If Wally had to sum up his feelings about retaking the entrance exam, they'd be a swirl of nervousness and excitement.
It was finally the day of the entrance exam. Anubis Academy stood on the outskirts of Tavel, and I was en route, traveling by hover bus.
As we sped toward my destination, I gazed out at the sprawling cityscape of Tavel.
Tavel, the jewel of the Kingdom of Phoenix, was its capital and most vital city.
A millennium-old metropolis, its skyline was a maze of perfectly aligned skyscrapers, like dominos towering across the horizon.
High-speed trains zipped along elevated tracks, hover buses darted through the air, and drones whizzed past, delivering packages to the city’s residents.
Encasing the city was a massive weather control bubble—a translucent dome that regulated the climate and protected against the elements. It also served as a shield against the occasional monsters that wandered near the city's borders.
The royal family of the Phoenix Kingdom resided in Tavel, a city not only known for its rich history but also for its ancient and powerful dungeons, some of the wealthiest and oldest in the land.
Alongside these dungeons, Tavel housed the prestigious Four Major Guilds, reinforcing its role as a hub of wealth, power, and influence.
Tavel was the beating heart of the Phoenix Kingdom.
As I looked out at the city, a melancholy feeling washed over me. In the future, this vibrant metropolis would be reduced to ruins by a rogue android.
Although the city would eventually recover, many lives and pieces of its rich history were lost, never to be restored.
The bus came to a halt at my destination. It was time to take the entrance exam for Anubis Academy.
----
Anubis Academy was a sprawling campus with multiple buildings dedicated to teaching.
The centerpiece, known as the Anubis Pyramids, was a striking glass-and-metal pyramid with a square base. Its massive triangular glass panes were held together by sleek metal beams, creating a structure that gleamed in the sunlight.
The Pyramids towered over the surrounding four-story buildings, casting long shadows across the campus.
As I stood there, staring at the Anubis Pyramids, I felt conflicted. I never thought I'd be setting foot on this campus again.
Around me, students walked by, excitement and curiosity lighting up their faces as they made their way onto campus.
In the crowd, I spotted Valentina with her family.
Valentina was the second-strongest in our class.
With her piercing blue eyes and long dark hair, she was as beautiful as she was intimidating. Strict, organized, and bossy, Valentina was also our class representative.
Nearby, a petite girl with wavy brown hair and green eyes stumbled, spilling her coffee onto the ground. She fumbled to her feet, exclaiming, "Oh no!" in a worried, almost childlike voice.
I recognized her immediately: Penelope. The strongest student in our class.
Nicknamed Pandora Penelope, she had a reputation—anyone who crossed her met with disaster. She was one of the Elite Four, the top students in our grade.
I paid no mind to Penelope's predicament. We didn’t get along in the first timeline, and I had no interest in getting involved this time around either.
My gaze shifted to a chubby teenager with light red, shaggy hair and freckles. He was struggling to carry an absurd number of suitcases—one in each hand, one under each arm, and two somehow balanced on his head.
It was Nick.
Seeing him again hit me hard. I’d had a nightmare about his death, and now, here he was, alive. It made me wonder if everything I'd experienced was just some sort of twisted hallucination.
Pushing down my emotions, I approached him. “That’s a lot of bags. Need a hand?”
Nick smiled, though clearly straining. “Nah, I’m good! After all, I’m strong as an ox, and these bags? Light as a feather!”
I pulled out my Bronze Bent Spoon and used telekinesis to lift the two suitcases off his head, letting them float beside us. “I don’t doubt your strength, but it looks like you don’t have enough hands. Let me at least carry these two for you.”
Nick looked relieved. “I won’t forget your kindness. I’m Nick. What’s your name?”
“My name’s Wally.”
For Nick, this was the start of a new friendship. But for me, it was a reunion with an old friend.
----
The written exam was a grueling two-hour ordeal.
I sat in a classroom, staring at the hologram projecting the test questions on the screen.
Thankfully, the questions were the same as the first time I had taken this test.
The problem? These questions could stump even experts.
One, for example, asked: Who was the ninth wife of King Brien?
King Brien had 27 wives. How was anyone supposed to memorize the names of all of them?
The other test-takers looked at their screens like they were up against some terrifying beast. I didn’t blame them.
Suddenly, an instructor yanked a participant out of their seat.
The participant, clearly indignant, protested, “What’s the problem? Get off me!”
The instructor removed a small camouflage device from the student's ear—obviously a tool for cheating. “Cheaters are disqualified immediately. Please leave.”
“Forget you! Forget this test! And forget this school!” the cheater shouted before storming out of the classroom.
Honestly, I couldn’t blame him. The written exam was brutal, clearly designed by a sadist.
The first time I took it, I spent the entire summer studying, only to fail with a pitiful score of 20 out of 100.
This exam wasn’t about being smart—oh no. It was about whether you were a true genius.
At least this time, I’d be able to answer most of the questions, except for the math and physics ones. I still didn’t know the formulas for those.
After two soul-draining hours, the written exam was finally over.
Instructors handed each participant a paper document and a pen.
The document was filled with legal jargon, but the gist of it was simple: if you were injured or died during the Field Exam, you couldn’t sue the academy.
In an age of advanced technology, using paper felt almost archaic, but for some, it was like signing their own death certificates.
Deaths during the Field Exam weren’t uncommon. Every year, someone didn’t make it.
I signed the document.
It was time for the Field Exam.
----
A fleet of double-decker hover buses arrived to pick up the participants, transporting us to the fields.
I was seated next to Nick, with the window seat to myself while he sat by the aisle.
Nick looked utterly drained, slumped in his seat with a defeated expression.
I couldn’t help but ask, “How’d the Written Exam go for you?”
Nick shot me a haunted look. “It broke me.”
I tried to reassure him. “If you nail the Field Exam, they might let you pass. You’re confident in your strength, right?”
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He sighed. “Is that really enough, though? You’ve probably noticed—most of the people who passed the entrance exams are either beautiful or ridiculously handsome. Unless you're a genius or a skilled fighter, it feels impossible to make it through.”
I stayed silent, considering the unsettling truth in his words. "No, that can’t be right..." I muttered, but I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince Nick or myself.
My mom always said I was handsome, but it’s hard to take that seriously when it’s, well, *Mom*.
In reality, I looked average.
Meanwhile, my future classmates looked like they could step off a runway, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some were CRISPR-enhanced.
Nick and I—two ordinary-looking people—were surrounded by the kind of flawless individuals who could easily be Hollywood stars.
“I hate this cruel, unfair world,” I blurted out.
Nick nodded sagely. “I feel your pain, brother.”
---
Philadelphia lay in ruins, devastated by monstrous creatures. In their wake, nature had begun its quiet reclamation of the land. Trees had taken root in every crack and fissure, weaving together to form a dense jungle amidst the crumbling urban landscape. It was a haunting paradox of destruction and strange beauty.
The participants stood gathered in front of the ruins.
On a podium stood the principal, a woman with sleek dark hair and piercing blood-red eyes. Dressed in a seductive black gown, she exuded an air of danger and allure. Her name was Carmila Seraphina.
I frowned as I looked at her. It was no secret—she was a vampire. Her methods were ruthless but undeniably effective. Even so, I couldn’t forgive her. The Training Trip Disaster was her fault, a direct result of her failure to take proper precautions.
Carmila smiled as she addressed the crowd. "The Field Exam is simple. Collect as many monster mana cores as you can and return them to the instructors. The value of each core depends on the monster's rank. A G-rank core will earn you 1 point, while an F-rank core will be worth 10. Only cores from the monsters within the ruins of the city will count. You have four hours. Do your best."
With a swift motion, she raised her hand and sliced through the air. "The exam begins now!"
Without hesitation, the participants sprinted into the overgrown ruins of the once-great city.
----
I soared high above the city using my telekinesis, gripping a Bronze Bent Spoon in each hand. Below me, the skeletal remains of skyscrapers loomed, mostly collapsed and weathered by time.
Insectoid monsters scurried across the ruins. I maintained my altitude, ensuring that even the winged creatures couldn't reach me.
Eventually, I descended and landed on one of the intact buildings.
In the distance, the sounds of explosions, gunfire, and the clanging of metal swords echoed through the air.
The other participants were in full swing, nearly a thousand people scouring the city for monster cores. The competition was fierce, with some even turning on each other to snatch cores away.
“This should be a good distance from the others,” I muttered to myself, checking my utility belt. “Time to start hunting.”
My utility belt was equipped with pepper spray, road flares, and three grenades. It also had a roll-up bag containing my daggers, and a gun holster with my uzi.
I crouched down, retrieved the roll-up bag from my belt, and unrolled it to reveal ten daggers.
With a Bronze Bent Spoon in hand, I used telekinesis to lift the daggers into the air. They floated around me, moving as if guided by an unseen hand. My telekinesis allowed me to control up to ten objects with precise accuracy, though I could only focus on one object at a time, switching rapidly between them.
After rolling up the bag and reattaching it to my hip, I positioned the daggers in a V-shaped formation before me.
I approached the door leading inside the building and stepped into the monster-infested interior.
----
I walked down the crumbling hallway, the decay evident in every step.
Using my Super Watch, I activated the scanner to detect nearby enemies. I had to adjust it, as it was picking up signals from the lower floors.
The scanner projected a holographic screen, showing the monsters in the vicinity along with their ranks. It appeared there were ten G-rank monsters on this floor.
Keeping the scanner's hologram active proved cumbersome, as it made it difficult to focus on potential threats. I decided to deactivate it for now, planning to check it periodically.
The hallway was shrouded in darkness, so I turned on the flashlight function of my Super Watch to illuminate my path.
What I saw made my skin crawl—webs covered every surface.
A shiver ran down my spine. “Spiders. Of course, it’s spiders.”
I faced a choice: press on and battle the spiders responsible for the webs, or retreat and burn down the entire building to eliminate them all.
I weighed the risks. On the one hand, there were more dangerous monsters outside, like the Giant Praying Mantis capable of slicing a person in half, or the Giant Centipede, which was both poisonous and heavily armored. On the other hand, there was the threat of encountering other participants looking to eliminate competition and steal monster cores.
In my brave but foolish decision, I chose to move forward.
I proceeded cautiously, keeping a vigilant eye on the ceiling to avoid surprise attacks from above.
I soon spotted my first giant spider in the corner of the hallway. When my flashlight illuminated it, the spider remained perfectly still.
Giant spiders were ambush predators, lying in wait to strike when prey entered their range or became ensnared in their webs.
The spider in question was about the size of a housecat.
With a mental command, a floating dagger zipped toward the spider with a whistling sound. It struck the spider’s head, killing it with a sickening thud.
Using telekinesis, I dragged the spider’s corpse to my feet.
Next, I needed to extract the mana core.
The process was as unpleasant as expected, but I managed to retrieve the small, blue mana core, which resembled a jewel.
I reactivated the scanner on my Super Watch and detected nine more giant spiders.
Time to continue the hunt.
----
The building had 20 floors.
I managed to hunt down all the giant spiders on the first four floors without encountering any problems.
I collected a total of 64 mana stones.
It seemed there were more spiders on the lower floors compared to the upper ones.
The hunt was progressing smoothly—perhaps too smoothly.
I came across a room where the scanner indicated that all the spiders on this floor were gathered.
Imagine 30 spiders, each the size of a housecat, confined to a single room.
I stood before the door to this spider-infested room.
With one Bronze Bent Spoon, I used telekinesis to maneuver the floating daggers. With the other, I created a protective bubble around myself.
I opened the door and stepped inside.
Instantly, a giant spider lunged at me.
A dagger flew through the air, impaling the spider and killing it on the spot.
There was no time to savor the victory.
Giant spiders began to attack me from all directions.
With one Bronze Bent Spoon held like a maestro’s baton, the daggers whirled through the air, slicing through the spiders with a sharp whoosh.
It was a grisly yet mesmerizing spectacle as the daggers cut down the spiders.
In less than a minute, every giant spider was defeated.
I was pleased to note that not a single spider breached my telekinesis shield.
----
I had cleared 17 floors teeming with giant spiders.
My current tally was 386 G-Rank monster cores.
I was forced to stop when a thick curtain of webs blocked my path. Neither my daggers nor my telekinesis could penetrate or move the web.
I checked my Super Watch scanner and discovered that an F-Rank monster was on this floor. It was likely a colossal spider, known as a Shelob.
Fighting an F-Rank monster should be manageable, but I had to be careful—it was in its own domain.
First, I needed to deal with the web obstructing my way.
I retrieved a road flare from my utility belt. After igniting it with a quick pull, I began to burn through the web.
Unfortunately, the web was extremely flammable. The flare ignited the curtain of webs and quickly spread, engulfing the entire hallway in flames.
It felt like I had unleashed a miniature inferno.
“Whoops...” I muttered aloud.
As the building was consumed by fire, I started planning my exit strategy.
Then the Shelob—a massive spider larger than a human—emerged, clearly enraged. It charged through the flames toward me.
I hurled my daggers like missiles at the Shelob. They sliced through the air and struck the spider, severing many of its eyes and limbs, yet it continued its assault.
Using my first Bronze Bent Spoon, I directed telekinesis to slam the Shelob down, pinning it to the ground.
With my second Bronze Bent Spoon, I spun it in a circle, applying force to rotate the Shelob’s head 360 degrees and snap its neck.
The Shelob was defeated.
With the fire spreading rapidly and the building burning, I decided it was time to leave.
I retreated to the upper floors and exited through a broken window. Using telekinesis, I flew away from the burning structure.
Although I couldn't continue clearing the building or collect the Shelob’s monster core, and I lost my daggers in the process, I had gathered enough monster cores to pass the Field Exam.
Staying any longer would mean risking encounters with the dangerous Giant Praying Mantis or other participants who hunted them.
I soared high into the sky and headed back to the instructors.
----
I reached the area where the instructors were collecting monster cores.
Since I arrived two hours before the Field Exam ended, there were only a few participants around.
A massive hologram scoreboard displayed the names and scores of the participants.
I approached the instructors and handed over the 386 G-Rank monster cores I had collected. They tallied the cores and awarded me 386 points.
The scoreboard now showed my name, Wally, with a score of 386 points.
I was currently in fifthteen place. The top three rankings and scores of those ahead of me were:
Aiko with 2,409 points Madeline with 1,060 points Valentina with 580 points
Aiko was a formidable swordswoman known for her Blossoming Swordsman Style and was a member of the Elite Four.
I didn’t know much about Madeline as she was from a different class.
Valentina, on the other hand, was my class representative.
Now, I had to wait for the remaining two hours before the Field Exam ended. The anticipation was nerve-wracking. Although I was confident in my performance, I dreaded the waiting.
The minutes seemed to drag. I had no interest in playing games or watching movies on my Super Watch because I was too anxious.
I recalled my first Field Exam, which had been a disaster. Back then, I foolishly relied only on my two Bronze Bent Spoons and was overconfident.
In high school, I was known as the Telekinesis Meister and believed I was destined to be a great adventurer. However, I soon learned how naive I was.
There were countless peers my age who surpassed me in combat skills. During the first timeline’s Field Exam, I not only battled the monsters in the ruins of Philadelphia but also contended with ruthless participants who would stab me in the back.
I was ambushed three times by different participants, and my collected monster cores were often stolen. In that harsh environment, I only managed to gather ten F-Rank monster cores, earning me a mere hundred points.
More participants arrived as the hours ticked by.
Penelope appeared, covered in blood but wearing a cheerful expression. Her score was prominently displayed on the hologram scoreboard:
Penelope with 2,000 points
As expected from Penelope, a member of the Elite Four.
Another familiar name appeared on the scoreboard. More participants continued to show up.
To my relief, my friend Nick also arrived. I saw his name on the scoreboard:
Nick with 140 points
I scanned the names of my future classmates, and before long, the two hours had passed.
Then, I received a new message. ----
Dear Wally,
We are thrilled to inform you that you have successfully passed the entrance exam for Anubis Academy! Congratulations on this remarkable achievement!
Warm Regards, Principal of Anubis Academy Carmila Seraphina
----
Some participants erupted in cheers as they were accepted into their dream school, while many others were filled with despair upon their rejection.
I, however, felt a deep sense of contentment. A warm pride and satisfaction spread through me.
How many can boast that they’ve passed the rigorous Anubis Academy Entrance Exam?
I had a plan: I would rescue my friend from his fate and graduate from Anubis Academy myself.
With hope, I aimed to survive the cutthroat environment of Anubis Academy, which had been my downfall in the previous timeline.