Chapter 478 The Core

[OP: ]

It had been a long time since all of them were thrown on this strange island.

It was, at the very least, clear to most of the normal examinees that the island was real and they would have to survive here for the stated time or jump off the island if they really do not want to be there for any reason.

They had a choice and their choice in this matter wasn't going to affect their exam results in any way.

They were free to do whatever they want and, they acutely didn't know that, but anyone who was mentally strong enough to jump off the island for any reason was definitely a well-qualified student for their academy.

They would get a passing grade for that great stunt and probably a good score from some of the examiners too.

It was no easy task to overcome a primordial fear like the natural fear of hight.

Death would be the second thing they would experience if they jump off from that high of a place.

The fear as they experience that absurd free-fall, that fluctuating air pressure, the winds as they pass through the clouds, and the mind that would constantly remind them what would happen when their bodies would hit the ground would be more hellish torture than a simple death.

It was difficult and that's why there was no one on the island that did that absurd thing on the first day of their exam… but on the second day, a very unexpected person initiated a chain reaction that gave the students courage to fight against their fear of hight.

They all knew that they wouldn't die here. They were the responsibility of the academy as long as they were giving the entrance exam after all. So they wouldn't die.

Getting hurt was part of everyday life for most of them so that much was far more welcomed than the continuous harassment of the upper-class nobles, the monsters from the forest that had started invading the sandy outskirts from the second day, and the lack of food and drinking water.

Many of the nobles and even the normal young adults on that island would rather die than beg for food and water from the bastard nobles who had the food or accept the sincere mercy of the 'good' people.

They would rather starve, get their own food, or… now they had a new option that solved almost everything.

They could just give up and jump off the sky island that would probably transport them to the airships that they were on before they threw them on this wretched place.

It was easy and the one who started this was the great prodigy and master of any field he entered, the wizard of enchanting waters, Hide.

He didn't like his original name Qin Fa Shen but he surely was an interesting character.

He was fooling around for the whole first day with gorgeous girls and ladies and when he was bored from the scene of forest and sandy outskirts, he said his goodbyes to the ladies who stayed there and jumped off the island with those who wanted to go out with him.

He was quite the detestable person but to many of them there, he was an inspiration… so they followed their inspiration and jumped off on the second day.

Some of them would pass while some would just fail for their plain foolishness and no big or interesting achievements.

Some of them were fools and some were gems among them and the expert graders would clearly pick out every hidden gem from the corroding piece of rock.

But that were them… as for the other prodigies on the island, it was a battle against time and their competitors.

They were there to get a high score and not just pass like that wizard who jumped off the island and created a wave of change.

His actions might also put him on the rankings but that wasn't going to be anywhere near the ones who actually got inside the forest, roamed the place, fought and defeated the creatures, and found the treasures that added more points to their totals.

They had struggled and their struggles would surely be rewarded when they reached the academy.

There were some really interesting ones this year that astonished all the examiners. The general ones and also the ones who observed the student council members had seen some really new things today. The shocking ones were more than the previous records.

This batch was in general very intriguing and the reason for that wasn't just the twelve prodigies but also the new stars that shined on the island for the first time today.

They were quite interesting for all the spectators and their actions were as astonishing as the prodigies.

The examiners termed them the [Nine raising stars]. And be it the boy who escorted the young lady of Heliox and the youngest prince of the Roxana, or the normal girl that extorted money from the young nobles with her unique cooking, or the strangely strong elf elemental archer, they all were good enough to be put on the same level as the world recognized prodigies.

Still, they all were good and the third day was already half finished so, they all only had to endure for a bit longer and they would be free~!

They were looking forward to finishing that damned test and going to their room and resting on the comfortable beds of their rooms but… the miserable survivors wouldn't have to wait for that long anymore thanks to the tremendous efforts of two certain people.

They had worked hard to achieve their own selfish goals and were now almost before their rewards but before they tasted the sweet fruits of their efforts, they had to deal with the person that made this whole island they were on.

…

"Hello to you too, headmaster Merlin." Eon, as always, greeted him respectfully and bowed a little while Rein just gave him her usual unpleasant look and clicked her tongue.

"What are you here for, bastard? We earned this… my darling earned this so don't even think of saying something funny." She warned with a serious look and that just put a smile on their headmaster's pretty face.

The place that materialized around them was a small-dark empty room with only a simple-looking ball of light glowing in the center of a place that resembled a magic circle.

The whole room was empty with only six pillars around this ball of light and there was also a unique magic circle on each of these pillars.

It was a nice, small, place and it looked normal in most spectrums of light but in the eyes of the two of them, this was a world far different from what any one of the spectators could ever fathom.

In their eyes, the room was filled with colors and rays of light so gorgeous that it reminded them of the first time they saw the spirit cluster in Eon's garden.

It was simply gorgeous and even Eon admired it. The core that looked simple in its usual state was especially pretty in their eyes.

It was cool, but the presence of the headmaster before them was hindering them from admiring that astonishing work of his.

And he was smiling with his 'normal' smile right now, irritating Rein even more.

"Haha. How could I ever do that, dear lady? I was just mesmerized by your mind-blowing performance that I couldn't help but rush here as quickly as I could~."

He was smirking like his usual self but there was definitely truth behind those words so she didn't react much to his words and just looked at the smile Eon gave her.

She understood his words from that and left everything up to him.

"Oh, dear headmaster," Eon said with a pure smile, and the smile on the headmaster's face started going down.

"I know that is another illusion and you are away from here. It must be some important work that you are doing but do not worry. Just fast forward and finish the exam and tell the general spectators that something came up and you had to finish things early.

From what I believe, they must have finished the general grading and just the calculations of the bonuses and the stuff should be left.

They can finish it quickly anyway so things shouldn't be difficult.

So… just go back, finish the exam, tell them something acceptable, and empty the island.

We will be back on the boat without a problem so everything's ok, right?"

He smiled at him with a 'calm smile' but in the eyes of the headmaster before them, it was less than a smile of the devil.

He liked the boy a lot more than most of the things in the world but that smile of his still wasn't something he could go against even now.

And that girl beside him was still glaring daggers into him which was so bad that he was feeling the spine-freezing sensations in his real body right now.

So, he just helplessly nodded and vanished from the place, changed the time and the people on the island didn't actually notice anything, told the examiners something and they all accepted things without any question and at the end, when the fourth sun rose on the sky island, the lovely examinees finally finished their hellish exam.

Then the headmaster came back, shook his head with a helpless smile at the two's smiling faces, and gave his last smile to the two of them.

"It was fun watching you two and all of them. There are some interesting ones and I know you two must have already found some interesting ones that even I do not know about.

I'm looking forward to seeing you two but from the looks of things, I don't think I will be done here for at least today.

Don't worry though. I will make sure to finish things here quickly and give my speech at tomorrow's inauguration.

It was fun and again…" he started vanishing and there was a true warm smile on his face.

"You two sure are as surprising as ever."

He waved his hand and vanished from the small room and the two of them nodded with a smile.

They also knew him and respected him but still, his nature would always be unpleasant to her and difficult to predict for Eon.

At the very least though… their entrance exam had finished at this point and the ball of light, the solid core under this light, and the corer magic circle sustaining this whole structure were now free for him to own.

What he did with that thing would be interesting to see for the headmaster too if he ever got to actually see it but for now…

"Alright." Eon took a deep breath and stood before the ball of light with his hand stretched out.

Rein was smiling at him, the whole giant sky island above them was empty now, and so, it was safe to destroy the whole structure with everything on it…

And for that, he just called forth his amazing unique storage skill that many of you still make fun of.

"Origin skill… White crack."