CHAPTER 58: CHAPTER 58: MID-TERM EXAMS

A long time has passed ever since Adam went on his first guild mission and many things have happened ever since then.

There haven’t been any active assassination attempts as of yet but he has a feeling that they might strike pretty soon.

During this long period Adam and the students of Silford Academy haven’t been staying idle either.

All of them were busy training and honing their abilities to the absolute limit and there have been noticable changes, especially in class S and also Class A.

Everyone in these classes have already breached their limits and have become C ranked awakened.

So heir of Duke Bazel was able to reach the middle stage of C rank on the verge on breaking through a minor realm and become a peak C rank while the rest of his class were in the lower stage of C rank.

In class S however things were a bit different. All of them were in the middle stage of C rank as well on the verge of reaching the peak of C rank.

They’ve been through all a lot together these past several weeks that have passed, being tossed into other dungeon trials and having surprise tests all of a sudden.

But through these hardships they were able to form a good rivalry between each other and they were striving to push each other even further.

Adam on the other hand was already at the peak of C rank and has been busy trying to attempt to breakthrough to B rank.

Although the speed of their breakthroughs was impressive but it couldn’t compare to the other races.

Sources and rumors were going on about how the prince of the elves was already an A ranked awakened and he was the same age as Adam and the others while his sister was a peak B rank.

And you shouldn’t leave the demons out either as their a whole different breed, unlike the humans who nurture and educate their prospects in a safe environment.

Demons were thrust into battle just a few months after their birth, since they grew differently from humans and their combat experience along with their prowess was in a whole different league.

Although humans also have great potential and they have proven time and time again that they are not to he underestimated, but it’s also a fact that the other races grow faster and stronger than humans.

Adam is also included in this, having become a full dragon his strength and ranking should be evolving faster however something has been holding him back.

Probably because in his previous world he was still a human and still has some lingering attachments to his humanity but the main factor is that he hasn’t fully embraced him dragon instincts and lineage.

And deep down he knew this himself that he’s been holding himself back, trying to he like his peers when he is interely different but that was all soon about to change...

Four months have passed and it was now time for the long awaited mid-term exams for the students at Silford Academy and Class S was already seated in their seats busy conversing waiting for the professor to come.

"So it’s time for the mid-term exams huh?" Said Duke with a heavy sigh as he leaned back on his chair.

"You better make sure you have studied." Selena replied back to him while she was busy reading a book and didn’t even look his way.

"I did! I did! You practically drilled the contents into me." Duke complained.

"Well if I didn’t, you’d probably fail your written portions." She retorted back.

Duke wanted to say something but was cut off.

"Okay calm down guys, you know she’s helping you with this right duke?" Adam said.

"Yeah I know, thanks sis." Duke replied back with a small.

"Hmph!" Selena just pouted but there was a slight smile tugged at the edge of her lips.

"Yeah he’s right!" A booming voice came at the front.

"I wouldn’t want my rival failing because of a book." Drake said with a chuckle.

"Shut up!" Duke exclaimed his face was filled with embarrassment.

This exchange has lessened the tension that was in the hair previously due to the mid-term exams, and everyone found themselves relaxing and calming down.

"What do you think we’ll do besides the written exams?" Finn said to Amy who was sitting besides him.

"I don’t know, although I think we’ll have another dungeon trials." Amy replied.

"If that’s the case, the dungeon will probably be that of a higher rank huh?" Ivy added on to Amy’s earlier statement.

"Well it doesn’t matter, I’ll smash my through the dungeon!" Brad said his voice practically booming with laughter.

Eve was the only one who was quiet in the classroom as she was still keeping to her cold beauty.

Grace also joined in on the conversation as she glanced at Adam with an expression, it showed that she wasn’t gonna loose this time.

Adam glanced at her direction met her with a small smile and gave her a respectful nod.

They continued to converse amongst themselves until the door slid open, professor Seraphim walked into the classroom.

She then stood Infront of the podium and said:

"Hello Class, I’m sure you all know what today means for all of you." She paused for a bit, letting her words sink in before continuing. "It’s time for the Mid-term exams, and these exams will reflect the amount of effort you’ve put into your training for the past four months."

After she said that she took out a small remote that had a single red button, she then pressed it and the whole rooms lights dimmed out.

A projection was then shown on the whiteboard, it displayed the things that the mid-term exams would be focusing in.

______________________________________________________________

{First Phase: Written Exams}

{Second Phase: Mana Application}

{Final Phase: Gate Exploration}

______________________________________________________________

Everyone saw the information displayed and they were confused that they would be tackling a gate rather than a dungeon this time around.

Seraphim saw the confused expression’s that they wore of their faces and put her hand up to silence the murmurs.

"The exam will have a written portion where we focus on your knowledge on monsters, gates and other relevant information."

"The second phase, we will be testing your progress in how your channel mana. We focus on your mana stability, quality, control and also an application of elemental infusion."

"The final phase, you have already tackled dungeon’s and you already know their structures and how they work. Gates however are different, dungeons are like a realm created for specific monsters just like how lava hounds are found in dungeons that are hot."

"But gates however, are a completely different scene. Gates are like accessing the monsters world. Your accessing another dimension and that completely makes it even more dangerous."

That’s when she pressed the switch once again, and the whole holographic screen changes completely.

This was showing the footage of how a gate looks like and also how the inside and the battle footage that showed.

A team of 10 peak A rank awakened were going inside the gate, all of them were prepared having equipment.

They entered the gate and found a whole new scene, it was a forest filled with bones and graves. Rusted swords were placed on the ground and they saw skulls on top of spears.

It was a scene they didn’t expect to see but that’s when they felt something was off.

Gates usually shown a monsters natural home land where it is their natural habitat, unlike dungeons that can respawn monsters even if the boss is defeated.

Gates were like a personal domain for the monsters that live there, and just like in this case they were intruding upon another masters land.

"This is footage of what a gate looks like on the inside, Gates can be characterized by their ranks just like dungeons but there is one fundamental difference."

"The boss of a Gate... Is a rank above the gates rank. Meaning by going into a C rank gate you should be prepared to fight a B rank boss. And once a boss of a gate is killed, your given a certain amount of time to escape or you’ll be trapped there forever."

When everyone heard about the possibility of being trapped inside a gate they were nervous.

Being trapped inside a gate and fighting who knows what inside it? It wasn’t something they would look forward to.

"No need to worry, you have approximately half an hour to escape a gate. Unless certain circumstances happen."

The video feed then changed, the gate those to A ranked awakened got into changed color. Unlike it’s normal light blue and white color, it warped into something more sinister.

A dark energy began to swirl around it and the whole gate turned into a black red color and the mana density around it increased tremendously.

The figures inside felt it in an instant but before they could act a dark blue flashed across their faces, and in an instant their heads fell down on the ground.

The leader who managed to avoid it was visibly shaken, he was gripping his sword hard and his face was pale. That’s when they saw the figure that did this damage.

In wore a dark robe, dark mist swirling around it’s feet and countless tentacles were sprouting behind it’s back.

Before they could get a more clear view the feed was cut off as the leaders chest got pierced in an instant.

"This phenomenon is called ’Gate Corruption’. This is when an outer gods lingering energy comes into contact with a gate, this drastically increases the gates rank and the power of the monsters inside."

"And some of those monsters sometimes evolve into highly intelligence beings capable of conversation and their the most dangerous ones."

That’s when professor Seraphim cut the who video and the room returned to its usual shade.

"And that’s what gates are and you guys will be experiencing one during the mid-term exams. Don’t worry about the corruption, our Silford Academy will ensure that never happens."

Everyone nodded when hearing her explanation, the academy would let their students enter a gate that would get corrupted by outer deities right?