought while I charged forward the doll.

The aura of its mana focused down to the blade of the sword, making his presence more threatening and his inhumane focus was staring at my whole body. I felt killing intent for some reason coming from a doll, that I reacted to its front by using mana on my charge not just on my spear but on my shield and legs too.

As my mana coated all in these three parts, my legs ran more faster than it was and instead of aiming for the chest of the doll, I choose to aim it at the one thing that was deadly. Its blade.

As we confronted one another, I directly aimed the spear straight at its arm in hopes to rip it apart but the inhumane reaction of the doll was yet again in action and choose to bend its arm away from its original intent to swing through my body and instead it used the blade to deflect the spear away while its arm continued to swing down towards the shield.

"!!'' seeing this happen, I was shocked to see the doll react so unnaturally but also so accurate at the same time.

As the sword swung down to the shield, the shield held itself together and didn't break. But the strength of the swing was enough to push me back.

*Thud!*

"Damn…the academy's standards are so goddam high." I said while I was glaring at the faceless doll.

The doll didn't stop itself from its recent swing and continued on with charging towards me instead. This time it decided to bombard me with its powerful aura filled swings.

In response to its barrage of swings, I parried it with my spear and blocked with my shield. Since it was a doll, the strength of each of its swing was ultimately heavy and accurate as ever. It continuously pushed me back to the stage until we were finally standing at the center of it. Seeing how I was pushed back, it agitated me for some reason. Being pushed back by the likes of this doll was nothing compared to the torment I went through in the hero's gate. And knowing that fact, I decided to put this fight to its end.

Seeing that we were at the center stage, I jumped back five meters off the stage and focused my mana straight into the spear.

'Skill: Spear's ability - Impossible accuracy!'

As I chant this skill in my mind, It felt like I was watching the world slow down to its motion and saw that the doll was looking to my way. I could see target marks all over the dolls body and seeing that each particular part of it was red. This was the power of Impossible accuracy.

While in Mid-air, I strictly aimed for the dolls chest since it was the largest area for it to be hit. Seeing this chance, I threw my spear unto the doll like it was a javelin. The speed of my shot was bullet like, it was to a point that the doll knew it was impossible to avoid. As it shot down towards the doll, the doll's reaction of my attack was futile but it risked the chance and instead it throw its sword straight at me.

As the sword and shield passed each other, one was heading for the doll while the other was heading for me. The Doll knew that it was impossible to avoid the sword in mid-air but it did consider the fact that I was also carrying a shield…knowing this, it knew it was a futile attack.

*THUD!*

The spear struck right through the doll's metal chest and impaled it straight into the floor while the sword swung to my direction but it confronted itself with the shield. Impaling itself to the shield but not to me.

As I landed on the floor, I was met with cheers from Ranzy, but the other's were quiet about my fight. Either that they were shocked or that they weren't impressed. But that didn't mattered, what I was expecting criticism from was the practitioners.

[Combat results are…valid. You have passed the retaking of the academy exam, Congratulations.]

Hearing this, I could only react by a simple smile. Looking back to Ranzy, I could see that she was waving her arms towards me. In response to this, I approached her and asked her a simple question.

"So how was my performance?"

"It was great! I can't believe you were able to take down a D-ranked Combat doll and had broke through to a second circle."

"Wasn't it a standard for the participants to take down a D-ranked combat doll?"

"No way, the other participants only took down an E-rank at most."

"So why was mine a D-rank?"

"hmm, it was probably because you broke through the second circle." said Ranzy as she tried to guess the reason.

"What?"

"The academy always has this personality that always pushes the students through their limits…this test was one of the ways they handle a students capabilities." said Henry while standing next to Ranzy.

"So the other participant's mana capacity was only at one circle?" I say, while shocked to know the results of their exams.

"Yeah, you showed us something pretty great today."

"I did went all out." I say while looking towards the other participants, they too showed a look of awe my way. I couldn't help but feel proud of that reaction.

"After this, we should celebrate." said Ranzy as she smiled my way.

"!!…y-yeah." I couldn't help but be taken away by her smile.

[Participants, please line up in the middle stage for the recognition of your admission of decree into the Academy ]

As the six of participants including me, stood in a line in the center of the stage, we were greeted by an old looking practitioner. He slowly walked our way while he dragged a long coat and a crane with him to support his unstable walk. What followed him back was a young looking practitioner that carried a cool looking box.

As the old looking man stood in front of us. His gaze would sway from left to right, all to a point where he could observe every upcoming student that was before him. When his gaze met with mine, I simply stared back and smiled over his deep and solemn eyes.

"You all have done a great job showing your efforts in today's event. You showed yourselves that you could retake a second chance and win…but know that with today's win doesn't mean that you are a champion, know that today's win acts as a lesson that you all will surpass your weakness with your own efforts. Receive these tokens of Golden pins as a sign of your admittance to the grand education of the Royal Academy."

As he said those last words, the young practitioner opened the box that he was carrying and showed to us six golden pins.

One by one, we all received our pins and one by one, we smiled over our victory and cheered towards today's event. I myself was proud to accept the pin.