First test: Basic knowledge

Elizabeth had finished sorting out the documents as Belle's big sister and guardian. They managed to finish the process quickly due to their unusual looks and because Elizabeth held a divine rank that the academy had once tried to recruit. Belle now stood with the rest of the examinees who had also finished their own processes.

"Teenage years are really the best time for having your thoughts run wild," Belle said, almost as if he himself were an adult, after his telepathic power picked up a few thoughts from the young boys and girls around him. "Wait, someone's thoughts are actually directed towards me," Belle noticed a particular thought that was focused on him.

"Hello," Greg said as he walked over to Belle with his twin sister. Belle had actually picked up on Liana's thoughts. "I didn't know you were the one causing waves. I heard about a beautiful big sister in a Gothic-style dress who came to register her equally beautiful brother, also in Gothic dress. I didn't know it was you," Greg said.

Hearing him speak to him, Belle initially felt afraid. He considered writing in his book to stay on the safer side, but he didn't want to disappoint Elizabeth, who had tried her best for him to fit in. "How have you both been?" Belle said, causing a shock to both Liana and Greg. Greg seemed surprised, while Liana's mind seemed to be going haywire.

"he can talk? he can actually do it! What if he talks to me now? I can't answer, I'll disgrace myself," Belle read Liana's mind. "Okay, she is really cute," Belle thought to himself.

"You can talk?" Greg asked.

"Yes, I just couldn't before," Belle said.

"Is your sister a divine rank?" Greg asked, as if trying to confirm what he already knew.

"Seems so," Belle said, imagining the smug look that would be on Elizabeth's face if she were to witness this conversation.

"I..." Greg was about to say something when he was cut short by a voice from the telephone.

"All the participants will be transferred into the exam scene. Try your best. The exam comprises of 3 stages. Good luck," the voice announced. Soon enough, all the students in the hall vanished and appeared in another hall filled with neatly arranged chairs.

"You all can pick a seat. My name is Schwartz, and I will be in charge of this exam. Read the questions that appear on the papers before you carefully before ticking the box. Education before the apocalypse might be useless, but we are not abandoning it," Schwartz said. Most of the teenagers had already taken their seats, finding exam papers with questions on basic mathematics, government, and other familiar subjects.

"What is the value of all this? It's not like it will save you in a fight against spatial monsters or mutated beasts," a scrawny-looking teenager sitting close to Belle grumbled.

"They are just basic knowledge. It is required for everyone to have them," a blonde short-haired boy sitting in front of the scrawny boy replied. He seemed dignified and exuded an air of perfection.

"Basic knowledge that I don't know," Belle thought to himself, laughing inwardly. His parents hadn't sent him to daily classes, where this kind of knowledge was taught, so he knew nothing about what they called basic knowledge, he has only learned writing at home . Leafing through the papers, Belle could only write his name in the space provided and answer a question about things he had encountered outside of daily classes.

"I'm done with the most I know," Belle said proudly to himself as he counted how many questions he had answered. "Six out of two hundred, not bad for someone who has never gone to daily class," he said, feeling proud. Many others' thoughts were visible to him, but he chose not to use them. Not because he wanted to be righteous, but because he would find it difficult to defend his answers if the need arose.

"How will I notify them that I'm done now?" Belle thought to himself. But before he could finish thinking, he noticed his book disappear, and his body teleported out of the hall.

"I guess someone tried to beat me to finishing first," an elegantly dressed boy said as he approached Belle with a smile.

"I literally beat you in finishing first," another voice said. Belle looked only to see the scrawny-looking boy.

"You didn't write anything; you just submitted your paper after seeing it," the elegantly dressed boy said.

"I wrote my name," the scrawny-looking boy said, rolling his eyes at the elegantly dressed boy.

"I mean people who actually wrote the exams, not just their names," the elegantly dressed boy clarified.

Hearing both of them, Belle couldn't help but laugh within himself. There wasn't much difference between him and someone who only wrote their name.

Meanwhile, outside where friends, parents, guardians, and well-wishers had gathered to witness the exam, Elizabeth was surprised to see Belle's name lit up among the students who had finished. "Wait a minute, he is done already?" Elizabeth was shocked as she stared at the large screen. They couldn't fully follow the first stage of the exam, but they could see the names of those who were finished. Belle's name was third.

"Is he some beauty with a big brain?" Elizabeth asked herself. She had never doubted Belle's intelligence, but she wasn't sure about his academic abilities. Soon enough, the wait was over as the big screen displayed that the exam had finished and it was time for the results.

"Where is he on the screen?" Elizabeth said as she looked at the first display which contained no less than fifty teenagers. However, Belle's name wasn't there. "I guess he didn't make it to the top fifty," Elizabeth said as she waited for the display to switch so she could keep checking for Belle's name.

"He didn't make it to the top one hundred," Elizabeth said, and then she waited some more. "Didn't top one hundred and fifty... Didn't top two hundred... Didn't top two hundred and fifty..." Elizabeth said, bursting out laughing and almost drawing a lot of attention to herself. "Oh, there he is, three hundred and ninety-nine. They really asked him beauty or brains!" Elizabeth couldn't stop laughing, now totally bringing attention to herself.

"Isn't that the divine rank that came with her sibling? Why is she laughing so hard?" murmurs rose among the crowd.

"She seems to be musing to herself that her brother didn't make it to the top three fifty, that he is just a beauty with no brain," another voice whispered to the first.

"So bad, someone of excellence has such a brother," another voice said.

"Well, God or whoever is running this balances everything just to give us leeway. Imagine if her brother had excellent brains and could become a divine rank as fast as her," another voice said.

"She doesn't seem to be affected by that. What if she is trying to console herself that at least her brother's brains are not as good as his abilities?" another said.

"If his brother's abilities are good, then there is no need for him to have extensive knowledge in basic subjects that haven't proven useful since the apocalypse," another said.

Hearing the murmurs, Elizabeth was totally uninterested as she looked forward to the second phase of the exam. She was this interested because she couldn't see anything about Belle.

"Three hundred and ninety-nine out of four hundred. Four hundred should be the scrawny-looking boy, right?" Belle said, looking back at the scrawny-looking boy only to see him looking at him.

"Nice one, not stressing your brain, bro," the scrawny-looking boy said and burst out laughing. His name was John.

Hearing him, Belle couldn't help but smile. Neither of them felt ashamed of their scores. On Belle's side, he did great. On John's side, the exam was of no importance.