Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent!

58  Exam rules

"Good. Now that we know each other's strengths, we just need to know what we're dealing with now." Alex sat in his room, opposite Mira who had just finished explaining her talent.

In fact up until that point, the examiners still hadn't announced how the test was going to be carried out. The only thing they knew was that it was going to take place on a Floodgate planet, and that they would most likely be fighting beasts.

But specifics like how they were going to be ranked, what the actual criteria was to pass the test, what the ratio of E- all the way to E+ ranked beasts were on the planet etc.

Each of these was unknown to the applicants, and the only thing they seemed to have gleaned so far was that working in teams wasn't prohibited.

"All applicants gather at the brig in 5 minutes!"

"I repeat…"

Just as he was thinking about when they were going to head to the test site, an announcement started playing and repeated itself 5 times before it stopped.

Alex gave a glance at Mira and they both nodded at each other in understanding. They had been expecting something like this, hence they had already packed all their things ready for departure, and Mira just gathered her things and took them with her to Alex's room to save time.

It wasn't like they had much anyway, just a backpack full of some essential survival equipment, a combat knife as well as a few other miscellaneous items.

In order to be fair to all applicants, the federation banned the use of personal weapons during university entrance exams. The reason being that the richer examinees would have a far greater advantage during the test than the poorer ones.

Alex was happy about this, as his own knife he bought in the Primordial Expanse had already been reduced to ashes, leaving him without a weapon from that point onwards.

'But I won't be able to use flame attacks with this…'

This was the one major flaw that made him not too comfortable with the arrangement though. The combat knife provided to every awakened was only an ordinary knife, not even F- rank.

It was made of a tough alloy that could withstand even E+ rank attacks, but any energy based attacks on it would make it crumble.

After 3 minutes passed, Alex and Mira arrived at the brig to see hundreds of other students already standing there with their own backpacks, waiting in orderly lines for any further orders.

Over the last 3 weeks they had calmed down drastically from their original excitement, and the rowdy ones who still wanted to cause trouble were made an example of to the other students.

These pampered, spoilt kids had learned to put aside their ego's over the course of the trip.

Soon, the remaining 2 minutes were up and the last few students arrived in the hall and joined those waiting at the back.

"Now that everyone's here, I will start."

The same man with the all black aesthetic and oppressive aura from before, Professor Will Wother, spoke up.

"This test will be simple and easy to understand even for the most mentally challenged of you kids, so listen up!"

Some whispers went across the hall when the man called some of them 'mentally challenged' but they quieted down when the man released a little bit of his aura.

"The test will last 7 days. In these 7 days your goal is to score as many points as possible if you even want a chance at getting accepted into the university of your choice. Even if they don't accept you, if you're lucky maybe another university will."

Professor Will continued:

"I'm sure most of you have already realised how you obtain these points by now, but for those of you who haven't, I'll explain."

"You kill beasts. That's it. For F- to F+ rank, you can get 1, 5 or 10 points for each kill depending on their respective rank. For E- to E+ you get 25, 50 or 100 points for each kill, following the same system. There's no need to even consider anything past that point. The planet we're testing on, Planet Periculum, is home to a weak Floodgate, only releasing beasts up to a maximum of E+ rank."

Professor Will finished speaking and let the new information sink in for the applicants, before he made one last announcement.

He slipped up a sly smile, and said, "Only those of you who reach the top 50 will be guaranteed a spot at university."

Many applicants despaired at hearing this. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Just from counting there were over 500 of them in the test overall, meaning that only 10% of them will actually get to enrol in their dream university.

Not to mention that there was a real danger of dying in this test, which didn't make their emotions any more stable.

The fact that the test was now so competitive meant that the students had to push themselves to kill as many beasts as possible, which can lead to many more dangerous situations than they would otherwise find themselves in.

But strangely, Alex and Mira didn't look at all bothered by these new revelations.

'I've already fought through a beast tide and lived, this is nothing.'

Meanwhile, Mira:

'This test is a piece of cake compared to what I went through in the Primordial Expanse.'

They both had similar thoughts, and they both weren't going to let some measly entrance test hinder their progression.

Completely unbeknownst to each other, they both had the same goal in mind. They didn't want to just settle for the top 50, they wanted to reach first place!

"Everyone take one of these. If you lose it, you are automatically disqualified from the test. Each one has a defensive function, releasing a barrier that can withstand E+ rank attacks if you encounter life threatening danger."

Federal Officials walked all throughout the hall, handing some sort of wristwatch to each applicant, explaining their usages and the consequences of losing them.

"Remember, if you lose these, not only are you disqualified but we will also lose the ability to track your location."

Many faces in the crowd paled when they thought about this situation happening to them, but they weren't offered the time to contemplate it any further as the alarm blared, signalling that the ship was exiting warp space.

"Everyone at the ready, as soon as the ship arrives at Planet Periculum, the test will begin!"