Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 1076: Exam Begins [GT Ranking Bonus Chapter]

The next day swiftly came, and it was time for the day of the exams. All exams were supposed to be held on the same day and not split into different dates, as students wouldn’t drain their stamina or Astra energy during their exams. Even if they did, healers would be on standby to bring them back to full health.

The first exam was the written General Knowledge exam that Asher, William, and Finch had spent yesterday preparing for. At this moment, the group of five could be seen standing outside a door within a hallway with one hundred and ninety-five first-year students. Around them, chatter could be heard, with a group of students shooting questions at each other, some immediately answering.

Some cursed that they weren’t informed early enough, as just a day and a half wasn’t enough to pass the exam.

Soon, it was 10 a.m., and the time to enter the exam hall came. The door opened, and the students’ names were called, starting from Rank 1. The Instructors collected their space rings and searched the students.

As for cheating, the Instructor simply said everyone was allowed to cheat, but if they got caught, that was an automatic failure. Which was basically no different from saying don’t even bother cheating. After all, how could they fool the perception of an Instructor? Only an idiot would attempt such a thing.

’Well... if I don’t know an answer to any question, I can just cheat through Omni Perception,’ Asher mused to himself as he sat in the middle of the hall.

Although they had been called in by rank, the seating placement was random.

As the question paper was shared, Asher simply glanced at the first question, then the second, the third, and many more. It was basically a 100-question exam; fifty were multiple choice questions, while the last fifty were fill-in-the-blank questions.

’No need to cheat then,’ Asher mused as his brain automatically produced answers before he could even finish reading the questions.

An exam of two hours, he was done in barely two minutes as his hand simply blurred through the paper. He stood and simply submitted the exam paper without waiting.

Stepping out, Asher marked the hallway, then teleported directly to his room and simply slept off. There were almost two hours to use, and sleep was the perfect thing to do.

Time passed, and the system chimed as it woke Asher up. He didn’t waste time. He rose to his feet and teleported back to the hallway. The moment he did, he simply removed the Position Marker there. As it was only ten minutes until the first exam was over, many students were already outside.

”Sigh... I’ve failed,” a student sighed in defeat.

”Who would have thought something like a written exam existed?” another wailed, as he knew he had only one more chance or he would get expelled.

”Is the Star Academy trying to expel us? I already planned the perfect places to use my two failing strikes... Tsk,” another interjected.

More and more voices rose as some were panicking, as they had guessed their way through the first fifty questions.

Asher heard their complaints but didn’t particularly care. Although they were basic questions to him, he understood not everyone was built the same.

Finch, who had sensed him, walked forward with a sigh as he shook his head.

”How was the exam?” Asher asked as he leaned against the wall.

Finch shook his head as he spoke, ”Don’t even ask me. If it wasn’t for the fact that the Star Academy made the pass mark 50 out of 100, I might really fail,” he sighed.

Asher didn’t bother asking Ryaen, Vaelric, or William, as he was sure these guys had it easy. Besides, they had already been told that ten minutes after the exam, the result would be posted so that everyone could head to the next compulsory exam.

Twenty minutes swiftly passed as the results were posted on a huge noticeboard that was on the wall within the hallway they all stood in. The names were ranked according to the scores on the exam.

Needless to say, Asher was ranked first with a perfect score, Vaelric followed in second place with a perfect score, and surprisingly, unfamiliar names filled the top ten, as only Asher and Vaelric were the two popular people in the top ten, all ten having perfect scores.

Ryaen had a ninety-seven; she was ranked 13th. William had ninety-five; he was ranked 16th. Finch, who seemed to wear a wide, pleased smile, was ranked 178th with a score of fifty-seven.

Both William and Ryaen didn’t exactly care about their ranking, as this was just a written exam, not the general class ranking. Besides, their written exam scores were high enough. But it was surprising to see people who weren’t Asher top them in something.

So... although they didn’t care... they wouldn’t let such a thing repeat itself if there was a next written exam.

The next exam was Instructor Melissa’s, the Astra Control exam. They had already moved to the location of the class, as all students were given the location of each exam in advance. Be late... instant expulsion.

”Unlike the General Knowledge exam, everyone would have their individual test and examination due to their individual talents,” Instructor Melissa began to speak. ”Throughout the year, I’ve noted everyone’s talent and progress that should be expected according to their talent, and if I don’t see such progress, I will fail you,” she stated.

Everyone nodded in understanding as they prepared to do their best.

Melissa’s eyes shifted towards Asher. ”You are first, Asher Wargrave,” her tone calm.

Asher simply smiled as he had sort of expected it. He stepped out of the group of students.

”People usually create a dome of Astra energy to block and interfere with sound waves, but why can’t the same be done with light? Your test is to make everywhere dark as night through Astra energy control,” Melissa instructed with a calm expression. ”And I already know of your Light affinity, so don’t think of cheating... although you are welcome to try.”

”I understand, Instructor Melissa,” Asher replied with a small smile as every attention shifted towards him.

The majority of them couldn’t block sound waves yet. How were they supposed to even block light photons?

Astra energy immediately surged outwards from Asher’s body as a dome of Astra energy rose and stretched outwards.

Astra energy enveloped the entire area, interfering with the movement and propagation of photons within its boundaries. The photons were scattered, redirected, or suppressed, preventing light from traveling normally. As a result, illumination rapidly vanished, leaving everything within the vast dome submerged in complete, unnatural darkness.

The students whispered in amazement at what they were seeing... they couldn’t exactly see, but that was the whole point of it. Even without an affinity for something, one could produce specific abilities through precise Astra Energy control.

”Asher Wargrave, Pass,” Instructor Melissa’s voice came from the darkness.

Asher immediately removed the Astra energy dome, the darkness simply vanished as he stepped to the side.

Instructor Melissa ignored him as she called another student randomly.

”Reddington Carrington,” she called out indifferently.

The boy, a Noble, stepped forward with a serious expression.

”Your test is to...” Instructor Melissa continued as the exam went on.

Soon, the Astra Control exam ended, and the next exam came. And within this exam, twelve students had failed the Astra Control exam, but miraculously, out of these twelve, none of them failed their General Knowledge exam. If not, their Star Academy journey would have ended here.

_____

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Now, I know that Asher has been through a few missions, so I’m conflicted on whether to give Asher an early graduation mission. So, I need your opinion on whether you all want it or not, as I don’t want to be accused of dragging the book again. Lol.

Second... we’ve dropped in the Golden Tickets ranking... sigh... dropped from 4th... then to 5th... and now 6th.

Also, as the month comes to an end, this author is here to ask for your golden tickets and super gifts... hehehe

Thanks for reading.