The Entrance Exam Begins

A month later, in a rocky hill, a boy was chasing a goat. The goat was easily traversing through the slippery rocky hills with the help of its powerful hooves. The boy was breathing more heavily.

"Fuck, this goat is so difficult to hunt." Ray cursed the goat.

The goat made a strange neigh noise as if it was mocking the little boy.

"Silly goat, you dare mock me. If I get my hands on you, I will dismember your skin and cut you into thousand pieces." Ray was chasing the goat frantically.

Ray suddenly stopped in his tracks. The goat turned its head and stopped as well. Ray narrowed his eyes and gripped the blade in his hands tighter. He threw the blade towards the goat head in a swift motion. The goat ducked to its right to evade the blade. He gave a hearty neigh to Ray but even before it could finish its laughter, a deep promotion of death filled its eyes. The goat felt a severe pain in one of its eyes. The goat didn't even know what happened. But it was already too late. Ray gave a satisfied smile and went towards the dead goat.

"Hahaha….This sure is a killer move no one would expect.". Ray laughed haughtily and picked up the blade and the dead goat.

Shadow Stack was the name of the attack he just used. Shadow stack was the new technique he learned within this month of hunting and training. Ray would use his weapon to attack and its shadow would also attack after the initial attack. But he had to time it perfectly as he could not adjust the shadow of the weapon as per his will. For now, he could only stack one hidden attack. However, he was greatly satisfied with his new found ability. No one would expect an invisible second attack immediately after a first attack unless they knew about it beforehand.

Finally, it was the day of the entrance exam for various academies. Children of age 12 would go through the test and the admitted students would learn there for at least 3 years. After that, they would either leave to seek their own paths.

Rising Sun Slum Academy was the nearest academy where Ray lived. There was a huge crowd at the front gate.

"How many students do you think will be enrolled this year?"

"Last Year, only 313 students were admitted. The number should be more or less same this year too right?"

"I heard the test is same every year known as the 3 'Ps'. They stand for Power, Potential and Personality."

"So how does the test go about?"

"There is a tower where potential is checked. Normally a low talent and core means low potential. However, there are still some good saplings even with weak cores every year. The tower has a seven story, whoever manages to reach at least 3rd story is said to have a good potential."

"What about the other two tests?"

"Power is tested by letting the students fight a level one beast. It's as simple as that."

"Hah, do you think fighting a level one beast is simple for a 12 years old kid who has just awakened their power?"

"Well, the result is straight forward nonetheless. You have to defeat the beast to pass."

"What about personality test?"

"This is a weird test. Many academies do not even take this test anymore. Even those who do so don't explain the result clearly. It is said sad the founder of the first academy in the kingdom use this test seriously. However, it now remains only in namesake as a show of respect to the first founder. As the name goes, this test determines one's personality. Students were sent inside a formation where they would face various illusions. No one really knows what's going inside the formation and only the principal knows the result. There's a rumor that ever since the founder has invented this test method, no one had actually passed the test."

"What! Doesn't it sound farfetched? If so, how can anyone even pass the exam."

"It's a rumor and no one really knows. Let's see what happens this time."

People were busy chattering among themselves.

Ray happened to heard those talks. But he didn't care. He would do his best but even if he doesn't get to join the academy it won't bother him too much. Still he was excited for the tests and observing his competitors with curious eyes. The other children were also eyeing each other. Some were too nervous while some were waiting eagerly for the test to begin.

An old man with white hair dripping over his shoulders opened the door. Most were frightened looking at his face as he had a deep scar across his whole face from above the right eye to his left cheek. Behind him was a girl who looked like a 15 years' age, with a cute face and hair tied to a ponytail.

"Those who are going to participate for the entrance test go to the academy ground. Others can take their seat in the stadium." announced the man.

"Let me announce the rules for the test. There will be three tests. First it will be assessment of your potentiality. There is a tower up ahead. Head there. You will pass if you are able to reach at least the third floor."

All the participants started to rush towards the tower. As soon as they entered the tower, everyone felt as if they were being pushed down by a heavy aura and even taking one step further was difficult. Many participants directly collapsed. The rest were also not in good shape. Around 5000 people managed to reached the second floor. But they were all panting heavily. Some were taking the support of the walls while some were even crouching on the floor.

Ray was utterly shocked. The others participants were clearly feeling pressure. Even the better ones were panting heavily. Yet he didn't even feel a slight bit of pressure. He even thought if there was anything wrong with the mechanism there. After some struggle, 1053 participants managed to reached the third floor. They sighed with relief. Now that they passed they didn't want to struggle anymore. But some of the stronger ones were reluctant to give up at that level. Even though they have already reached the passing requirement, they want to outshine others. So a few started to walk towards the fourth floor. Ray tagged along. Due to their own struggle, no one noticed Ray's abnormality.

They tried to climb the stairs to the fourth floor but not all of them succeeded. A boy slightly taller than his peers shouted loudly and rushed in a great speed and eventually managed to reach the next floor. Watching him step through, others tried to imitate him and cried loudly and rushed forth but the pressure was so intense that they collapsed immediately. One frail looking boy even vomited a mouthful of blood. Eventually only 17 participants 14 boys and 3 girls managed to reach the fourth floor including Ray.

This time however no one dared to climb further. They all knew their limits and blindly rushing forth would only harm themselves. But ray was not going to stop. Furthermore, he only felt a tingling sensation after reaching the fourth floor so he didn't need to worry about anything. Only after Ray started to climb the stairs that the rest were dumbfounded. At first they thought he was stupid and didn't know his limits and would bring harm to himself. But when they saw him so calm and his breathing normal, they couldn't believe their eyes.

After a few seconds, Ray vanished from their eyes. He had already reached the fifth floor. Ray didn't continue further. There was no point in going further as he was already the only person to reach the fifth floor. He didn't want to stick out too much.

"The test has been concluded. 1053 managed to pass. The rest of you can go back." The old man's voice could reach everyone present.

"Chk, chk, chk,…the passing participants are already too low. How many will qualify after the Power test?" said a man with a disappointing expression. He was standing behind the old man with the scar. He was also a higher up from the academy.

"Grandpa, the passing rate this year seems even lower. The participants must be weaker compared to the previous years." said the girl with the ponytail.

"The participants overall seem weaker but there could be one or more geniuses."

"Really grandpa, how many managed to reached the fourth floor?"

"1053."

"Only a bit more than a thousand, its less than half compared to last year."

"It is indeed the case but this year someone managed to reached the fifth floor."

"What! The fifth floor? You aren't kidding, are you? Grandpa." This time the girl was shocked to the core. Someone managed to reached the fifth floor. Even she herself only managed to reached the fourth floor two years earlier.

"There seems to be good sapling this year." The old man laughed happily.

"Hmm, let me see what kind of person managed to reached the fifth floor." The girl was not willing to admit her inferiority.

"Alight, the 1053 of you have passed the potentiality assessment. Next is the power test. Head inside the formation. You will fight a level one beast. As soon as you defeated one, you will be sent out by the formation directly and you will pass. However, let me remind you, there is real danger inside the formation and you might lose your life. You have two hours to defeat the beast. You will pass once you defeated it. Even if you can't defeat it, you have to survive the whole two hours. If you quit now, it's not too late." The old man warned in a serious tone and waited for their response. But no one wanted to give up at this moment.

"Go inside then".