Chapter 2
───────────
Episode 1 - Holy Academy [2]
─────────────────────────────────
Building A-9 was not too far from the plaza. Once inside, there was a large hall divided into four sections.
These four sections were divided according to each candidate's specialty.
These were, naturally: Swordsman, Mage, Elementalist, and Summoner.
The four specialties classified as "Good." There were also the "Evil" specialties.
Those were: Necromancer, Warlock, Dark Knight, and Dark Mage.
I entered the hall labeled Swordsman.
I walked in and searched for a seat. Quickly, I sat in the last row, where almost nobody chose to sit.
As I walked, I felt several pairs of eyes on me and heard whispers around me.
"A blind man, and a swordsman on top of that."
"How is he supposed to take the written exam? He can't see and probably can't even write."
"Tsk, tsk… not only is he blind, but he's also a commoner. He probably won't accomplish anything."
Finally, I sat in the back, where it was almost completely empty.
Once seated, I thought:
'Well, that kind of reaction from nobles toward commoners is to be expected. Those people will never be any different.'
I did not feel insulted or angry. Since one of my traits is naturally the absence of emotions, I would not feel anything no matter what people did.
But even so, I was worried.
'How am I supposed to take the exam? I completely forgot about that… and since I'm blind, I'm in trouble.'
I decided to enter the Academy, but for a moment I forgot the fact that I was blind, and that was a problem.
'There's no doubt, I need help… but this is an exam and, naturally, receiving help would not be possible.'
As the creator of the story, I also know what questions will be on the exam, and naturally I could answer them easily and rank first.
The problem, once again, is that I am blind.
'Adel never entered the Academy, so the game was not designed for blind characters to enter the Academy…'
At that moment, the doors of the hall opened.
A man, who was probably the person in charge of conducting the exam, entered along with his assistant.
He walked toward the center and then looked at all the candidates.
After that, the woman, his assistant, who was carrying a stack of papers, stood beside him.
The supervisor spoke in a deep voice:
"You will now receive the exam sheets. Anyone caught cheating will be disqualified. In addition, I will be watching all of you closely."
Then he turned to the woman and said:
"Hand out the exams."
The woman nodded, distributed the exam sheets to the front rows, and after some time, she finally reached me.
Her expression was probably one of surprise when she saw the bandage over my eyes.
Still, she handed me the exam sheet with some hesitation and returned to the side of the supervising professor.
'I'm in trouble…'
Just then, I noticed the woman whisper something into the professor's ear, and immediately, his gaze landed on me.
Without any reaction, I "looked" straight at him. Then he turned toward the woman and nodded.
The woman walked over to me, and when she arrived, she said:
"I'll read everything to you, and I'll also help you write. You just need to tell me the answers, and I'll take care of the rest."
Perhaps I was fairly lucky today.
I nodded, and after a while, the professor said:
"You have ten minutes to finish."
He took out an hourglass and placed it on the desk behind him.
Then the sound of pencils being picked up could be heard. Naturally, the assistant took the pencil beside me and began reading the exam.
"The first question…"
***
The assistant read the entire exam sheet to the blind man sitting beside her.
Her expression clearly reflected shock.
'Every answer is correct… at this rate, he'll get the highest score.'
However, she still couldn't dwell on it, since there was a theory that she had to at least attempt to solve.
It was a theory regarding the Law of Verses, one designed to shorten the casting time of magic.
So far, for decades, no one had managed to solve it. And the reason it was included in the written exam for every specialty was simple:
'If you solve it, first place in the written exam is guaranteed.'
As she read each question aloud, the assistant listened to the blind candidate's answers and wrote them down.
Naturally, she was not helping him; she was simply acting as the blind candidate's eyes and hands.
With the permission of the professor in charge of the exam, there was no problem.
A few minutes later, the assistant read aloud the theory that appeared on the exam.
"Now, how can the casting time of magic be shortened?"
This time, the cadet remained silent.
The assistant sighed and thought:
'I suppose I was wrong…'
But at that very moment, the cadet answered:
"To shorten the casting time of magic…"
The assistant was deeply shaken by the words that followed, as the candidate's answers flowed without stopping.
She was left stunned, completely shocked. Suddenly, the candidate stopped and "looked" directly at the assistant.
She swallowed unconsciously as his voice reached her ears.
"You're not writing. Three minutes remain."
Realizing her mistake, the assistant stammered:
"Ah, yes… uh, you're right."
She quickly began writing, while her thoughts descended into complete chaos.
'H-how the hell does he know so much… who is this candidate? No, wait… he's answering everything far too easily. I should check if he's cheating… no, that's impossible, he's blind… and yet, that's exactly what's so strange…'
As she continued writing, she finally finished after about two minutes. A short while later, the time ran out.
The professor's voice echoed throughout the room.
"Alright, stop."
Everyone who was still writing froze in place.
"Time is up. Form lines and place your exam sheets on the desk."
The candidates quickly stood from their seats and lined up, leaving their exam sheets on the desk.
At the same time, the assistant was still lost in thought.
'I need to speak with the professor.'
Without wasting time, she asked for the candidate's name so she could write it on the exam sheet.
"Your name."
The candidate "looked" at her and said:
"Adel."
'He's a commoner… and he's blind… yet he possesses such vast knowledge…'
The assistant wrote Adel's name on the exam sheet. Then she stood up and went directly to speak with the professor.
***
After leaving the classroom, I couldn't help but think.
'Well, I'm probably not the only one who wrote the answer to that theory.'
The protagonist most likely wrote it as well, so our scores should end in a tie.
'Although I don't know if they'll place both my name and the protagonist's in first place in the results.'
Anyway, as I walked out of Building A-9, I could see the other main characters.
Clementine had been sitting in the front row together with Clana, Leon, and Charlotte, and the protagonist was probably there too, but I didn't see her.
Besides, the Saint, who is technically a mage, naturally wasn't in the swordsmen's hall, but in the mages' hall instead.
'Almost all of them use swords, but there are also some main characters who are mages and elementalists, and one who specializes in summons.'
As I walked out, the guide from earlier was waiting for us.
"Alright, everyone form lines. I'll guide you to Building A-6, where the individual matches will take place."
The guide soon led us to Building A-6, and on the way, a thought crossed my mind.
'Now that I think about it, I've never fought before and, naturally, I've never used a sword. I was always sitting in a chair with a computer, but…'
As if it were something natural, I knew how to use a sword.
I realized it the moment I touched the sword at the inn.
At that moment, I felt strange, as if I already possessed knowledge of something I had never learned, and it simply felt natural.
'It's the same with the language.'
Even though everything felt strange to me, what else could I do? If this makes it easier for me to enter the Academy, then there's no problem.
'Even so, I should think about it more carefully.'
Soon, the guide led us into Building A-6. Once inside, there was a space large enough for combat.
The walls were filled with all kinds of weapons; in addition, there was training equipment similar to that of a gym from the modern world.
At the center of the concrete platform stood a man holding a sword while looking in our direction.
Shortly after, his voice echoed powerfully.
"A total of one hundred new candidates, huh… this is going to take some time."
Even though the Holy Academy was open to everyone.
In reality, very few people are able to enter, and because of that, many have very low self-esteem and prefer not to even try.
Only nobles with the highest prestige or commoners who want to change their lives are allowed in.
'The problem is the attribute evaluation: anyone without an attribute is not allowed in, even if they place first in the exam or the individual assessment.'
Besides the platform I noticed immediately, there were three others, where two men and one woman were standing.
There were one hundred spots for swordsmen, thirty for mages, ten for elementalists, and five for summoning.
The selection of the top ten was not tied to the four specialties.
'Only everyone's overall power will be evaluated in order to place them in one of the ten positions.'
It was a simple and straightforward rule.
Soon, the man with the sword pointed at one of the candidates and said:
"You will be the first. Take your main weapon and come up."
"Ah, uh… yes, sir."
The candidate, somewhat nervous, picked up a sword and stepped onto the platform.
"Take your stance, and on the count of three, begin the fight."
The man spoke, and the candidate nodded as he assumed an offensive stance.
"Three, two, one…"
The man suddenly disappeared.
The candidate looked around in shock and realized it too late. At the same time, the man appeared behind him and struck the candidate on the head with the hilt of his sword.
"2 out of 10. You fail."
The candidate collapsed unconscious onto the ground, and soon they dragged him away to the infirmary.
Then the man said:
"I will evaluate you according to this standard: a score of 5 means you barely pass with the lowest acceptable grade; 4 to 1 means disqualified; and 10… if you manage to scratch me or even hold your own against me for a few seconds, you will be ranked the highest."
After a few seconds, the man pointed his sword at another candidate.
"You will be next…"
After some time, only the main characters and I remained.