Six months passed in a blur of sweat, bruises, broken trees, and Newton's endless "coaching." Shin had survived it all—barely—and now here they were.
The prestigious Arcanum Academy loomed before them, its marble towers gleaming like something out of an anime OP. Grand spires curled toward the sky, banners fluttered in the wind, and the massive gate was carved with symbols that hummed faintly with magic.
Shin squinted. "So… this is it. The place where geniuses are made, legends are born, and I will absolutely embarrass myself in front of strangers."
Newton adjusted his glasses. "Relax. You've trained hard. And besides…" he smirked, "the written exam doesn't matter if you ace the practical."
Shin groaned. "Yeah, but my brain cells committed suicide months ago. Written exams are my natural predator."
Inside the academy hall, over three thousand candidates sat at long rows of desks. Magical lamps hovered overhead, bathing the room in a golden glow. Proctors in long robes paced between the aisles, sharp eyes scanning for cheaters.
Shin gripped his quill, staring at the paper.
Question 1: Describe the three primary conduits of mana flow in spellcasting.
Shin's hand hovered uselessly."…Primary conduits? Uh, left arm, right arm, and vibes?"
He glanced sideways. Newton was already scribbling furiously, diagrams and notes flowing like water.
Shin groaned quietly and put his head on the desk. Yep. Cooked.
After two grueling hours, they were herded outside. The candidates gathered before a massive shimmering gate carved into the academy's back wall.
An examiner, a tall woman with silver hair and a voice like thunder, raised her staff. "The rules are simple. You will be transported into the academy-owned training forest. Hunt monsters, retrieve their mana stones, and survive for two hours. Stones will be graded by rank—E rank worth one point, D worth three, C worth four, B worth five. Keep in mind the monsters in this forest are one-sixth the strength of their normal counterparts due to a field around the forest. The top twelve hundred by score will be admitted. There are over three thousand of you. Do the math."
A nervous murmur swept through the crowd.
Shin elbowed Newton. "So… what rank do you think we'll need?"
Newton pushed his glasses up. "If we assume average participants gather around 15–20 points, we'll probably need at least 30 to be safe."
Shin blinked. "…You pulled that number out of nowhere, didn't you?"
Newton smirked. "Maybe."
The examiner's staff glowed, and the gate flared open. "Begin."
The candidates surged forward, vanishing into the light one after another.
Shin stumbled out the other side and found himself surrounded by towering trees, sunlight barely piercing the thick canopy. The air buzzed with mana. Distant roars echoed.
He tightened his grip on his staff—then quickly threw it away."Nope. Not falling for that scam again."
Newton stepped out beside him, already loading his revolver with a click of gears. "Remember, conserve energy. Go for weaker monsters first, then we can risk something stronger if we have time."
Shin nodded. "Got it. Two hours. Hunt, survive, and try not to cry."
Somewhere in the shadows, glowing eyes blinked at them. The exam had begun.
Shin and Newton worked the forest with brutal efficiency.
Newton's plan was simple: quantity over quality.They ignored the larger mana signatures pulsing deeper in the forest and instead swept through clusters of E-rank critters.
Rabbits with crystal horns. Tiny lizards that spat sparks. Winged rats with glowing tails.
Each kill left behind a faintly glowing stone that they stuffed into a pouch on Newton's belt.
"Ten down," Newton panted, wiping sweat from his forehead. "That's ten points. Steady pace, but we need more if we're going to make top twelve hundred."
Shin exhaled, chest heaving. "Ten already feels like a workout. Who knew Pokémon hunting was this intense in real life?"
Newton chuckled, but then his smile faded. A heavy vibration rolled through the ground beneath their boots.
Both froze.
Leaves rustled. Branches cracked. And from between the trees, a hulking silhouette stepped into the clearing.
An orc, twice the size of a man, its scales glistening black-green like wet armor. Its jaw opened, dripping sizzling acid onto the ground, which hissed as the earth corroded.
"B-rank," Newton whispered, his revolver already clicking into place. "We're screwed."
The monster's slit-pupiled eyes locked onto them. It roared, shaking the canopy.
Newton fired first. BANG! A glowing bullet streaked forward, slamming into the monster's hide. The beast staggered but didn't fall.
Shin clenched his fist. "Alright… if we die, I'm blaming you for dragging me here!" He whispered his spell. "Levitate!"
A large rock shot into the air, carrying Shin with it as he jumped. He used the boost to soar upward, dodging the monster's snapping jaws. Then, mid-air, he released the rock and hurled a second one straight down.
CRACK! It smashed into the beast's skull, but the monster barely flinched.
"Not enough!" Newton shouted. "Hold it steady, Shin!"
"Easy for you to say!" Shin replied, dodging another burst of acid. He barely had time to shout, "Barrier!" before the corrosive spray slammed into his shield. The translucent wall shimmered, straining against the sizzling acid, but held.
"Holy crap," Shin gasped. "That would've melted me into Shin soup."
The monster lunged again. Newton strafed sideways, gears whirring as his revolver auto-loaded. "I'll keep the pressure on—pin it down with levitation!"
Shin nodded, sweat pouring down his face. He focused on the beast's massive foreleg."Levitate!"
The limb jerked upward, unbalancing the monster. It let out a guttural roar as it stumbled, thrashing.
Newton seized the chance. His revolver glowed white-hot as mana condensed into the barrel. He aimed at the exposed chest.
BANG-BANG-BANG!
Three glowing rounds hammered into the beast's core. The monster shuddered, eyes wide, then collapsed with a ground-shaking THUD.
The forest went silent.
Shin dropped to his knees, panting. "Tell me… we get bonus points for not peeing ourselves."
Newton grinned despite the sweat dripping from his brow. "Three… B-rank stones. That's fifteen points. With the ten we already have… twenty-five total."
Shin's jaw dropped. "We're golden! Jackpot! Forget scraping by, we're—"
But his celebration was cut short by the sound of slow, mocking applause.
From the shadows stepped three guys and two girls, each dressed in fine embroidered robes, silver clasps gleaming at their collars. Nobles. Their hairstyles were perfect, their weapons pristine, and their smirks cruel.
"Well, well," one sneered. "Looks like the peasants got lucky."
Another chuckled. "Twenty-five points? Impressive… for common trash. Unfortunately, you won't be keeping them."
Shin and Newton's smiles evaporated.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Shin muttered.
Newton's face tightened as the nobles circled.
One of the nobles cracked his knuckles, smirk widening. "Hand over the stones, or we'll make sure you leave this exam unconscious. Don't worry— the healers will scrape you off the ground after."
Shin raised his fists. "Like hell! We fought for these fair and square!"
The noble's eyes gleamed. "Wrong answer."
The beating was quick and merciless. Shin managed to throw up a barrier once before a kick shattered it. Newton fired two rounds from his revolver before being knocked to the dirt.
Minutes later, both lay bruised and gasping. The nobles plucked the pouch of mana stones from Newton's belt, laughing as they pocketed the B-rank prizes.
"Better luck next life," one sneered before they disappeared back into the forest.
Shin groaned, clutching his ribs. "…I hate this world so much."
Newton spat blood, his glasses cracked but still on his face. "…We're not done. We've still got time. Two hours isn't over."
Shin rolled onto his back, staring at the sky through the canopy. His body ached, his pride was in tatters… but his hands clenched anyway.
"…Alright," he whispered. "Round two."
Shin spat dirt, groaning as he forced himself upright. His whole body screamed in protest.
"Newton… I think my bones hate me."
Newton staggered to his feet, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. His cracked glasses glinted in the light. "Good. That means you're still alive."
Shin squinted at him. "…Are you trying to sound like a battle-hardened sensei?"
Newton ignored him, reaching into his belt pouch—empty now. He clenched his fist. "They took everything. But we still have time. Forty minutes. That's enough to scrape together something."
Shin flopped onto the grass. "Scrape? Newton, I can barely breathe. My body's writing its resignation letter."
Newton crouched beside him. "Shin. If we quit now, all of this was pointless. God gave you a second chance. Are you going to waste it here?"
Shin froze. Newton's voice, sharp and unwavering, cut through his exhaustion.
"Damn it," Shin muttered, forcing himself up. "You're lucky I like you, glasses boy."
The Desperate Hunt
They staggered back into the woods, bruised, bleeding, but burning with stubborn resolve.
No more B-ranks. No more risks. They hunted small fry—E-rank rabbits, D-rank lizards. Shin used levitation like a slingshot to hurl rocks at fleeing critters, while Newton's revolver clicked and cracked, bullets flying with clockwork precision.
Every kill was clumsy, desperate. Every barrier Shin raised shook as his battered body struggled to channel mana. But they didn't stop.
By the time the forest gate shimmered again, they had managed to scrape together a sad little pile of E-rank stones. Nowhere near their earlier jackpot… but it was something.
When the bell tolled, signaling the exam's end, Shin collapsed to his knees, laughing breathlessly. "We're alive. We're actually alive."
Newton stood beside him, exhausted but upright. "Alive… and hopefully not last place."
Results
The candidates were herded back into the academy's grand plaza. A massive crystalline board lit up, glowing with ranked names. One by one, students craned their necks to see who had passed.
Newton adjusted his broken glasses, scanning quickly. His shoulders eased. "Newton Kisaragi … rank 1034."
Shin pushed through the crowd, searching frantically. His heart thumped painfully.
Then he saw it. Rank 1199: ShinSousei.
Shin froze. Then he exploded with laughter. "1199! Out of 1200! Bro, I'm literally almost the last guy allowed in!"
Newton smirked. "A pass is still a pass."
"Hell yeah it is!" Shin whooped, throwing his arms into the air despite his aching body. "Take that, nobles! Take that, God! I'm in!"
Dorm Assignments
The head examiner's booming voice echoed across the plaza. "All candidates who have passed shall now be placed into their respective dormitories, based on performance."
Five banners unfurled above the academy gates:
Apex Dorm – White uniforms, gleaming like royalty. Reserved for the top 100.
Omega Dorm – Black uniforms, sleek and intimidating. Ranks 101–300.
Alpha Dorm – Blue uniforms, sharp and proud. Ranks 301–600.
Delta Dorm – Red uniforms, practical and rugged. Ranks 601–1000.
Root Dorm – Brown uniforms, plain and rough-spun. The bottom 200.
The crowd buzzed with excitement and pride… until Shin and Newton's names were called.
"Newton Kisaragi, Root Dorm. Shin Sousei, Root Dorm."
Shin stared at the brown jacket handed to him. "…This looks like something my grandpa would wear to farm potatoes."
Newton slipped his on without complaint. "At least it's warm."
Shin groaned, dragging the sleeves dramatically. "We look like NPCs! Literal tutorial villagers! The only thing missing is a pitchfork."
Around them, nobles strutted by in their gleaming uniforms, sneering at the Root recruits.
"Trash dorm.""Bottom feeders.""They won't last a semester."
Shin clenched his fists, fury boiling in his chest. "Oh, I'll last. I'll last just to spite every single one of you smug discount Disney villains."
Newton patted his shoulder. "Good. Because Root or not, we've got a mission bigger than this academy."
Shin smirked through the pain. "Yeah. Seven artifacts. World's salvation. No pressure."
He looked up at the academy towers, determination burning in his eyes despite the bruises.
I don't care if I'm 1199, wearing dirt-brown rags. I'm not stopping here. Not until I've punched fate in the face.