32 The entrance exam

"How big is Mazar City?" Rishi inquired from a merchant.

"It's a Tier 4 city with 5 districts," said the merchant.

"On average, one district equals one town. The towns I'm referring to are regular towns, not towns like Puna and Naya, which are on the verge of becoming cities "He added.

Rishi then arrived at Mazar.

He got out of his carriage and looked around at some small shops outside the city.

The security was extremely tight.

Rishi was allowed in quickly because he had come to join the academy, and students were given preferential treatment.

Rishi checked his phone's time and realized he was already late for the exam.

He took a carriage to the academy as quickly as possible and entered the gate.

The watchman inquired as to why he was late. Rishi simply made up a story that he was attacked by wild beasts.

Rishi then entered the academy and noticed a senior student handing out tokens to each participant. He approached Rishi and presented him with a token.

Rishi examined it and discovered the number 1322 written on it.

When he overheard some students conversing, he decided to wait in the crowd for his turn.

"Who do you believe has a chance of passing the test?"

"I believe the three stars have a good chance," said another student.

"Who are the three stars?" Rishi inquired.

"Are you from another region?" the student inquired of Rishi.

"Yes, I'm from somewhere else; please tell me," Rishi inquired shamelessly.

"The three top talents in our batch from this region are the tree stars. Their names are Kajal Agastya, Rajan Sharma, and Aditya Tyagi," the student explained.

Rishi has always thought Kajal was talented, but the distance between them is not that big, it is only now that he realizes she is far more talented than he had initially anticipated. When he was just about to ask for more information he heard an announcement.

"All students with an even number on their token should go to the right, while students with an odd number should go to the left."

Rishi went to the right side after hearing the instructions. He then heard the announcement once more.

"Three exams will be conducted separately, and your final score will be calculated by adding the results of all three exams."

"The first examination will be written. Don't worry, we'll only ask general knowledge and reasoning questions."

"The second exam will be a race in which you will be prohibited from using your contract beasts. On the finish line, there are 100 different circles with numbers 1 to 100 written inside them, and the number of your circle determines your rank."

"After you finish the race, the third exam is the combat exam in it you can attack any student inside the circle to take his spot, remember you can use your magic beasts but not any magical items or artifacts."

"Always keep in mind that that you are constantly being monitored; don't get too smart and think you can cheat on the exam, and don't injure other people on purpose."

"Now, the students who have an odd number follow Professor Brian, while others follow me."

The crowd then reached the computer lab. He then began looking for a seat and sat.

After a while, the professor instructed all of the students on how to open the exam. Rishi followed his instructions and opened the website, and entered all the required information.

The exam was made up of multiple-choice questions with negative markings for wrong answers.

Rishi decided to concentrate on his exam and carefully answer all of the questions because there was a time limit of 30 minutes.

"The exam was really easy," he murmured after completing it and clicking the "submit" button to submit it. He then sat back and waited for the other students to finish their exams.

Professor Brian turned to face all of the students and said, "Follow me to the ground for your next exam." The crowd then followed the professor and reached the starting line.

"Start running only after I say so. Go."

All students lined up according to their numbers.

"On your marks."

"Get"

"Set"

"Go!"

All of the students began running, but Rishi chose to start slowly because the race was 5 kilometers long and he had plenty of time to catch up.

He did very well in his written exam, he will capture the attention of everyone if he performed extraordinarily in this exam too. As a result, in the second exam, he decided to limit himself to the top 50.

After some time, the second exam was also completed, and all of the students who crossed the finish line began selecting a circle. Rishi simply found a tree and sat down to rest beneath it.

He wasn't very good at fighting multiple opponents at once, so he waited until only a hundred people remained.

Almost all of the students finished the race, and the top 100 students chose a circle. Rishi drew many curious looks from professors and senior students, as no one could see through him.

Soon after, the bell rang, signaling the start of the third test, and all students began challenging the top 100 students.

These magical circles could only allow five people to enter at a time. Rishi observed as many of the students in the circles were defeated and replaced. The cycle lasted 30 minutes, and the top ten numbered circles settled, but the rest were still deciding who will win.

After 25 minutes, the top 80 numbered circles each had one student, but the remaining were still struggling. When only 11 seconds remained, Rishi used his 'shadow walk' ability to approach the number 10 circle.

The student in number ten had been injured and had fought many battles, but he still had a very powerful contract beast, which is why the other students ignored him.

Rishi didn't care how strong this student was; he was not going to give him any retaliate. He approached the student slowly, with only five seconds remaining.

All of the students inside the circles began to rejoice. Rishi approached the student with caution, then emerged from his shadow form and kicked him out of the circle in the final second.

A bell rang, signaling the end of the exam. The student who had been kicked out of the circle by Rishi wanted to return when he heard Professor Brian's voice say, "The exam is over; all students outside the circle stop attacking."

Rishi was so cunning that only a few students noticed the change in the student in the number 10 circle. All students near Rishi were terrified when they realized they too might have not been able to stop Rishi if he came for their circle.

Rishi's performance impressed some seniors and professors, who decided to keep an eye on him.

After some time, all students, even the odd-number ones gathered. The professor then announced the names and grades of those who had passed.

Rishi was ranked 25th out of 50 students who passed the exam. The academy issued him a badge and a uniform.

He was also assigned a room which he had to share with two other students.