Near the academy entrance on the day of the exam...
All of the second year students formed groups and spoke to each other, many with clear excitement and some with melancholy:
"Can you believe that we get to experience going to a realm where we can't be killed, that's awesome."
"...Yeah but we'll be stuck in that realm for ten years, I have a boyfriend that does not attend the academy, by the time that we get out, I'll look like his mother."
"We are Magicians in training so we have to make some sacrifices to become better for our future profession."
"That's easy for you to say, this exam favors the students skilled in combat."
"Are you dense? The academy is probably having this special exam so that everyone can gain some proficiency in combat so you should use this opportunity to get stronger, no matter your skill level."
...
While the students were chattering, a black town car drove up near the entrance from which Nick emerged with his sheathed sword in hand and told Dewy who was acting as his driver:
"Thanks Dewy, you can leave now. When I come back, I want a celebratory meal with fried chicken and all sorts of rice."
Dewy responded:
"No problem, sir."
Nick closed the car door and Dewy drove off. Nick had bought that car when he hired Dewy to make getting around the academy easier and although he didn't mind walking:
(Turns out that being driven around feels great when you own the car.)
Nick walked further ahead and stayed at the edge of the group of students, waiting for events to unfold. Nick unsheathed his sword to look at its blade and after seeing that it was fine, he sheathed it once again and tapped on it with a wristwatch like magical tool which caused his sword to disappear suddenly but Nick showed no signs of panic. The wristwatch like magical tool was actually an intermediate apprentice grade space band that Nick had purchased from the academy's magical tools office for £1,500,000,000.
Since Nick knew that the exam would last ten years, he was not going to waste his time huddling up with the other students inside a town and was going to explore the realm with all of his might. To that end, he bought many sets of clothes, bottled water, packaged food, tools and equipment to help him survive in the wilderness of the realm for a whole year at the very least. Nick had only one weapon though because any weapon that he could just buy would not be as good as the sword given to him by his combat instructor, Thompson Varrow.
Nick had asked Carla if she could buy him more swords made of magic materials but she said that buying such weapons for an unlicensed Magician required a lengthy process with the Ministry of Magic so Nick gave up on doing that for now.
At around 10 am, a middle aged man wearing a navy blue robe appeared hovering above the students, saying:
"I'm about to open a spacial gate to another location and you are all to walk inside."
The middle aged man clasped his hands, seemingly casting a spell since a torrent of magic energy began to gather at the location. In a few moments, a large space in front of the students warped and a sort of gateway appeared whose entrance looked like a half opaque mirror; it was twenty meters wide and eighteen meters high in the shape of a semi-circle. The middle aged man repeated his previous words:
"Walk inside!"
The students followed the instructions and flooded into the gateway, moving through its mirror like entrance without any resistance. Nick stopped in front of the entrance to observe the gateway up close and muttered:
"This is a space path spell...regular grade probably."
Nick then walked through the entrance and what appeared in front of him next was an area lined with concrete that had laws drawn all over the floor. Nick was surrounded by other students, many of whom he did not recognize. There was a stage that floated a few meters above them where about a dozen people sat in seats and waited until all of the students had arrived through the opened warp-gate. When the last student had arrived and the warp-gate closed, One man wearing a dark gray robe stepped forward and spoke with authority:
"My name is Victor Durant of Raylam Priest Academy and I will be the head invigilator for this exam which will be overseen by the twelve of us that you see here. When the exam begins you will be teleported to a town settlement within the never ending battlefield where lodging and other establishments have already been prepared to see to your basic needs while you are within the realm; you will also be greeted by the staff stationed there. You have already been sent the details of the exam but let me summarize it for you anyway: kill as much as you can outside of the town, kill your peers, kill your neighbors and kill the magic beasts that you see. The ones who successfully kill the most will likely end up with the highest scores. Oh, and you are free to explore the realm while you are at it and you can keep whatever useful resources that you find or trade it with one of us twelve or other students for items that you may need."
Durant waved his hand and the laws drawn onto the concrete floor lit up, at which point a glowing zero appeared in the right palms of every student.
"You should be able to see your score on your body now which you will be able to reveal or conceal at will from now on. Although you probably haven't noticed, a spell has been cast on you to link the flow of time around your body to Grand Earth's flow of time so despite the fact that the duration of the exam will be ten years within the never ending battlefield, you will only be ten days older when you return here."
Many students uttered sighs of relief at hearing that. Durant continued:
"Students cannot be permanently killed as a result of battle within the never ending battlefield and your point of revival will always be within the town which you are not allowed to do combat in unless it is against an encroaching magic beast. Good luck to you."
After he said that, the space that the students stood in glowed with a bright white light that emerged from the laws that were drawn on the ground and soon, all that Nick saw was white until a few seconds passed and the light receded. Nick was now standing within some kind of reception area where people dressed in suits stood behind counters greeting the students that were present which numbered at about fifty.
A middle aged woman wearing an all black pants suit that had a scar on her face stood at the largest counter in the lobby and shouted:
"This is Shelter Town inn number 1. Please speak to one of the staff and a room will be assigned to you. If you do not want a room at this inn, that is fine too, you can try to find a room at another inn."
The other students scurried about, either speaking to the staff or immediately leaving the inn by themselves or with companions. Nick decided to have a room assigned to himself. He spoke to one of the staff members who assigned him a room using a computer and instructed another staff member to guide Nick to his new room.
The room was on the second floor of the inn with only one window, one bathroom and a small kitchen within the bedroom. The only furniture in the room was a bed that was already spread with white cotton sheets. Nick took off his shoes and lied in the bed for a while, thinking about his next move.
(I'll explore this town first and then go out into the supposed wilderness. During this exam, we will be mixed with students from Raylam Priest Academy, not that it matters to me.)
Nick rested for one hour then proceeded to leave the inn in order to have a look around town. Nick randomly walked from street to street and saw various buildings such as inns, restaurants, bars, and administrative offices, weapons depots, magic tools stores and even a fifteen storey tower where the invigilators for this exam and important government officials spent their time while within this realm. The streets were busy with students, most wearing some kind of casual attire and many wearing traditional Magician's robes.
Nick eventually encountered two familiar persons in the form of Derek Drake and Lana Parsely. The two, like Nick were currently wearing blue jeans and a casual top. Nick had not seen them in a few months since he stopped going to the spell creation club in order to focus on creating magic scrolls and studying; habitually, Nick thought that he might as well ignore them, but he ultimately decided to say something. Since Lana and Derek had not noticed him yet, Nick called out:
"Lana, Derek, how are you?"
Both Lana and Derek who were seemingly walking to a destination turned around upon being called to and when they saw Nick, Derek walked over to meet him immediately while Lana seemed to hesitate before following closely behind Derek. Derek spoke when he walked up to Nick:
"Hey Nick, how's it going? How comes we haven't been seeing you at the club recently?"
Nick shrugged his shoulders and replied:
"I've been busy doing many things and I just didn't have the time. Is Norman upset about it."
Derek shook his head.
"Most Magicians will have times where they become so focused on something that they disregard other things completely so Norman said that It's not strange that you haven't gone to the club recently but after this exam is over, he will definitely demand an explanation."
Nick chuckled internally, although Norman was a Regular Magician, Nick was not planning to give him any sort of explanation as the spell creation club had already outlived its usefulness and he would not be going back. Nick stopped talking about the club and asked:
"What are you two planning to do?"
Derek replied:
"Well, we plan to spend the next ten years here studying spell creation; it's actually the second time that Lana and I have been within the never ending battlefield since they have this exam for second years every year, in fact, Lana and I stayed within the second year instead of moving on just to come here again."
Nick pondered for a moment, then asked:
"Is it because of the time difference between here and Grand Earth?"
Derek smiled and replied:
"You're quick. Yes, we want to benefit from spending ten years here with only ten days passing by on Grand Earth."
Nick acted clueless and asked:
"Is it really that big of a deal?"
Lana, seeming like she wanted to badly join in on the conversation, answered:
"You may not know Nick since you may not have had the opportunity to interact with the third years but the third years are on a whole different level in terms of magic power and skill when compared to us second years. While most of them are still rank 2, the rank 3's are all basically monsters that we might have to compete with when we get to the third year. These ten years will give us an edge, an opportunity to close the gap between us and them and also prepare us for what the academy will ask of us during the third year."
Nick nodded in understanding, confirming their intentions and thought processes, at least partially.
"Aren't you going to leave the town to gather up points and increase your score?"
Derek shook his head slowly:
"That is a waste of our time, at least during the start. Only the battle crazy students will do that but the rest of the students will focus mostly on studying since that will determine the ceiling that our skills can reach."
Nick did not agree, the purpose of knowledge was action and this exam was the perfect opportunity to put all of their current knowledge to the test by exploring the realm and battling other students and magic beasts. He did not think that this time should be spent holed up in a room studying.
(No wonder they had to remain within the second year. They just don't get what being a Magician is all about. We aren't just scholars, we are also supposed to be explorers and fighters.)
Slade chimed in at this time:
[Let them be, they will eventually learn the hard way of what comes from inaction when opportunity presents itself.]
Derek asked Nick:
"What do you intend to do, do you want to form a study group with me, Lana and some other second years?"
Nick replied simply while shaking his head:
"I'm going to spend most of my time exploring the realm so you won't be seeing me much."
Lana and Derek nodded their heads, they thought that since Nick had just come to this realm, he needed time to face reality and change his mindset. Derek thought:
(Playing games with the other students outside of town is a waste of time; I want to become somebody through my knowledge and genius, not slogging away fighting over crumbs with the other students.)
Lana thought:
(This guy is such a loner but I'm surprised that he isn't going to spend his time studying. The other students in our year call him a hermit because he basically only stays in his room and study. Well, I guess he just wants to experience the new environment for now but he'll change his mind when he sees how things really are out there.)
Nick looked at Derek's and Lana's subtle expressions of pity towards him and felt disgusted although he did not show his feelings outwardly.
(There will always be people like this, standing on a high horse, judging you because you have the courage to do what they won't, telling themselves that you will fail because they can't do what you are trying to do. They look at you with pity, trying to make you feel small while making themselves feel smart and wise for choosing their course of action. These two can go to hell; I, Nick Capitol, do knot need anyone's pity.)
Nick spoke indifferently:
"Well, since you both have your plans, I won't get in the way. See you another time."
As Nick walked off, Derek also said goodbye:
"Yeah, I'll see you soon."
Lana just looked at Nick's receding figure with an expression of half disgust, thinking:
(That hermit will come begging us later to join our study group. Being ranked 9th during your first year doesn't mean much in this exam.)
Nick walked around for the next thirty minutes trying to find the town's exit.
(I should have gotten that information from Derek or Lana before I walked away from them.)
Shelter Town, as this settlement was called was not a very large town and had only a few dozen large buildings to house and support the students, other staff and Magicians. Raised high above the town were gray, rough looking walls that seemed to be made out of both steel and concrete. As Nick walked along the edge of the town with the fifty meter high wall above him, he observed that there were guarded entrances at sections of the walls as well as openings that seemed like windows more than anything else.
(Are there people living inside of the walls?)
Nick walked up to a nearby guard at one of the entrances who was wearing a military styled uniform with the logo for the British Ministry of Magic embedded on it. Nick spoke plainly:
"Excuse me, sir, I have been trying to find an exit to this town but it has been difficult. Is the exit somewhere beyond this entrance that you're guarding."
The guard blinked twice and answered Nick after assessing him a bit and spoke politely:
"No, this entrance leads to the apartments for us soldiers and to the top of the wall where the others take their posts to keep watch of the nearby wilderness."
"Oh, so the soldiers live inside the wall."
"That's correct, it makes it easy to get to our posts if we just live here, not to mention, with you students here, all the inns have basically been occupied. If you want to get to the entrance/exit of the town, I will call one of my peers to assist you."
Nick nodded his head in affirmation, saying:
"That would be well appreciated."
"No need to call anyone, Jackson, I will take the young man to the exit."
A gruff voice suddenly interjected from behind Nick; the soldier in front of Nick immediately stood at attention and saluted, saying:
"Commander Wallace, good morning, sir!"
Nick turned around and saw a middle aged man standing a few inches behind him that wore a genial smile, dressed in the same greenish combat uniform as the other soldier but there were obvious stripes and gold stars attached to the left chest and shoulder areas of the middle aged man's uniform. The man spoke to the other soldier:
"At ease Jackson, no need for such a formal solute now."
Wallace looked at the young man in front of him and said genially despite his rough tone:
"Well, son, my name is Jeffrey Wallace and I am one of the fifteen junior commanders stationed in this town by the Ministry of Magic. I was going to the entrance to the town anyway so why don't you tag along?"
Nick didn't know why but this man was giving him dangerous vibes.
(How did he get behind we without me noticing? Now that I am aware of him, I can actually feel the feint magic energy that he is exuding if I try; this man is clearly stronger than a rank 2 Apprentice Magician.)
Nick responded politely:
"Thank you for the offer commander Wallace."
Wallace nodded his head and motioned for Nick to follow him. Nick walked alongside Wallace, continuing to observe the wall; Wallace soon asked him:
"Judging by the fact that you don't know where the entrance is, this should be your first time here, correct?"
Nick was not bothered by Wallace's questioning and answered:
"Yes, it's my first time here. I'm guessing that you would already know about Richter Order Academy's mid-year exam."
Wallace nodded and replied:
"The exam is hosted every year and every year I see many battle crazed students leave this town and make a mess in the wilderness. Although because of the nature of this realm, we as its visitors cannot be killed here, you should still be careful because we don't know what is the cause of the phenomenon."
Nick raised his right eyebrow, asking:
"The Ministry of Magic really doesn't know?"
Wallace shook his head, saying:
"Even Magicians don't know everything, it just so happens that this town started as a place to research the phenomenon but because of the lack of progress, the Ministry decided to use it as a training ground for soldiers and earns revenue from renting space to magic academies like yours and the occasional large company."
Nick didn't usually bother having conversations with strangers but he liked people who had useful things to say. Nick asked:
"Do you know anything about the magic beast in the wilderness?"
Wallace rubbed his bearded chin and replied:
"Hmmm...the magic beasts within the area that we recommend you civilians to venture into are at most rank two, many of them having magic powers of varying paths but the most common are fire path and earth path. You should know, young man, that some of these rank 2 magic beasts are extraordinarily ferocious, so much so that many of our lower ranks cannot handle them by themselves so do not underestimate the magic beasts here."
Nick nodded in understanding and responded:
"What about the magic beasts beyond the area that we are recommended to stay within?"
Wallace stared blankly for a few moments, then answered Nick with a low chuckle:
"Ha, ha, you know, I can feel the ambition in your tone...uhh. I never asked you your name, what is it?"
Nick replied:
"It's Nick, sir."
"Well Nick, beyond the 'safe' area are many areas with rank 3 and even rank 4 magic beasts. To tell you the truth, even I was taken down by two of the rank 3 magical beasts in the past each on separate occasions and they weren't pleasant experiences to say the least. One of the rank 4 magic beasts actually wiped out an entire 40-man platoon led by one of our rank 4 senior commanders on one occasion so my defeat paled in comparison."
Nick frowned and responded:
"A rank 4 Magician could not defeat a rank 4 magic beast even with the help of 39 other Magicians?"
"That's correct, you probably haven't experienced one yet but from rank 3 onward, magic beasts have near human like intelligence and their bodies far exceeds us humans in terms of strength, endurance, stamina and durability. Not only that, they can also cast spells too based on their bloodline talents; although some lower ranked magic beasts can also cast spells too, the spells cast by rank 3 and higher magic beasts are absolutely devastating to humans. Also, magic beasts have been fighting for survival basically since they were born so they are more used to combat than many of us humans."
Nick nodded his head, saying:
"That makes sense."
Varrow liked that Nick paid attention to his ramblings so wholeheartedly, so he continued:
"With all of that being said, don't be afraid to push your limits out their, many students don't get it but proficiency in combat is a boon for any Magician so don't hesitate to get involved in a few brawls out there to train yourself."
Wallace said that as he and Nick finally arrived at the town's entrance/exit. Two guards stood at each corner of the exit that was a rectangular opening in the wall that had a width of about five meters and a height of about six meters; a wave like translucent miasma spread from one end of the exit to the other. The guards saluted Wallace when they realized he had arrived and Wallace signaled for them to be at ease in return. Wallace turned his head to Nick and said:
"I was just going to take a look at the situation over here and leave but I might as well take you through the gate since you bothered to listen to this old man for as long as you did."
Wallace motioned and he and Nick walked through the entrance which felt to Nick like a wave of formless power had washed over him as he made his way through. As Nick left the entrance, finally walking out of Shelter Town and seeing the dry ground in front of him and the woodlands and mountains in the distance, Nick heard a loud screech and something large and heavy fell from the sky.
BANG!
The object created a deep crater as it fell to the ground in front of the entrance and Nick gasped without thinking in response. The object was actually a black bird that was the size of an elephant. It had scary red eyes and lustrous, pitch black feathers. Within its mouth, beyond its beak were sharp looking fangs that were stained with the remains of a fresh kill. The bird seemed lifeless within the crater as a large metal bolt stuck out of its chest area; the carcass bled profusely and soon the four meter radius crater became a pool and Nick watched on, a little disturbed.
Nick swallowed his saliva and looked at Wallace who smiled at him in return and asked Nick:
"Are you ready to experience what real combat Magicians have to deal with, day in, day out?"