Free Web NovelChapter 23: Comprehension Exam
The night and subsequent morning flew by fast. Luke’s sleep was restless, his mind constantly drifted back to the system message. His under-eye bags grew darker.
He cooked breakfast in a daze and every time he saw Valeria he wanted to tell her that he had a way to fix one of her injuries, but as much as the system had helped him, he wouldn’t know if Shared Growth even worked until he used it.
At some point he and Valeria had made it to the academy. Luke only realized after she tugged on his sleeve and held out her notepad.
Are you okay? You have been zoned out all morning.
I’m fine. Just nervous for the exam.
The answer didn’t seem to satisfy Valeria, but she kept her curiosity to herself. Yesterday was actually his last day of classes. Once he finished the comprehension exam he would officially become an F-Rank explorer, assuming he passed.
It just so happened that Valeria was also the proctor for the exam, which made sense given her extensive knowledge of spells and that she was the professor of the class.
They made their way to the Practical Magic Usage building, where the tests were to be held. Inside were hundreds of students, all just as anxious as the student next to them. He could see multiple professors standing next to the practice range, each observing one row.
Before Valeria left him to group up with the other professors, she handed him a note.
Just cast Frost Spike.
That was his plan, but some advice from a professor didn’t hurt. Luke stood towards the back of the massive sea of students. He wasn’t sure how the grading or order of participation would go, but there was no need to push and shove to the front.
Even more students joined the crowd from behind him, until he was entirely surrounded.
The professors on stage seemed to have finished speaking amongst each other, and one stepped up to the microphone.
"Hello students, I’m sure everyone is excited to complete their exam and graduate, but this exam will be conducted in an orderly manner. I will call numbers based on your assigned rift, when you hear your number step up to the practice range and cast a spell you have comprehended. If you have not comprehended a spell then cast a spell that you think is mostly likely to be comprehended in the future."
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, please approach the range."
And so the order progressed. By the time it was Luke’s turn, three hours had already passed. The highest score was a 94/100, not that he was aiming for the top spot.
"687."
Luke stepped up to the range, an unfamiliar female professor stood next to him. He took a deep breath, drowning out the noise of the students.
"Frost Spike."
The temperature around his hands dropped, the spell formed into its pointed shape, before Luke aimed and fired at the target. Frost covered the dummy, its mana-resistant coating unscathed.
Luke heard the pen scratch on the clipboard the professor held.
"Lucius Kreuger, 96/100." She hesitated slightly before saying it.
Every student sitting in the bleachers turned to look at him.
Luke knew why. 94/100 had already tied the exam record, but he had just beaten both the highest score in their class and a decades-old academy record. If anything their reaction was a little bit tame.
He walked through the few students left on the field and moved toward the bleachers. Before he could find a seat a blonde haired student intercepted him.
"Lucius, right? I’m Leon Gregory. I was the number one score in the exam, until you pushed me into second. No hard feelings though."
"Yeah, sorry Leon. I didn’t know I would score so high."
"I said not to worry about it, instead I had a proposition for you. Would you hear me out?"
Luke honestly just wanted to sit down and spend the time thinking, but he didn’t think Leon would just back down after a simple no.
"Sure."
"I had planned to enter my awakened rift solo tomorrow, but after seeing the state you came back in, I figured I should find at least one partner. I was wondering if you’d want to come with me. Who better than the boy who lived, right?
He didn’t plan on entering another rift soon. In fact, it wasn’t even top three on his to do list. This stemmed from a combination of almost dying and not having any time to register for another rift. He wasn’t opposed to the idea, especially since Shared Growth required him to have mana to give.
"Um, sure. I can make some time."
"Great, let me link your communication orb and I will contact you tonight."
For a second he forgot that Leon was high noble. The Gregorys ranked just as high as the Chamberlin’s.
"I don’t have a communication orb."
"Oh, don’t worry about it. I think I have an extra lying around in here."
Leon reached into his bracelet and pulled out a palm-sized purple orb.
"Here, take it."
"No, I couldn’t. Those things cost more than a hundred platinum coins."
"Seriously, man. If someone is giving you something just accept. Just keep until we enter the rift and if we don’t have good teamwork, you can give it back after."
Luke was still reluctant but gave in to the man’s incessant smile.
"Alright, deal."
"Cool, I’ll send you the details tonight."
Leon turned around and sat back down in his seat. Luke stood there holding a item that would take his family decades to afford. He spent time trying to think of the equivalent in his original world. The closest thing he could think of was it was like a stranger handing you the keys to a brand-new supercar because they wanted to be friends.
Luke dazedly found a seat in the bleachers and waited until everyone had finished their exam.
After another hour or so, all the professors gathered on stage, as well as the headmaster who stood at the front of the stage.
"First things first, congratulations on finishing the academy. After today you are officially F-Rank explorers."
As he finished speaking, the headmaster tossed a polished wooden chest into the air.
Instead of falling, it hovered above the stage.
The lid swung open on its own.
Hundreds of silver explorer IDs rose from inside like a flock of birds, each glowing with pale blue mana. They circled above the students before suddenly darting through the air.
One after another, they landed perfectly in their owners’ hands.
Luke looked at the card resting in his hand.
He had finally held an explorer ID, which meant he could truly start his journey in the other world.
