"Time's up. Drop your pens, if you don't, you'll receive a ten-mark deduction."
Alexia called out, her voice reaching all the applicants.
The air seemingly grew thicker as Alexia took collected scripts one by one.
Some practically threw their papers into her hands, eager to get rid of them, while there were others who were hesitant to let go, trembling.
But there was something in common they all shared; they're view of Alexia had changed.
Exponentially.
The way she had introduced herself and the way she slashed the boy's arm off were two entirely different things.
The boy had been taken out after being left as a sobbing, bleeding mess for a whole minute.
'At least it's over.'
He thanked.
Sitting in a wooden bench for two whole hours wasn't the greatest experience, his butt had become sore.
'But the thought that I'll have to do this after gaining admission daily is terrifying.'
If it was possible, Arthur would like to have a position where he could skip as much classes as he wanted-which just happened to be all of them.
As he approached the door, Arthur couldn't help but spare one final glance towards Vivianne before leaving.
'I wonder which of us will get first.'
In the game, Vivianne was the only application to get full marks on the written segment of the entrance exams.
Now that Arthur had done something to interfere, he couldn't help but think of which of them would take the first position.
He stepped outside, moving into the sea of applicants that were rushing to and fro from their destinations.
Lavender Academy was big; hence it was able to contain the sea of people in the halls, but it wasn't big enough to house them all.
Part of the reason the applicants had stayed outside was anxiety; they didn't want to be the first to go in.
They believed that they weren't ready, hence, when most finally gathered up courage, they were told to wait for two hours due to ongoing exams.
'Where's Lucien?'
Arthur wondered.
Ever since he had chosen to split up, he hadn't even seen a glimpse of Lucien-sure, he was the one who went first but still.
He wanted to give Masterful Offense to Lucien, that and a bunch of other junk he had bought but didn't really have a use for.
For his rank, only five skills could be equipped at a time, making the Masterful Offense skill he had just there to represent that he had poor decision-making skills.
And well, besides all that, Lucien was the only friend Arthur had.
No, friend was a strong term.
Lucien was Arthur's only acquaintance. As bad as it sounded, it was true.
'Did he really run off?'
Since he was done with his exams, Arthur made his way to the admission hall.
Sure, it would normally take hours for his answers to be graded.
But, Art clearly remembered that in the game it only took minutes, so he went.
Upon getting there, he found out that his paper had already been evaluated.
However....
"Please, can you repeat that?"
Arthur asked, unsure of the words he was hearing.
"Your tuition fee is sixty thousand, the books are twenty thousand and the mandatory uniform is thirty-five."
The lady behind the counter repeated nonchalantly.
"What the hell!?"
"The upfront payment of a hundred and fifteen thousand is required, if you gain admission you can deal with the others."
She repeated nonchalantly.
'One hundred and fifteen fucking thousand?!'
Money wasn't a problem for him.
It really wasn't.
But it would be soon.
Arthur could already see his bank account go into the zeros before he even completed the four-year program.
Grudgingly, Arthur handed over the money.
"I'd also like to pay for my servant, his name is Lucien Zephyros."
"For servants, the fee is fifty percent lower."
She replied.
'Oh damn, I wish I was a servant.'
Arthur thought.
He quickly regretted it, reprimanding himself.
'Of course I don't, imagine having to be under someone like me.
It would be a nightmare, that was for sure.
The worst part was that he wasn't even among the cruel masters, he was more of a chill guy.
The door suddenly opened.
"Young master."
A familiar voice called out.
"Oh, hello there."
Arthur replied cheerfully.
Lucien ignored him altogether.
"There's also the option to partake in the Soul Bound Weapon Awakening, the price is only twenty thousand per person. It's optional."
The lady said, as if she had just remembered to include this.
Arthur's expression changed.
He smirked.
"Is there a servant discount?"
"No."
Annoyed, Arthur handed over an additional forty thousand.
"There's also the option to pay for the dorm you'll sleep in, but you'll lose the residence if you fail to qualify."
She added.
His smirk deflated in an instant.
'I'm now convinced she's doing this on purpose.'
"How much?"
He asked.
The woman gestured towards the list of dorms.
The cheapest started at six thousand.
And the most expensive was priced at seventy thousand.
'At this point, it just feels more like daylight robbery.'
Arthur shook his head.
What the lady had failed to mention was that if you refused to buy a dorm, you better have brought a tent with you.
Or a private jet.
"I'll take this one, fourty thousand."
Expensive.
There was no doubt that it would fail to live up to its expectations.
The woman handed Arthur a long receipt.
"Is that all?"
Arthur asked cautiously.
It felt like the lady would just state one more mandatory payment.
The lady nodded.
"Oh, then can you tell where they're awakening Soul Bound Weapons?"
"In the training hall, it's west from this building."
Arthur nodded.
"Lucien, let's go."
"Young master, give me a moment."
Lucien went up to the woman and bought himself a dorm room.
"Huh?"
"Well young master, you said it yourself that you don't like sharing your personal space or your title as young master with men."
Arthur shot him a deadpan look.
"I never said that."
Half of it.
'If you wanted to say you wanted some away time, you could have just said it.'
Arthur shook his head.