["Now that everyone has arrived from the first half of their exams I would like to take this moment to welcome you once again! If you've managed to survive the first half of the exam then that means you're already halfway towards your goal of becoming a student of the most prestigious academy in all of *Selera!"]
The person speaking into the mic was a tall and energetic man wearing a black suit with a dark red tie and a mask that was half black, half white.
His appearance through the screen was quite striking and mysterious, causing everyone to want to pay attention to him curiously.
Seeing that he had everyone's attention he continued after clasping his hands together and gesturing below him.
The cameras then turned towards the ground and showcased a huge open space surrounded by white borders and a bunch of benches as if the space was some kind of colosseum; some of the benches even had people sitting in them.
Likely the maids, guards and butlers of the nobles who came since parents weren't allowed to attend.
Above all of the seats a glimpse of several people sitting, one of which was immediately recognizable as being the principal. The woman from before we were all teleported.
She sat right beside a smaller woman with short green hair that curled slightly at the ends, she had sharp red eyes that seemed to look through everything as she gazed down at the field while holding a fan over her mouth.
["The rules for the following exam are simple so listen closely! Two students will be called out at a time. Once both students are ready, you will battle until your opponent is unable to fight or steps out of the boundary provided by the white borders placed around the field.
Participants may use any skill or weapons that they wish, once the battle is over those who win will pass the exam and become a student of the academy while those who do not pass will be expelled and have to return home instead."]
'I see.. this is smart, they're weeding out the weak and cowardly ones and only accepting those who are particularly strong or crafty.'
After explaining the details of the exam the examiner who also played the role of a referee summoned the first two participants.
Out from the opposite side of the field came a beautiful girl with long pink hair, light blue eyes and a striking figure which was easily outlined by the snug-fitting black cropped turtleneck shirt and her matching black shorts which revealed her long toned leg covered in thigh-high tights.
Her outfit revealed quite a bit of her body that wasn't too developed but also not underdeveloped, she had a silver spear with a blue jewel embedded into it in her hand and it nearly doubled her size and despite her delicate frame she carried it with ease as if it weighed nothing.
Alternatively, from our side of the field came a young man with short messy black hair and circular glasses covering his sharp green eyes which had deep dark bags under them.
He had no weapons on him and looked quite tired as he even yawned while rubbing the back of his neck as he sluggishly approached the center.
The sound of muttering could be heard all throughout the waiting room.
"Hey, isn't that Cecil Golsfon?"
"No way, I didn't know she was here!"
'I see, she must be an important person. Probably a supporting character at the very least.'
Listening to the muttering of those around us, I did my best to listen while watching the match.
"Who's that boy?"
"I don't know.. he looks weak, I feel bad for him."
"Kekw, how long do you think he'll last against Cecil? Wanna bet?"
"Pfft, I bet 10 silver coins that he won't even last 10 seconds."
"Tsk, fools. This is why idiots are so annoying."
Aaron spoke with an irritated click of his tongue as he stood up from his seat. From the looks of it, he was preparing to approach the children.
'Hm.. he must have noticed too. Well.. probably'
"Wait a moment, young master."
============================
My exam ended after some time. Running a hand through my hair as I observed the surroundings, I noticed that the room I had appeared inside of was some kind of waiting room.
'It's empty? Does that mean I'm the first to finish?'
Sighing and then nodding with a smirk of satisfaction, I couldn't help but feel a bit of pride.
'This is good. I need to be at least this good to become a proper heir of the Protrelli Household. This exam is only the first step of many.'
Changing my clothes quickly into the attire provided, I decided to walk around and find a nice spot to sit. Preferably a place where no one would bother me.
"I see, of course he hasn't finished yet. He should at least manage to pass, otherwise I doubt father will let him live."
Looking around, I noticed a faint sound of breathing. It caused me to stop in my tracks.
'I definitely checked for any other examinees.. no other aura got picked up by my skill'
Following the sound, I eventually got met with the sight of a figure lying on a bench with his eyes closed and his skinny pale hand resting on his chest that rose and fell slowly.
'How is that… until now, I've only met one person with such little aura that it was practically non-existent.'
A pang of annoyance struck me as I immediately remembered the annoying servant father had assigned to me.
Shaking my head I decided to go back to my seat, that was until the sleeping boy suddenly woke up and grabbed me.
"Please don't go–"
The voice of the boy sounded strained and pleading. It was only for a moment before the boy, pale and sweating slightly came to his senses and quickly removed his hand.
"O-oh.. No.. I d-didn't mean to.."
The boy's sharp green eyes looked sharply at me despite his fidgeting as he awkwardly got ready to apologize.
"Tsk-"
Rolling my eyes at his pathetic behaviour, I turned on my heels and walked back to my seat.
'I can't believe someone like him is pretending to be some weak nobody. It's obvious to anyone with a brain that no useless idiot would be able to finish the exam as quickly as he did.'
I am many things but I am no idiot. And I'm prideful but not some arrogant fool either.
Immediately after seeing the boy I immediately realised that I had in fact not been the first to finish, but the second.
Not just that, but he has been here so long that he managed to get changed and find a spot to fall asleep.
'That boy, and this one… they're both annoying.'
Feeling irritated about the weirdos I've encountered lately, I sighed and sat back with my eyes closed.
Slowly, more and more people started to teleport into the room, but I paid no kind to them. After 30 minutes I glanced around.
'No one has teleported in the past 15 minutes.'
"Did he fail? Was I wrong about him?"
"...?!"
I clasped my hands against my cheeks and shook my head.
"What the hell…"
I felt a shiver run down my spine as I realised that I nearly lost myself in thought.
'I can't believe I worried about that trash. Hell if I care whether or not he passes the exam.'
Just as I was about to move from my seat a bright light appeared and from the side of my eye I could see the last examinee appear.
Just as quickly as he appeared, he found himself puking up mostly saliva and bile in a corner. Using a spell, he quickly cleaned up the mess, and wiped his mouth.
I felt a strange discom slowly dissolve as I rolled my eyes and looked at the screen.
After a few moments, the boy sat beside me not too far behind. I didn't speak or look at him, I didn't need to.
We watched the screen above us and shortly after the announcer finished speaking, the first two examinees appeared on the field.
'Hm.. they're both strong.'
Nodding my head in brief satisfaction I found myself being broken out of my thoughts when the sound of examinees gossiping filled the room.
"I bet he won't even last 5 seconds, I'll even bet my entire allowance from this month on—"
I wanted to get up and shut the group up. Afterall, nothing was more annoying than hearing a bunch of weak idiots babbling about strength when they don't know anything.
Especially so when he could tell that both people were strong, but the woman that they were all betting on wasn't nearly as good as they hyped her up to be.
"Mind if I bet as well?"
Stopping just before the group of boys who were sitting and placing bets, a delicate looking boy with a black blindfold and white hair tied behind his back spoke.
I stopped in my tracks and glared at him.
"Who are you?"
One of the boys from the group asked. A round youth with freckles and blonde hair with brown eyes and glasses spoke. A bag of coins in his hands as he pushed his glasses up, scrutinizing the blind boy with a look half of disinterest and half mockery.
Fortunately or not, the blind boy could not see the way others stared at him and simply offered a slight smile in response. Then, reaching into his pocket he placed a bag down in the middle of the pile.
"I don't think a name is required for one to place bets, am I wrong? I'm sure this amount would be satisfactory."
"How much could some no name like you ha– Holy Shit!"
His words were cut off, he opened the bag and after peeking in he dropped the bag. Curiously, I approached behind the servant and glanced. My appearance made the boys freeze but I paid them no mind.
"W-we greet the heir of the Protrelli Household-"
Putting my hand up was all it took for the boys to shut up as I slightly turned my head and whispered something to the servant.
"Hey, what the fuck are you doing right now, and where did you get money from?"
The boy grinned and pulling a long slender gloved finger to his lips, he spoke.
"Young master, there are some questions better left unasked. Just trust me."
Before I got to speak he was already responding to the boys that watched our interaction silently with pale and curious gazes.
"So, will you take my bets?"
"Y-yes young master."
My eyebrow raised at the sudden shift in formalities that the boy used, he suddenly spoke respectfully and even referred to the boy as "young master". I decided not to say anything and only watched in amusement as my servant spoke again.
"Ah… but I'm placing my bets on the boy."
'There he goes.'
"I'm too tired for this shit.."
Sighing and reaching into my pocket I pulled out a pouch of coins, tossing it into the group and walking away. I decided to lay on a bench and take a nap.
Behind me I heard the servant speak again.
"Ah, it seems he'll also be betting on the boy."
I didn't need to be looking to tell that he must have been smirking as the group of nobles and commoners stared at him like he was insane. Nonetheless, the shock slowly died down and the bets were finalized.
============================
Sitting near the young master who decided to take a nap, I couldn't help but smirk. Looking at the screen and pretending to simply listen, I felt happiness bubbling inside of me.
'Honestly, their reactions were fun, but more than that… once this match is over I'll have killed two birds with one stone.'
You might be wondering why I'm so sure I'll win, you might even be wondering why I'm betting to begin with, but I can assure you that I made the right choice.
Afterall, I meant what I said before about trusting my intuition. And for good reason too, it's because I have something to back me up.
'Status'
Ding
[Stats:
Strength: 10/70
Agility: 10/70
Charm: 14/70
Intelligence: 15/70
Stamina: 9/70
Magic: 10/70
Luck: 40/70
Pts remaining: 0
Skill:
^High-risk Wager - Currently level 0 otherwise known as grade F. Gives the ability to increase Luck by 5% if the user has odds stacked against them.
The higher the risk, the higher the reward.
Upon completing a bet, the user will level up all stats by 5 if the result is a win, and will experience a 50% reduction for all stats if the result is a loss.
The results are only temporary.
Skill Mastery: 0/100]
'It's good that I picked this skill. Who would've thought that I'd be using it so soon.'
Contrary to popular belief, just because you spend a lot of money or grow up in a prestigious well respected family, that doesn't mean that you are automatically destined to be the best.
Frankly, everyone fails at something eventually, and everyone experiences humiliation.
However, I think there's nothing more satisfying than the humiliation of someone who grew up their entire life stepping on others and getting glazed for it just because they were born more well off than others in a few fields.
The moment the match started, the girl named Cecil allowed her opponent to get the first 3 attacks. Clearly looking down on him, however he did not reject or take offense and simply attacked.
His attack started off with one small ball of flame, it was fast and the sound of the air being split as it shot across the field was like that of a bullet ripping through the air and yet the attack was dodged as Cecil swiftly side-stepped it with an unamused expression.
Then, she twirled her giant spear around her body, the dust sweeping up as her blade lightly scratched the ground and then sliced through the air.
Before long she was holding the spear in front of her, pointing the tip of the spearhead at the boy with a grin as she planted her feet into the ground, mana surrounding them.
"So, she's using mana to make herself faster.. interesting"
I watched the fight with intrigue as I took in every detail. Even watching it on a screen, the fight looked amazing.
The male student whose name we found out was Cain Alberich didn't seem too flustered. However, that was only the case to me.
To everyone else watching, the boy looked as though he was being overpowered. As until now, he had been continuously shooting fireballs towards Cecil. Once she closed the distance, everyone believed that she'd end the fight in one strike.
People even started cheering, saying things like
"I thought maybe the mage might have been a bit special since those two spent so much but it turns out that he's nothing to look at after all."
Then they'd snicker to themselves while gloating. However, as expected they were all immediately silenced as soon as Cain moved out of the way and then a grin spread across his face.
A cold sweat trickled down his cheek as he spoke, though the words were only heard by Cecil whose eyes immediately went wide.
Below her feet black mist appeared and moved like water as it rippled and just as she attempted to jump back, 10 thin inky hands wrapped around her legs and held her in place.
Then, she moved her spear to try and cut the hands off but immediately a barrage of hundreds of face sized balls of fire hurled at her.
She had no time to try and dodge, biting her lip until it bled. All she could do was twirl her spear and disperse as many of the balls as she could, still getting hit by a few that slipped by.
Enraged by the situation, she coated her spear in aura and stabbed it into the ground as hard as she could. This resulted in the ground cracking and breaking around her, as the inky hands loosened their grip on her, she moved back and while breathing raggedly she swept up the scattered rocks with her spear and flung them at Cain.
"Woah, how has this Cain guy managed to hold his own against someone from the Golsfon family?"
One of the boys muttered in shock and awe as he watched the two continue to exchange blows.
"Tsk— I don't know what cheap tricks he's using, but it's clear that the moment he runs out of mana to spam those weak ass attacks that he'll be screwed."
One of the arrogant noble boys spoke as he clenched his fist and stared at the screen as if he were unable to test his eyes away from it. Beside him the boys were having mixed reactions and yet all of the ideas led to one thought.
'Is he wins… all of our money will go to those two nobles.'
The room felt thick with tension as the boys alternated their attention between the two boys and the screen. Then, one boy spoke, approaching with an unreadable expression on his face.
Sitting beside me, the boy opened his mouth to speak, placing a hand slightly damp with sweat onto my shoulder firmly.
"Hey, since you're blind it must be hard right? How about I help you out by telling you who wins and what happens leading up to it hm?"
'Hm… I see. I'll play along then.'
Without wanting to respond I simply nodded, slightly irritated by the boy dirtying my only clean outfit but I decided to overlook it this once because of a few things. Watching the screen I waited to hear what he'd say.
"My name is Loerien, Loerien Ashborth. What's your name and what family are you the son of?"
"Hm.."
Tilting my head I pondered for a moment, if I told him I was from the Protrelli Household, he along with everyone else would misunderstand and think that I'm claiming to be the son.
Something like that is not a misunderstanding I want to make a habit of letting go unchecked, and I'm sure things would end poorly for me if I did.
However, if I say I'm a commoner that would be no different than discarding the nobility I was born into in this world.
Though I wasn't a noble in my past life, as if me and the original owner of this body were becoming one each day, it felt uncomfortable and disrespectful to me to do such a thing considering I'm the only remaining person of my household.
Saying I'm a commoner and disregarding my status would be no different than abandoning the bloodline and letting it die out along with my family.
"Hm.. you're not very talkative are you? That's fine. I'm sure you'll warm up to me eventually."
The boy spoke, I had already forgotten his name but he was the type of character that would repeat it even if you didn't ask him to, flaunting it and throwing his house's name recklessly to get what he wants. In that way, I thanked him for his arrogance and stupidity by simply nodding again.
He leaned in closer and practically whispered into my ear in a hushed voice.
"To be honest, right now that boy you bet on is winning but it seems that he's going to lose soon. Since that's the case, I'll make sure you still receive half of your payment back if you're interested."
I wanted to sigh but held it in.
'Is he stupid? Does he truly think that's even possible or does he think I'm an idiot? Also.. why the hell is he so close? Should I ki–'
"Move your hand."
Before I got to finish my less than appropriate idea, a familiar cold voice rang out and the room seemed to go still.
I didn't need to turn around to know who it was, I had already gotten used to his tone and demanding way of speaking as if anyone and everyone had to obey him.
"Huh? Oh, you are—"
"I said move."
The boy tried to speak but before he got to finish his sentence Aaron spoke again and this time he released a portion of his aura.
The boy jolted and his hand on my shoulder trembled, his breathing also became louder and ragged.
Not just him but everyone in the room broke out into a cold sweat, some gasping for air, some lowering their heads nervously and trying not to make any noise as if they'd pay for it with their lives, and some even seemed like they were about to either pass out or soil themselves.
Rolling my eyes, I sighed and removed the boy's hand from my shoulder while shrugging.
"You needn't concern yourself with something like this, young master."
Brushing off the shoulder of my outfit I looked at the two standing in a tense stare-off, the young noble boy looked pale.
"Y-young master..??? You… you're not a noble?"
I tilted my head at his words and spoke while crossing my arms over my chest and cupping my face with one hand as if troubled.
"Did you think that I was some noble heir? Does that even make sense, I never said I was one though…?"
The boy then clicked his tongue in annoyance and his gaze narrowed sharply on me.
"Move, you're distracting."
Aaron spoke, his eyes still glaring intensely at the young noble. Though, he lessened the pressure in the room after retracting his aura a bit. It was still intense enough for him to emphasize his discomfort with his presence.
"Tsk— y-you'll regret making a fool out of me…"
He spoke with a slight stutter in his voice while trying to quickly walk away obviously trying not to fall asleep his knees shook and his shoulders trembled.
"Pfft—"
A slight chuckle escaped my lips and Aaron immediately glared in my direction making me want to sigh but I held it in.
"Ahem.. The battle seems to be nearing its end.. pity that we missed most of it."
I decided to change the subject and before the angry young master spoke I turned and walked towards the group of students from before, the ones who remained conscious at least.
["The match is over! What an exciting first battle indeed~"]
The man spoke with an exaggeratedly curious and amused tone, like some kind of jester trying to amuse or tease a crowd of wealthy onlookers.
The screen switched back to the field, it was dilapidated and reduced almost entirely to rubble, the ground bore cracks and giant scorch marks everywhere and each student bore their own battle scars visible through their torn clothes and bruised bodies.
On the ground slumped over on their knees weakly swaying in the wind, was the girl. Cecil Golsfon, her long pink hair covered her face as she seemed to have fainted in place. Her spear broken in half, clutched in one of her hands by her side.
In front of her, also passed out was Cain Alberich, he seemed to have passed out standing up and despite having scars from taking a few hits from Cecil he has few wounds on his body. It made sense, out of the two who both could be considered ranged fighters.
Unlike Cecil, Cain didn't carry a weapon that required him to fight directly. As long as he could chant and had time and energy, he could attack from anywhere. Well.. maybe.
"H-how… This doesn't—"
"Surely you're not going to try and go back on your words and say you won't pay up?"
I interrupted the boy who had taken both my and the young master's money before the match. He looked pale and after a moment of opening and closing his mouth in shock he shook his head and with trembling hands handed the money to me.
No one said anything but the gazes of the students were all displaying the same delicious expressions of defeat and devastation.
I turned on my heels and approached the young master who had been watching me with an unreasonable expression in silence. No longer glaring but definitely not happy despite the outcome.
I gave him half of the money and took the other half, he then clicked his tongue and glared at me.
"What are you doing?"
"Hm? What do you mean young master?"
I tilted my head while looking at him inquisitively. He looked at the money and spoke.
"Why are you taking half?"
'Seriously… this bastard—'
"Ahem."
I cleared my throat and put on a slightly worried expression.
"Y-young master… surely… you're not going to take the money that I earned after betting…. Even though I split it and gave you so much already…"
This made the boys look up and this time their expressions were mixed with curiosity and pity as some of them whispered among each other saying things like "surely he isn't that kind of person to steal from his servant?"
"Tsk, stop acting like an idiot already and give it to me."
With a somber expression I nodded and slowly handed him the pouches of coins with a light sigh.
I watched as he took the pouches and placed them into a subspace that he opened.
'A subspace… I wonder if I have one of those.. is it a skill or perhaps some kind of item that costs a ton? I'll ask later if I need to.'
I mused silently to myself as I revelled in the bit of sympathy I received from the onlookers.
It's better to have a pitiful and weak reputation than to have a strong and cruel one like somebody..
Even if I wanted to be one of those protagonists that like attention and wanna be the very best one day, without much strength or support, it would be useless.
That's why, even if I have to act a little eccentric, I want to build the kind of reputation for myself just like this. Someone who's a bit lucky sometimes but still too weak or unimportant to pay too much attention to.
"Are you done?"
Young master Aaron spoke in a quiet and flat tone, clearly unamused by everything that's happened until now.
We sat down and watched the next battle with slight disinterest as neither of the examinees were particularly entertaining.
"For now."
I nodded with a content smirk on my lips. There was no use acting oblivious with him afterall, even though we had only just met it seemed as though we were quite compatible, though a bit arrogant and moody he wasn't entirely annoying to be around, and despite my less than appropriate behaviour towards him until now he seems to not mind it too much, notably writing most of my antics off as a slight annoyance.
["Now~ Time for the 39th match. I'm sure you've grown tired of waiting so here it is!"]
As the man spoke he snapped his fingers and beside me, Aaron began to have light bluish-white particles floating around him.
Before we got to say anything he disappeared and we saw him as he reappeared on the screen a few moments later.
He held a long sword and glanced halfheartedly towards his opponent.
It was only after seeing who he was up against that I recognized where I was.
"It's you.."
*Selera: The name of the planet, instead of being called Earth. It's a vast planet with a population of around 12-16 billion inhabitants.
A/N: If you're enjoying the story so far please consider adding the novel to your library! If you have anything you'd like to say please comment and tell me what you liked and why, it means a lot! Also, I think I'm gonna start announcing the different pov's and changing a few other things as well. I'm not really sure yet but if it turns out that my style changes too drastically I'll just go back and edit other chapters to match as much as possible.