CHAPTER 246: FIRST DAY OF EXAMS

"Your call just saved me from a hassle, thanks a lot."

While walking on the cobblestone path toward the academy exam hall, Ash’s words made Elysia raise her eyebrow in curiosity, her steps slowing slightly.

"Hmmm, why so?" she asked, tilting her head as her long hair brushed lightly against her shoulder.

"Nothing in particular. Anyway, leave that aside. Tell me, did you prepare for the test today?" Ash’s tone carried a hint of excitement that did not go unnoticed.

Elysia’s gaze lingered on him for a moment longer, her lips curving into a faint smile as though she had stumbled upon something strange. "...No matter how much I look at you, I cannot seem to find the previous Ash in you. You are somewhat different."

Her words hit harder than he expected. Ash’s expression faltered as he looked at her, her voice sounding more like an accusation than a casual remark.

..What the? Now, how the hell am I different?

His mind scrambled for an answer, but nothing he thought of seemed to explain why she would say that.

Without waiting for him to respond, she continued softly, "You never liked exams at all, but now you seem strangely excited for it."

Ash chuckled quietly. What she said was true. He had always hated exams before, and even if he did not want to admit it, the change in him was undeniable.

Just then, something cold and smooth slithered around his neck before darting onto Elysia. Snow wrapped itself around her shoulders, its snowy-white scales gleaming faintly under the sunlight, before rubbing its head affectionately against her cheek.

"Aww!! Snow... is papa feeding you properly..? If not, you can always come to mama...."

Ash almost tripped at her words, his face heating up in an instant. He quickly turned his head away, hoping she would not notice the red creeping up his ears.

Damn, she..... is really..... blunt.....

He did not know why he was reacting like this, but his chest felt strangely warm, as though her words had burrowed deep into him. The more he tried to suppress it, the more that unfamiliar heat spread through his body.

’Mama.’

No!!!

’Mama?’

I am not going to tell her what you are saying..

Snow flicked its tongue and nuzzled against Elysia, clearly asking to be fed. But there was no way Ash would allow it. The thought of the serpent sinking its fangs into her, even if it was harmless, was completely unacceptable.

Please don’t do that, otherwise I will be angry...

’Mama...’

The little serpent gave a sulky hiss before vanishing from sight, though it remained coiled securely around Elysia’s shoulders. Ash blinked, unable to detect it anymore, realizing it had wrapped itself in concealment. The strange part was that the concealment resembled the same protection that hid his own body from outside senses.

How could a serpent so young use such an ability..? Ash had no answer. His only guess was that it had awakened something from its bloodline or developed a new ability of its own. Perhaps it was instinct. After all, the status window had revealed nothing useful.

...If only the window had shown its abilities clearly, Ash would have already known about the Dream Manipulation power it possessed before Snow showed him.

"Let her stay with me for a while," Elysia said with a smile, gently stroking Snow as if she had already claimed it.

"No!!" Ash’s refusal came sharp and immediate, surprising even himself.

"But why?" she asked, her lips curving into a teasing pout as her bright eyes shimmered with playful innocence.

Cute.

Her expression made his chest tighten, and though he tried to resist, his will wavered. In the end, he sighed and reluctantly gave in. "Fine, but don’t let ’her’ bite you. She tends to drink all the blood inside the body. Also... Serpent is not a ’her’. No, wait... what’s the gender of the serpent?"

Damn!! I don’t even know if it is a male or female.

"It’s a female," Elysia replied confidently, almost smug.

Ash raised his eyebrow as they reached closer to the exam hall. "Pray tell, how do you know that? When even I don’t know."

Instead of answering, Elysia suddenly skipped ahead and spun around to face him, her hair fluttering in the wind and her skirt trailing like a ribbon. "It’s a woman’s intuition. You wouldn’t understand how sharp it can be. Also, good luck with your exams!! Bye, see you soon!"

Before he could reply, she dashed toward the towering stone gate of the exam hall, her laughter echoing faintly in the air.

Ash stood frozen for a moment, dazed, his eyes involuntarily drawn to her as the wind teased the edges of her skirt.

Oh no... why is she even running like that..?

His face flushed red, his thoughts straying to places he immediately regretted. With a flustered heart, he chased after her. "Hey, don’t run! At least say bye with a..."

...a kiss at least. I wanted it as a good luck charm...

And so, a boy and a girl ran side by side toward the exam hall, laughing and arguing lightly, while the curious eyes of students and teachers followed them.

For Ash, the non-existent nervousness of the exam had already started to fade, replaced by the warmth of her presence lingering in his chest.

***

The first day of exams passed without anything exciting happening. Most questions were tied to the fields each student had chosen. Since most of Ash’s subjects leaned on theory, he breezed through them without much effort.

The real problem came with the compulsory subject of Teacher Elva, Mana Manipulation. The moment Ash read the questions, he felt as if he had been thrown back into the torture of his previous world.

AHH!!! Maths will not leave me alone, even in this world...

In truth, Ash’s math skills were quite average, not too good but not too bad either. It was something he could handle, but it drained him mentally and he had always hated the subject with a passion.

I thought reasoning would be about logic and analysis. Why did they have to mix maths into it? Teacher Elva never mentioned a single word about maths during her classes, so why is it suddenly here, and that too tied with mana...

His frustration was rising, and from the noise spreading through the room, he was not the only one.

"What the fuck! Why did maths show up? I thought I left that nightmare behind when I came to the academy!"

"I’m doomed, I’m so doomed. The entire paper was different from last year! There was no maths in it before—can you believe it!?"

"Damn my luck..."

"I’m filing a complaint with the principal after this."

The exam hall buzzed with curses and groans, every student looking as if they had been collectively betrayed. It was not like they have not studied maths, it’s just other have studied before coming into the academy.

Looks like I am not the only one... Ash sighed quietly and lowered his head again, trying not to let the noise distract him.

The exam itself was six hours long considering it covered all 5 subjects, clearly designed to test how much pressure the students could endure and how well they could maintain their focus until the very end.

For Ash, things turned out unexpectedly well. In fact, they went far better than he had imagined. His memory stirred and brought forth formulas he had learned in his previous life, formulas that matched the strange problems written on the paper. Somehow, those old fragments of knowledge allowed him to solve question after question without much trouble.

Call it luck, he thought with a bitter chuckle, scribbling down yet another answer that made sense only because he studied maths in previous life.

One of the questions, for example, was written like this:

"If a mana particle moves in a circular path with a radius of 2 units, completing 60 revolutions per second, calculate the centrifugal force exerted on the particle, given its mana density is equivalent to 3 units."

For most, it looked like nonsense, but to Ash, the pattern was obvious. This is just circular motion physics... centrifugal force equals mass multiplied by velocity squared, divided by the radius. They just replaced mass with mana density.

His pen scratched across the paper as the answer came to him almost naturally. It was strange, but his Earth’s knowledge blended with this world’s test in a way he could not have imagined.

By the time the exam ended, many students looked pale and broken, some even trembling from exhaustion. Ash, however, walked out of the hall calmly, his concealment ability already activated. His expression carried no pride, only a faint smile tugging at his lips.

Not bad... If maths from my old world can help me here, maybe it is not as useless as I thought.

And just like that, Ash made it through the first day of the exams.

***