After watching the video where the pugilist was in such a sorry state along with the examiner's explanation, things became quite clear to both the pugilist and all the other applicants whose wrists kept giving off an orange glow, making them feel frustrated.
"Again, I'm really sorry, I should have mentioned that among the first things I said." Said the examiner.
On the other hand, both Jay and Kesar were sweating profusely as they looked at their wrists, fearing that the brown color they currently had would suddenly turn an orange color.
The reason for their concern was, of course, because they knew that using the criteria the examiner had just mentioned, the performance of both was extremely questionable.
Both had used their energy to the limit repeatedly, Kesar even going so far as to pass out several times and Jay receiving a system message for going too far overboard, both ending up at a point where they were practically normal people walking around the island.
As for the fact that they could had ended up in a state as bad as the pugilist, it didn't worry them, after all, it hadn't really happened.
'And despite using all of our energy, we haven't been disqualified...?' Jay wondered, thinking about the answer to this question, 'Could it be... that my little ones kept us at an acceptable level of energy and vitality at all times?'
The moment he thought that, he seemed to have found the answer as it was quite feasible.
Although they were his little ones and he shared a sort of mental connection with them, Jay and they were not the same individual, so even if he was tired, that didn't necessarily mean his little ones were, which allowed them to be able to share their energy with him.
This was a characteristic that Kesar had also been able to enjoy, directly influencing his spells.
'The only thing that doesn't sit right with me is that the system told me they didn't have enough energy to use Overload... though of course, that doesn't mean they didn't have any energy to share...'
Soon after, Jay decided that there was really no point in thinking about it any further since he lacked information, so he saved his curiosity for his questioning session with the system.
As for Kesar, he came to the conclusion that thanks to his elemental zone, his energy levels were kept at the minimum acceptable, and even though he fainted a couple of times, due to Jay being with him, it didn't take him long to recover each time.
"Anyway, for those of you who are taking the exam for the first time and have been disqualified, don't leave yet, you can stay and watch the rest of the exam and thus better prepare for next year."
Although a good number of applicants had been disqualified by failing this pre-exam, they still had another chance next year as the academy allowed two attempts per person, as for those who were coming for the second time and were disqualified... unfortunately they would have to look for another academy to study at.
After that, the applicants who had already failed twice began to withdraw, while those who were coming for the first time, like the pugilist who asked the question, stayed.
"Well, let's proceed then with the next and penultimate part of the exam, although all of you have passed the pre-test and already have half a foot inside the academy, I remind you not to be confident, as the disqualified numbers may increase after this test."
As he finished speaking, the examiner then brought his hand upward before bringing it down roughly, as if he was tugging on something.
While it had seemed like a simple act, all the applicants, especially the mages, could sense that the examiner had used a considerable amount of mana in that seemingly simple movement.
*BOOM!*
The next moment, a huge object at least 50 feet tall descended from the sky and crashed to the ground, sticking firmly and creating a large cloud of dust.
*BOOM!*
However, before the postulants could see what it was that had fallen, two objects similar to the first also fell from the sky, sticking to the sides of the first object and further increasing the size of the dust cloud.
"Are those... stone pillars?" Commented a dark green-haired young woman whose wrist was glowing a golden hue, indicating that she was one of the few applicants who scored a perfect score on the previous test.
As a pugilist with exceptional tracking skills, being able to see through the dust clouds before they dissipated was something extremely easy for her.
"Could it be that the next test is that we must break these pillars?" The young girl asked again.
"Haha, young lady, even if I were to attempt to break them, it would take at least a decade for me to even scratch them." Replied the examiner, laughing at the young girl's naive comment.
*SWOOSH!*
Turning his hand slightly, the cloud of dust immediately dissipated, finally revealing the figure of the stone pillars to all the applicants.
They had seen that each of these was 50 feet tall, but after sticking into the ground, their height diminished to about 10 feet, though of course, that did not diminish the mystical air that surrounded each of these pillars.
Their shapes, although they were those of pillars, had marks that divided them into three sections, although these marks were rough, as if instead of being made by a skilled craftsman, it was actually the product of a very clumsy giant.
The next thing that caught the eye of the applicants was the color of each of them, being an incredibly dark black which created a great contrast with the surrounding grass.
Finally, and perhaps what had impressed the applicants the most, was that each of them could feel that there was an extremely small but condensed amount of energy in each of the pillars.
Starting from the right, this pillar radiated an energy brimming with vitality that if the applicants were not seeing that it was a stone pillar and were only guided by their senses, they would undoubtedly mistake it for a real pugilist.
The same happened with the other two pillars, the one in the center giving off a refreshing breeze of energy similar to that of an esper and the last pillar on the left releasing a mystical mana.
"These pillars... a-are they...?" Said one of the applicants who was near said constructions, captivated with the appearance of the pillars.
All the other applicants then turned to the examiner because they were just as curious, if not more curious than the young man who had asked the question.
Seeing this, the examiner smiled before beginning to speak, "Yes, they are, we call them Trinity Pillars, artifacts of unknown origin that date as far back as the Great Catastrophe. I'm sure a lot of you have heard of them."
With the examiner's confirmation, a new wave of excitement swept over all the applicants.
Of course, this reaction was understandable; after all, they were standing before what were probably the best objects for assessing individual talent in the world.
Although the examiner was also able to discern what level each of the applicants was at with his keen sensitivity to perceive energy, he had no comparison to the ability of the pillars.
However, their excitement lasted a rather short time as the examiner hurried them along.
"Okay, now I need you to separate into three groups, mages, espers and pugilists and approach the pillars one at a time for your talent evaluation."
Everyone present then proceeded to heed him, gathering into groups of their respective classes and approaching their corresponding pillar, forming a line with those with perfect scores at the front, those with excellent scores in the middle and at the end those with average scores.
As for Jay, being someone who had both the physical body of a pugilist and the skills of an esper, he had two choices.
Fortunately, with Sarah's help, he had already thought of a solution for this type of situation.
From other people's view, what was undoubtedly going to be more visible and easier to explain was his wind control, partly because the ability itself was quite flashy and also because it was something Jay used on a daily basis, not just when he was in a dangerous situation.
On the other hand, although he also possessed a far superior physical ability than any esper with a non-physical ability, it was overshadowed by Jay's abundant use of Wind Control.
Therefore, he had decided to pass himself off as an esper with a good physical build, as for the qi within him, Jay had also found a way to hide it.
Bringing his gaze to his chest, specifically to the center, although he couldn't see it directly, he could sense that a certain parasite particularly plumper than the rest was there, in a state of indefinite rest.
A few days before they came to take the entrance exam, he and Sarah had both racked their brains trying to find some way to conceal this fact.
Although Sarah could turn to one of her family members for help, she really didn't want to do this because of the risk this could mean for Jay, it wasn't that she didn't trust her family, she just didn't want to risk putting Jay in danger.
Luckily, Jay remembered a certain property that the parasites proved to have when they assimilated the cores of the Wolf's Fang and Metal Body bosses, which was, of course, being able to absorb energy.
Neither short nor lazy, Jay immediately put this idea to test, and with Sarah's confirmation, the qi in his body had been successfully hidden, with the only cost being that the parasite containing this energy had to be kept at rest at all times.
'Relax, it should be enough... it will definitely turn out fine...' Jay thought, trying not to get nervous, closing his eyes and going to his happy place.
'...Is it really okay for him to take the test in that state...?' Kesar wondered, who was watching as Jay was standing only thanks to the help of Sarah's levitation spell.
***
While Jay was busy with his thoughts, a group of people were gathered in a certain part of Kluemwood, specifically, in the room of a karaoke bar.
There were four people in total, three men and one woman, judging by their appearance, they appeared to be simple college students having a good time, with one of the men singing a song at the top of his lungs and the others talking amongst themselves.
However, the content of the conversation was anything but normal.
"Hm, and to think their security was actually so high, in the end none of our spies were able to infiltrate that damned island." Said one of the men, his most distinctive features being his dark hair and glasses.
"That's the academy for you, even if it's just terrain in development, the difficulty is the same as invading a higher ranked martial sect." Commented another of the men, this time one with blond hair and a rough appearance.
"Be that as it may, we must decide whether to follow the rest of the plan or retreat, the longer we spend hesitating, the more risk we run." The woman added, one could tell in her voice that she was really worried.
These people were nothing more and nothing less than executives of the Laers Guild, as for the plan they were talking about, this one referred to trying to invade the island where the examination of the applicants had taken place.
The objective was quite simple, just like other criminal and even some non-criminal organizations, the Laers Guild also had their eyes on the secrets of the Eitsirc Academy's almost divine ability to be able to turn almost any terrain into domains where they had absolute control.
Of course, not to mention analyzing the Eitsirc Academy's controlled grounds, just getting close without being part of the student body or a faculty member was an incredibly difficult and dangerous task.
Fortunately for them, they had an opportunity every year, an opportunity in which people from outside the aforementioned educational institution could enter, and with the academy's own permission.
The Laers Guild had also set to work, sending some "applicants" to try to compile information.
This was something they had done before, and they even had some students who made it into the academy last year and were constantly passing information to them.
However, for some reason, this time, none of their fake applicants had contacted them so far.
"Ahh, that definitely hit the spot~" Said the remaining man who had been singing passionately, unlike his companions, he didn't look the least bit worried about this situation, "Take that expression off your faces, especially you Carla, nothing is going to happen. The academy can be intimidating, but don't you forget that we're not simple supers either."
After saying that, he intentionally allowed his energy to escape from his body, emitting the unmistakable pressure of a rank (B) super!
Hearing his words, along with the man's confident attitude, the others also relaxed a bit.
"Such great words."
"!"
Suddenly, the high-pitched, soft voice of a person was heard in the room, causing the people inside to quickly bring their gazes to where the voice came from.
In the center of the small room, unnoticed by anyone, a 12-year-old girl had appeared, a mocking smile plastered on her face.
As trained supers, their speed of response to unexpected situations was incredibly high, taking less than a second for spells, pugilistic flames and bolts of energy to attack this girl.
"Heh." In response, the girl only let out a laugh.
Immediately, with her as the source, an incredibly thick darkness spread throughout the room, blocking out all light and sound in the room.
