Chapter 48 The Special Exam [4]
"I'm Anya, Anya Blanks."
***
Both Robert and Ryfin stared at the holographic screen with their hands folded. They were just finished witnessing a sort of duel between a girl named Anya Blanks and an orc, who was chasing down a male student with the name of Ster Grandkeep.
"So he managed to survive," said Robert. There was a hint of surprise in his voice, after all, he completely believed for this boy to get eliminated.
"That girl…if I'm not wrong then she is the student who received a scholarship from Princess Rishia, right?"
Ryfin didn't verbally answer him instead he simply nodded while he kept looking at the screen.
"I have expected her to be more strength hungry, dense type of person since the news was that she almost won the battle tournament—the tournament where you find monsters less than humans. But it seems like I was wrong all along."
He took a glance at Ryfin but still, there was no response. Noticing his silence, Robert continued.
"You have to slay the monsters to get above the other student, that's how the ranking system in this exam works. The reason doesn't matter, as long as you can kill them. That's all that matters. In the end, those who know the nature of this exam or people like her, who kill to protect the others, will be the ones to clear this exam with a good score."
However, none of it concerned Ryfin. In fact, at this point, he was not even looking at Anya. Noticing this Robert directed his gaze where Ryfin was staring at.
The holographic screen was divided into six small screens—each of them showed a different area. And the screen on the top right corner—where Ryfin was looking—showed a boy who sat comfortably under a tree.
Black hair and golden eyes, he was dressed in a dark grey suit and wore a pair of black gloves on his hands. His name was Zero Blanks, though Robert didn't know that at the moment.
Seeing that this student was taking it easy like this, gave Robert an expression of disgust.
"On the other hand, we have people like him; who don't care about a thing in the world. Those who think that they will simply get over this exam if they stayed hidden in one place for a day! People like him are bound to end up with low grades or even end up getting failed," said Robert.
"I won't say that," this time Ryfin replied as he continued to gaze at the boy.
The next moment the area all the six screens were showing changed and six different locations were displaced.
***
Roughly two hours have passed since this exam began. Currently, I was sitting under a tree, leaning onto its trunk. I was here for a while now as I needed a quiet place to think over some things.
Now it was clear to me how the students will fail this exam. It was pretty simple and straight forward actually; if you got killed by one of the monsters, you fail.
I came to know this recently when I witnessed a student get brutally murdered by an orc.
There was one other thing I discovered, something major, but let's put that aside for now because I haven't figured out everything yet.
I had a rough idea of how the students will get ranked in this exam, however, that was just speculation on my part.
It was like this—
'Ah, I need water!'
A long time has passed since I last drank water so it was reasonable enough for me to get thirsty now.
Fortunately, getting drinking water wasn't a problem for me. Hence, I stretched out my right hand and then, using elemental magic I created a ball of water that floated in the air—right above my head.
I released the water and it fall directly into my mouth and gulped it down. Though a little bit of it fell outside and I got myself a nice face wash.
"Gwah!" I drank the water and then wiped my mouth.
The water I made with the elemental magic was drinkable; I tested this right after I found out that I can use magic, and now I feel wise to do that.
After that, I lost in thought again. I was thinking about this whole academy situation, especially this entrance exam. This exam seemed awfully cliché and familiar to me.
Maybe because this was a thing that's overused way too much in fantasy novels and I'm also guilty of using this trope in my novel.
Even so, the way everything was playing out gave me a kind of bad feeling. I can't describe it in words but…its' probably what you call "gut feelings".
"Well, whatever," I shrugged as I rose. Then I dust the dirt off my clothes and started walking in a completely random direction, 'Can't stay in one place for long.'
Around an hour later, I was again hiding in the bushes. Not because someone was getting killed again, no. But because I sensed someone's presence nearby and as of now, I don't want to run into a stranger.
I sat there quietly and waited for "them" to make their appearance. Soon after, I heard the voices of some people. They were talking among themselves, 'Means it's more than one person.'
Judging from the flow of their conversation it looked like they also met recently when one of them was almost got killed by an orc and then the other one came and saved the day.
Kind of like a generic protagonist who just happens to be at the right place at the right time.
And then they passed in front of me. They were two people; one male and one female. I didn't know the male one but the face of the female was surprisingly familiar.
In this exam, she was the one I wanted to avoid at all costs. Hence, here she was, right before me.
My older sister.