It took a while, but eventually the last examinee that was an disgruntled Eric Saurdane exited the Test Center. At that moment, the vice principal reappeared and began to explain the second test.
"You have now passed the first and easiest test, but the second test remains. This will be a survival test in a battle royale format. You will earn points based on how many people remain in the game and by eliminating others. Everyone will start with 1 point and progressively earn more over time. Additionally, when you eliminate another examinee, you will take all their points."
"Your final score will be based on a combination of your first test results and the maximum points you accumulate during the second test before being eliminated!"
"For this test, each of you will need to take one of these bracelets," he continued, gesturing toward a table covered with black bracelets embedded with a big purple gem, which had appeared while he was speaking.
"These bracelets will track your points and will also protect you from fatal or crippling damage. If you're about to sustain a life-threatening or disabling injury, you'll be teleported out of the battle zone."
"Please note that the battle zone will gradually shrink over time. You can check the active zone on your bracelet. Being outside the designated area for more than 10 seconds will result in automatic elimination."
"Before you begin the test, you may select a weapon from these racks," he said, motioning to a rack containing a wide variety of wooden weapons. There were traditional options like swords, maces, axes, shields, and bows, alongside rarer weapons such as whips, scythes, and other unique arms. Surprisingly, no armor was provided.
"Once you've taken a bracelet and a weapon of your choice, you can enter one of these portals," he added, pointing to several newly appeared oval-shaped purple portals.
The students murmured in surprise at the sight of the teleportation portals, but Brendan continued, "Upon entering a portal, you'll be teleported to the battle zone and must remain stationary until you receive the signal from your bracelet. Moving before the signal will result in immediate elimination."
"Finally, once you finish the test, you can check your bracelets. There will be a list of all the examinees, along with their scores and final rankings for the second test. After viewing this, you'll need to return your bracelet and weapon before you're allowed to go home."
"But remember to be here tomorrow at 10 AM—that's when the academy will officially begin. A board will display the names of all new academy students. If your name appears, you've passed; if not, you may apply to another academy."
"Any questions?" he asked, scanning the crowd.
After a few moments, a boy spoke up, "Why is there no armor?"
Brendan smiled and replied, "Because in a real fight, you won't always have the luxury of choosing your equipment. Sometimes, you may have to fight unprepared or without your weapon."
"Personally, I advocated for no armor and no weapons, but that would overly favor mages, so we allowed weapons," he added.
A girl asked, "What do we do if we get hurt during the second test? Is there an infirmary?"
The vice principal replied, "When you exit the second test, you'll appear near the Academy infirmary where you can receive free healing."
He waited briefly for further questions, but when none came after ten seconds, he said, "It seems there are no more questions. I wish you all good luck on this test—may the best among you prevail!" With that, he disappeared in a burst of flame.
After the vice principal's departure, the examinees surged toward the bracelets in a chaotic scramble. Mikael stayed back, reasoning that there was no point in rushing since they would all have to wait for the second test to start anyway.
As examinees collected their bracelets, some hesitated before stepping into the otherworldly portals. However, a few brave souls entered first, prompting others to follow.
[Advanced Quest System issued a quest:
Aim for the Top
Description: The second entry test for the Central Academy is a battle royale. Survive as long as possible and accumulate the highest possible score.
Rewards: 0–3000 LP depending on your final score in the second test.]
Mikael was taken aback by the sudden quest, but as he thought it over, it made sense—this was exactly the kind of challenge he'd bought the system for. He was determined to earn the maximum LP possible. Once the crowd had thinned, Mikael calmly picked up a bracelet, fastening it onto his left arm, then approached the weapon rack. Selecting a high-quality training shortsword, he stepped confidently into one of the purple portals.
Mikael found himself in a void of emptiness, moving at an incomprehensible speed. He felt nauseous, but after a few seconds, he finally exited the space and appeared in a forest.
He took a deep breath, crouched down, and steadied himself on his knees. 'This teleportation was of lower quality than the one from the Records. Even though I'm "accustomed" to teleportation, I still feel unwell. If this had been my first teleportation, I would have probably collapsed or even vomited.'
After taking a moment to clear his mind, Mikael surveyed his surroundings. He was in a quiet, empty forest—so silent, in fact, that he couldn't hear any animals or even birds chirping. A few scattered trees stood around him, their sparse numbers allowing some sunlight to filter through the branches.
Once he had scanned the area, he focused on his bracelet, knowing he had a little time before the second test began.
The bracelet displayed his current score of 1 point and a local map with his position marked on it. The map showed a vast area spanning thousands of square kilometers, with the outer regions grayed out with a purple hue, marking the boundary of the battle zone.
After waiting for some time, his bracelet emitted a robotic voice, "Second test begins. You may now move."
The moment he heard the message, Mikael started moving toward the other participants. His plan was to hunt rather than merely survive. While avoiding other examinees could help conserve his strength for facing stronger opponents later, he didn't want to rely solely on being the last one standing. Instead, he preferred to hunt, ensuring that even if he were eliminated, he would still have enough points to secure his place at the Central Academy.
With his physical stats all at 100, along with his skills and body refinement progress, he was likely one of the strongest, if not the strongest, examinee in this test.
Mikael moved through the forest like a blur, not quite at top speed but still as fast as a car. As he moved, he sensed someone nearby and approached. He saw a man with a spear, cautiously scanning his surroundings.
Emerging quickly from the forest, Mikael sprinted at his highest speed, aiming to "decapitate" the spearman with his training sword. The spearman barely had time to turn toward the sound of Mikael's approach before Mikael's sword was at his neck.
The spearman only had time to utter a confused "What?" before Mikael's sword began to slice his neck. Just then, a blue barrier appeared.
Clank.
The sword bounced off the magical barrier, briefly destabilizing Mikael, but he quickly regained his balance and looked at the spearman. He saw the man with a light cut on his neck and still confused about what was happening disappear in a flash of light.
At that moment, his bracelet announced, "+1 Point."
'So that's the barrier that protects against fatal or crippling injuries. Honestly, it's impressive. I wonder if I would have been fast enough to kill him before the barrier appeared if I had my full stats. Hmm, probably not, but it doesn't matter. Time to keep farming points.'
Over the next few minutes, Mikael continued this strategy, moving at high speed and launching surprise attacks, which allowed him to defeat his opponents instantly.
By now, he had reached 16 points. 'The surprise attacks are becoming less effective since people are growing more cautious, and most of the weaker examinees have already been eliminated.'
'From here, I should probably take a few minutes to observe my targets before ambushing them with a well-thought-out plan instead of just relying on my speed for surprise.'
With this decision made, he continued moving through the forest, slowing his pace and being more cautious.
Suddenly, he sensed a faint threat at his neck and instinctively shifted to the side. An arrow made of aura shot through the spot where his neck had been a second ago, striking a tree and leaving a small crater.
Mikael turned toward the direction from which the arrow had come and saw Amelia Mournsky, hundreds of meters away, holding a bow with a quiver on her back.
Amelia was surprised to see him evade her surprise attack but quickly nocked another arrow. This time, she fired a wooden arrow imbued with her aura, a stronger attack than an arrow made purely of aura, though limited by the number of arrows in her quiver.
She chose to use her wooden arrows imbued with aura, recognizing Mikael as a threat when he managed to evade her first arrow.
Whoosh
The arrow sliced through the air, hurtling toward him. Seeing it approach, Mikael channeled his aura into his sword and slashed at the arrow.
"Ugh," he grunted, struggling against the force behind it. The arrow finally lost its momentum, but not before it pushed him back a full foot with the impact.
He lifted his gaze to meet Amelia's. She, too, was watching him, and their eyes locked in a tense standoff. After a moment, Amelia turned and sprinted away.
"Huh," Mikael murmured, momentarily surprised. But he quickly refocused, launching himself after her with explosive speed. He wasn't one to let an attack go unpunished—especially when his target was strong and likely carrying a lot of points.
Amelia glanced back and saw him closing in. She frowned, notched another arrow, imbued it with aura, and let it fly.
Mikael easily dodged, knowing firsthand that her arrows packed a punch.
Seeing Mikael evade her shot and continue the pursuit, Amelia clicked her tongue and thought 'Damn, he's persistent. I didn't expect him to be this strong—it's not worth the risk to fight him with so many easier targets around. I hoped that shot would deter him.'
As she kept running, Amelia shouted, "Why don't we call it off? It's not worth fighting now. There are plenty of weaker participants we could take out quickly to earn points."
Mikael considered her words for a second, then shook his head, giving her a small smirk as he continued the chase.
Seeing his refusal, Amelia muttered under her breath, "Unreasonable." She kept her speed up but stopped firing to conserve her limited arrows and aura.
The two of them blurred through the forest, with Mikael slowly closing the gap between them.
Amelia's ears perked up as she heard the sounds of a nearby fight, and she began steering Mikael toward it. Soon, they emerged into a clearing.
In this clearing, two men were facing each other. One wielded a sword and shield, while the other held a wooden staff, commonly used by mages to focus their spells.
"You bastard!" shouted the swordsman, rushing at the mage.
The mage replied, "Take this! Fireball!" He launched a flame ball over a meter wide toward the swordsman, who raised his shield and surrounded himself with aura in desperation.
At that moment, Amelia arrived in the clearing. She quickly assessed the scene before slipping behind the mage and giving him a light kick on the back, causing him to stumble and fall.
The mage angrily got to his feet, looked around, but saw nothing. He scanned the area and spotted the swordsman struggling against his fireball, as well as Mikael, who had just entered the clearing.
Immediately, he assumed Mikael was the one who had attacked him from behind and yelled, "It was you, wasn't it, you bastard?!"
Mikael felt a slight irritation but wasn't overly angered. Still, who likes being insulted the moment they arrive somewhere new?
Although mildly annoyed, he was more impressed. 'She provoked them, then vanished so they'd attack me when I showed up. Clever move! No problem, though. I can handle these two. It'll get me points, especially from the mage; he looks strong and should be worth a few.'
Since the mage was already convinced Mikael had attacked him, Mikael didn't bother to explain. Instead, he charged forward.