Chapter 15

As Ariel got closer to the gate, he could see two giant statues sanding on each side of it. From the books he has read, it was easy for him to identify them as stone golems.

Golems are artificial creatures created by using only raw Mana and earthly materials, making them immortal unless they run out of Mana or are completely annihilated. Their draw backs are that they can only follow relatively simple instructions like protect or kill and anything more will just confuse them, which might make them end up being useless.

He didn’t know what, was the purpose of these golems, but it is unlikely that they would just attack him out of nowhere, since a lot of problems would occur if someone of high status was attacked by golems at The Academy for no reason. That is why he continued walking without a care.

Just as he had though, when Ariel came closer and passed them as he was entering through the gate, they didn’t seem to move, even a little from their spots. However, this made him even more curious about their purpose, but he didn’t have time to think about it and just went forward.

Like this, he put the matter about the golems at the back of his mind and concentrated more on what was in front of him.

Behind the gate, there was a peaceful courtyard filled with all kind of nature like flowers and trees that seemed to be quite well taken care of and there was also a stone path going straight through it, to what seemed to be the main hall of The Academy.

Following the road Ariel soon reached the school building, as he got closer, he started hearing many voices inside talking about all manner of things. When he finally went in, he could see a lot of adult people there seemingly waiting for something. He quickly understood from their conversations, that they were most likely people who brought in children to take the exam and now they are talking, while waiting for the results.

Just as Ariel started walking towards the receptionist who seemed to be an elderly man in his 50’s, he attracted quite a bit of attention from the surrounding people. It is not surprising considering his looks and expensive clothes and noble air around him. He has given up before he even started trying to hide his identity.

Nearing closer to the counter while ignoring the gazes, he instantly greeted the elderly man. “Hello I’m here to take the officer exam.” He said in a polite manner.

The old man seemed to be slightly caught off guard, by his polite way of speaking. It was unusual for the noble kids to show any respect to commoners so only after a little while did he start to speak with a small smile on his face. “Please tell me your name, and give me some kind of identification to prove who you are.”

Ariel nodded before speaking. “My name is Ariel and I am from the Whitestone family.” He said this while handing the elderly man a crest, which had a large white stone with some black markings pictured on it. This was his houses crest that represented his and his whole family.

Looking at the crest, the elderly man gave a small nod and started speaking again. “Everything has already been registered by someone, take this please and head towards your designated exam class. Please hurry it will be starting soon.” He said while giving him a white token.

Casting a look at it, Ariel could see 74 etched in black ink on it. He gave the man a small nod as a goodbye and headed down, the hallway which he was directed to.

While walking through the hall, Ariel was quite happy seeing The Academy have such a relaxing atmosphere. He could see plenty of vegetation on the other side of the windows, and everywhere inside was also completely clean, without a smallest amount of dirt. This was just the type of environment he liked.

Enjoying the moment, he quickly reached the classroom which had his number written near it, and where he had to take his exam. He entered only to see a spacious auditorium that could hold about 30 young people in it, but most of the seats were already taken.

Ariel looked around trying see, if he was able to find the twins, but soon stopped when he noticed that they weren’t here. Soon after that he walked up to one of the further, empty seats and sat down.

When he entered the classroom, he had obviously already drawn the gazes of every single person in the room. The girls couldn’t take their eyes off him and watched him with dazed looks, while boys sent the usual looks of jealousy and hate towards him.

Such things commonly happened to him even in his previous life, so he has long since learned to deal with it and just ignore most of them.

At the time everyone was watching Ariel, each with different thought in their mind, the door to the classroom opened and through it came a beautiful and graceful woman, who seemed to be in her late twenties, having a stunning body figure, as well as long black hair and charming violet eyes, coupled with a very pretty face.

If he had to compare, Ariel would say that this person was as beautiful as his mother without a doubt. While he was doing the comparison, all of the rest of the boy were drooling over her, like dogs in heat.

Obviously the person in question disliked it and soon her expression turned into an angry frown, as she started shouting. “I advise you all to refrain from angering me. My name is Mithra Werental and I will be the person responsible for the exam of this class!”

As she said that, she released a suffocating pressure, instantly making all the people, in the room, calm down. This wasn’t actually something amazing, every single person is capable doing it, but it is only able to effect people weaker than you, so in fights against equal level opponents it is almost useless.

However, the pressure released by the teacher was extremely strong, proving the power difference between her and the students. Even Ariel was afflicted by it, but thanks to the two lives he spent learning to control his expression and emotions, he managed to hide his moment of weakness.

While Ariel was surprised by her power, teacher Mithra once again spoke in a loud voice, that everyone could hear her. “All of you get to your proper seats, after that I will give out the exam, and I don’t suggest trying to cheat, or I will make sure to make you regret it through the rest of your life.”

Hearing her, all of the students got back to their seats in a fearful manner. When all of them were seated, teacher Mithra started handing out the papers.

As Ariel looked at the paper sheet he was given, he was very disappointed seeing how easy the questions were. He understood that the level of education in this world was low and didn’t expect it to be too hard, but still, to him this was barely considered as an idiot test.

Even this worlds geography and history, which were foreign to him before had way too little requirements.

Letting out a sigh, he finished the exam papers in an extremely short amount of time. The three hour test for most people was done by him under a mere hour, which made Ariel slightly look down on the teachers responsible for the common subjects.

Soon Ariel came down and gave the teacher his papers, she seemed to be quite perplexed at this before asking. “Is the test so hard for you that you gave up?” Mithra has already noticed Ariel before, and even she was shocked by his looks, but most importantly his conduct. She had though that he was very well educated and would definitely pass, so she felt conflicted about him giving up.

But shockingly for her, Ariel shook his head sideways as he spoke. “I haven’t given up its just that I have already completed it.” Ariel answered as if it was obvious.

The unexpected words made Mithra freeze for several seconds, before she suddenly stood up from her seat in a forceful manner and shouted “WHAT!? THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!” She snatched the papers from his hand and quickly looked them over. Soon her face became slightly pale, as she started mumbling something in a low tone.

However, she was a professional teacher, and she soon got her bearings back together. Turning to face Ariel, she gave a slightly forced smile before speaking. “I see, that was a bit unexpected, since you have finished, you are free to go wander around until the results come up.”

Some teacher might have thought he was cheating, and would have made him rewrite it, but Mithra had full confidence in noticing someone doing anything suspicious, so she was sure that he didn’t cheat. She also didn’t want to loose face by trying to make sure about the 0,01% chance he did manage to cheat. .

Hearing her words, Ariel gave a polite bow, before leaving through the door while at the same tome hearing a sigh coming from behind him. As he entered the hallway, he decided to go find a place to rest in the courtyard and also wait for the end of the exam.

As he was walking down the corridor, he suddenly almost hit an old man passing by him from one of the different hallways. Thankfully, Ariel had decent reflexes and managed to stop himself before crashing into him.

Just when he let out a breath of relief, the old man addressed him. “Ah I’m sorry young man, this old me is already too senile and didn’t notice you walking by.” Looking towards the elder, he first noticed a respectably aged man with white hair and blue eyes, his face probably was quite handsome it the past, but not anymore, as it had many wrinkles on it and his body was already very feeble.

However Ariel quickly put up his guard, since thanks to the artifact that merged with him he could see other peoples Mana, and the old man had a frightening amount of it. Unfortunately Ariel is still not capable enough to identify other people affinities, which would help him in battles. Although even without seeing the old mans Mana, Ariel had noticed his majestic air and eyes full of wisdom, which represent how powerful he is.

As he was looking the old man over the opposite was doing the same, Soon the elderly man smiled before speaking. “It seems, this year, we have a very promising young mage.” After saying this, he laughed and went passed him.

When Ariel understood the meaning of his words, he quickly turned around to make sure he didn’t hear wrong, but the old man has disappeared into nothingness.

Ariel forcefully calmed down his beating heart, by believing that the old man must have been an incredible person to notice his secret and wouldn’t simply publicise it. He also didn’t think there was a reason to hide it anymore, since from what he heard The Academy always protect their students, so there is no reason to fear other worldly powers and their assassins.

Deciding to forget about it for now he resumed his journey to find a place to rest. He soon left the building and entered a giant courtyard, where he started looking for a suitable location.

It didn’t take him long to find a comfortable tree at the far side of the garden, where not many people would come by.

Thinking about his future plans at The Academy and the old man, he thought to take a nap in this great weather. He didn’t have even a bit of fear that he wouldn’t pass the exam.

Since such a test, for him was a mere joke.

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