Chapter 3: Registration Exam Pt. 2
Once Jacob made it to the second test site he was almost immediately called since more than one person could take this test at the same time. "This test will be taken within this pool of condensed ethereal energy and the longer you last, the higher level of potential you will have. 3 minutes mean level 1, 6 minutes for level 2, 9 minutes for level 3, etc, etc, now hop in the pool." Jacob didn't waste any time and hopped into the Olympic-sized pool full of condensed energy. The liquid energy felt like normal water to Jacob except for the fact that it was opaque and felt extremely oily. He easily passed the first 12 minutes like he was swimming on a hot summer day.
"This dude already destroyed the testing orb which is already astronomically expensive, I hope he doesn't absorb the condensed energy in the pool even though I don't think that's possible." the instructor quickly laughed off his inner thoughts as nothing more than a fantasy when he noticed that the pool had lowered considerably. About half a foot of the condensed energy was gone from the pool.
'This energy has been used for testing for almost a decade and now it's draining? Don't tell me..' the instructor then looked towards Jacob to see steam and heatwave coming off of his well-toned upper body. 'He actually absorbed the energy' all the instructors conducting the second test noticed the drop in energy and looked straight toward Jacob as if it was expected of him.
"Jacob Lunalis you passed with max potential." this was the only solution the instructors could think of to save the second test from ending like the first. "Who is this kid? These feats should be impossible, it's never happened before in the history of the colonies" the instructors as well as the examinees couldn't wrap their heads around what they have witnessed in the last half hour.
"Maybe I should dial it back. I'm getting some scary looks, especially from that Blazing Devil instructor" Jacob looked at Charles the instructor, and noticed a sinister grin like an experiment being studied by a mad scientist. "That creep might actually kidnap me to run experiments" Jacob shuddered and left the testing site going back to the hall where the exam introduction was.
The second and third tests were strictly for the students who had talent level 3 and higher, so now it's less of a registration test and more of a recruitment test for the 6 academies. Jacob noticed about 20 people out of the almost hundred that went before him. 'Only the Litwarth daughters really caught my eye, but that man seems to have a very sharp aura surrounding him' Jacob thought inwardly as he examined an average-sized man about 175 cm with dark skin and dark eyes with curly black hair, he was handsome and had what seemed to be a sword on his waist which is normal in this day in age since almost everything and everyone could kill you in a nanosecond. 'He is someone I need to keep an eye on' Jacob became slightly weary seeing someone with such an aura which could only mean he had some skill to back up such aura.
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About 30 more minutes passed by and around 15 more people entered the hall along with the examiner and instructors. The examiner came up on stage and started speaking with a nervous tone after seeing Jacob again "Congratulations to all of you who have passed the registration exam! You all being here means that you have the talent and potential to join one of the six prestigious academies!" He stood back and gave a very short applause to the examinees "Now! Let us move onto the second stage which can be considered the most dangerous one, people have died in this exam more times than I wish and there is a high possibility that at least 1 or 2 of you will die in this stage so feel free to leave if you don't want to risk your lives although you would be nothing but cowards by doing so" the examiner's words were harsh but it was the only way to get people to stay since the number of participants was already low. 4 people walked out of the exam room with their hoods up and their heads down.
About 5 minutes passed and the examiner began "32 participants this year…it's a good thing these exams take place every day or our classes would be empty when we start the new year in two months" the examiner stated in a very bored tone "well let's start with the explanation and what you will be tested on." The examinees stared intently at the instructor not wanting to miss a single word or it might cost their life "the second examination will take place on an asteroid called 16 psyche which houses some hosts that humanity has been using for some experiments and do not ask what those experiments are as that is highly classified and even I don't know" the examinees were slightly taken aback as they learned that the biggest threat to humanity was being used as a guinea pig
"All of these hosts are weak and can be taken down by even an early-stage Centaurus. You will be teleported into an artificial forest where these hosts will be released and you are tasked with surviving by killing or hiding said hosts. There will be a little under 200 hosts released. The forest is around 50 miles in all directions and you will be given points for every host you manage to kill, don't worry we will give you some spare weapons. You will gain 5 points for every kill and 20 points for every day survived. You will be in this forest for a week and you can group up and try to survive together but the points for killing a host will be divided by the number of members in said group. You will also receive bonus points when the instructors or I am impressed" the examiner looks around to see frightened looks from most of the examinees but just shakes his head inwardly
"That is all for the explanation. Follow me to the teleportation device to 16 Psyche" as the examiner finished the instructors made their way to a door where the teleportation device was and the examinees followed. 'This should be easy enough. I've had years of survival training so this should be a walk in the park' Jacob's thoughts differed from the rest of the examinees since no one has begun their cultivation journey and are still considered weak, even the Litwarth girls and the ominous dark-skinned boy. "The device can only teleport 10 at a time so so we'll send a couple of instructors as well as 8 students at a time" Jacob ended up teleporting with the three people he found most interesting probably because these 4 scored highest in the first stage. Even Scarlett was there making Jacob a little nervous as he was going to a foreign place where he could die at any moment.
…
After everyone managed to teleport to the designated destination the instructors started walking through the halls of the facility towards the large dome that took over half of the entire asteroid they were standing on. Even Jacob was impressed by the sheer size of the dome which must've taken a few years to make even with today's technology. After they made their way into the dome the atmosphere immediately became humid and slightly hot making some examinees break into a sweat. "This is the starting area and once I tell you to you will be given an hour to run through the forest and make preparations before we release the hosts, it may take longer depending on the difficulty we have moving said hosts. Before that, though you all need some sort of weapon"
as the examiner finished the grassy floor opened up revealing 4 large racks of weapons "we have every weapon that you might desire and you may choose ONE weapon to help you through this stage and you may keep it as a reward for passing the first stage" the examinees immediately had bright smiles and started rushing towards the rack. 'I'm proficient in almost every weapon so what should I choose?'
Jacob started contemplating what weapon is his favorite 'swords are cool and all but I feel like I'd end up in an eastern cultivation novel if I chose that. Maybe a spear or halberd? Those have been used a lot lately too. Hmm, what to choose' Jacob was having an internal battle while the other examinees were having a battle between themselves "hey lay off that sword it's mine, bitch" "BITCH?! WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BITCH YOU BASTARD!!!"
Two of the participants, a man, and a woman started a physical altercation because of a simple katana sword the woman came out on top after kicking the man in his prized jewels "cuck" is all she said as she walked away triumphantly. 'Fuckin morons' Jacob rolled his eyes at the scene thinking about how there were 15 other katanas that looked the same and that one of them could've chosen
Jacob ended up choosing two nordic double-headed hand axe 'this is a cool combo' was Jacob's primary reasoning 'I feel like a berserker' Jacob smiled to himself thinking about rushing into a battle and fighting multiple enemies at once. You could see a flame of determination in his eyes 'I'm gonna test out my dual axe skills on these hosts. I need some practice with dual wielding since One always told me it was inefficient' Jacob thought while swinging his axe playfully while unintentionally creating ripples in the air.
He also noticed that all the instructors and the examiner left while everyone was choosing their weapons. A loud voice came over a speaker that was in the dome "Now that everyone has chosen a weapon let's begin" said the voice which Jacob recognized as the examiner. "In 5..4..3..2..1" *BEEP* a loud beep was heard which signaled the start of the second stage.
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