General Calina smirked and snapped her fingers.

The screen above her changed, showcasing different names in small boxes parallel to each other.

"As of right now, there are about one thousand participants who entered the tournament. But unfortunately..."

The boxes on the board flicker red then disappear.

"… Only half of the participants passed the necessary attribute requirements. If you were selected the hand you held over the device in the tent should start to glow."

My right hand brightens emitting a soft light. I look over to Yuumi and she showcases her glow with a smirk.

Guess we're both in the clear.

"This is bullshit!" A man behind me runs past the crowd and raises his hand. "The hell wasn't I chosen for?!"

General Calina chuckles.

"Perhaps you're just too weak for our ranks." She flashes him a malevolent smile.

"Do try again next year."

Two knights walk through the crowd and start escorting him to the main gate.

"This is crazy, I trained two years for this dammit!"

A number of the participants break away from the crowd and walk towards the gate.

The rest of the disqualified contestants leave the grounds and the remaining group look towards the General with anticipation.

"Look at all of you!"

General Calina smiles raising both her arms forward.

"You've all passed the first part of the preliminaries! However, with a strong body, you'll need a strong mind. You'll be administered an exam with the help of Captain Stroyer."

Calina looked behind her and winked. "They're all yours Captain!"

The General walks away from the podium, taking the stairs towards the castle.

A blonde man wearing gold armor stands from a chair situated to the back of the podium and walks towards the podium. Bending down due to his large stature, his piercing cold yellow eyes made my skin crawl.

"We will now prepare for the second part of preliminaries. Based on the color your hand glowed you will follow a knight holding the same colored flag to your testing station."

A dozen or so knights start to parade from the tents situated behind us. They form two rows, with six on each side of us, raising different colored flags.

I looked down at my hand glowing a soft maroon.

"Guess we gotta split up for now." Yuumi holds her up palm that glows a bright yellow.

She raises her fist towards me. "Don't get knocked out over some stupid test."

My knuckles brush against hers. "Same to you."

I walk over to a knight carrying a red flag.

"If that's everyone we'll be going now." The knight started marching toward the castle's main gate.

After walking down the hill to the castle we take a right and go through the Military District's gate. A guard salutes to the knight carrying the flag as the cobblestone turned to granite, making my steps feel weighted.

We end up taking a right on a corner and a large stone building with thick steel doors is presented to us. Two knights on each side of the entryway pull the steel handles open, despite the door's incredible stature they haul it with ease.

The inside has velvet flooring and stone walls. A gigantic globe sits at the bottom stage with tables that are situated in columns with an incline of six levels down to the main floor. The walkway from the door creates stairs down to the main level separating them all.

The knight stopped marching and gestured toward the tables.

"Take a seat and wait for instructions."

I decide to take a seat near a table at the edge of the walkway.

The proctor walks around and starts passing papers to the seat closest to the stairs.

"Please take the stack and pass it down."

I do as instructed taking a paper and passing it down to the three others at my table.

The knight walks back towards the front of the room.

"Rules are simple: Don't Cheat. If you're caught then you're automatically disqualified; So don't try anything stupid. You have one hour to complete the exam. The passing score is a 95 or higher."

Murmurs grow around the room.

"95 …that's higher than last year."

The sound of papers moving starts to fade as everyone grabs a hold of an exam.

"With that being said, you're ready to start your exam. Begin!"

. . .

I flip over my test and look over the questions. Despite my average grades in my past life, I was a decent test-taker.

Scanning the exam I look for questions that are easiest and skip the questions that need a bit more brainpower.

The exam consists of battle tactics, different weapons, geography, and monster trivia.

Eh... erm...

My mind goes blank.

I DON'T KNOW ANY OF THIS!

I take a glimpse of a neighbor. He's also struggling but it looks like he's about to blow a blood vessel. He's wearing spiffy apparel with gold linings and a silk cape.

Obviously, a noble.

"HEY, YOU!"

My eyes widen as I look in front of the room. The proctor walks towards me with enraged pupils.

Does she think I cheated because I looked to the side?

Why did I look at him?! Why did I look at him?! WHY DID I LOOK AT HIM?!

My eyes squint close.

"You thought you could cheat without me knowing!"

I open my eyes and the proctor walks past me and stands in front of a male.

"Hell you talking about? I didn't cheat!" A male's voice is heard stammering behind me.

"You calling me blind?" The female knight lifted the man from his chair and throws him to the ground.

"I've watched you idiots transfer papers for the past five minutes!"

The male gets up from the floor and rubs his arm. "Screw this!"

He bursts through the doors and walked outside the building.

She then glares at his neighbor, who has a frightened look on his face.

"Get the hell out."

He squirms out of his seat and runs towards the door.

"Anyone else wants to try my patience?"

The room responds in silence.

She walks back down to the front of the room, facing forward, and rests her hand on her scabbard.

Maybe… I shouldn't try to make myself a target…

I sigh and start re-reading the paragraphs of all the text.

What's this? A text talking about a battle tactic involving monsters involuntarily answered another one of the questions on the back of the page.

Aha, I was right! The answers are situated around different questions and subtext! As long as you read it all you don't need to know the answer!

I continue reading and blaze through my test, covering the back and front.

The noble next to me taps his fingers irritably on the desk.

"Dammit… Dammit… The hell does this even mean!"

Sorry buddy, maybe put in some extra effort. You probably haven't had to given your upscale attire

The noble looks over to my paper and grins.

"Psst… Hey you."

I ignore him and continue my test. One more question and I can turn this sucker in!

"I know you hear me… You commoners shouldn't even have the right to attend such a tournament. Hand over your test and I'll pay you handsomely afterward."

I look over at him with a stern expression.

"Fuck off."

He grits his teeth together.

"H-How dare you!"

The knight takes her hand off her scabbard and tilts her head toward us.

"HEY, YOU TWO!"

The proctor walks over to our table.

"What's the meaning of this? If you aren't done then keep your voices down!"

The nobleman grins at me and then looks at the proctor. "Thank heavens, oh brave and powerful knight! This mere peasant just took my test and I was helpless to her uncouthly ways!"

The hell is this guy trying to pull?

"What? I didn't steal your test, you liar!" I make a stern face holding back my urge to clobber him.

The proctor observes our papers.

"Hard to believe that one of you has a test almost finished and the other is completely empty. I also didn't see anything so—"

The female knight stops talking and looks towards a crest being held by the nobleman.

"That's the Westian Crest!" A voice exclaims from behind us.

"Don't they own a good portion of land in the Royal District?"

The nobleman grins at the knight.

"You've obviously don't know who you're dealing with."

. . .