Chapter 52: The Final Test: Part 1

Chapter 52: Chapter 52: The Final Test: Part 1

Aeon sat perfectly straight at his desk, casually reviewing the massive exam paper resting before his posture.

With his Infinite Comprehension and backed by the centuries of books he had thoroughly unraveled inside the Archive tower, the answers materialized within his thoughts effortlessly.

The test itself was a diverse, complex mix of core planetary knowledge, global history, advanced combat tactics, tactical mathematics, and detailed behavioral guidelines outlining how to safely engagement and neutralize wild Voidborn monsters when caught within a high-pressure crisis scenario.

Wild Voidborns are the Voidborn monsters who manage to came out the gates and successfully escaped into the wilderness. Even after 19,500 years, they numbered have increased and they are hunted down everyday minute.

There were even several advanced sections evaluating a student’s capacity to identify hidden Voidbound Cultists, alongside precise medical charting the exact moment a cultivator should consume specific pills, or elixirs.

All in all, it was a highly comprehensive exam engineered to thoroughly test a student’s common sense, weed out lazy applicants, and verify if an individual had ever made the slightest conscious effort to read a textbook.

Finally Aeon completely finalized the entire examination paper within a single hour. Resting his pen on the desk, he casually leaned back against his seat and cast a relaxed, scanning glance across the classroom, watching the surrounding students some desperately sweat as they struggled to answer some questions

"Hmm?"

The blue-haired female professor caught his movement from the front podium. A look of genuine surprise appeared on her face as she locked her brown eyes onto the tall, relaxed figure of the young dragon.

No matter how deceptive or easy the written examination might have looked to an ordinary applicant, the paper held hidden trap questions and complex strategic formulas that even second-year or third-year veteran students inside the Academy would fail to answer correctly.

’He must have simply skipped those advanced questions entirely,’ the professor calculated within her mind, a trace of amusement softening her evaluation as she adjusted her notes. ’He definitely just answered what he knows, ran out of knowledge, and gave up on the rest.’

2 hours later the exam came to an end. The female professor stood up and claped her hand to get their attention.

Clap!

"Now then. Time is up. Put down your pens and bring your papers to the front desk. Wait for two hours to get your results; you will see them on the holographic display in the central plaza. Those who pass, be ready in thirty minutes to take your final test. And those who fail, don’t be disappointed. You can still take the final test—but if you get a low score and fail that too, you will have to wait until next year to try again."

After the professor said that with a smile, the examinees stood up. Some confidently put down their papers, while others were nervous and shaky, doubting whether the answers they wrote were correct.

Soon, Aeon and the others headed outside the examination center. Many other examinees from different rooms were all streaming toward the central plaza.

The central plaza was a vast, spacious area where thousands of scattered examinees gathered. Towering, elegant buildings loomed over the space, deeply embedded into the ground.

Aeon and the rest of his group soon found a row of benches. They sat down and began asking each other about the test questions... well, except for Damiam, who was glaring at Aeon with literal killing intent.

Aeon could see exactly what he was doing and could even hear what he was thinking, but he didn’t bother wasting his energy on an arrogant brat.

Two hours later, the exam results flashed onto an enormous holographic display. Every examinee’s eyes locked onto it immediately.

───

[WRITING EXAM RESULTS]

[RANKS:-

☆☆☆☆☆1: AEON ASTARAEAS: 100

☆☆☆☆☆1: SERAPHINA VEYLITH: 100

☆☆☆2: LUNARIA AURELITH: 90

☆☆3: ELYSARIA DRAKONIUS: 89

.....

7: ALEX STORM: 84

.... ℯℯ𝘭.

9: ANASTASIA CROWNSHIELD: 82

10: DAMIAN DARKMORE: 81

....

11: SOPHIA SOLARIS: 77

.....

1500: LIAM WALKER: 1. ]

———————

Everyone immediately scanned the list to check for their own names. Even though they noticed the perfect 100-mark scores at the very top, they focused on their own survival instead of wasting time admiring others.

Looking at the board, Aeon wasn’t surprised by his own score—he had been confident he would get a perfect mark.

What actually amazed him was the person tied with him. ’Who was this Seraphina?’ He thought to himself in amusement.

On his left, Alex looked at his best friend with sparkling eyes. "Wow, bro. Even though you told us the answers to the questions we couldn’t handle earlier, I never imagined you’d get full marks. That is dope."

Alex then raised a thumb up. Aeon smiled awkwardly—not because of what Alex said, but because of the panicking thoughts bleeding over from Sophia.

’No, no, no, NOOOO. This is so embarrassing! I’m not even in the top ten. Aeon is going to be so disappointed in me. He’s going to hate me. This stupid mind... it’s all because of that brute of a father.’

Aeon’s mouth twitched at the sheer chaos of Sophia’s thoughts. Reaching out, he gently placed a hand on her head and offered reassuring words.

"You did well. I’m proud of you."

The moment his words left his mouth, Sophia’s chaotic thoughts shifted instantly from dark negativity to frantic, overwhelming positivity.

It made Aeon want to smile and cry at the same time.

Telepathy was a passive/active ability for him. Passively, Aeon could sense emotions and read surface thoughts. If he wanted to dig into someone’s memories or communicate back via telepathy, he had to actively focus on it.

He had never done that to Sophia or his friends—only on a few maids and knights he had experimented on two weeks prior.

The trouble was, at his current D-rank, his passive range allowed him to hear the surface thoughts of absolutely anyone within a 100,000-kilometer radius.

While the passive side could get incredibly bothersome, Aeon had learned to tune it out by focusing his mind elsewhere, reducing the billions of voices to a low, distant whisper.

After thirty minutes of the crowd discussing the mystery of the two top-rankers, Aeon and Seraphina, another Professor appeared out of nowhere.

He stepped directly onto the sky, standing firmly on the air as if it were a solid floor.

He looked completely human, save for the fact that he was a muscular, seven-foot tall giant. He wore a full suit of Nano Armor that covered everything but his face, and a massive sword clung to his back without any visible straps or magnetic clips holding it in place.

His green eyes glowed with an unsettling madness and an undeniable hunger for battle as he looked down at the examinees. His mere presence radiated an immense, suffocating pressure.

Then, his face split into a wild, crazed smile. His deep voice rumbled through the plaza like distant thunder, making the already heavy atmosphere almost impossible to breathe.

"Hello, ants."

BOOOOOM!

The moment the words left his mouth, an unimaginable pressure hit them, as if gravity had instantly increased tenfold.

The majority of the students collapsed to the ground, completely unable to hold their weight.

A few struggled to stand straight, while a select few—like Aeon and his crew—stood perfectly fine.

"Hmm! There are some good seedlings this year too." The Titan professor stroked his chin in amusement, his eyes sweeping over the examinees who remained upright. Some were sweating slightly, while others stood there without any hindrance at all.

His crazy smile grew wider and wider. His voice echoed across the plaza as he suddenly recalled his pressure, leaving the struggling students gasping for breath.

"Stand up and stop whining. If you are brought to your knees by nothing more than my presence and voice, how do you expect to pass the final exam? Let alone fight the horrors that roam our world!"

The Titan professor spoke with a mix of mild disappointment and suppressed frustration. "What I did just now didn’t target your bodies, nor your souls. It targeted your emotions. And you collapsed to the ground out of pure fear. Tsk, tsk. What a disappointment."

His words made the affected examinees cast their eyes to the ground in deep shame.

Then, the professor spoke again. "Alright, let’s stop this here. Lift your heads, you mutts. My name is Tharos Varkas, and I will be responsible for your third and final test."

He paused for a moment, letting his words settle.

"The test is simple. You will be transported to another location. A location inhabited by Eldritches. Are you scared now? Hahaha!"

He laughed loudly at the sight of several students instantly tensing up at the word ’Eldritches’.

Eldritches were monsters mutated by Ruin Energy—the corrupting force leaking from the gates and the Voidborns.

Before their corruption, they were known as magical beasts. However, because magical beasts possess a physical cosmic core—unlike other races whose cores are metaphysical and exist purely as energy—they are incredibly susceptible to Ruin Energy.

For other races, actively trying to absorb Ruin Energy meant certain death. That was the case until the Voidbound Cult emerged, discovering a way to cultivate that volatile energy, albeit at a devastating price.

Wiping the laughter from his face, Professor Tharos focused his gaze back on the gloomy, trembling examinees. "There is no need to be terrified. They are not real Eldritches. They are essentially holograms, but they are fully alive and can kill you just like the real thing."

He raised his hand, revealing a disc-shaped device. He injected his Martial Cosmic Energy into it, causing a thick, green energy to flood the mechanism.

The next moment, hundreds of small, familiar runes flew out of the device, streaking through the air and embedding themselves straight into the back of the examinee’s left hand."

"That is an Astral Rune. It serves many functions. First, it acts as a map and tracks your points. Second, it will teleport you back here the moment you are killed. So, you have nothing to worry about when you are sent to the testing island."

He paused, tilting his head as if suddenly remembering something. "Oh, did I forget to mention the test takes place on an island? Oh well, now you know. If you have ever played a virtual game, you will understand the concept. It is similar, except your consciousness isn’t the only thing going there—your physical body is. The pain is real, and you will feel the genuine dread of death."

Tharos’s smile widened even further at his last words, sending chills down the spines of the examinees.

"If you need more information, check your Astral Rune. Just tap it, and a hologram will appear over your hand. You can review how the point system works there. Alright, that is enough for explanation. See you tomorrow."

WHOOSH!

With that, he vanished in a blur, leaving the crowd of students utterly confused and terrified.

WHOOSH!

In the exact same milliseconds, he reappeared inside one of the towering buildings overlooking the plaza, stepping right next to another professor.

It was the same vampire professor from before. Tharos spoke immediately. "Hey, Kael. DO IT."

Professor Kael looked at the seven-foot-tall Titan and shifted slightly to his right, maintaining a careful distance out of fear that the man’s madness might be contagious.

He then muttered under his breath, "Crazy bastard." Kael then raised his right hand and with a sharp motion, he snapped his fingers.

SNAP!

Instantly, a massive red magic circle erupted beneath the feet of the examinees in the plaza. Before they could even voice their yelps of panic, they vanished.

Whooosh!

----------