The usual peaceful sight in the Scholar's hall was currently nowhere to be found. Students crowded the lobbies and corridors, filling the air with the sounds of their whispers and jittering. They were focused on what they had in hand. Flipping pages and constant clicking. Memorizing and calculating. Their nervousness was apparent and understandable for today was the start of the assessment exams. This is what would decide their future in Azalaze.
For the first part of the basic knowledge exam, they will be given a 1000 points written test for 8 hours which gives them roughly half a minute per question. It was not something that could easily be finished by someone having an average level of intelligence. Thankfully, they didn't need to finish it. They just needed to answer 60 percent of it correctly to pass. Since, the applicants for the Scholar paths are much less than the others, its most likely that there won't be any quota. Still, it is still possible if many students who got a high score in this exam suddenly decided to change their curriculum so it would still be better to get as high as you can.
When the time for the exam came, they immediately filled up the designated classrooms without wasting time. They needed all the time that they were given.
What is the designated term for the energy in Daan?
Draw the rune used to imitate the ember spell.
Earth is considered as one of the basic elements. What is its etymology?
What is the basic incantation for the healing spell?
Calculate the amount of Dana needed to lift a boulder weighing 50kgs in an unstable zone with gravity of 20 meters per second squared using the levitation spell for 10 meters high every second.
The difficulty of the questions range from simple identification questions to complex mathematical computations. Terminologies are just a matter of memorizations. Some answers can even be found in other questions. On another hand, questions that require proof or explanations are quite a hassle. Luckily, some things are common sense or basic knowledge for the transported. Questions regarding Earth should be something they should know. For example, the etymology of the basic element Earth pertains to the substances found on the surface of the planet Earth which is not quite accurate in the current sense since there are new surface materials found in Daan that are not found on Earth.
The other hard questions are those that require calculations. Spells. Abilities. Weapons and any other things that require Daan's energy or Dana. The awakened do not really compute how much Dana they use to cast or power those things up. After all, only machines and a few awakened could accurately measure them. Most of the awakened just use instinct and experience.
It was very easy to differentiate the really gifted people when it comes to the mind. Eidetic memory. Human Calculators. Telepathy. Psychometry. Their advantages were clearly evident. Those with superhuman brains were mostly able to finish it before the given time. Naturally, most of them are actually already exempted from this exam but decided to take it just for the experience. Their results won't be taken into account for the top takers that would pass if ever there would be a quota.
For Kron, he was able to finish close to 900 questions before the time ended and he was proud of himself. He was not sure why but during some days, his brain works better than usual. Even during combat and high intensity activities, he is able to think plans and scenarios that he had not thought of doing before. Was he a failed superhuman where his ability only works when a specific requirements are met or he just lacks practice? It doesn't also seem to be related to his unique ability.
The second day of the exams was quite similar to the first one except for the fact that the questions are about the history of Azalaze. This would only be taken by the transported and only the bored and crazy natives would want to try taking this exam. For many students, they think that his is not a really useful subject and probably is only good if you are into politics. The exam was only a 300 question exam and the passing grade is 50 percent.
What are the family names of the 4 great families?
Name the main 5 schools in Azalaze in no particular order.
Who is the inventor of the first energy gun?
When was the sanctuary of the enlightened founded?
Compared to the basic knowledge exams, the history exams were much easier. As long as you listened in class and did give some effort to review, its not really hard to pass it. Kron, Ichika and Min-Joon found the exam quite trivial. Though most transported did agree that the classes were boring, they still can't help but be curious about the new world that they are in. After all, they are still in the introductory phase and knows that this information might help them in the future.
As for the third day, they did not return to the Scholar's hall. Instead they were transported to a place called the Towers of Ascendancy. This was the first time that the transported were able to get out of the Dracanae Institute after more than 3 months. This made them more excited even though they won't really be able to wander outside of the examination area.
The Towers of Ascendancy are a group of 5 very large towers. The towers as a collective is one of the 10 largest structures in Azalaze. The reason for this is that each floor of these towers is like traversing the inside of a mall. These structures are publicly owned and are shared by the top entities of the city of Azalaze. For the rest of the week, this is where the remaining exams would be taken. As for why it would be taken here, the students would soon understand.
The first of the 3 exams that they would take here would be the second part of the Knowledge exam. Unlike the first part, the second part is not a written exam but a practical one. Biology. Chemistry. Runology. Alchemy. And many more fields. One or more tests would be given from any of the subject matters that they were thought in class. The problem was that they were not told from what subject would they be from. Either they mastered all of those lesson or they get lucky to get the one that they still remember.
The smallest of the 5 towers is where the exam would take place. They were given a checklist with 3 blank squares and asked to go to the second floor. Once the students reached the second floor of the tower, they were greeted by a number of doors. Unlike malls that would contain stalls, kiosks or restaurants, the doors lead to their examination areas. They would need to randomly choose a room without knowing what type of exam was behind it.
"There are 3 boxes so do we need to pass at least 3 tests?" Kron pondered, looking at each doors for clues. "I am not sure if we are allowed to keep on trying and we also have a time limit so I need to get this right!"
"Kron! I finally found you!" Min-Joon said, placing his hand on Kron's shoulder.
"Min-Joon! Why are you here?" Kron asked, eyes opened wide with surprise.
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"When I learned that the next exams would be held outside of the school. I chose to come!" Min-joon excitedly said. His enthusiasm is overcoming his usual shy demeanor. "Anyway, what are you planning now?"
"Well, we don't know what is behind these doors so might as well just pick one at random." Kron replied.
Min-Joon nodded. "I think so too. Then I would take a different room from you so I could share what I learn."
"Yeah! That's a great idea! If we share what we found then we could at least have one room where we don't need to guess!" Kron agreed before looking at the door on his left. "Then let's not waste time. I'll take this one!"
"Alright, Good luck!" Min-Joon replied.
In the room that Kron entered, there are a number of empty booths. There was a male teacher that greeted him and the other students who entered the room. They were made to wait until there was at least 20 people or after 10 minutes have passed. Once the time was up, the door was locked and the 18 people inside were finally given their task. They were to choose any booth that they want and require to assemble the equipment that they find inside.
The students immediately scattered and checked the booths. They tried to avoid the complex looking equipment and raced for the more simple ones. As for Kron, he immediately picked one that he seemed to have some sort of familiarity. The booth he entered contained a disassembled energy gun. He just needed to put it back before the time limit of an hour is reached. It really didn't take him much time to assemble it. Thanks to Cyrus lending him a gun; He was able to compare the gun that he had with the one that he was fixing.
All except one of them passed the test. The tools they fixed ranged from magical rice cookers to high tech watches. The person who failed was a guy who picked a drone to assemble. He thought that it was just a simple scout drone but it was actually a battle drone which has multiple complex runes to power its weapons. In fact, it was the hardest one in here that the student tried to complain with the teacher but he instead got reprimanded that knowing your limits and understanding what was in front of them was part of the exam.
Contrary to what Kron thought, the blank squares in the paper that they got were not simple checklist. Their proctor wrote their grades inside those boxes instead of just giving a check or an X. The level of difficulty of the challenge they took also contributes to their grade. Kron himself got a 90 written on his paper which he felt was actually not bad.
As he went out of the room, he saw Min-Joon has also finished with his exam. This meant that the tests probably have the same time limits.
With silent footsteps like a leopard, Kron surprised Min-Joon who seemed to be in deep thought. "How was your exam?" Kron asked, enthusiastic that his own exam went well.
"Ah!" Min-Joon twitched, startled at his friend's sudden appearance. "Oh! Its just you Kron. Anyway, My exam was not really hard but," Contrary to his reply, Min-Joon seemed troubled.
"But what?" Kron frowned. "You don't seem happy with your results."
Min-Joon shook his head. "No it's nothing. My score is actually not bad."
"What is even the exam that you took?" Kron curiously asked.
"Ah! Yes.. Its a potion exam. We are to make either a healing or an empowering potion. The catch is that we are not given any instructions and we are allowed to use any ingredients available."
"Oh! That really doesn't seem hard." Kron nodded. "So what is actually wrong?"
Min-Joon's forehead creased. "It's nothing really. Its just that I found this one closed cabinet hiding a liquid that I don't recognize and I can't seem to comprehend."
"That's what giving you problems? Alright, I'll try to check it too but I doubt its useful since you passed without it." Kron chuckled, finding Min-Joon's problem trivial. "By the way, mine's just an assembling test. You should take it. Its quite easy."
With Min-Joon's recommendation, Kron proceeded to wait until the potion testing area is ready before going in. Just as he expected, the room was a chemistry lab. Flasks, beakers and test tubes filled the tables. The cupboards contain colored liquids and powders. There are even bookshelves which houses volumes of knowledge regarding mixtures. There are also quite a number of machines. Some for measuring the heat and some to regulate Dana used when concocting.
The task as Min-Joon said was quite simple. They just need to make a potion that actually works. Its complexity and efficiency would of course contribute to the grade that they would get. Without any further delay, Kron immediately gathered for ingredients once the test started. He didn't choose a simple healing potion because that might be too basic and he might not get that high remarks. Instead, he chose to make a mind clarity potion. It is a potion that temporarily raise ones awareness and thinking abilities.
The first and most important ingredient that he searched was a powder grinded from a plant called Halluca. This rare plant are normally grown or found between the border of a stable and unstable zone. It produces powdery substances that makes people who inhale it have a unhealthy levels of state of mind to the point of euphoria and over activity. To be exact, it is a kind of a stimulant. Additionally, it has a risk of making the affected lose perfect control of his Dana.
The second ingredient he got was a vibrant blue liquid produced by a magical stone called Buhaz. Like the energy quartz, this stone has a natural magical property that makes it secrete liquid as it decays. Unlike the radioactive materials on Earth, the liquid that it secretes is perfectly safe for humans. It could even be used as a drink if not for the fact that it is not that common and would be quite expensive. Its best property though is that it dilutes the effect of harmful substances like poisons.
The other ingredients that Kron got were mostly for stabilizing the mixture. One was a liquid from a fruit that acts an emulsifier and allows all the ingredients to mix and another to increase the efficiency of absorbing Dana. As for concocting the potion itself, Kron do not need to manually mix it himself. With the available machines, he just need to activate them with his own energy. But before starting the machine, his curiosity of the information that he received from Min-Joon made him stop.
Since he still has a time to spare, he started looking for the mysterious liquid. Due to the number of chemicals around, it was really hard to find this inconspicuous liquid. Luckily, Min-Joon gave him
the approximate area where he found it. It was in an old looking cupboard with one tightly shut cabinet. With Kron's ability activating, he finally sensed that there was something suspicious in that one cabinet. There were some sticky slimes stuck that keeps it from opening.
Kron used his ability to turn the slime to water but noticed that the slime actually contained some Dana which means that this was someone's ability. Kron already knew that he couldn't transform reinforced items and casted abilities easily. But it doesn't mean that he could not do it. What's more is that the one who made the slime was not here. "How did Min-Joon even learn about this? Wait, I actually don't even know what is his unique ability." Kron thought as he focused on the slime.
It took him some time but he was slowly transforming it to water that it seemed like he was peeing on the ground. Fortunately, the students around are quite busy with their own task and the proctor seemed to just be sleeping and waiting for the students to finish. What he found inside was a transparent glass bottle containing a transparent liquid.
"What is this?" Kron's eyes blinked as he was slightly blinded. The liquid was producing a weak light on different intervals that he does not know if was just due to reflection. "It seems familiar but I can't say what is it."
Picking up the bottle, he noticed a paper stuck to it. Willow Immor. The name seemed to be incomplete as the paper was too short for the name. Kron wondered who that is and if he could use the liquid since it was here. As he thought about returning the bottle, his aura noticed something underneath the cupboard. He found a journal with quite complicated writings that he does not seem to understand. Not only were they of high level but the writing itself was quite ugly. "Whoever this Willow is should fix her penmanship." Kron thought before finding a page that he could finally appreciate.
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Notes:
Results : Success!
Remarks : I am correct that this blood is special! It can even absorb the special energy from the crystal!
To Do : Concoct potions using it to raise its efficiency
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"This transparent liquid is blood? Blood from what?" Kron was bewildered by what he found that he started to look around to see if someone saw him. "The crystal that it mentions. Is it the crystal used for awakening?"
With his discovery, he started having contradictory thoughts. One of course is to place the bottle and the journal back to where he found them. The dominating thought however is to use this liquid with his own potion to test its effects.