CHAPTER 18: The Entrance Exam
The morning arrived with a cold, sharp bite. It was the kind of air that didn't just wake the body but forced the lungs to expand with a painful clarity.
In the commoner dormitory, the silence of the night was shattered by the collective anxiety of hundreds of students.
Lucius opened his eyes. There was no lingering fog of sleep, no hesitation in his movements. He sat up, his mind already calculating the mana density in the air.
It is today, he murmured to the empty space of his bunk.
The room was a chaotic mess of nervous energy. Hans was already pacing a tight circle near the wooden table, his boots scuffing against the stone floor.
He was muttering to himself, a frantic stream of consciousness that showed just how close he was to breaking.
Okay... okay... E-rank dungeon... shouldn't be too bad, Hans whispered, his glasses fogging up from his rapid breathing. Just basic monsters. Skarnlings, just a few of them. Five to ten at most per sector. Right? That is the standard curriculum.
Jax sat on the edge of his bed, the heavy iron head of his spear resting across his knees.
His eyes were closed, but the tension in his jaw told a different story. He was trying to find a center that Hans had already lost.
Lucius stood up slowly, adjusting the silver-trimmed sleeves of his uniform.
The fabric was stiff, a reminder of the status he was supposed to uphold, even in this run-down block.
You are overthinking, Hans, Lucius said.
Hans froze in mid-step, nearly tripping over his own feet. Huh?
If it was truly just a standard E-rank dungeon, Lucius continued, his voice calm and clinical, they wouldn't call it an exam.
They would call it a tutorial. The Academy does not filter for the average. It filters for the survivors.
Silence fell over the small room.
Jax opened his eyes, a sharp, golden light reflecting in his pupils. So you are saying the rank is a lie?
Lucius didn't respond.
He didn't need to. The simple reality of their world was that the strong never told the truth to the weak until the moment of impact.
Hans swallowed hard, his throat clicking in the quiet room. Great. That is just great. I awaken a Rare Tier talent just to get slaughtered in a rigged test.
Jax stood up, rolling his shoulders until the joints popped. Shut up, Hans. If it's rigged, we just have to be the ones who break the machine. Stay sharp.
They stepped outside into the main thoroughfare of the Academy. The grounds were packed. Thousands of students from across the five kingdoms had gathered in the Central Arena.
The pressure in the air was suffocating, but it wasn't a pressure born of mana—at least, not yet. It was the weight of expectation, of family legacies, and of the fear of being "removed."
Nobles stood in gilded clusters, their laughter loud and performative. They spoke of the Spire, of the parties they would throw after the "formality" of the exam was over.
Commoners stood in the gaps between them, huddled like sheep in a wolf's den, watching the sky with alert, hollow eyes.
Oi... look, a voice whispered from a group of minor nobles in green tunics. Isn't that him? The Venus kid. The one with that useless Teleportation talent.
The one that takes five seconds to charge? another mocked, not bothering to lower his voice. I heard he's staying in the commoner block. Fitting. A fallen house deserves a fallen roof.
Whispers followed Lucius like a physical shadow, cold and clinging. He ignored them entirely.
To him, these voices were nothing more than the buzzing of insects—distractions that would be crushed the moment the real test began.
The arena was divided into massive geometric sections, and at the very center stood a raised platform made of pure, white marble.
Several figures stood there, each radiating a level of power that made the air shimmer with heat. These were the Instructors, master-class Awakened who had cleared A-rank dungeons.
Then, a presence descended.
The air didn't just change; it warped.
A figure stepped forward to the edge of the platform.
A woman with long, flowing silver hair that seemed to possess its own light, untouched by the wind.
Her face was an ivory mask of calm, beautiful and terrifying in its lack of human emotion. Her eyes were deep, endless pools of violet that seemed to stare into a dimension the students couldn't see.
Every student in the arena felt the same sensation: a sudden, heavy weight on their chest, as if the gravity of the planet had intensified just for them.
That is... Hans stammered, falling to one knee under the sheer pressure.
Vice Headmaster, Jax muttered, his teeth gritted as he forced himself to stay upright. Evelyn Moron. A Transcender.
The murmurs died instantly, replaced by a hollow, ringing silence. A Transcender was a being who had stepped beyond the natural limits of the Talent System.
Their mana was no longer just a tool; it was a refined, evolved essence. To stand in their presence was to be reminded that you were fundamentally a lesser creature.
Children, Evelyn said.
Her voice was not loud, yet it carried across the arena as if she were whispering into every student's ear simultaneously.
Welcome to Eclipse Academy. Or rather, welcome to your judgment.
A chill ran through the crowd. Hans looked like he was about to vomit. Why does it feel like we are about to die? he hissed.
Because we might, Jax replied, his hand white-knuckled on his spear.
Evelyn's gaze swept across the thousands of faces, moving with a slow, deliberate rhythm. She was weighing them, measuring the density of their souls.
You stand here today as candidates, she continued. By sunset, many of you will no longer qualify. This is not a school for the hopeful. It is a forge for the absolute.
The Entrance Examination consists of three stages: The Group Dungeon, the Sparring Evaluation, and the Written Assessment. Fail one, and you fail everything. We do not accept partial excellence.
The crowd erupted into frantic whispers.
That is too harsh!
All three? In one day?
What kind of system is that?
Silence, Evelyn said.
The word hit the arena like a physical shockwave. Several students in the front row actually collapsed, their mana circuits temporarily paralyzed by the command.
You are not here to complain, she said, her violet eyes glowing faintly. You are here to prove your worth.
With a slight motion of her hand, the ground behind the platform groaned.
A massive structure began to rise from the earth—a gate made of black, ancient stone and covered in pulsating red markings.
A foul, heavy pressure seeped out from the cracks of the gate, smelling of ozone and old blood.
Your first trial, Evelyn announced.
Text began to form in the air above the gate, glowing with a malevolent light.
Dungeon: Trial Grounds
Rank: E
Hans let out a shaky exhale. Okay... okay. E-rank. We can do this. The Vice Headmaster is just trying to scare us.
But the atmosphere didn't lighten. Even the high-ranking nobles, who had been laughing minutes ago, were now frowning at the gate. The mana leaking from the portal was too thick, too jagged.
Wait, a student yelled from the crowd. That pressure... that's not E-rank! Something is wrong with the gate!
Evelyn smiled. It was a faint, amused expression that didn't reach her eyes.
You have noticed, she said. Good. Let me correct your misunderstanding.
The dungeon structure itself is E-rank. The geography, the walls, the traps—those are simple. However... what lies inside is not.
The air grew even heavier, the red markings on the gate glowing brighter.
Inside this dungeon, we have unleashed monsters from a C-rank breach, Evelyn continued. They are hungry. They are agitated. And they are waiting for you.
The arena went cold. Hans whispered, That is not funny. That is murder.
Evelyn ignored the protest. You will be assigned to teams of three by the system. Survive. Adapt.
Demonstrate value. Or be removed from the registry—and the grounds.
Crystals rose into the air, hundreds of them, before shattering into fragments.
The shards shot toward the students like guided arrows. One fragment stopped directly in front of Lucius, hovering in the air before transforming into a glowing holographic text.
Group Assignment
Lucius van Venus
Hans Keller
Jax Rowan
Hans blinked rapidly, looking at the names. We are together? All three of us from the same room?
Jax smirked, though his eyes remained wary. Looks like the system wants us to sink or swim together. At least I know you two aren't total strangers.
Lucius didn't react to the assignment. He was watching the other groups. Panic was setting in.
High-born nobles were screaming because they had been paired with "filthy commoners," and some were trying to bribe the instructors to switch their tokens.
Evelyn watched the chaos with an amused tilt of her head. How entertaining.
Then, the gates began to groan open.
The darkness inside the portal was absolute. It was a deep, endless void that seemed to suck the light out of the arena.
Enter, Evelyn commanded.
There was no countdown. No signal. Just that one word.
The students hesitated for a long breath. Then, a group of Tier 2 nobles from House Brett stepped forward, their faces pale but determined.
They vanished into the darkness. Then another group followed. Soon, the dam broke, and the thousand students began moving into the maw of the gate.
Hans swallowed hard, his wooden staff trembling in his hand. We are really doing this. We are going into a C-rank nest.
Jax stood tall, rolling his neck. Stay sharp, Hans. If you freeze, you die. Lucius?
Lucius stepped forward, but he didn't lead immediately. He paused at the threshold, watching the shadows dance within the gate.
He could hear it—the faint, rhythmic scratching of claws on stone.
Screams echoed almost instantly from the darkness ahead.
The sound was sharp, cut off abruptly by the wet tearing of flesh. The atmosphere shifted from tension to pure, unadulterated fear.
That fast? Hans whispered, his face turning ghostly white.
Lucius's eyes narrowed into thin, cold slits.
Now, Lucius said, taking a small, calculated step into the darkness. We go.
The three of them crossed the threshold, and the world of the Academy vanished behind them.
Cold, stagnant air wrapped around their bodies like a wet shroud. The moment they were inside, Lucius stopped.
His instincts exploded.
Danger was everywhere. It wasn't just in front of them; it was in the walls, in the ceiling, in the very floor they stood upon.
Stay close, Lucius commanded.
A growl echoed from the shadows to their right. Then a chattering sound from the left. Then a heavy, wet thud from above.
Not ten monsters. Not fifty.
Hundreds.
Hans's voice shook as he raised his glowing staff, the light illuminating rows of jagged teeth and glowing yellow eyes in the dark. This is NOT E-rank.
Jax lowered his stance, his spear pointed forward. No kidding.
Shapes moved in the periphery, blurring in and out of the light.
The Trial Grounds were no longer a test of talent—they were a slaughterhouse.
Lucius exhaled slowly, the mana in his body coiling like a serpent ready to strike.
Now, he whispered, we begin.
To Be Continued.....