Chapter-24

Seraphina, remembering Theron's advice during her study session, decided to skip the questions she couldn't answer immediately and returned to them later. In the end, there were four questions that stumped her, but she managed to come up with an answer for one of them.

As the time limit expired, Omettia swiftly took the answer sheet and began the process of correction with a red pen. While not every answer was perfect, they contained crucial information, made sense, and were generally markable. When Omettia finished, she put down the sheet and looked at Seraphina, who was tapping her phone with a smile on her face as she twirled her hair. She seemed like she was texting someone but pouted as she didn't see a reply as she put down her phone and looked at her mother who was gazing at her. She didn't know what to do so she just smiled as she looked at her. 

"It seems you were not wasting your time during these days" Omettia remarked, realizing she had misunderstood her daughter's recent activities. "I was wrong; I'm sorry for getting the wrong idea." 

"But how did you even get better" 

"Umm, I had help from someone" 

"That someone being" 

"A friend" Seraphina said as she looked at her nervously. 

"Is it Elysia but didn't you two already tried last time" 

"No" Seraphina responded. 

"Oh, a new friend. Is it a boy or a girl?" 

Seraphina hesitated for a moment before answering,

"A boy" 

"Is he handsome?"

She had never had a friend who was from the opposite gender and her mother asking something like this made her a bit shy and she didn't understand why her mother would continue to ask about him. Blushing fiercely, Seraphina couldn't handle the teasing and decided to escape. "Mom! I don't know what you are talking about." Omettia looked amused,

"I wonder who it is."

She wanted to meet and possibly thank this mysterious friend who had helped her daughter so much with academics. Additionally, she couldn't help but wonder if there might be more to this friendship. After all, someone genuinely interested in aiding Seraphina academically might have good intentions toward her overall.

 __ __ __

The upcoming exams had drawn near and in the next week the exams would start, and on the Friday before the weekend, Theron was called by Professor Evelyn. As he entered her office, he couldn't discern the reason for the summons.

The upcoming exams had drawn near, and on the Friday before the weekend, Theron was called by Professor Evelyn. As he entered her office, he couldn't discern the reason for the summons.

"You are here," Professor Evelyn remarked. "I heard you called me, Professor."

"Yes, I wanted to ask you a few questions," she replied. "Exams are coming up very soon. How are your studies?"

"It's fine," Theron responded.

"Good. The next question is why do you keep intentionally answering wrong in the exams?" She held out two papers. "You think you would be cheeky, but you answered the same numbers wrong at the exam. You also had the same grade as last time and also at the entrance exam."

"Umm."

"Heh, never mind, just don't do it next time," she said, holding her head. "The other question is why did you choose the special class? I know your condition, you know you can't fight."

"Yes. Then why?"

"I just wanted to see. Even if I don't get it, I will just be sent to academics, right? So, why not try a bit?"

"Hmm, I see. Just don't get hurt too much. Then you can go for now."

As Theron left, Professor Evelyn remained in her office, deep in thought. Evelyn Ravenwood had her own share of struggles. She was the daughter of a noble and a commoner, but due to societal pressures, her parents couldn't be together. Eventually, she discovered the truth about her mother and left the responsibilities of her noble family to her younger siblings. She joined the academy as a teacher and brought her mother along to start a new life.

Initially, she misjudged Theron as a lazy noble student who wasn't interested in the teachings. She soon realized he was already familiar with the material, as evidenced by his consistently high grades. She observed his deliberate mistakes in exams and questioned him about it. Moreover, she learned about his unique condition—lacking both a mana core and a martial bone.

Initially, she misjudged Theron as a lazy noble student who wasn't interested in studying. So as a punishment on each of her classes, she would ask him questions on the lessons. After the first time, he tried to pretend that he was interested in the material but she could see that this fellow was not really interested. After all the successful question answers of Theron, it made Evelyn quickly realize that he was not a lazy student but was bored because he was already familiar with all the material that was going to be taught. He always looked so carefree in his exams like he was just going to do something normal but she was able to see that this guy, intentionally left some mistakes when she saw the questions he answered and knew that he should have known all of them yet he answered in wrong intentionally and she was able to confirm it when she saw him intentionally not answering the questions which he was able to answer when she asked in her classes.

Moreover, she learned about his unique condition—lacking both a mana core and a martial bone. She called him to see why he had chosen the special class as the core and the rest were just questions she just wanted to ask. She called him to understand why he chose the special class, suspecting it might be driven by some adolescent motivation.

'Maybe he hit puberty and wanted to impress someone or challenge something'

'Sigh, I hope he realizes and don't get hurt'

 __ __ __

The exams were a familiar terrain for Theron, and this time, he chose not to intentionally make mistakes. As the tests concluded, Seraphina emerged with a smile, much to the curiosity of her friend Elysia.

"How did you do, Sephi?" Elysia inquired.

"I did well," Seraphina replied, a happy tone in her voice. "Let's see once the grades come out."

Elysia couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to happen, knowing Seraphina's tendencies.

The combat exams followed after two days, and they were comprised of multiple parts. Theron found himself in a VR pod within the student arena building. These pods were specifically designed for combat testing, ensuring accuracy and preventing injuries or cheating. Theron faced the first challenge: the obstacle course, designed to assess agility. The course was set at the difficulty of a copper attainment, with the highest marks achievable for those at the copper attainment 8th rank or above.

Theron navigated the obstacle course with ease, finishing within the allotted time for the highest score. Although he didn't utilize his top speed, he showcased remarkable agility. The points were awarded based on completion time. Those who couldn't pass received a lower rank, with subsequent reductions if they continued to struggle.

After the agility test was a test of strength. There was a punching machine but usually called as punching bag and at the top of the machine was a counter for how strong the punch was. Theron punched the rock and the counter displayed his count, it rose from 1 to slowly 8 and then almost reached 9 but dropped back to 8. 8 was enough for the maximum amount of points he could get.

Following the agility test was a test of strength. There was a punching machine but usually called as punching bag and at the top of the machine was a counter for how strong the punch was. The counter displayed his strength, rising steadily to 8, almost reaching 9 before settling back at 8. It was sufficient for the maximum points available.

'Whew,' Theron sighed in relief.

The next phase of the exam was combat mastery, and it involved facing a series of robots. Theron efficiently defeated each one within the allotted time.

Moving on to next, it was a tactical intelligence test. Theron was given a choice of what to do in a scenario which was against a certain opponent.

The test of strength: 100 points

The test of combat mastery: 150 points

The test of tactical intelligence: 150 points

The final exam was more of a competition—a dynamic duel. Students were ranked, and points were awarded accordingly:

Ranks 1 to 10: 100 points

Ranks 11 to 30: 90 points

Ranks 31 to 60: 80 points

Ranks 61 to 100: 70 points

Ranks 101 to 150: 60 points

Ranks 151 to 200: 50 points

Ranks 201 to 250: 40 points

Ranks 251 to 300: 30 points

Ranks 301 to 350: 20 points

Ranks 351 to 400: 10 points

Ranks beyond 400: 0 points