Chapter 19: Exam

Chapter 19: Exam

Nero had spent a long time imagining this day. He had visualised how satisfying it would feel to declare himself as a Neophyte finally, and to begin his various training sessions. His teachers knew him well, so he imagined that for many of his additional classes he would see their familiar faces, since as a high performer in school he would get preferential treatment.

What he had not visualised in all his daydreams, plans and general perception of how this day would go was sitting in an empty class taking an exam!

Registering as a Neophyte was a very easy process in school. He could have just shown his flame, but the proper procedure was handing over his ID which proved that he had synchronised and had registered with the AAB.

The person on the counter had then informed him that before he could go through with selecting his new classes, he needed to take an exam so that the school could determine his knowledge level before deciding on which mandatory classes he had to attend.

Nero tried to explain that he was near the top of his class in academics, and that he knew all the basics. But it did not matter. They had to follow procedure.

At least the lady at the counter was nice enough to have a fresh uniform brought for him while his exam sheet was prepared. All schools in Kolar had uniforms, but for convenience students could directly buy the uniform from the school.

After getting changed, Nero was escorted by a random teacher to an empty class room where he had to take the exam. There was no time limit so he could take as long as he wanted. It was not as exciting a start as he imagined, but Nero immediately reigned in his disappointment and focused. He had no time to waste.

The first question was a pretty basic one, yet a lengthy one at the same time. It asked for the origin of the Eldrim cards, what they were, and what the path of the Eldrim cards was.

A lot about the origin of the path of the Eldrim cards was a mystery, but approximately one thousand years ago, when the human civilisation was supposedly on the brink of extinction, Iskunder Macedon coined the term of Eldrim cards for a method of self enhancement, or cultivation, he discovered in the ruins of an ancient race known as the Eldrim.

Little to nothing is actually known about the Eldrim, at least to the public, but what is known is that their understanding of aether is beyond anything that the human race has managed to achieve so far. Even though all of modern human civilisation is built on the foundation of Eldrim cards, they still do not know how exactly the cards work. They've just thoroughly studied the steps of card creation, and replicated it, discovering new recipes along the way.

The path of the Eldrim cards refers to the various levels on the progression of power a card master experiences. They are very systematically designed to promote strength while building a foundation for the subsequent levels and professions.

The next question asked for the first three levels of the path of the Eldrim cards and their defining traits.

The first was Neophyte, and it was the very first level as a card master. Other than gaining access to aether and gaining an innate ability, it allowed one to use 0 star cards, which were the lowest levelled cards.

The second was Initiate. It gave the card master an overall boost, but one thing that most people misunderstood was that the boost was not the same for everyone. The foundation of the body was what determined the level of the boost received, which was one of the reasons Nero focused on training his body so much. He expected to get a better boost than his peers at his level. It brought about a slight upgrade to the innate ability as well, and also allowed card masters to finally start using starred cards.

Nero himself, despite yearning for the Polymath profession, thought it was pointless to argue over such things. If Polymath was so invincible, the emperor would never have died - or be killed, depending on who you ask.

The next question was about the fog. Of all the questions, this was perhaps the one everyone could answer regardless of their age or academic performance.

The fog surrounded the six countries, forming an ethereal boundary wall. Whether the walls it formed were prison walls or protective walls was yet another age old question that had no answer.

If anyone tried to go through the fog, they could only go so far safely. It was a very measured distance. After exactly 100 metres (328 feet) of wading into the fog, even a single step beyond would cause you to disappear. There had been no exception to this rule to date, at least to public knowledge.

There were only three, small gaps within the fog wall, and each of those gaps radiated cursed energy so grave it had killed the earth all around it. Fortunately, all three openings were on the opposite side of Kolar, and so were not a part of Nero's concerns.

The gaps had been explored multiple times, and the only specific news that had been shared about any such incursion was that there were unimaginable horrors outside the fog, which is why none of the countries had managed to extend outwards.

Kolari researchers believed that the fog diluted any cursed energy, so that the nearly civilisation ending horrors they dealt with on a regular basis contained only 10% of the potency of the cursed energy on the other side of the fog. Of course, this research was strongly contested, as the researchers from some other countries suggested the energy was diluted down to 1%.

The next question on the exam was not an academic one, but a legal one. It asked the consequences of using innate abilities, cards or any form of aether to harm civilians or break the law.

Nero answered in only one word: death. Then he moved on.

It took him nearly two hours to finish the exam, since the questions were long and varied, ranging from recent history, geopolitics, the philosophy of power, aether related theories and more.

Some questions did not directly seem related to aether, but upon deeper thought one would realise that the question itself was a hint to direct the train of the students' thoughts. For example, the benefits of living in Kolar, which had countless resources, plentiful aether, a strong military and relative security, versus the benefits of living in Nova, the technological leader of the age, which was also inundated by the fog opening, two hostile countries on its borders, limited resources and limited growth potential.

It was naught but basic propaganda. Nero had a very simple answer for such irrelevant questions, which he did not hesitate to write on the exam paper: do not waste my time!

Once he was done, Nero handed in the paper and waited for it to be graded right there and then. His blunt answers to some questions got him a couple or raised eyebrows, but fortunately the person checking his paper was one of his regular teachers. She knew him well, and knew his academic standard. That was also why she sighed.

The reason Nero never reached the top in his class when it came to academics was exactly because of stunts like this.