He wasn't sure how long he had slept, but once he finally regained his senses, he found himself lying in a pharmacy bed.
Raelis glanced around, then let out a sigh.
It seemed like he had passed the first actual exam, and now, he was resting before the second exam began.
In the meantime, he decided to check out his new abilities.
Name: Raelis Varekan
Age: 16
Race: Human
—Flame Core: 2 Flame Rings (Ready to form the next Flame Ring)
Flame: ??? Primordial Flame (★★☆ — Mastery: 100%)
—Bloodline: Cinder Phoenix
Purity: 20% (Kindle)
Next Rank: 30% (Flame)
—Attributes:
Vitality: 100 → 102
Perception: 100 → 103
Willpower: 100 → 125
Magic Control: 100 → 106
—Abilities:
Expert Fireball (★★★☆ — Mastery: 19%)
Advanced Fire Manipulation (★★★☆ — Mastery: 2% → 4%)
Advanced Heat Control (★★☆ — Mastery: 11% → 14%)
Advanced Heat Resistance Barrier (★★☆ — Mastery: 32% → 40%)
(NEW) Basic Flame Step (☆ — Mastery: 0%)
(NEW) Passive Flame Sense (☆ — Mastery: 0%)
—Techniques:
Expert Dagger Combat Technique (★★★☆ — Mastery: 1%)
Advanced Stealth Technique (★★☆ — Mastery: 61% → 63%)
(NEW) Flame Body Technique (☆ — Mastery: 1%)
His attributes increased drastically, and he got two new abilities he'd try out whenever he had time.
Forming a Flame Ring would also be ideal, but formations like that usually took a day, maybe 12 hours if he was fast enough.
But as he saw the sun hanging high in the sky, he knew he'd have to put this off.
He stood up, grabbed his clothes from a nearby desk, put them on, and checked the pockets.
The Phoenix Egg was still there, and until he got home, he had no choice but to hold onto it tightly.
Raelis took a deep breath and parted the curtains, revealing the lively pharmacy.
Candidates were huddled around beds, talking with each other.
Hmm... Raelis looked around, spotting some familiar faces.
Zeri, Auren, and Sylis were having a chat, and as for Therin, he was lying in bed, sick as always.
But it seemed like Zeri had spotted his gaze, as she suddenly pushed Auren and Sylis aside, skipping over to Raelis.
"We were waiting for you," she mumbled with a gentle smile. "But hey... what happened during the exam? I heard a whooosh! Then the tree disappeared, and you were lying passed out in front of it."
She leaned in with her annoying smirk.
"Sooo? Care to tell us what happened, Raelis Varekan?"
She raised her voice on purpose so the others could hear her words clearly.
Before today, he was pretty much unknown, but after his performance—and Zeri's obvious attempt at setting a bounty on his back—he was sure he was going to face some annoying trouble moving forward.
But that was just one of the many things he would have to deal with.
"I'll leave what happened up to your imagination," Raelis said with a warm smile before simply walking away.
Yet those simple words, along with his handsome appearance, made for some solid gossip material.
—H-Hey... whose son is he?
—No clue... not like I care. He's probably from the direct line since he's so... you know?
Yet all that chatter died down when the pharmacy's door swung open, and through it, the headmaster stepped in.
"Hey everyone, I hope you've all rested well," Arius said flatly, his gaze lingering on Raelis for a few moments. "Now that the first exam has finished, we're left with 790 candidates. Does anyone want to guess what we'll be doing next?"
"...You're going to cut the number in half again?" a candidate commented.
"Precisely." Arius smirked. "This exam is going to be simple. All of you will group into teams of five. In total, there are going to be 158 teams."
Arius stepped closer, his cloak dragging across the ground.
"You will be teleported to a wilderness. Your goal will be to survive for a single day. Of course, it won't be that easy." Arius chuckled. "You will all be covered in a scent that makes Mana Beasts chase after you. You can either run or fight back, but in the end, your performance will be taken into account."
With that, the headmaster fell silent, merely humming as he glanced around.
Noticing that it was really the end of his speech, one of the candidates stepped up with a question.
"Um... headmaster, how exactly is this going to reduce our numbers by half? What are the failing requirements?"
Arius's smirk widened. "Those are secret."
Teamwork evaluation, decision-making, fighting prowess, Raelis recalled. Still, the majority of the candidates would likely fail for a different reason... and I want to see it play out.
The candidates asked what few questions they had, and after a short exchange, the headmaster clapped his hands.
"Very well, everyone, it's time to head out," he announced. "I will be teleporting you all to random locations around the wilderness. Teams will be scrambled, and even I don't know who you'll end up with. So is everyone ready?"
"W-Wait, I need to use the bathroom—"
"Great! Everyone's ready!" Arius interjected and clapped his hands once more.
A faint energy suddenly enveloped Raelis, and once Arius finally flicked his fingers, they were all teleported to the wilderness.
He felt a chill run down his spine, but even so, it only took a few seconds for Raelis to regain his bearings as he glanced around, evaluating the surroundings.
He was dropped onto a snowy mountain, and he could see a forest just a few kilometers away.
Most importantly, there were four others in his team, who were...
"...?"
"F-Fuck, it's cold!" a golden-haired man remarked with a shiver as he wrapped his hand around another teammate's neck. "Don't you think so too? What was your name again... uhhh... Mathieu? So hard to pronounce."
Raelis recognized Mathieu. He was the boy who had bumped into him right before the preliminary exam started.
He was honestly surprised Mathieu had survived through all those exams, but that just meant he had the skills.
But aside from these two, there were two girls.
One was an emerald-haired archer with multiple scars on her forearms. Yet he could tell she was a hard worker from how developed her muscles were.
Meanwhile, he couldn't spot anything special about the second girl except for her long black hair and crystal-like violet eyes.
Their gazes met for only a moment before she looked away.
He didn't bother with their antics as he slowly walked up to them and shot a flame at the ground, creating a mini campfire.
Yet despite its size, it managed to warm them all up, and with satisfied smiles, they all sat down around it.
Of course, it was about time they introduced themselves.