The woman then snapped her fingers, and the students were each teleported to a different location.
After being teleported I immediately felt nauseous and vomited. Wiping my mouth and exhaling deeply, I lifted my head and looked around.
The entire space was dark, way too dark. Barely any light was visible and outside of a Desk there didn't seem to be anything else.
Before walking towards the desk I took the moment to finally check my status window since I haven't been able to check until now.
Though not wanting to risk being caught by anyone I decided to try and do it mentally.
What.. I don't wanna be one of those protagonists that whisper under my breath or tap thin air.. those people are always getting caught or nearly caught and for good reason.
No thank you, I rather actually do my best not to get caught by any possible regressors, transmigrators, or otherwise powerful entities that can just see or hear and notice things easier than your average person.
If someone's gonna know I'm not really from this world it at least won't be because I basically told them myself by saying things like "status window" or something.
Clasping my hands on my cheeks, I shook my head and focused.
'Status window? It's not like I haven't summoned you this way before but… will this work regardless of where I am?'
Ding!
[Yes, you are correct, host. Regardless of where you are, the system's status window will always be accessible.
Name: Damien Satanel
Age: 16
Sex: Male
Race: Demon
Abilities: ???
Other: The last remaining survivor of the once Great Satanel Household. The sickly youngest son.
As the last to survive, you alone will bear the responsibility and honor of being a Satanel.
However, you will also have to bear the burden of the sins and debts that come with your identity.
You will be hunted and possibly killed by enemies of the household.
You have been bound to the Protrelli Household.
After consuming the blood of the Mythic Ranked Iron Fanged Serpentine, you became the host of the newly reborn serpent.
As the serpent is contracted to the Protrelli Household, because the serpent has been reborn after fusing with you the host, you are now bound by the Protrelli Household until you die.^
Debuff: Mana consumption^
Stats:
Strength: 9/70
Agility: 5/70
Charm: 14/70
Intelligence: 10/70
Stamina: 4/70
Magic: 5/70
Luck: 40/70
Pts remaining: 21
After successfully consuming and fusing with a Mythic Ranked deity, you have received +10pts!
Congratulations! You have successfully survived an encounter with the head of one of the 4 great houses! You have received +5 points and the ability to choose 1 free skill at the lowest level!
Congratulations! You have survived an encounter with one of the heroes!
Heroes encountered: 1/7
Aaron Protrelli - The sole heir of the Protrelli Household. A young man destined for greatness despite all odds.^
Congratulations! After surviving several near-death encounters and making it safely to the academy you have gained +30 Gold Coins, +4 pts!]
Seeing my new status window I wanted to shake my head and sigh but I couldn't waste any more time.
'I'll read the extra details later. Nothing seems immediately life threatening at least.'
[Stats:
Strength: 10/70
Agility: 10/70
Charm: 14/70
Intelligence: 15/70
Stamina: 9/70
Magic: 10/70
Luck: 40/70
Pts remaining: 0]
I decided to distribute my points until this time I used all of them. After I was satisfied, I nodded to myself and began walking towards the desk.
As soon as I sat down at the desk, I felt a strange sensation. One similar to how you feel when something you're standing or sitting on suddenly drops or moves slowly under you.
After I felt the sensation that made me grip onto my desk a bit harder than I had intended to, I suddenly heard voices.
— "Ahem, young man, because you are unable to take the written exam you will be questioned directly. After each question is asked you will answer as quickly and accurately as you are able to."
A man's voice was heard from in front of me, I was unable to see the face belonging to the voice but I could tell that it must have been an older man. He sounded wise and stern.
Next, another person spoke, a soft voice that was clear and felt soothing to my ears.
— "After answering certain questions you may be required to give an example or elaborate on your answer. If you cannot give at least a single detailed example then your answer will be considered wrong. Additionally, there are no partial answers, your answers will either be considered correct or incorrect but nothing in-between."
— "If you fail the exam here we reserve the right to completely fail you, making you unable to continue onto the next part of the exam. If you do not want to be failed then we highly suggest that you do not waste your time answering foolishly."
Another woman spoke, her tone was sharp and her voice was strict, she spoke with an almost predetermined annoyance as if she had already encountered and gotten fed up with "class clowns" I nodded and sighed inwardly while hoping that I would get a fair chance and not get prejudged.
— "You will answer when questioned only, speaking out of turn will result in repercussions and may cause your test to be concluded early.
You will then be judged solely based on the answers you have given as well as your behaviour throughout the exam process.
You are unlikely to pass if things come to that. Now then, the exam will now begin."
The last voice belonged to a man that sounded.. like a certain black haired wizard professor from a popular British series on Earth.
I could immediately tell he must be a troublesome noble, likely the type to look down on anyone that's not a high noble and even more likely to bully or harass non-nobles. I wanted to pinch the bridge of my nose in annoyance but I refrained and simply nodded.
— "Then, please tell us your name, age, and the household you are affiliated with."
The strict woman spoke again without missing a beat. I steeled my nerves and nodded.
'Its been a long time since I've been tested like this.. it feels nerve-wracking. Just breathe, I just need to pass, not get the best score.'
"My name is Damien. I'm 16, and I belong to the Protrelli Household."
'I hope there's no problem with me saying the last part. I do belong to that house.. at least until I can figure out how to get rid of this tattoo.'
Hearing my answer I heard what sounded like the voices muttering among themselves. I didn't bother asking what they were saying since I didn't want to risk forfeiting the exam before I even got to answer any questions.
Nodding, I answered to the best of my abilities based on my basic understanding from video games and novels I've seen in the past.
"Mana is a type of Energy. Mana is all throughout the world, every living creature produces a very small innate amount of it subconsciously."
I immediately felt shocked by my own response. Slightly nervous as well, not only did I have very little information about the world outside of the few memories I recovered when waking up, but most of what I knew was from my knowledge from manhwa and novels that I read or heard about when growing up.
Further worrying me was the fact that once I started speaking my words started to pour out almost entirely on their own.
I had to force myself to stop speaking because immediately after I started I felt a surge of random knowledge start swelling inside of me as if it would overflow.
— "Correct, next question then. What is the difference between mana deficiency and mana sickness?"
The stern woman spoke, this time her voice sounded less intense as if she's decided to give me a chance.
It might have just been my own imagination but the thought was enough to make the weight on my shoulders feel slightly lighter.
"Mana deficiency is a very rare illness in humans. It's when one is born with a fairly decent amount of mana.
The person in question will struggle with feeling weak, tired, or sluggish, they may even be sick from birth. As they grow up they will notice that they are feeling worse and worse, this is because unlike with others, people with mana deficiency are unable to absorb and properly internalise mana.
The mana that they absorb into themselves along with the small amount of innate mana that they have in them from birth will slowly leak out until their core is completely empty. Once this happens the person in question will unfortunately die.
It is a very slow and painful death, often resulting in one dying before they even reach adulthood depending on how much innate mana they were born with.
Some have slightly longer to live but it's in no way a blessing. As of now there is no cure for mana deficiency."
I sighed internally. It seems that me levelling up my intelligence stat has made it significantly harder to answer things moderately.
That, or maybe this body secretly had a nervous tic where it speaks more when stressed.
— "Hm… And what about mana sickness?"
This time the wise old man spoke with a tone that sounded almost approvingly. His tone sounded expectant and I could imagine his eyes glowing with excitement.
Nodding, I sighed lightly before responding and continued.
'Sorry old man, I'm not planning to stand out too much just yet. I just need to pass.'
"Mana sickness is similar but not the same as mana deficiency. Mana sickness is when a person is born with more mana than their body can handle naturally on its own."
— "Hm… yes, that's correct."
The old man spoke with a slight tang of disappointment in his voice. I felt guilty, I could tell he was the type that enjoyed speaking with intelligent people about various things, even common knowledge it would seem would be enough to get him excited if someone were willing to speak about it with him.
— "Good, you should know at least this much to even qualify at the lowest levels. Next question, this one is a riddle. Are you ready?"
The uptight wizard spoke with an intrigued tone hidden behind slight mock boredom. It was becoming obvious that he was the type who didn't like to praise others even if he wanted to.
'A riddle huh, just what kind of riddle is it that they're putting it in a test for the entrance exams.'
Curiously, I nodded again and waited.
— "You visit a dungeon, you survive all trials, and just as you've reached the last floor you come across two huge statues. Both statues have their eyes covered and hold swords that are crossed preventing anyone from passing. You need to trust one and go through the door behind the statue.
One of the statues tells only the truth, The other statue tells only lies. In order to figure out which door is the right one to go through, what would you do?"
'I see.. I suppose this one should have been expected. It's a bit of a hard decision to make though..'
— "Please answer quickly, if you do not know then the question will be marked as wrong and we will move on."
I sighed internally, deciding to answer with the first thing that came to mind. I shook my head and responded.
"No need. I'd ask the statue on the right what's behind the door they're guarding."
After hearing my answer the strict woman spoke after what sounded like her slamming her hands on the table.
— "Why would you do that? Are you not taking this test seriously because you think it's a joke?"
Shaking my head I answered honestly.
"No, in fact I'm very serious right now."
— "Well then it would seem you're even more foolish than I thought. What a letdown."
— "Now, now. Allow the boy to explain his answer. Now examinee Damien, please elaborate on your answer."
Surely there were other options you could have chosen and yet why would you decide to waste your chance asking the statue What's behind it? Are you not concerned that it might be the statue that only tells lies?"
The wise old man asked with a thoughtful yet more firm tone as if speaking to a child to determine if their decision was a good one or not.
This made me smile since I was confident in my answer and it felt nice to be given a benefit of a doubt in a situation where the normal reaction would be to dismiss me.
"I am aware that the statue on the left could be the lying statue, but that is why after asking the statue to describe what's in the room behind the door that they guard, I would also ask the statue on the right what's behind that door as well. What happens next would depend on my own luck and intuition which I trust with my life."
— "That's a completely unreliable and foolish way to look at it–"
— "Enough. Hm… very well. I'll accept that answer since you seem to have understood the key point of the riddle itself."
The Wise man spoke in an understanding tone, cutting the strict woman off before she got to continue her insults.
This caused the room to go silent for a few stifling seconds which felt way longer, then the lovely soft voice of the kind woman from before spoke up after not speaking for a while.
— "You are quite interesting, Damien. Please tell us how you would deal with the following situation.
You and a group of students are caught off guard and ambushed by a group of criminals. However, just as you manage to get free, a criminal threatens the life of one of your teammates if you do not let them escape. You are now presented with the option to save your teammates and allow the criminals to escape with their life or you can deal with the criminals at the cost of your teammate's life, which would you choose?"
"I would deal with the criminals immediately."
— "..!?"
Perhaps shocked by how quickly I answered the question, the room went silent. It wasn't until after clearing my throat that someone decided to speak up. This time, the voice was from the uptight man, his words came out slowly and deliberately.
— "What is your reasoning for choosing this answer, examinee Damien?"
"My reasoning?"
I tilted my head and brought my hand up to my mouth as I pondered the answer briefly.
'Why was that such an easy question to answer? Is it because I don't have any particular attachments to people in this world? That can't be it, afterall I felt many emotional attachments towards my mother and the people I saw when I arrived. However… Now that I think about it I haven't felt any particular emotions towards anyone since then.. regardless, that makes answering the questions regarding people significantly easier.'
"If my teammate is so weak and incapable of defending themselves that they'd even become a hostage for a criminal to use then I see no use in saving them.
Furthermore, every student here should have the resolve to make the same decision if given the chance.
If I were to choose saving my teammate over dealing with the criminals then not only would I be allowing criminals who kidnapped and even casually threaten the lives of students to get away and possibly cause more harm to other innocent unsuspecting individuals.
I'd also be placing my trust in the criminals to keep their word and not harm my teammates which would be stupid.
Afterall, it wouldn't be difficult to simply kill me along with my teammates after getting freed and then they'd proceed to go off causing more chaos afterwards. There is no situation in which my teammates would be the better option."
— "I see that I've misunderstood you Damien, I had thought that you answered without putting any thoughts into it since you answered right away but it seems you even considered what would occur after making such a decision."
The uptight man spoke with a slightly approving tone as if he had heard something satisfying, though that was also accompanied by vague speech that made it hard to tell if he was praising me or simply acknowledging me.
The following questions were irrelevant, simple math, science or combat were the topics that followed. I answered to the best of my abilities, getting a surprisingly decent amount of questions right despite my worries.
— "That concludes the exam, Damien. Thank you for your time answering these questions. You will learn your result upon arriving in the next destination. In order to leave you must only return the way you came and you will be teleported to where you need to go."
The wise man spoke calmly, and I nodded, bowing politely before turning and leaving the area. I walked back the way I arrived and like he said, I was teleported.
'Thank god I didn't vomit again.'
Dusting myself off habitually, I noticed that I was in a new location this time, no longer inside of the auditorium, I now stood in some kind of a waiting room. Around me were other male students.
The room itself was full of lockers and benches adjacent to that of a locker room on earth, a touch of modern decor was not even slightly out of place here since most things actually looked quite modern and even slightly more advanced.
'Whatever this world is, at least it's nearly completely the same as Earth. I was worried about getting used to things in a foreign world.'
I sighed internally after noticing that I was. The last one to wake arrived in the room, everyone here had already seemingly changed outfits and even formed groups of their own.
Luckily for me the suits were some extra skin-tight one-piece outfit designed by some perverted author.
The outfits consisted of a slightly tight-fitting sleeveless black or white turtleneck compression shirt with a pair of nicely fitting pants and combat boots.
There also came a pair of black or white gloves that you could choose to wear or not.
I nodded at this in satisfaction and decided to sit and wait beside Aaron who's name I recently learned after staring at my status window earlier.
This caused him to click his tongue and roll his eyes upon seeing me but he didn't move or say anything, the two of us only looked up at the screens above and watched as the second exam started now that everyone was present.