RING RING

"It's the school a.s.sembly warning bell!" Diana got off the bed and jumped up like a rabbit.

"Okay, we should start walking over to the main auditorium soon." Tanya responded plainly.

"Where is the main auditorium?" Yuri asked with a confused face.

"It's on the map above the door." Tanya pointed over back to the room's main door, where a map was hung for all occupants to see.

"Oh! It's in the middle building at the centre of the first floor!" Yuri exclaimed in excitement, pointing towards a medium sized square-like shape on the map.

CREAK

The door opened and Diana along with Tanya moved out of the room to head over to the school a.s.sembly.

"Wait for me!!!" Yuri ran up from behind them and kept up pace with them while huffing and puffing due to her low physical fitness.

"I should- do more- of those pushups and sit-ups…" Yuri's apparent fatigue was quite exaggerated even with her low fitness.

"Start with cardio if you want to be able to last longer~" Tanya winked.

"Pardon?!" Diana realised what Tanya meant, showing a shocked expression.

"Shush." Tanya place her index finger over her own lips, looking straight at Diana.

"Hmmph!"

After a short walk, the trio made their way towards a huge queue of people trying to enter through a single door into the auditorium. Students were quite literally jamming each other through the small s.p.a.ce, all trying to get in before a second bell could be rang.

"Tanya, if we do not get in soon, we might be punished for tardiness!" Diana remarked upon looking at the hopeless scene.

"Hmmm…" Tanya inspected the scene with her well trained eyes, scouting for any abnormalities hidden throughout.

'Surely a prestigious academy would not have such a stupid building flaw. There must be another way that we do not know about.'

She looked towards the white marble walls and did not see anything too out of the ordinary, however, she still felt that something was off. It could have been the texture of a certain spot of the wall, the apparent opaqueness of the marble, the sound it made when Tanya touched it with her fingertips, the texture…

It was all of the above.

RIP

Tanya tore open a hole in the wall, revealing a small pa.s.sage that led straight into the auditorium's top row of seats.

"Paper? Really?" Tanya scoffed at the thought of such a cheap test.

Tanya whispered, "Yuri, Diana, come with me."

The both nodded their heads and went through wiggle no one was looking.

'Now, to fix it.' Tanya placed the ripped paper sheet back where it was and casted a low 1st tier utility spell.

"[Mend]."

The hole became a wall again and Tanya's group made their way towards a set of three crimson seats.

"A reward for such basic investigation?" Tanya remarked as she took the centre seat, overlooking the whole of the grand auditorium.

An auditorium the size of a stadium. That is what it could be described as. Most of it was built underground except for the few top row seats that had mostly remained opened. The normal seats were given a black shade while the top seats were a more colourful red. This was the difference given.

"Tanya, there's a note for each of us on the desk." Diana whispered, pointing towards a set of camouflaged black notes hiding on equally black desks.

Tanya smiled as she grabbed the note and flipped it over.

'Dear freshman, you have succeeded in showing your inquisitive mind. Through realising the obvious flaw with the auditorium's entrance and finding the hidden top row seats, you have proven yourself to have a mind of reasoning and deduction.

Please receive 100 credits towards your yearly record by kissing the blank end of the note.'

Smooch

'Congratulations, Tanya Vermillion.' The note glowed crimson as the words appeared, before turning to ash.

"Wow, I just got 10 points." Diana excitedly whispered.

"I got 10 also." Yuri smiled in accomplishment.

"Nice." Tanya simply leaned back and watched the stage beneath.

"You should both be quiet. The a.s.sembly is just about to begin, I sense it." Tanya pointed her index towards the empty stage in front of all of the seats.

The auditorium had become virtually as full as it could be. Except for the red chairs at the top row, there were no remaining spots to take. As such, the remainder had no choice to exit as guards directed them to leave if they could not sit.

"Can't they see the seats from there?" Yuri questioned.

"I don't know, it might be light manipulation magic, I literally have not seen a single eye pointed at us." Diana pointed out as she looked towards a clueless exiter.

"Shus.h.!.+ It's about to start."

Suddenly, the stage below lit up with a very normal white glow. A boy in academy uniform came up towards a grand wooden podium, wearing a confident smile on his fair skinned face. His white hair became invisible in the light, creating a most confusing silhouette.

"h.e.l.lo freshman. I see that you all have come here today with bright smiles on your innocent little faces. I am Kieran Sol, your student council president. Today, I am here to inform you that only 3 students have pa.s.sed main task 1 of this year!"

The audience's jaws dropped before they began whispering amongst themselves and shouting at the stage, demanding answers.

"What do you mean we failed?! We were not informed of any task!" A bald guy yelled with his fist pointed to the ceiling.

"I am quite disappointed in the state of this year's freshman." Kieran places his palm on his face, shaking his head gently.

"The a.s.sessment was to test your deductive reasoning on a very basic level, none of you freshman in this area have pa.s.sed. Therefore, the school will be deducting 30 points from all of you. Please ask yourselves, 'would a prestigious academy expect their future kings, queens, n.o.bility and savants to squeeze themselves through a small door like barbarians?'"

"Whatever, the a.s.sembly is over. You may all leave."