The next day.

It was finally time for the results of the exams to be revealed.

"Huu... Huu... Huu..."

Kiera sat in her seat with her eyes closed. Though she was trying her best, she was unable to stop herself from breathing heavily.

She was nervous.

Very nervous.

After all, she was going to see whether her efforts had paid off or not. The fact that failure would mean expulsion didn't mean much to her.

No, that was a lie.

It did mean something.

However, when taking into account that this had been the very first time she had actually tried to do well in an exam, that concern seemed rather irrelevant to her.

For once, she wanted her effort to be acknowledged.

"Huuu..."

"Can you stop?"

"....Uh?"

Kiera blinked and looked to the side.

Josephine, sitting a few spaces to her right was glaring at her.

"What are you, in heat? I can't focus when you're breathing so heavily!"

"....?"

"Huu! Huu! Huu! The hell..."

"....."

For the first time in a very long time, Kiera didn't know how to retort.

In heat?

When what she said did sink in, her expression crumbled.

"Oy bit"

"I will now be handing over your examination papers back."

Kiera's words were abruptly cut by Professor Bridgette's. Her head flicked, and her back unconsciously straightened.

"We had two written exams. I will be handing the papers to all of you at once. I've graded them all during the trip and double-checked. If you aren't satisfied with your mark you can come talk to me and we'll see if adjustments can be made."

Professor Bridgette proceeded to hand over the papers one by one.

A strange silence suddenly took over the classroom as the cadets who received the papers immediately flipped over the pages to look at their scores.

Some showed looks of despair while others showed looks of excitement.

It was a bit of both.

Flip, flip, flip

The sound of the pages being flipped was agonizing to Kiera.

Licking her lips, she rubbed her hands together. They had unknowingly become rather sweaty.

And then,

"Here you go."

Her papers finally came.

"....."

Kiera sat still for a moment. Though the papers were right before her, for some reason her mind blanked.

It was just...

"Ah, fuck."

Kiera pinched her arm.

'.....Since when have I been such a pussy?'

Right, it was just a fucking exam result. Or at least, Kiera kept repeating to herself before reaching out for the first paper and turning it over.

Score : 17/63 [27%]

Grade : E

Her body froze and her hand trembled.

For a brief moment, her mind blanked. To the point where Josephine, who had already looked through her paper, managed to sneak a glance.

"Wow. Damn."

All it took was the sound of her voice to make her snap out of it.

Blinking, Kiera massaged her mouth.

'Right, this is to be expected.'

This wasn't the paper that she had studied for.

That one was,

"....Uh?"

Where was it?

Looking around, Kiera started to panic. It was just in front of me, where in the world... And then, her face twisted.

The paper. It was in none other than Josephine's hands.

"Oy, what are you..."

She was just about to snatch it back when she noticed the expression on Josephine's face. It was as if she had seen a ghost.

"T-this... What, no? Eh?"

"....?"

The hell was this bitch...

"What did you do?"

Josephine's gaze slowly traveled towards Kiera.

".....H-how much did you sell your hands for? Who in the right mind would even pay for that?"

"Uh? What...? Give me that!"

Kiera snapped the paper from Josephine's hand.

Then, lowering her gaze, she looked at the score.

"Ah..."

Kiera couldn't quite tell what sort of expression she was currently making, but she could more or less guess.

It was probably something similar to Josephine's, but...

".....Hehe."

A laugh soon escaped her lips.

As if some sort of spell had been cast over her, all her stress vanished in that moment. Her hands felt tingly, and so did her body.

Biting her lips, she looked at the score again.

And again...

And again...

Maybe, one more time?

Score : 48/71 [68%]

Grade : B

"Hehe."

For the first time in her life.

Kiera felt like she had achieved something with her own merit.

And,

It felt great.

***

Karlson Hall.

I found myself in the familiar training grounds.

The morning classes were over and it was now time for the afternoon classes. The results from the examination were one B and an A.

A score that was below what I expected of myself.

However, I wasn't disheartened.

'It hasn't been long since I've come to this world. It's already a miracle that I was able to get such grades.'

No, rather than a miracle, it was more like the fruits of my own work.

Right, I had worked for those results.

"The first semester has already ended. It's been several months since you all have taken your progression analysis. With the exams over, it is now time to check on your overall progress."

Professor Olivia J. Kelson started to explain.

"Everyone should already be familiar with the process. Given how we have already done this before, I don't think there's a need for me to introduce you to the examination, right?"

Nobody said a thing. Clearly, everyone was already familiar with the process. The same was true for me. I mean, how could I forget? It was here that I bled from my eyes.

"Perfect."

The Professor clapped her hands.

"Since you are all familiar with the process. Let's get started!"

Pointing at the different stations, she went on to say,

"The groups will be the same as last time. The assistant professor in charge of you will also be the same."

My mouth twitched slightly.

Great...

"Off you go."

Following her words, the cadets dispersed. I was the same and headed towards a burly man with thick eyebrows and a bald head.

Gilbert was it?

Whatever.

Not worth remembering.

Unlike the last time, he didn't openly look at me with hostility. It was a lot more subdued than last time.

Nonetheless, I could still feel that it was there.

"Gather around, cadets."

I didn't make a scene and just followed along.

Doing a quick headcount he put the pad down and led us towards a familiar spot.

"The order will be the same as last time. Our first test will be the mana test."

Within a space no larger than a classroom, a sizable magic circle adorned the ground. Positioned above it, a desk held three distinctive orbs.

"Since most of you are already familiar with the process, I won't say much."

He turned to look at me and I stepped up.

"First test. Mana concentration test. Place your hand on the orb."

All eyes fell on me then.

"..."

Without a sound, I followed his instructions and placed my hand on the orb. At the same time that I did, I channeled my mana into the orb.

Mana started to drain from my body as a white glow spread out from the orb.

It wasn't quite blinding, but enough to make me squint.

The process didn't take very long.

By the time I was done, I received my score.

"Score value; 2.581."

His words were met with a subtle silence.

".....Your previous score. 1.716. An improvement of 0.865."

When I turned my head to look at him, I almost smiled. His expression. It looked like he had swallowed a bug.

"Grade; Excellent."

I felt like laughing but held myself back and moved on to the next orb.

The mana purity orb.

"..."

Unlike the previous examination, I was rather nervous about this one.

Mana purity wasn't something that could be changed easily. It signified the degree to which the body converted the mana in the air into usable mana.

The purer the mana, the more powerful and effective a spell was.

'My previous score was tainted. I wonder what mine is now.'

"Place your hand on the orb."

Having recovered from the previous score, the assistant professor nudged at the orb before me.

I did as he asked and placed my hand on the orb.

A familiar glow surfaced from the surface of the orb. It lasted no more than a couple of seconds before the assistant's voice rang again.

"Mana Purity; Standard."

Standard...

'So it really did improve.'

I had somewhat of a hunch from back in Ellnor. I had felt it from my mana flow, and the subtle increase in power of my spells despite not having ranked up in any other way.

The real question was,

"How?"

The assistant professor's voice broke me out of my thoughts.

When I turned to look, he had an incredulous look on his face.

".....How did you manage to improve your purity and quantity at the same time?"

He wasn't the only one that was looking at me strangely. Almost all the other present cadets were giving me the same looks.

I couldn't blame them.

After all, it was hard to improve one's mana purity while at the same time improving the quantity.

"Did you eat some sort of medicine? Some"

Ignoring him, I placed my hand on the last orb and channeled my mana.

It was simply my own way of saying.

Mind your own business.

*

The physical exam came after. Unlike the previous test, I hadn't improved much in this aspect, but there were still improvements.

Having integrated a bone in my body, it was only natural that my physical fitness increased by a few degrees.

That was excluding the fact that I trained every single day.

To me, such improvements were to be expected.

'.....I'm also not the only one that improved a lot.'

"What a monster. I can't believe he scored 3.671 on the physical score. Doesn't that mean he's close to reaching Tier 4? That's on the level of our Professors..."

"Aoife too. She scored 3.553 on the physical score. And that's not even her forte. Evelyn and Kiera also improved significantly."

"Why did we have to be in the same year as these monsters?"

Such scores were to be expected from them.

I wasn't the only one that was training like crazy every day.

Further onto that, with maybe the exception of Leon, the others had access to far better resources than I had.

There was no point in comparing myself to them.

"Julien."

I only snapped out of my thoughts when my name was called up. Looking up, I headed forward and took a seat.

Clank

A black bracelet clamped down on my wrist.

It was time for the last test. The mental examination test. I could still recall the exact details of it.

This was the one test I could never forget.

I was just about to get myself mentally ready for the incoming pain when a hand pressed against my shoulder.

"Let me warn you."

It was Professor Kelson.

She was looking at me with a serious expression.

".....Moderate yourself, cadet. I don't want you to go blind like last time. If something similar to last time happens, I'll end the examinations and fail you on the spot."

Her voice was firm.

I could tell at a glance that she was being extremely serious.

"Okay."

But that was fine.

'My body should be able to hold out this time.'

Previously, my body had been what set me back. Things were different now. I was sure it could hold out for longer.

The real question was whether I could withstand the pain.

Pain...

Right, pain.

I no longer carried a single pain.

I closed my eyes and let the darkness take hold of my vision.

Within the darkness, over a dozen figures appeared.

Each figure carried a different pain.

A pain that I experienced and was all too familiar with.

From the pain of burning alive, to the pain of being tortured every day and brainwashed.

Within me, I carried such pains.

This test,

I wasn't the same as last time.

"....."

Opening my eyes, I realized that my surroundings were quiet.

All eyes were on me.

Be it the Professor's and the cadets from the different areas

At this moment, I was the center of attention.

Fine.

I'll show you.

Our pain.

I looked at the Professor.

"Start it."