‘Candidate Name: Chippy

Candidate Number: 4332

Physical Examination Results:

Agility – 10/10 (Accessed throughout the exam)

Ability to think on feet – 10/10 (Accessed throughout the exam)

Reaction time – 10/10 (Accessed in the cat stage)

Fighting ability – 10/10 (Accessed in the boxing stage)

Perseverance – 4/10 (Accessed in the finishing stage)

Finishing Time –10/10 (Final result)

Total Physical Grade: 54/60

Last Year Attempted Average: 20/60

Last Year Cleared Average: 40/60

Magic Examination Results:

Mana Comprehension – 9/10

Time Taken – 9/10

Quality of Mana – 9/10

Quantity of Mana – 9/10

Total Magic Grade: 36/40

Last Year Attempted Average: 10/40

Last Year Cleared Average: 24/40

Highest Elemental Affinitie(s): Darkness

Aggregated Total Grade: 90/100

Last Year Attempted Average: 30/100

Last Year Cleared Average: 64/100’

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” I screamed as I saw the grades over his shoulder.

“Oh hey Jinx! I passed!” Chippy smiled.

“90/100 is not a fucking pass. You are not an Asian. Holy shit how did you even finish it with 10/10?! What was your timing?” I exclaimed.

“Erm… If I remember correctly it was like 1 min 30 seconds or something like that.”

“WHAT? Did you get the cats stage too? How did you find the cat so fast?”

“I saw find the real cat on the banner so I just immediately grabbed the banned and caught all 50 cats in one go.”

“WHAT?!?!”

“From my grades I’m guessing that it was quite a good answer.”

I could only shake my head at his answer. Indeed Chippy was someone whom I really could not predict, even though he was my best friend.

“So, what are you going to do with those grades? Will you be going to Kirin Academy??” I asked.

“Well. Truth be told I really couldn’t care less which academy I choose. I just wanted to know if you passed. If you passed as well, anywhere would do as long as we’re still in the same school I guess.”

I don’t know if he’s a wonderful bro or an asshole for being able to consistently get top-tier grades without even trying.

“Oh well before I choose the school, I want to decide on the class first. Do you have any idea what class you want to be??” I asked.

“Assasin. Partly because it has ‘Ass’ inside its name but mainly because it’s so goddamn cool!”

Hmm. An assassin class would demand quite a high level of agility and fighting ability in addition to certain magic capabilities. They usually relies on debuffs as well as certain magic spells to cloak their presence when they fight. His affinity with darkness also seems to match the Assasin class to a T.

I thought about my options and looked at the brochure carefully. There was a description of each class and what sort of person would suit which class more.

‘Warrior – Brave-hearted individuals who would like to face monsters head on and put them to dust through overwhelming strength. Requirements: Cleared physical examination. Priority given to students with better grades for: Agility, Reaction Time, Fighting Ability, Perseverance, Finishing Time.’

‘Magician – Intellectuals who seek to understand the mystical power of mana and wield that power to vanquish foes. Requirements: Cleared magical examination. Priority given to students with better grades for: Mana Comprehension, Time Taken, Quality of Mana, Quantity of Mana.’

‘Assasin – Fast, decisive strikers who uses his or her surroundings to maximum utility in order to extinguish the foe in one strike. Requirements: Cleared physical and magical examination. Priority given to students with better grades for: Agility, Ability to think on feet, Reaction time, Fighting ability, Time taken.’

‘Archer – Dexterious, accurate individuals who develop the ability to impact the battlefield from far, using swift and accurate attacks to the vitals. Requirements: Cleared physical and magical examination. Priority given to students with better grades for: Agility, Reaction time, Perseverance, Finishing Time, Quality of Mana.’

These were the qualities that each of the jobs were looking for. Since I was above average for everything, with no outstanding qualities whatsoever, I could choose any class but there was no one class that suited me too.

However, as I read the brochure further, I saw a statement which drew my curiosity.

“Kirin Academy is also opening vacancies for a new class: Spellblade. However, vacancies are extremely limited as this is the first time we plan to offer such a classification. Continuation of this class is also unconfirmed. Enclosed below is a summary and requirement. If you wish to find out more, please proceed to ask the provost of Kirin Academy, Professor Oak for more information.

‘Spellblade – Half-warrior, half-mage. An individual who is able to harness the power of both faculties in order to flexibly change his tactics as and when the situation deems fit. Requirements: Cleared physical and magical examination. Priority given based on: All aspects will be given equal priority. We are looking for a well-balanced individual regarding all aspects for this class.’”

Upon reading that advertisement, I was extremely intrigued by the idea of someone having qualities of both warrior and mage, two opposite ends of the spectrum. My interest for this class grew more and more and my doubts immediately vanished.

“Chippy, I think we’re going to Kirin Academy.” I said to him as I pointed at the Spellblade column in the brochure.

He read the portion I pointed to and smiled.

“I don’t think there will be a more suitable class for someone like you. Wait you know my score but I don’t know yours. Did you get like a 7 for everything??” Chippy asked.

“You can mind read too huh?” I said as I looked sheepishly at him.

“Well, tell me. How does it feel to always score lower than me in tests?”

“Fuck off.” And we went home.

In order to get into an academy, you had to go to the academy during the application period and use your examination report to request for a place in the school. Depending on your grades, they may or may not require an interview with you. If your grades are too low, they will reject you. If it is extremely high, they will just immediately accept you. Especially for my Spellblade class, it was explicitly said that everyone interested has to go for an interview at Kirin Academy.

-The next day-

I met Chippy outside my house because we lived quite near to each other and proceeded to Kirin Academy. Our town was so huge that we needed to travel by cart for a good 2 hours before we reached the academy. Upon reaching the academy, the first sight of it blew our minds.

Standing before us was an enormous gate, where the first thing you can see as you look through is a huge statue of a Kirin, which was a legendary-tier monster which could raze cities to the ground by itself. It looked majestic and behind that statue was the huge compound that was Kirin Academy.

We made our way to the entrance of the compound and we saw a map. Kirin Academy was divided into five sections. The North Spine which was for assasins, the South Spine which was for archers, the East Spine for the magicians and the West Spine for the warriors. The area in the center is called ‘Medial’ which housed the cafeteria, library, main hall etc. Basically all the common resources a student at Kirin Academy would need, except class specific resources will be found in the Medial.

There were four entrances into the school which all lead straight to the Medial. They were placed at the North-East, North-West, South-East and South-West parts of the school and all the entrances were equally grand with a Kirin statue located in front of each gate.

“My interview is at the North Spine. What about yours?” Chippy asked.

“Mine’s at some faculty office. I think I need to go to the East Spine to find a certain professor Oak.”

“Alright let’s meet back here at the North-east entrance after we’re done then.” He said.

I nodded and we went for our respective admission application.

Chippy shouldn’t need an interview though with those grades. I better hurry up so he won’t have to wait too long for me.

I went around East Spine asking people for directions how to find Professor Oak’s office. One kind soul said she was going to the faculty office as well so she just asked me to follow her. The East Spine was a very well-decorated place. There were chandeliers hanging everywhere flickering with candle flames that lit up the entire hallway in a dim, yet soothing lighting. The floors were made of smooth brown marble and the walls were made out of mixtures of cement and wood which were all painted brown as well. The East Spine was an altitudinous place as compared to your normal building. It was a whopping twenty stories tall but in exchange, the land area it occupied was the size of about only two football fields.

She took me up to the eigth floor where there was a huge door made of mahogany just as you clear the staircase. A sign above the door read ‘East Spine Faculty Office’.

We went in and she told me that the professors were arranged in alphabetical order. She said she was finding another professor so she took her leave. I went around until I found the appropriate section and saw a cubicle and desk which had a name plate stating ‘Professor Oak’.

Seated at the table was a white haired professor who looked to be in his fifties. He was cleanly shaven, had a squarish jaw and green eyes. He looked very studious indeed especially since he was wearing a lab coat.

“Excuse me Professor Oak?? I am a student who would like to apply to Kirin Academy under the Spellblade class.” I announced, albeit in quite a meek voice.

“Oh. Hello! Please take a seat in front of me and let me see your examination report.” He answered.

I thanked him and quickly went to take a seat in front of him and produced the report.

He opened the report and I scrutinized his facial expressions to see if I could catch any sign of approval or disapproval.

Come on please. It’s an easy report to read because the only numbers on it are 7 but please please take me in come onnnnnn…

Professor Oak’s eyes widened noticeably.

“SEVEN?!” He shouted.

“Oh my god is it that bad? To get 7 for everthing? I saw on the brochure that you needed someone who was well-balanced and I thought I would have satisfied that criteria!” I squealed, feeling scared that I have accidentally offended him somehow, maybe because 7 was too low a number to be applying for a unique class.

“My dear boy, no wait. Jinx, (As he looked at the report for my name). You have no idea.” He said solemnly.