The quiz consisted of questions from all seven subjects in their curriculum. Zoology, Botany, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Physical Enhancement, and Spiritual Stability.
The last two subjects were recent additions to the curriculum compared to the rest, having been added only a decade ago after the Prime Circle members had decided that a comprehensive education on these two aspects could increase the possibility of success in reaching the Evolution Standard after the students attended their final National exam.
The contents discussed in these subjects were much more vague compared to the rest of the subjects, as the discoveries and theories on these aspects were either accidental or based on a ton of guesswork.
All in all, there was little to learn and too many cautionary rules. But the students loved these two subjects due to the involvement of supernatural aspects. After all, who didn't dream of reaching the evolution standard within the next 3 months and becoming a Transcendent tier superhuman?
As Mir hurried to answer the questions in the quiz paper, he felt both relieved and guilty.
He felt relieved because he had studied four of these subjects partially just last night. None of the ordinary students would be studious enough to go through that much work randomly.
He felt terrible because it was tantamount to cheating. Murray must have known that the Church was about to make a visit to the National College. He had been pretty direct and specific while describing how to use the diary, and Mir had taken the bait because he was too apprehensive of a sacred artifact to 'be creative' and experiment wantonly. He had written the same thing Murray told him to as an example.
And now, he had easily managed to answer half the questions in the quiz.
The questions he couldn't answer were mostly mathematical, which required one to practice extensively rather than memorizing formulae.
Added to that, he was terrible in math anyway. Every time he faced a question that appeared unfamiliar or unique, he lost all of his confidence in being able to solve it.
"Calculate the body-mass of an evolved (mutation grade- 3) Endemic Elephant (male) if it has a length of 29 meters, breadth of 7 meters, and height of 11 meters. You may use the Evolved Beast Datasheet for volume-to-body-mass comparison."
This was question number 49. After reading the question, he could only shake his head despondently.
"Damn, this guy is a real fatty. What would he look like in real life? These perimeters don't seem very realistic. And a grade- 3 mutation could mean a huge array of physical changes. Who says the elephant has to fit the infographics in the Evolved Beast Datasheet?
Oh wait, maybe the volume perimeters seem unrealistic because of the mutation?"
But what kind of mutation is that? Why did the question not say that? How was he supposed to solve the math if he couldn't even picture the elephant?
Most of his fellow students didn't seem to have this problem. They could solve a math without stopping to think about it even if it was about a flying donkey hitting an aerial shield at mach-7 speed.
Could an evolved donkey-
"5 minutes remaining before I start collecting the answer sheets!" Professor Zula shouted.
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A collective gasp of curses breezed through the students as they sped up their writing.
Mir abandoned the 49th question and chose to tackle the last one.
"If you could become a Transcendent tier superhuman with a Soulslot reserve of 10 units, what would your choice of beast companions be?"
Mir grinned. This was by far the most common question College students ever faced throughout their 5 semesters of higher-secondary education. There was no such thing as a correct answer to it, and the evaluation of the examiner depended on how optimal or creative the student's choices were.
Mir was about to pen down his list of choices without thinking about it, as he had the answer memorized...but he stopped.
This was an exam paper set by the Church. So far, there hadn't been any questions related to the Church, the religion it preached, or about the myths surrounding their god, Sunbreaker.
He couldn't help but feel like this question was the real test. He turned the question paper over and examined a certain detail.
All the questions had their numerical value provided at the right side of the page in tiny prints...all except one- question number 50.
A student hurrying to write the answer wouldn't probably notice it, or even if they did, they'd think it was a printing mistake, a frequent phenomenon in class tests.
Heh.
Mir thought about it for a minute and wrote down his list of choices confidently. But this was not the ideal list he had formulated over the last 2 years.
1. The Mazinian Chameleon
Consumption: 5 units
2. The Cursebite Cobra
Consumption: 3 units
3. The Pureheart Pigeon
Consumption: 2 units
The Church of Sunbreaker was known for many things, but in the world of Superhumans, they had a special reputation.
The registered Deacons of the Church were all Transcendent tier superhumans, forming the main fighting force of the Church. These Deacons generally used a specific type of combat method while facing off the alien beasts and infected monsters on the surface of the planet.
The Church's fighting method was all about aggressiveness, relying on incessant fatal injuries to take the opponents down. The Mazinian Chameleon was a universal choice in combat, and the Cursebite Cobra was an extra lethal creature to add to the attacks.
The last creature of choice on the list, the Pureheart Pigeon was a unique creature that only the Church was known to rear. How they did it was unknown, as the pigeons were absolutely feral around ordinary people normally. Those reared by the Church, however, were used to heal injuries even as grave as damage to the heart, kidneys, and lungs. These reared pigeons also tended to be very gentle and affectionate to ordinary folks as well.
His short list was pretty much identical to the arsenal of any ordinary Deacon of the Church.
"Time's up! Stop writing!"
As the teacher and his assistants collected the answer sheets, Mir leaned back on his seat and smiled at the grandfatherly priest sitting beside the teacher's desk, who returned the smile.
A few minutes later, the Priest stood on the lecture podium while a projection flickered on the wall behind him, depicting pictures and charts about different designations available in a church.
There were three types of Churches in terms of scope. Local, National, and Imperial. The level of power and the respect they commanded naturally followed that order.
The National Church of Nation- 013 was situated in its capital, Enet District, which was probably the reason why the Principle had agreed to let them in the College.
In all three types of Churches, three common designations were available: Deacon, Priest, Bishop.
However, a deacon from a local church had a far lower status and power compared to a deacon from a National Church, and the same rule applied between National Churches and the Imperial Church, whose head was the Pope.
Some of the National Churches had unique posts, such as Archbishops, Cardinals, and Living Saints. But the Priest simply explained that these posts were special. Too much information couldn't be provided about them.
To the general public, the posts of Deacons, Priests, and Bishops were available as jobs, provided of course that they qualified for the posts and passed the tests set by the Church.
For the students in the class, the post of the Deacons was open, as its requirement was the lowest. One only had to reach the Evolution Standard with a score of 75% or more to qualify.
By the time the demonstration and lecture about how amazing an opportunity this was came to an end, Professor Zula and his 3 assistants had managed to finish grading the answer sheets.
The Professor handed the Priest a note and whispered in his ears, which made him break out with an appreciative smile.
"Good news for you, students!" He waved a hand energetically.
"Your results are impressive! Seven of you noticed the 'mistake' in question no. 50! This number is indeed beyond my expectations! It's true what they say...the National Colleges are the hope of the Surface-dwellers!"
Mir was not the only one to gasp in surprise.
"Seven kids found the trick question?!"
"There was a trick question?!"
"There were questions on the other side of the page?!"
All kinds of yelps broke out in a frenzy, intensifying the already tense atmosphere.
"Settle down, please!" The professor shouted.
"The top scorers are among these seven students, of course. I suppose it is unnecessary to tell you that we gave more priority to question no. 50 than the rest of the questions. So those who haven't managed to become the top scorers, please do not be disheartened. Rather, learn from this minor mistake."
The Priest raised the note high in the air and read aloud.
"First Postion goes to Mr. Reno, with a score of 72 out of 100!"
"Fuck!" Mir slapped his forehead in frustration, suppressing the urge to break something. He had been so confident-
"Sharing his score, the other occupier of the first position is Mr. Mir!"