The entrance test was divided into three rounds.
The talent test.
The combat power test.
And finally, the survival test.
The first two were simple enough to understand. For the talent test, any element affinity reaching 2 or higher was sufficient. The combat power test was even simpler and more direct: whether one pursued the warrior or mage class, as long as they reached First-Rank, they passed. The final survival test, however, was the main event.
The Great Sage finished announcing the rules.
Disappointment and unwillingness appeared in many eyes.
Even without taking the test, most already understood their fate. Most people present had failed to meet the standards for the second round in particular, yet a faint glint of hope still lingered in their hearts—fantasizing that perhaps they might be allowed to stay for some other reason. Unfortunately, it was nothing more than a delusion.
An entire morning passed.
Just the first two rounds eliminated over four thousand people.
At this moment, the Royal Academy's plaza looked much roomier.
At least it was no longer as packed as before. Quite a few familiar faces entered Roland's view, such as Sylvia, Clyde, and Messiah. All of them were among the top talents of this class. In the original plotline, Messiah had taken first place in the survival test, while Sylvia had come in second.
Eyes filled with particular emotions turned toward Roland.
It was Thomas O'Connor, fighting intent gleaming in his eyes.
As for Roland, he paid no mind to anyone present, except for the old man standing on the high platform. Yawning, he looked at him. For some reason, it felt as though the old man's gaze lingered on him for a split second—fleeting, yet distinctly palpable.
"..."
Even so, Roland continued to look straight back at him.
Showing not a hint of flinching.
"The survival test will be the most direct manifestation of your talent and strength. I believe all of you will present a perfect answer." August Sinclair—the Great Sage—coughed twice and continued, "You will face genuine, life-threatening danger, which will squeeze your potential to its absolute limit."
"However, do not let that make you nervous. I will engrave a miniature rune on the back of each person's hand, linked to a massive teleportation array. Should you encounter mortal peril, you can activate it using either magic or mental power to instantly teleport back here. Remember... life comes first. Do not act rashly out of bravado."
"Otherwise, the price of losing your life will have to be borne by your loved ones. That is all I have to say. The survival test will take place in a sub-dimension created by me, where the highest-rank magical beasts are Fifth-Rank. The runes on your hands will update your points in real time based on the strength of the magical beasts you slay."
"Only the top five hundred will earn admission."
"With that, I wish you good luck."
As his words fell, a massive magic array enveloped the entire plaza. An intense sense of weightlessness washed over them. After a brief darkness before his eyes, Roland opened them and looked down at the back of his hand. It felt slightly warm as dense, intricate patterns glowed before quickly dimming, after which the warm sensation gradually faded away.
"Can I check it?"
Roland extended his mental power into it, and information akin to a beginner's rulebook flowed into his mind. The area inside this space was roughly divided into four zones: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. The zone he currently occupied was a forest named "Summer." Additionally, Spring was a grassland, Autumn was a desert, and Winter was a snowy plain.
"This place is quite large."
Roland clicked his tongue.
The survival test would last three days in total, continuing until the afternoon of September 2nd of the Eternal Calendar.
In this test, students had to rely on their individual capabilities to survive while earning as many points as possible to raise their ranks. Slaying a First-Rank magical beast yielded 10 points, a Second-Rank magical beast yielded 100 points, a Third-Rank magical beast yielded 1,000 points, and so on, capping out at Fifth-Rank.
Of course, most students hadn't even considered Third-Rank or higher beasts.
They even prayed in their hearts that they wouldn't run into high-rank magical beasts.
If it were a Second-Rank magical beast, one could still use terrain or elemental advantages, or set traps and form teams to find a way to kill it. But at Third-Rank, it was basically suicide unless they truly used human-wave tactics—and even then, who would want to be the first to sacrifice themselves?
Facing a beast of that level, it was impossible for everyone to survive without casualties.
Roland was still reading this "beginner training manual."
Meanwhile, the rankings had already begun to shift.
Or rather, they were rapidly jumping up and down.
Among the top ten, familiar names were already listed.
【1 - Messiah Tanner: 160】
【2 - Clyde Norman: 90】
...
And the numbers were still changing rapidly.
However, the top two spots were currently very stable and steadily rising. Still, for most people, this situation was hardly anything to envy. To have points surge so rapidly the instant one entered this space meant, without a doubt, that they had dropped straight into a monster nest. Anyone else in that position would only be eliminated faster.
In fact, some had already been eliminated because of it.
Take the first-place Messiah Tanner for instance: her score had already reached 230, which translated to twenty-three First-Rank magical beasts—or perhaps even a Second-Rank beast mixed in. Students lacking practical combat experience would likely struggle to fight even a beast of the same rank.
They would fare even worse if swarmed by a group or pitted against a Second-Rank beast.
Roland, who was observing the rankings with great interest, casually swatted dead a Second-Rank magical beast that suddenly pounced from the bushes to attack. It was clean and swift; he didn't even glance at it directly, remaining absorbed in the rankings inside the rune, letting out occasional chuckles when he saw familiar names near the top.
The rune on the back of his hand grew warm once more. After a faint glow, his rank surged into the top one hundred, his points changing from 0 to 100—likely because he had casually swatted that Second-Rank magical beast to death just now.
"That was pretty fast."
It happened almost in an instant.
His ranking had undergone a dramatic change.
No longer monitoring the leaderboard, Roland stretched and snapped his fingers. The surrounding environment began to shift dramatically. Before long, a pavilion-like structure rose out of thin air, while the nearby magical beast carcass burst into roaring flames, wafting a mouthwatering aroma of roasting meat.
"Just in time, I'm hungry."
The fat sizzled continuously as it roasted.
Even so, no magical beasts dared to draw near.
The pressure Roland intentionally released forced all the magical beasts within a thousand-meter radius to migrate en masse. The ground even vibrated faintly from the sheer number of fleeing creatures.
Meanwhile, a youth in the vicinity watched this scene in utter bewilderment as countless magical beasts began fleeing the area.
"Holy shit!"
Dodging the wild stampede of beasts, the youth watched them flee without turning back. "Could there be a Third-Rank magical beast around here?"
He pondered briefly.
The youth immediately decided to stay clear of this area.
Instead, he hurried in the direction where most of the magical beasts were escaping.
"This place is too dangerous to stay. There's very likely a Third-Rank beast here. I'd better follow this fleeing pack of First-Rank beasts; maybe I can even kill a few." Giving himself a mental thumbs-up for his wise decision, the youth began selecting targets. "A First-Rank wild boar? No, its hide is too thick. A First-Rank giant python? No, I might not be able to beat it..."
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