Chapter 94: The exam began

Time, as always, flew by in a blink, and the first examination finally arrived.

For the runic exam, students were gathered in a massive hall where rows of single-person desks were neatly arranged. On each desk sat a stack of parchment and tools for carving runes.

Yuna took her seat and glanced at the large board at the front of the room, where five rune types were listed—the ones they were expected to draw. With careful focus, Yuna felt confident about two of them. The third she was about 80% sure she could handle. The fourth was a coin toss at best—fifty-fifty. And the last one… well, she hadn't studied it at all. She had tried before but gave up. It was just too hard.

But honestly, she had no ambitions to become a runic master, so it didn't really matter. As long as she passed, Yuna was satisfied.

"Ooo… I'm going to ace this!" came Celeste's excited whisper beside her.

Yuna's expression remained flat, but in her mind, she was flipping Celeste the middle finger.

The exam quickly turned chaotic. Some students accidentally lit their parchment on fire. Others activated their runes mid-exam, causing mini-explosions and disruptions.

"Damn it! Hands, stay steady!"

"Arghhh! It's in my head—why won't my hand cooperate?!"

Frustrated shouts echoed through the hall.

The invigilator, none other than the ever-lazy club class teacher, simply lounged in his chair. When the noise became unbearable, he finally barked, "Class representatives, control your classmates or I'm docking your points!"

At the threat of losing points, Yuna immediately shot a death glare at her heart class, who had been whispering and elbowing each other. They fell silent instantly, pretending to be model students under her gaze. The heart class was the first to quiet down.

The club class leader stood gracefully and gently asked his classmates to settle down. His tone was soft, but the large club class obeyed without hesitation.

On the diamond class side, it was Cailum who stepped forward and spoke on behalf of the Crown Prince, his snarky words effective as always.

Meanwhile, in the spade class, Enyo simply slammed her claymore onto the ground. The loud clang echoed through the hall—and the most male dominated class shut up immediately.

The exam went more or less how Yuna had expected. And surprisingly—or perhaps not—the results were announced that very same day.

A towering monument-like display stood at the center of the academy courtyard, glowing faintly as it projected everyone's names and scores. The list was split into two columns: Individual Rankings and Class Rankings. The class ranking, it seemed, was based on the average scores of each class.

In the Individual Rankings, Yuna wasn't particularly shocked to see Celeste ranked high—though the smug grin plastered on her face made Yuna want to roll her eyes into another dimension. Still, the top spot didn't go to her. Instead, it was Alaster Arryn who claimed first place. Yuna blinked at his name for a moment, confused, until it clicked.

'Oh right… Enyo's brother. Forgot he existed'

It wasn't that Alaster was unremarkable—far from it. But his sister's explosive personality and combat prowess had overshadowed him so thoroughly that Yuna had mentally filed him under "low-key NPC."

The second place, unsurprisingly, went to Enyo herself. The blood-controlling siblings had grown up surrounded by runes. While their early exposure was mostly to blood-specific rune systems—usable only by bloodline ability users—it still gave them a huge head start. Runes were runes, after all. The foundational principles overlapped, even if the applications differed.

Celeste proudly occupied third place, her chest puffed out so high that Yuna feared she'd float away like an overinflated balloon. Next to her name, Yuna noticed two more familiar faces among the top ten: Juno, the only alchemist in Heart Class, as well as Celeste's rune-forger partner. The other Heart Class members had a mixed performance—not too bad, not exceptional either. Passable. Middling.

In the Rune Class Rankings, the Diamond Class unsurprisingly took the top position, with the Club Class close behind. The Heart Class sat safely in third owing greatly to Celeste, Juno and Celeste rune partner, while the Spade Class tragically ended up at the very bottom. Apparently, Enyo's overwhelming performance alone wasn't enough to carry the rest of her combat-loving, academically challenged classmates.

Enyo, who stood silently near the monument, had a stormy look on her face upon seeing their placement. Her jaw tightened, eyes narrowed like she was already plotting some kind of violent study session for the rest of her class.

Thus, the first exam ended—relatively smooth, all things considered.

But then came the Ability Demonstration Exam, and that's when things started going downhill ...… at least for Yuna.

It was supposed to be simple: students were to demonstrate their combat or elemental ability on a specially reinforced boulder. Mages would use mana magic, warriors and swordsmen would infuse their weapons with aura, and ability users—like Yuna—would showcase their special traits.

The students took turns based on class ranking, so Diamond Class went first.

As Yuna watched each of the diamond students strike the boulder, a clear picture started to form in her mind—one that she hadn't seen so clearly before. Power disparity within the class was glaringly obvious. The top-tier students showcased jaw-dropping displays of elemental or martial prowess, while the weaker ones? They stood meekly behind, acting more like personal assistants than fellow classmates.

Yuna found the servile attitude of the weaker Diamond students… unsettling.

There was no camaraderie. No equal footing. The strong acted with arrogant indifference, and the weak either followed them like loyal pets or faded into the background altogether.

The Crown Prince remained aloof and untouched by the dynamics. Whether he didn't care or genuinely believed it to be the natural order, Yuna couldn't tell. Cailum, on the other hand, tossed snarky comments every so often, his annoying voice buzzing like a mosquito in her ear.

Normally, during combat classes, the focus was on defeating the combat puppets, and students were dismissed immediately after. Yuna never paid much attention to other class dynamics beyond how flashy or cool their fighting styles looked. But this time, the exam format allowed each student to perform individually, giving her time to observe not just techniques but also how they interacted.

With her chin resting in her palm, Yuna observed carefully.

Diamond Class operated like a dictatorship—nobility-driven, hierarchy-focused, power-obsessed.

Club Class, in contrast, ran on democracy. Decisions were often made with collective input, and their leader seemed more like a thoughtful elder brother than a tyrant.

Then came Spade Class, which was built on authority. There was a clear chain of command, and Enyo ruled with an iron (claymore) fist. They were a martial bunch—straightforward, disciplined, but also rough around the edges. not yet polished.

Yuna's gaze drifted toward her own Heart Class, and she frowned slightly.

'What about us?'

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. There wasn't any clear leader other than herself, and most of her classmates did their own thing. But there was cooperation. They fought in sync (even if by accident sometimes), shared notes, helped each other…

"Hmm... maybe we're... a corporative style?" she muttered to herself, almost amused.

Then again, knowing her unruly classmates, it might just be organized chaos.

Either way, it was starting to become obvious to Yuna that every class had its own internal system—its own little world.

And hers?

Well, hers was weird.

But weird worked just fine for her.