Evaluation Exam I

Beep! Beep!

The alarm on The side of Peter's bed went off and broke him out of his deep slumber.

Over the course of the next 3 days after his first spar, he focused on meditating every day for at least 10 hours but was still unable to make any progress with his cultivation, leaving him stuck at the first novice stage.

Whilst his academic knowledge was exceptional; he had already memorized around 30% of the whole year's curriculum, his combat prowess couldn't be praised the same.

No matter how hard he tried, he just didn't have the knack for fighting. His attacks were sloppy and he kept making mistakes when practicing the first 2 forms of the Ju-moobong martial art.

Fighting and cultivation, it seemed, he was hopeless at. However, this didn't stop Peter from pushing onwards and continuing his hard work.

Peter quickly turned off the alarm and headed to the bathroom. This being part of an everyday routine, he didn't need to see to be able to know where the bathroom was or where the wardrobe was, along with his enhanced senses of touch, he never needed a walking stick to navigate around the large mansion.

After he had finished his breakfast, he meditated for an hour and went over the knowledge he had gained, before heading out.

He hadn't felt this way in a long time but his body trembled with excitement and a hint of nervosity.

Being a part of a noble family, Peter had always attended big events, so he was used to the feeling of being nervous. His only lacking trait was that he wasn't social. Apart from Mark, he had no other friends and especially after his brother's death, he closed himself off to the outside world.

"Where do you want to go, young sir?" The driver asked.

"Apex School of Sorcery."

"I'm guessing it's your examination day today right?" The driver spoke, pressing the 'engine on' button.

"Yeah it is."

The driver looked at the mirror, eyeing Peter's white bandage and closed up walking stick in his hand.

'How peculiar.' He thought and continued focusing on driving, unbothered to press any other questions towards the interesting young man.

**

"Thank you for the ride, I've wired you 15 credits." Peter smiled, getting out of the vehicle.

"Good luck kid!" The driver said enthusiastically, after receiving extra credits. Once Peter had fully exited the car, he drove off towards his next awaiting customer.

Peter couldn't see the spectacle in front of him but he could hear the thousands of heartbeats, sounds of people talking surrounding him. It made his heart flutter and adrenaline rushed through his veins in anticipation.

The Academy was a grand building, with a deliberate old design. Large pillars stood side by side, and intricate ancient patterns were carved on the walls. It gave it a very unique and prehistoric feel, which was different to the usual modern buildings of this day and age.

"Peter!"

A familiar voice resounded from within the crowd of people, making Peter struggle to pinpoint where the person's location really was.

"It's good to see you buddy. Mum, dad, Peter's finally here!" The chubby boy dragged his reluctant parents towards the blind boy.

In all honesty, Mark's parents were also nobles. Although they weren't as powerful as the Magtris family that had many powerful ranking mages birthed from its family, they still had the pride of a noble family. Therefore, they disliked the cripple - known as Peter Magtris.

Even if he was a Magtris, a cripple was a cripple in Mark's parents' eyes.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr and Mrs Howards." Peter bowed, showing respect but the two parents looked at him in disgust.

"Likewise… boy." The father reluctantly replied, looking around if anyone spotted him conversing with the cripple.

The father turned his head to whisper something into Mark's ears before grabbing his wife's hands and leaving.

However, due to Peter's enhanced hearing he unfortunately heard everything the father had whispered.

"The sooner you stray away from the cripple, the better. Your mother and I are extremely disappointed in you. If you don't want a beating when we're home, you better leave that cripple soon!"

Peter's heart ached when he heard this but he still put up a fake facade, to Mark, who was unbeknownst to the fact that Peter knew what his father had just told him.

"Shall we get going then Mark? And where'd your parents go?"

"…uh yeah. They had some important stuff to do." Mark spaced out but still spoke in a fake happy tone.

Peter grabbed onto Mark's arm as he guided Peter through the crowd of parents and kids to the Examination hall.

As soon as they entered, a colossal hall came into view and sounds of people echoed around the vast vicinity. There were different sections within this almost 2km by 2 km building, ranging from a fitness testing facility to a decision making and aptitude testing facility. Peter could only fathom how large the hall was based on the reverberations of the echoes.

"Are you two boys here for the evaluation exam for first years?" A stern man asked, wearing a dark suit and holding a clipboard and pen in his hands.

"Y-yes." Mark answered.

The man eyed Peter's bandage and folded up walking stick, then turned his gaze towards the clearly overweight boy.

'Probably some rich stuck up noble kids again. Where are the prodigious ones? This generation is messed up for sure.' He thought, shaking his head.

"What are your names?" He questioned.

"I'm Mark Howard and he's Peter Magtris."

After ticking the names on the list, another man appeared from behind him.

"Follow me please."

The 2 boys followed the escort down a long corridor on the right, before turning left to a large assembly hall, where man kids of the same age as them sat, talking with each other.

"This is the waiting room. Wait till your names are called. You will be assessed individually." The man said, before abruptly leaving like he had done this thousands of times.

The other kids glared at the two irregular blind and fat duo and giggled, mocking them.

Peter and Mark ignored their shenanigans and sat down in a corner of the room on 2 chairs.

A couple minutes of silence passed between the two, then finally Mark mustered up the courage to speak up.

Peter knew what was coming and he braced himself for it. Although it hurt him, he knew there was nothing Mark could do. If he didn't follow the Howard Family's Patriarch's orders, he would be kicked out of the family.

"Peter… I don't know how to tell you this but we can't be friends… I'm sorry." Mark's face was filled with gloom and Peter could also feel his friend's sadness.

People's heart rates would usually go up when they were facing anxiety, depression, stress etc. and this was happening to both of them right now.

"Mark Howard. Can Mark Howard please come to the examination room number 7?" A woman's voice announced.

Mark got up immediately, and looked back at Peter's unchanged expression one last time, before walking past the people to get to the examination room.

Tears soaked the bandage Peter covered his eyes with and his mouth went dry from the sudden burst of mixed emotions.

He was preparing himself from the minute he heard those hurtful words from Mark's father. Although, they had met him before in the past, they weren't as discriminatory as this time. They must have been hiding their feelings towards him for years.

The hurt Peter felt was different to emotional trauma. It was more a realization that now, he was truly alone. He had no one in this world.

With a dead expression, Peter removed the wet bandage from his eyes and took out a new one from his bracelet. He tied that around his eyes and sat silently in the corner, awaiting his name.

**

"Peter Magtris. Could you please make your way to examination room 3." A woman announced through a speaker.

Peter got up and extended his walking stick. He didn't know the place so he was all on his own to get to the examination room. Even Mark had left him behind and when he exited, he left without saying anything, only glancing back at Peter with dismay.

Suddenly, a young woman's voice resounded next to Peter.

"Are you Peter Magtris? May I be of assistance?" A woman asked sweetly.

Peter didn't like getting help from others but just this once, he accepted.

"Yes. If you don't mind, could you please guide me to the 3rd examination room." He said quietly.

"Sure!" She replied, latching onto Peter's arm and taking him forwards.

Neither of the two spoke and only exchanged a brief 'Thank you' and 'Your Welcome' with each other at the end of their little walk.

The other kids looked at Peter in disgust, eyeing his walking stick then the bandage, covering his eyes.

"Stupid cripple. Why is he even here?"

"His parents must be dumb to send him to a magic school."

Peter tried to ignore the whispers of the others but his enhanced hearing only made him suffer by forcing him to hear the negative words they were spouting.

The truth was, Peter's father surprisingly paid for all of his expenses for his time at the academy. Was it out of pity? Or did he see something in him?

Peter broke out of his trail of thoughts and sighed, entering the examination room.

'Here we go.'