‘Sigh’

 

Half an hour had passed like that and only two and half an hour was left for this mana theory exam but he still couldn’t come up with anything to solve the problem that was upon him. 

 

The teacher Mr.Woods who was going back and forth was watching all this so he came upto Akira and said,

 

“Is there any problem?”

 

“Hmm?” He looked upwards to Mr. Woods who was watching him with a relaxed face.

 

“It’s nothing much Mr. Woods, just thinking about the answers.”

 

Mr. Woods nodded to that, he had been watching over all the students over the past week and had some idea about their personality and since Akira was always paying attention in his classes, making notes and doing no nuisance the teacher had a positive perception towards him.

 

“If you are finding some questions difficult then leave them for now and work on the easier ones.” He said to Akira.

 

“Yes thank you Mr. Woods.”

 

“Hmm, I expect some good things from you.” The teacher said and went away.

 

Akira followed his advice and started writing answers for the easier questions but after he had done almost half of the questions he stopped yet again thinking about which route he should take and then something flashed in his mind.

 

“Damn..” He almost shouted that but at the last moment was able to retract and swallow it.

 

When he thought about what Laura had done with him he gnashed his teeths in anger and unconsciously broke the pen in his hand. He had been disturbed and perplexed since last night all because of what she had said.

 

Trying to control the seething anger he took several deep breaths which was seen by Mr. Woods as a nervous guy calming himself in the tense atmosphere.

 

Laura had tricked him. She made an announcement that this year even the eleventh rank would be taken in the special training which is against the rules, the program is made only for top ten students as it was supposed to be tailor made specifically for the top ten.

 

And including even one extra could derail that. Yes the commanding teacher had personal discretion on adding others but that too was given as a choice given to the student who could very well refuse it. The last day when they talked about it she made it in a way that it was compulsory for him like the top ten.

 

It was even his fault too as he couldn’t remember this tiny detail and was thinking too hard about the later consequences rather than focusing on things at hand. He also knew who the top ten students were going to be and honestly if he didn’t score more than 90% in the theory he did not have a chance.

 

He had been trying hard all this time not to interfere in the story anymore than he already had and cause any irreparable damage to it but now that it was almost finalized that for the year or so he wouldn’t have a chance to get involved with the main cast so why not do your best?

 

Moreover he didn’t really require that so called ‘special training’ as he already knew every detail about it from the game and except ‘those two things’ it was not that much special. He can gain all those things in the dungeons and the special locations mentioned in the game.

 

But there still remains one question as to why would Laura do it for someone like him? Was there something he couldn’t see but she could? But now that he would not be with her it didn’t really matter.

 

Or was Akira simply missing something?

 

RINGG..

 

The bell rang indicating that only the last half an hour was left for the exam and now with his mind free from the claptraps of overthinking he decided to give it his all. Mr Woods, seeing that Akira was now furiously writing, was happy that he helped another student.

 

Another bell rang indicating the end of the first theory exam and mixed emotions could be seen on students' faces, some were satisfied with their performance while others not so, some felt that they could have done better while some were asking their neighbors about the questions asked.

 

Akira had a happy face as he did his best and was sure of getting some good results, good enough to get a double digit rank but just not enough to be in special training.

 

Today’s schedule for the first year was a three hour long mana theory exam followed by a break and another three hour literature exam and currently it was the time for the break so many students were present there including Akira.

 

“Hello Miss Martha, how are you doing?” He asked the old lady behind one of the counters in the cafeteria.

 

“I am fine dear, how are you?” She was as lively as ever and that smile of hers was infectious.

 

“As good as I can be Miss Martha.” He replied with a smile of his own.

 

“Haha that’s good, so what would you like to have?” 

 

“Well let’s go with your special red velvet cake.”

 

“Hmm? That one?” She was shocked to hear the name of that but after watching the face of the boy she understood that he was the same boy who had come here on the first day.

 

“Yeah I guess that’s the perfect one.”

 

He had always wanted to try that cake and what better opportunity than this day when he gets to see another conflict of the main character. Oh and there’s also this fact that he had done well in the exam so it’s a self treat.

 

“Here you go.” She gave him the cake and he proceeded to sit on one of the empty seats.

 

The main cast was also present there and from their looks their exams had gone well though Aurora was not looking that good and she had a frown on her face, maybe her exam was not that good?

 

It was then a group of third years marched inside the cafeteria silencing everyone else there by the sheer amount of mana radiating by them. The leader, who was apparently a human, was searching for someone and when his eyes met the one he went towards him.

 

And who might be the one he was looking for? Of course the protagonist Richard, he was a calamity magnet and an expert to bring problems to his door. The third year human had a stoopy and lanky posture but despite that his strength was not to be underestimated.

 

“Marcus, is he the one you saw in the guild?” He shouted at one of his underlings who shivered and reluctantly said yes.

 

“Okay boy you have five minutes to get on your knees and beg for forgiveness.” He ordered Richard.

 

“Do we know each other?” Richard was confused.

 

“Are you the one who beat him?” He pointed his finger to Marcus.

 

“Yes he was harassing Lily and despite my protest he didn’t stop his activities.” Richard boldly claimed and got everyone’s attention.

 

Akira was watching all this eating the tender and smooth textured cake and thinking,

 

“This is so good, the protagonist getting his ass kicked for the first time and that too in public.” 

 

“Oh my god this is so delicious..” If anyone else would have seen him eating cake in this situation they would have thought just what in the world is this guy doing?

 

“I don’t care what he did, you beg for forgiveness or I will make you.” The third year student was a hot headed guy and someone who blindly cared about his underlings.

 

Richard stood up and drew forth his Spear and now both of their mana were colliding with each other, the security guards too were watching this and were on their toes if the situation went south. After a few moments the third year’s mana overpowered Richard’s and now he was on his knees writhing in pain.

 

Lily, Aurora were ready to interfere but Drake was enjoying this show. It was good to see his rival getting down like that but in his mind there was thought of whether he could have managed that pressure.

 

Richard on ground was on the verge of using his ‘overdrive’ skill which increased his strength and speed for a small period of time but after that he would go limp. The third year guy was enjoying this and increased his pressure which caused Richard to spit some blood.

 

“Hmm, he is still not using that overdrive skill of his. This is interesting.” Akira said and munched on the last few bites of the cake.

 

The guards watching this had enough so they moved in and separated the boys not before yelling at them,

 

“If you want to settle it then do it by the official method not like hoodlums.” 

 

Ah yes the academy actually promoted these kinds of duels among the students which according to them fostered battle capabilities among the students. And as these duels were in controlled conditions in the mana simulation room nobody really gets hurt.

 

Akira got up from his seat and headed outside, the scene was exactly like the game and he had to say it was good to watch and he was so engrossed in watching Richard getting his ass handed he totally missed the person sitting behind him who now had a big smile on her face.

 

Evelyn’s days in the academy have been getting boring day by day and she doesn’t want that. Thrill, adventure and new things lure her and maybe her half dragon blood was responsible for that and since coming in the third year those things have gone lull.

 

Today she was craving for Miss Martha’s Red velvet cake so in the break she headed towards the cafeteria and there she saw a first year talking and laughing with Miss Martha and that was strange but she dismissed it. 

 

Then she saw the boy sitting on one of the empty places all alone by himself and it was getting exciting for her so she sat behind him watching his actions, then she saw the entire scene unfolding in front of her eyes and she was now intrigued by the boy sitting in front of her.

 

She saw him deflecting the mana flow like it was nothing and he was also the only one not perturbed by the entire scene like it was all under his expectation. Interesting, very interesting and now that he has piqued her curiosity she was going to know all there is about him.

 

And like this Akira has now got him a curious cat no a curious dragon snooping behind him.

 

Now it was the time for the last theory exam i.e. Literature taught by no nonsense Martin who was very strict with his evaluation and would even give you a zero if there are too many errors. Akira very well knew what the exact kind of answers he wanted so he wrote in that manner but still it was challenging and even then he didn’t have confidence in getting good marks.

 

The results were announced next day and as expected by a lot the rankings were like,

 

 

 

Most of the students who saw these rankings were not surprised as they were expecting something along these lines but in almost everyone’s mind there was this question of how someone from E section has managed to get into the top 10% of the rankings and when they saw the name ahead of 13th rank all hell broke loose.

 

“Hey are you seeing that?” One of the students from the B section asked his friend.

 

“Something must be wrong.” 

 

“Cheating, he must be cheating.” Someone shouted.

 

“That's impossible he can’t do that. Someone must be helping him from another way.”

 

“Yeah you are right, first it was inside the mana simulation which could be attributed to luck but this..” 

 

“Everyone, we need answers, let’s go to the evaluation center.”

 

That was bound to happen, someone topping the ranks from E section was unheard of in the history of the academy and now when that someone was Akira it naturally raised questions in their heads but was the evaluation center going to give them any answers? Nope it was not, the center has already said that if you are unsatisfied with your marks then contact the concerned teachers and not them.

 

So when the students asked about this in the evaluation center they were told to go to teachers who rejected their pleas and now there was nothing they could do. Even the second and third years were somewhat surprised to see this but they did not paid much attention.

 

Akira had seen the results and it was actually better than anticipated. Maybe his answers in the literature were really what Martin had wanted. He had one thing off his shoulders that now Laura couldn’t force him to join the special training which in turn would allow him to be not present with the main cast and cause any change to the plot of the world.

 

And now that the top ten students have been chosen he can be himself and showcase his true abilities without the fear of disrupting anything, sure some minor things would be disturbed but you can’t control everything. This is a good opportunity for him to become stronger and gain more skills.

 

When he came to the class today everyone was looking at him but this time it was not the same as before. Their gazes did have those earlier emotions of disgust and hate but now curiosity, some reverence and anticipation was also there. Yes they haven’t completely believed in his rank but since it was given by the academy they couldn’t doubt it either.

 

He went to his regular seat and sat there still alone, after sometime Mr.Woods came in the class with a happy face and congratulated everyone on their results. He also cheered up those who got less marks and then finally called Akira on stage.

 

“Akira if you would come here.” 

 

“Me?” He was confused as to why he would call him but still he went there.

 

“Yes please come here.”

 

He went there and then Mr.Woods took out some of the response sheets of the candidates and on the top of it was Akira’s.

 

“This is his answer sheet and I am proud to say that he has been ranked sixth in the Mana theory exam.”

 

Only overall ranks were shown to everyone and for individual ranks in the exams were shown later so now that it was revealed that he was fourth in Mana theory created another buzz among the students. It even surprised him as he had left more than 15% percent of the exam and yet managed this.

 

“And the best thing is that his answers are absolutely to the point and brilliantly written giving adequate attention to the things asked.” 

 

Actually he just wrote about the game lore and last week's library studies so maybe it was quite good?

 

“That’s why I have decided to circulate his answer sheets for your better understanding.” Okay now Akira thought that Mr. Woods was going far, his answers were good but not as much as he was projecting them.

 

“Uhh Mr.Woods don’t you think that it’s going a bit too far?” He asked.

 

“What are you saying? These are the best answers I have read in a long time and not only me but other teachers are also racking their heads on how a first year could write like this.” Okay now he thinks that going all out in theory was a bad decision.

 

“Umm sure if you say so.” He nodded.

 

“Yes, now you can go back, oh and later please tell me about your sources of the answers.” Mr.Woods said to him.

 

‘Believe me you don't wanna know the source.’ He said to himself.

 

And like that his classes continued and when it was Martin’s class even he complimented Akira on his answers but his was just a plain ‘good work’ and then he continued on his work. With time the individual marks also got public and to say that it was shocking would be euphemism.

 

Richard topped the list mainly due to his physical prowess. His theoretical scores were above average but not something special and that was similar to his character in the game. Alexandra was an allrounder so both her physical and theoretical scores were best granting her second rank.

 

Drake, Lily, Shin, Lana and the rest were similar in both the departments and hence got their respective ranks but Aurora was different. She was slightly behind the three in the physical department but her theoretical scores were the absolute best and this was not something new as she had always been at the top of such.

 

But today she had been challenged, no it was nothing physical or such but someone had challenged her record of being number one in the theory exam. Akira was ranked second in the literature paper and the difference between them was only 9 marks.

 

The third one was behind 19 marks so clearly Aurora was not in a good mood, yes she was at the top but the fact that someone has come this close to him and that someone is a mere commoner who had no facilities and opportunities like him has made her think.

 

Aurora who was sitting with her friends asked herself,

 

“Is he really that capable or was it just a fluke?”

 

After the classes ended the top ten students were called by Laura in the mana simulation room and even the next five were called in which means Akira was also going there but this time he was much better than before.

 

Inside the mana simulation room Laura was standing in the middle while everyone has formed a circle around her and she was talking,

 

“Everyone, you have successfully completed the first step in becoming the next members of peace on this continent.” 

 

“Now the top ten of you will be given special intensive training(SIT) which will not only take you two steps ahead of your peers but also help in breaking the cocoon of your strength and achieve that breakthrough you have been searching for.”

 

Everyone’s eyes lit up after hearing that and why wouldn’t they be excited? Everyone here was significantly stronger during the first year but right now they are not able to achieve that breakthrough required for entering the next tier.

 

“So get ready for the SIT as those who won’t be able to keep up with it will be replaced by the next ranker and they won’t have a chance until the next semester. Oh and the 13th rank is also included in the SIT.”

 

Everyone already knew that but there was still this question in everyone’s mind as to why would someone like him be there, heck even Akira having the best knowledge about the characters in this world was blank for this question but even after that they nodded and left the place.

 

All of them left except Akira who in no way wanted to be part of this so-called SIT.