Entrance Exam(3)

As I was staring at my sword lost in deep thought,

*ugh*

I couldn't help but groan as I was thinking about the property I should enchant my sword with, it was 5 a.m., and I had exactly 2 hours before the physical exam.

I had thought of about 3 properties for my sword,

1. To detach the blade of the sword and shoot it at high speed, of course, re-attachable.

2. To increase the sharpness by making the blade vibrate at a very high speed when supplied with mana.

3. To make my sword super hot(around 300 Fahrenheit) when supplied with Fire mana.

The problem was that with my current mana capacity, I could only cast about 2 before my mana completely drained out.

All three options were exciting, and I did not want to miss any one of them,

After contemplating carefully, I decided on making the sword vibrate and detachable, I was not at a level where I could separately provide large amounts of fire mana constantly hence I had to drop the idea of making my sword extremely hot.

Placing the sword on the table after unsheathing it, I contemplated the best places to engrave the patterns for these properties.

Engraving a property required a specific pattern to be etched onto the sword. The pattern would vanish after six hours, along with the enchantment

After some reflection, I chose to engrave the patterns on the sword's handle and the flat side of the blade.

Placing my hand on the sword, I imagined the properties of the sword I wanted,

"hmm..."

I could feel the uncomfortable feeling of mana being seeped out of me, meaning the GRANT had been successful.

With my reserves down to just 5%, I became dizzy and had to sit on the ground.

I had expended nearly all my mana, but witnessing the shimmering patterns on the longsword filled me with a sense of relief, as this made my chances of success increase by a lot.

*phew*

I sighed in relief as I crossed my legs to start feeling the mana. With my skill 'Arcane Mana Control' I started feeling the mana in the air I breathed in, guiding that mana to my heart,

Although the mana control skill was only limited to the one inside my body, it still helped me deal with mana depletion faster than the natural recovery rate, And fortunately or unfortunately, I had relatively less mana hence making the recovery fast.

After about 30 minutes of meditating, I stood up refreshed, my mana reserves at 85%.

Grabbing my long sword, I hurried out of the hotel and towards the examination center, there were only 40 minutes left for the exam.

.

.

.

The examination center was as bustling as ever, with around 4000 participants remaining the competition was airtight.

By the time I reached the examination center, there were only 5 minutes left, I was really cutting it close.

The staff guided me to an auditorium, where a seat was arranged for me to sit.

I sat down on the chair and looked forward to the stage.

The novel 'Saga of the Flame Legend' begins with the Speech of the principal on the stage followed by the Physical Exam.

*fwip*

As I was thinking about the contents of the physical exam, the lights around the auditorium went dim followed by the spotlight on the stage, On the center of the stage was a man looking in his 50s standing wearing a formal dark green suit, holding a cane in his right hand.

"Attention Applicants"

He spoke neither lightly nor loudly, but his voice was audible to everyone in the hall,

"You all have performed excellently in the Written exam, The written exam of the First Academy of Hunters is said to be one of the 10 toughest exams on the continent, having been able to clear the exam, you are already above 90% of the population of the Continent" 

He praised, lightly scanning the auditorium, but the next moment his eyes turned cold,

"But, that only proves your academic qualification, being a hunter does not mean sitting behind the desk all day doing office work, It means being out on the field hunting monsters, the monsters are cruel creatures with no sanity, their sole reason is to kill."

His stern voice resounded throughout the auditorium,

"Inside a dungeon, there is no difference between man and monster, there are only beasts who fight with their lives on the line...."

He paused for a moment and then continued smirking

*smirk*

"You might have sought out the hunter occupation because of its fame, but oh boy, let me tell you that might be the biggest mistake in your whole lives that you committed, there might be a day when you will die as a mutilated corpse in a dungeon after being tortured by monsters, or die instantly without knowing the reason why, or die to poison while cursing your decision to become a hunter."

*snap*

With a snap of his fingers, a light blue circular vortex opened behind him,

"Only those who have the determination to become the number one in this world, Enter this 'GATE', the moment you enter this gate, your whole lives will change, the world you are about to enter is a dog-eat-dog world where only the strong and careful ones survive. This exam will have about a 50% success rate"

He paused, smiling softly again,

"details about the exam will be given inside the GATE, there are already instructors waiting inside. Welcome to the world of 'HUNTERS'!"

His voice made a deep shudder run down everyone's spine. This was the moment that marked the official beginning of my struggle in this world.

I don't know who started it, but slowly everyone started to run towards the GATE, including me of course.

The relaxation time I was given had come to an end, it was the time to face the real side of this world. I couldn't help but feel a sense of exhilaration,

*GRIN*

The man on the stage started grinning as students passed by him, still grinning he exclaimed,

"LET THE HUNT BEGIN"