Competition? Where?

"You're back? So fast?" Arthur looks between me and Cake, only noticing Fides after a few seconds.

"Ew. Cake, something crawled onto you and stole a ride into the palace. There, on your shoulder."

Cake shakes her head with a giggle, "Arthur, this is Fides. Say 'hi' Fides."

"Hi Fides- er, no, that's not right." Fides mumbles a bit, then clears her tiny throat and says in a loud voice, "Hi Arthur, I'm Fides!"

Arthur puts on an odd, skeptical expression, then shrugs and disregards the strangeness of it all. Instead, he looks to me and says, "Well, since you're back, how about some last minute training?"

I shoot him a derisive glare and scoff, "Bitch please, I'm going to bed. Wake me up thirty minutes before the exam."

After that, I leave Arthur, Cake and Fides to their own devices and go in search of a bed to fall down in. Once I do, I relieve myself of all clothing and let my hair loose, wrapping myself in the covers.

I immediately begin drifting off to sleep, and am out cold before I can even organize my thoughts. It does not matter. I don't need a plan as of yet. What I need to do is focus on getting into the college.

In my sleep, I see strange images. At first, all that I can see is a sky without blemish, everlasting and bright blue. Before long, it becomes overcast and explodes into a violent storm. Thousands of lightning bolts strike at various locations throughout the sky and whatever lies below it, painting an image of a furious Heaven.

Without warning, the sky is split by a streak of light, like the slash of an all-powerful blade. The lightning loses its power and dies, the clouds scatter in a matter of seconds, and the clear sky is again revealed. Only now, it is no longer bright and blue, but dark and starry.

There is no moon.

"Rachel! Wa- are you naked!? Rachel!"

I hear Arthur's voice in the unconscious void, and I wake. Half of my body has slipped out of the covers, revealing its milky smoothness. The pulp mounds that inhabit my chest are laid bare for all to see- namely Arthur and Cake who are already dressed and prepared to leave.

Arthur glances once at my breasts and gulps like the inexperienced and anxious virgin he is. He turns away and clears his throat, "Come on. We gotta go."

I blink until my eyes adjust. The light coming through the paned window and its curtains is much too bright- definitely the morning sun. Cake stares at my eyes for a few seconds while Arthur leaves the room, and I wonder what she is looking at.

Surprisingly, she murmurs a single word, "Gold..."

I almost miss it, but when I properly process it I realize that my eyes aren't supposed to be golden. They're supposed to be white.

Looking around, I find the vanity mirror and rush over to it, not caring about my naked state. All of my is exposed, and I can feel the slight jiggle of thighs and backside as I hobble.

When I reach the mirror, I find that my eyes have truly attained a golden color. Comparing them to Razalith's, I find that they are almost as bright. As time passes though, they slowly revert to white.

"Peculiar..."

...

A bit later, we are all ready and standing in the front yard. The suit of armor stationed outside the palace approaches us, informing us of the process. I look to my left and to my right, inspecting my 'retainers' with a look of undisguised supremacy.

Arthur is in one of his shirts, but a blue one that he rarely ever wears. He has also found this to be the most appropriate time to adorn himself with his fingerless gloves, a silver necklace, two red diamond rings and navy blue trousers. I pay close attention to the necklace he is wearing, admiring the semi-circular crystal embedded in the pendant.

Cake is wearing another cute dress that I prepared for her, since earlier she had been wearing the same dress from yesterday. A combination of cotton and silk, the partially frilly dress fits her perfectly and adds to her cuteness the air of a happy-go-lucky princess. I cannot get enough of her adorable ribbons either, and end up staring at her for far too long.

In one of the pockets, Fides is casually chilling out with her tongue sticking out, excited for the journey. She has never left the Nest all her life- which is more than 10,000 years- so it makes sense for her to look forward to it this much.

As for myself, I have decided to wear a leather crop top and tiny leather jacket with long sleeves. It exposes my toned abdomen, then below that are the black jean shorts and long black leggings. They perfectly accentuate the parts of me that I am most proud of, and so I can comfortably leave the palace and face the many other examinees.

"Good morning, examinees. How are we all feeling this morning?"

I say nothing, but Arthur and Cake reply with differing mannerisms.

"Feeling confident!"

"Good morning to you too, sir. I honestly don't know what's about to happen." Of course, Cake is still a bit clueless. However, I have explained the details to Fides, who will be with her every step of the way.

"Let us be on our way then."

A magic circle appears beneath us, and I get to take a glance at it before we depart. The bright yellow mana around us folds space and takes us to our destination with great haste. When it vanishes, we are within a giant tiled hall that is filled with numerous desks. There are likely more than 15,000 of them, which means that a lot of examinees will be in attendance.

Even though there are so many desks, the space of the hall is still more than enough for them to be abundantly spaced. We have arrived at a group of three desks, and the suit of armor is also here with us. Looking around, I notice that a puppet armor has been stationed at every group of desks.

"Red-Eye, what's the structure of this exam?" I look to the suit of armor, utilizing my mental energy in order to look directly at the puppeteer, and see Sir Thornwel sitting in a chair somewhere.

"What is your name, young lady? I would wait for the exam to begin in order to find out, but I am far too curious. I know that this," the suit of armor pointed at the others, "is Cake, and that is Arthur, but who are you?"

I take a seat and get comfortable, then shake my head and wag my finger, "Tsk, tsk. I asked you a question first."

Mumbling for a bit, the suit of armor straightened up and said, "This is the assembly hall, but its hardly used for actual assemblies. Therefore, I will be conducting the theory exam right here. You will be given a variety of tests combined into one all-encompassing paper, and will have three hours to complete it. Following that, a half-hour's break will be given before the practical exam, which I will conduct in the Range."

Hearing all that, I see that it coincides with what I know and with what Arthur has said. The only deviation would be the fact that this 'Sir Thornwel' seems to be the only authoritative figure present. Even so, I do not care. The others are seated behind me in a triangle, but there are still a few more desks in our group. We await the beginning of the exam without so much as a word, but I hear Cake snickering. She is talking to Fides in her head.

Soon, scores of others appear in the hall. No matter which direction one looks, they would see thousands of students. Before long, the suit of armor stationed at our group is joined by two others. Four students have arrived to fill the rest of the seats in our group of desks, and I immediately frown upon identifying one of them.

Even Arthur and Cake shoot glares and scowl at him.

It is a particular ginger-haired freckle-faced pompous-looking young man: Ferdinand the Racist. His lackeys are also with him, and they return Arthur and Cake's gazes with murderous expressions of their own.

"Well, well, if it isn't the hellspawn and her pure-hearted sympathizers-"

"Young Lord Talligan, that will be all." Red-Eye's stern voice sounds from within the suit of armor, and Ferdinand holds his tongue and sits obediently. As for the fourth, it is someone I have not yet seen. They have very dark purple hair that perfectly hides everything but their mouth, which is pressed into a thin shape.

They give a simple nod and then take the seat at the very end, flourishing their cloak so as to not sit down atop it. When they do this, I notice a special belt that holds several large needles. I narrow my eyes and turn around, no longer caring. Instead, I look at the suit of armor and see that it is 'looking' at me.

I look beyond it to see Red-Eye staring at me with a cheeky smile. "I thought you could use some competition. This group of eight will be taking both exams together."

Hearing him say eight, I frown. At that moment, the last member of our group arrives. It is Silver. He greets us in a low voice and takes his seat, leaning on his arm and shutting his eyes.

"Competition?" I look at the puppet armor and then look through it at Red-Eye. He seems amused, but I am not. "All you've done is set them up to be humiliated. I don't know where the competition is."

In that moment, at the very front of the hall, a sound like shattering glass run out and caught the attention of all 15,000 examinees. Looking toward the source of the sound, I see a man in a blue suit sitting within a flying chair. Given the distance of the hall, I have to enchant my vision just to be able to see him clearly.

It is Red-Eye, Sir Thornwel, the God Examiner himself. Through the suit of armor he says to me, "They are not all I have in store for you. Also, I don't believe I told you what would happen if you lost our little bet."

Deciding to humor him a bit further, I say, "So tell me. What happens if I lose?"

"You will become my servant, of course."

The moment his sentence ends, half of my soul is set ablaze. I doubt that I even need to say which half. It cries out to me from within, demanding that I chop off his head and adorn the highest tower of the College with it.