~BANG!~
Albedo shot off a Graviton slug towards a stocky girl holding a warhammer, hitting the slug beneath the girl.
Space warped, and the entire squad around the girl got pulled together in a violent implosion of spacial pressure.
As the group of 4 who were colluding together stumbled, As they stumbled, Elara's enchantment burst to life, glowing glyphs of force wrapping around the clearing and locking the terrain with kinetic pulses.
The group were never able to recover as flames swirled around them, Havoc spitting Infernal rounds that detonated around them, and Ruin followed with targeted Graviton slugs that blasted their footing apart.
~BOOM~BOOM~BOOM!~
Explosions rang out constantly and flames raised, and by the time it was over, the forest clearing looked like a cratered battlefield, the four of them laying unconscious, their bracelets flashing red.
+410 Points.
Their total: 6170 Points.
Albedo exhaled slowly and holstered his weapons. His crimson coat fluttered as the winds picked up again.
"That's the last of them I can sense throughout the forest," Elara reported, stepping into view, "The rest are either eliminated or hiding."
Before Albedo could respond, a sudden chime echoed across the skies.
{ DING! DING! DING! }
A glowing projection materialized high above the forest, stretching from horizon to horizon. It displayed the Zephyr Academy crest and a golden timer counting down to zero.
{ The Examination has concluded. All examinees, cease combat immediately. You will be teleported shortly. Final Point Totals will be tallied. Those who qualify will be notified. }
Elara blinked, glancing up, "Guess that's it, huh?"
Before Albedo could respond, the forest around them shimmered, light coalescing at their feet. The world itself started fading and in a heartbeat, they were gone.
A flash of golden light transporting them onto a wide marble platform lined up with teleportation circles. Several other students appeared around them in rapid bursts.
Some with soot-smeared clothes, others limping, one or two unconscious and held up by their partners. There were also the students who were eliminated standing around already, and many of them sent death glares towards Albedo and Elara.
On an elevated platform in front of everyone stood an elderly man with a piercing voice that carried across the room, "Congratulations to all examinees who endured to the end of the trial!"
~SNAP!~
The man raised his hand and snapped a finger, and then suddenly, all the metallic bracelets worn by the students flared to live.
"Those whose bracelets glow green have passed the Entrance Examination. You are now officially Students of Zephyr Academy."
A rush of murmurs filled the space.
Elara instinctively looked down, and then broke into a wide grin.
"Green!" she shouted, throwing her hands in the air, "Yes! We actually did it!"
Albedo glanced at his own wrist. Sure enough, the band glowed a gentle emerald hue. He nodded slightly.
"Well," Elara said, bouncing on her heels, "we're in. We really are in."
The announcement continued in the background:
"The Academic Year officially begins on the 4th of September. Uniforms, Dormitories and Class Designations will be delivered via your student interfaces within the week. Students who live off-campus are advised to inform us through the student interface.
Albedo nodded, taking it all in silently.
Then Elara turned to him, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.
"So, uh… listen. I figure we'll be assigned different dorms, probably different classes too, since you way out performed me and we're focusing on different majors. So…"
She pulled out a thin phone from her satchel, tapped her wristband, and sent a signal across to Albedo's. A soft ding echoed as the request came in.
"That's my contact number," she said. "And this, "
She wrote down a quick address on a scroll and handed it to him.
"is my family's potion shop. Vance Remedies. If you ever need alchemy supplies, or just wanna say hi."
Albedo stared at the scroll for a moment before storing it.
"I'll keep that in mind," he said.
Elara smiled again—this one less triumphant, more real.
"I'm really glad we teamed up," she said, "I don't think I could've passed without you. See you around, " she said, waving as she turned to head toward the Academy gates.
As for Albedo himself, he left not long after, getting on the SkyRail to return to Pantheon, checking his system.
[ DING! Host has completed the Zephyr Academy Entrance Exam! Host is rewarded with Humanoid Dragon Training Technique ]
Albedo immediately checked the description of the reward.
[ Humanoid Dragon Training Technique - A physical body training technique designed to comprehensively improve physical power. By expanding and reinforcing the host's Mana Veins and partially substituting muscle tissue with vein structures, the host's raw strength, regeneration, mana flow and mana capacity will improve drastically.Requires a large intake of high-mana monster meat for maximal efficiency. ]
Albedo smiled as he saw the description. Techniques specifically designed to train the body were rare, since most of the best techniques improved physical strength to a certain degree.
However, Albedo had never heard of a technique that widened the Mana Veins, not only would that improve his mana flow, but also the maximum amount of mana he could wield alongside raw physical strength.
He still had around a month and a half until Academy life truly begun, so he'd try to maximize the value of this technique around this time and reach the Silver-Rank.
He looked out the window and noticed the SkyRail pulling up to a stop at one of the terminals in the City, and Albedo decided to step off at this time, heading towards the Upper Market District.
He needed to buy Monster Meat, lots of it. His muscle tissue would be broke down and reformed, meaning calorie and energy burn with be intense while training.
He walked through the market and finally arrived at the Behemoth Butchery, placing an order for a bulk-purchase for high-mana nutritional stock.
The butcher, a portly dwarven man with a blood-stained apron and a big beard braided with chilling runes, whistled when he saw the list.
"Kid, you're either planning to raise a wyvern or become one," he muttered, "Twelve kilos of Titan Bear flank, eight Basilisk hindquarters, three crates of Glacial Elk ribs, and, you're serious, huh, Mana-Condensed Fenrir Liver?"
Albedo nodded, "Vacuum-sealed, all of it. I'll pick it up weekly. Add in five bottles of liquid nutrient catalysts while you're at it."
The dwarf scratched his beard, "That's over 91,000 dollars, lad."
"I know."
He tapped his wristband against the payment A few seconds later, the dwarven man blinked as the payment flashed through on his end.
"Well I'll be damned." The dwarf said not deciding to push further. It wasn't close to the weirdest order he'd ever gotten, so there was no need to stick his nose too deep in other people's business.
He just gave a small grunt and waved to one of his apprentices, "Pack it up. Weekly supply drops starting today."
Albedo took his first drop and left, moving throughout the market again. He added a few sacks of enchanted herbs and a couple of rare mineral supplements that would help with mana retention during the grueling physical process. The final bill made the shopkeeper raise a brow, but Albedo barely blinked.
He'd been saving for this.
After the death of his parents and he inherited all the money, he had used his advanced Novel knowledge to make smart investments.
Why live poor if you can be rich? That was his justification.
Once he was done with all his purchases, he quickly took a Mana Train towards his home. By the time he returned to his home, dusk had begun creeping in, and the sky was painted in faded gold and lavender.
He unlocked the door and stepped inside.
"Albedo! You're back!"
A blur of pale hair and bright eyes launched itself toward him.
Albedo barely had time to set the floating crates down before Gwen wrapped her arms around his waist in a tight hug, eyes wide with excitement and cheeks smudged with what looked like flour.
He chuckled, resting a hand on her head.
"Hey, Gwen."
"You took forever!" she said, pulling back with a mock pout, "I've been checking the clock every ten minutes! How'd it go? Did you win? Did you explode any monsters? Did they make you fight a dragon?!"
She gasped dramatically, "Wait, don't tell me, you lost?!"
Albedo snorted and looked at her like she was a crazy woman, "Would I be carrying victory groceries if I lost?"
Gwen's eyes darted to the crates behind him and then widened even more.
"…You passed?"
He nodded once.
Her response was instantaneous.
"YESSSSS!" she shouted, arms flailing in the air, "I knew it! I knew you'd crush them! You're officially a Zephyr Student! Wait till I tell everyone!"
She spun in a circle and then suddenly darted into the kitchen, yelling over her shoulder, "We're celebrating! You sit down, and I'm making victory pancakes!"
"...Pancakes?" Albedo raised a brow.
"Victory pancakes," Gwen repeated proudly, already dragging out ingredients from the shelves. "They're like regular pancakes, but with more sugar, more fruit, and way more love!"
Albedo took off his coat, hung it on the rack, and moved into the main room. He watched her for a moment, a whirlwind of energy bouncing between counter and cupboard, before sitting down with a rare smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Don't burn them like last time," he called.
"That was one time!" Gwen said, flustered, "And you said they tasted 'interesting,' which is basically a compliment!"
"If you mean 'interesting' as in 'crispy battery glue,' then sure."
She shot him a mock glare, then got back to whisking the batter with furious determination.
"Also, what's in the crates. Groceries aren't usually that much." Gwen asked.
"I bought monster meat," he added, gesturing toward the two floating crates following him via mana tether.
She blinked, "That's a lot of meat."
"I'll be training hard over the next month and a half," Albedo explained. "My technique, needs high-protein, high-mana nutrients to function properly."
"Training hard, huh?" she raised an eyebrow, then nodded, "Then make sure to balance your meals right. No fainting mid-squat from some stupid meat crash."
Albedo just rolled his eyes.
"Go shower, clean up, then come down and eat. After that, you're telling me everything about the exam. Every single detail. And don't leave out the dramatic moments, I want the full story."
Albedo watched her bustle about the kitchen for a moment, then quietly turned and headed for his room.
The house was quiet, clean, and small. But it was his. It was stable. It was the one piece of his life that hadn't been taken from him.
He stepped inside, set down his things, and opened the glowing scroll of the Humanoid Dragon Technique once more. Its first few pages detailed the beginning of the transformation, how the muscle tissue would be broken down slowly, then rebuilt with arcane reinforcement to begin integrating into his mana veins.
Painful. Slow. Brutal.
He couldn't wait.
After his shower, he returned to the kitchen to find the table set, his favorite stew already steaming in its bowl, with freshly baked bread and a pitcher of spiced cider.
Gwen grinned as he sat down.
"To the top of the pyramid, huh?" she said, raising her mug in a toast.
Albedo raised his own quietly.
"To success"