Chapter 107 Examination Results

*BANG BANG BANG*

"Arvell, wake up!"

Jolted awake by the sudden noise, Arvell lurched forward.

Knocking off poor August, who was happily snuggling on his stomach.

"KYUU!"

Arvell woozily rubbed his eyes.

"Huh? What's going on?"

"Arvell, wake up!"

Recognizing the familiar voice, Arvell audibly exhaled.

'Ah… It's Angela again… What is it this time?"

Arvell scooped August into his hands and petted his soft fur.

'Sorry, Aug didn't mean to scare you.'

"Kyuu…"

August climbed onto his shoulder and curled himself into a ball, attempting to go back to sleep.

Running his fingers over his small furry body one more time, Arvell decided to see why Angela was so keen on interrupting his sleep.

Stretching his arms, he walked over to the door.

*Creak*

"Hey Angela, do you need something?"

"Yeah! They're announcing the results of the examination today. I came to tell you, so you could get ready."

Arvell raised an eyebrow at her statement.

"So soon? I thought it would be delayed due to the events during the entrance examination."

"The staff had to work countless overtime hours, but they managed to deal with the aftermath swiftly."

'Hmm… Maybe they aren't completely incompetent.'

Arvell wasn't too keen on entering the academy after seeing just how bad they blundered the entrance exam, but he still needed to attend for several reasons.

Mainly just to continue receiving support from the Silvercolt house, but also since he wanted to see his friend again.

Plus, the academy did handle the aftereffects of the massacre quite swiftly, so they didn't seem completely incompetent.

For one, Professor Orfina was skilled, at least from what he saw.

Since she was a 5th circle mage, just like Duke Wilfried, she was one of Elantrya's powerhouses.

Building up a good connection with her was quintessential.

Luckily Arvell felt he left a good first impression on her.

"When are we departing?" Arvell asked.

Angela put her fingers to her chin while in thought.

"Hmm… Maybe straight after breakfast."

"Works for me; let me get ready. See you in 15 minutes."

"Okay!"

Arvell closed the door behind him and quickly got ready.

Taking August with him, Arvell joined the Silvercolts for breakfast.

"So Arvell, are you nervous? After all, the results of the examination are out today." Seeing Arvell munch on a hard-boiled egg, Wilfried asked.

Arvell swallowed the bit of food in his mouth before turning to Wilfried.

"Since Professor Orfina nullified my forfeit, I have a high chance of passing."

Since the academy knew he and Titus had almost brought down a 2nd rank beast on their own, Arvell was sure that the two of them would pass.

Furthermore, they stopped this beast from killing any more students, thus limiting the casualty count.

They'd get some kind of distinction for their efforts, right?

Otherwise, why would Professor Orfina go out of her way to cancel Arvell's forfeit?

That would be pretty redundant and pointless to do.

Wilfried smiled lightly at Arvell's words.

"I, too, have a strong feeling that you'll pass. After seeing your display yesterday, I can confidently say that you'd be amongst the strongest students in your grade."

"Thank you for your praise, but I'm not the only one who had an amazing display yesterday."

Arvell turned to Zen, who was sitting across from him.

"Zen has grown so much in the short time I was here. If before he was a newbie who didn't know how to use magic, now he's a force to be reckoned with."

Hearing his name being mentioned, Zen almost choked on the piece of toast he was chewing on.

"Me?"

Arvell nodded his head.

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"I don't know what Lord duke had done to train you, but you've come so far in just 2 weeks."

Zen laughed awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Father's training has always been intense. He even taught me a bit about our family's special swordsmanship. Now that I can finally use magic, I can learn it."

Arvell knew this was only because Zen didn't know any proper magic spells before, but even so.

Under the direct guidance of his father and elder sister, he managed to get far stronger in only a week.

Even for Arvell's standards, that felt extremely rushed.

The speeds he showed everyone yesterday while training was Angela was exponentially faster than how he was back when he was still travelling with Arvell.

It was almost like he was a completely different person.

'Maybe they used some kind of Silvercolt family treasure to drastically increase his strength? As a Ducal family, they probably have hidden techniques and treasures, right? Let me check his status quickly.'

[Status Information]

Name: Zen Silvercolt

Species: Human

Age: 13 years old

HP: 18

STA: 15

DEF: 8

SPD: 19

PHYS ATK: 12

MAGIC CIRCLE: 1ST CIRCLE 3RD STAGE

MP: 40

Titles: Young Master

Magic Attributes: Wind

Skills: Incomplete Noble Swordsmanship (C), Hand-To-Hand Combat (B), Incomplete Silvercolt's swordsmanship (C+)

Arvell's eyes widened when he saw Zen's stats.

'His speed stat shot through the roof! also… '

Moving his attention to Zen's Magic Circle rank, Arvell's suspicions regarding Zen's exponential increase in power were all but quelled.

There was no way someone who just formed his mana core could jump to the 3rd stage of the 1st circle without any outside help.

He was completely blown away by Zen's display of strength yesterday when he was training with Angela in the arena.

While it was nothing compared to his own, it was still quite a drastic change.

Zen's dedication to getting stronger also somewhat mirrored Arvell's.

Something that wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the experiences that Zen went through.

After experiencing being turned into a slave and almost dying countless times, he'd found a resolve to get stronger.

Zen didn't want to worry Reyna or his family ever again, so he needed to get far stronger than he was right now.

He needed to become like Arvell.

Thus, he took Arvell as his personal role model and tried to emulate his single-minded desire to get stronger.

A decision which proved to be an arduous one.

No matter how harsh his father's training was, Zen grit through it and took it head-on.

He refused to back off, not even giving an inch.

Only then did his hard work and dedication pay off.

Lienna nodded her head in agreement with Arvell.

"Everyone here is proud of how far you came, Zen."

"Mom is right! You've grown a lot in such a short time."

Zen nodded his head with a slight blush.

Everyone suddenly praising him like that caused him to feel somewhat embarrassed, but even so, he was happy his hard work was acknowledged.

Zen hurriedly scarfed down the rest of his meal to hide his slight embarrassment.

Lienna chuckled lightly when she saw her son's behaviour but decided not to call him out.

After a few more minutes, they finished their meal and headed to the carriage.

"By the way, Arvell, I heard they rank applicants based on their examination scores. Isn't that right, sis?"

Zen turned to his sister, sitting next to him, for validation.

"Yeah. The academy decides on day one which class each student enters and places them into classes that suit the level of the prowess of each student." Angela replied.

Arvell, who was sitting across from them, nodded his head.

"I read about that in one of the books you gave me. Also… it seems that nobles get preferential treatment when assigned in these classes."

Angela made an awkward face but nodded her head.

"Since the academy also needs to build connections with young nobles, they give them preferential treatment. However, regardless of birth, anyone who shows promise will be treated highly. It's just if there is a talented noble and a talented commoner, the noble would be given better treatment."

"It makes sense… After all, in the end, the academy is still a business. So making sure they have adequate connections important for making money."

Nobles wanted to be treated better than commoners, and since nobles were the ones with money and power, things almost always went their way.

Arvell inwardly sighed, knowing this was just how the world worked.

While it was still possible for a student to enter the highest ranking class if they were a commoner, it was still quite hard.

'Luckily, I'm aiming to just barely pass. Even if I managed to assist in killing a rank 2 beast, my 2 previous grades were quite average. That should be enough to counterbalance my marks.'

At Arvell's behest, they didn't publicly announce that Arvell was one of the 2 that took down the rank 2 beasts.

He asked Wilfried to pull a few strings for that to happen, telling him that he would rather not be at the center of attention.

Knowing that Arvell had his reasons, Wilfried didn't pry too far.

Titus also didn't seem too keen on the spotlight, so Professor Orfina got all the credit for killing it.

Only Lydia, Arvell, Titus, Professor Orfina, the Silvercolts, and a few select academy staff knew of Arvell and Titus's participation in defeating the rank 2 beasts.

Arvell looked out the window to see the academy grounds slowly getting closer.

From where they were right now, they could see 2 large boards erected on the academy gates, as well as countless people huddling around them as if desperately searching for their or their family/friend's names.

While a few cried joyfully, many were left distraught after thoroughly checking the boards.

Pulling up to the curb, Arvell exited the carriage alongside the entire Silvercolt house, much to the surprise of the countless onlookers.

"It's duke Silvercolt!"

Someone in the crowd exclaimed, causing the whole group to turn in the direction of their party of five.

Seeing this, all five of them let out a collective sigh.

"Here we go again…."