Start! The Entrance Exam!
Adam looks around with an investigative frown. He then closes his eyes and starts sniffing
"What's this?" He says after opening his eyes. "The air... The air is different."
As he keeps looking around, a voice starts to resonate in Adam's head
"Hrm Hrm!" The voice says. "I guess you must all be surprised. I'll make it short and simple so we can keep going with the entrance test. Right now, at this very moment, you are in a forest close to the tower."
"We are outside of the tower!?" Adam says with surprise
"Most of you might have guessed after what I just said, but I will make it clear for those who haven't." The voice says. "You are all in a forest outside of the tower. Of course, you are currently on land which was recovered by our knights, which means that only Djinns with a low threat level are in this forest. Now, I'll start explaining the test itself. All you must do is survive in the forest until only one of you remains. However, it would be too boring if all you had to do was survive; therefore, we have decided to add some rules to the entrance exam. Rule number one: Every Squire has a 10-point value. Rule number two: Djinns have a 5-point value. Rule number three, half of the points gathered by a Squire can be stolen from another Squire by eliminating them. Rule number four: If you want to surrender and be transported back to the academy, all you need to do is break the silver ring on your second finger. Rule number five: the last one standing will be awarded a total of 500 points. Lastly, Rule number six: Squires who leave the forest will be considered deserters and won't be rescued. That's all from me."
"The first thing I should do is secure a safe zone." Adam thought as he picked up the silver sword that was transported with him. "A zone in which I'll have easy access to both food and water."
A memory emerges from Adam's mind. One from not too long ago when he and the others were training with Elaine and the others. Eve, Nala, Kenzo, and Adam were sitting outside on the grass while Elaine was standing before them
"Listen to me carefully." Elaine starts seriously. "You kids passed the Arcanet, but since you guys still can't use arcane energy, except for Nala, you need to listen and watch carefully since you cannot practice it."
The four kids all nod seriously
"Arcana, or officially known as arcane energy, is an energy that all arch humans have." Elaine starts. "Depending on the color you own, the abilities you can wield change, which is why the way to use arcane energy is separated into two categories. Arcane Skills and Arcane Arts."
"Arcane Skills." Seleph says with curiosity
"And Arcane Arts". Adam repeats
Elaine nods with a smile. The door of the house opens, and Kenzo walks out of the house to join the group
"Arcane Skills can be used regardless of a person's arcane color." Elaine continues. "While Arts are restricted to the color of your arcane energy."
Kenzo unleashes his blue arcana while Elaine unleashes her golden arcana
"As you can see, Kenzo's arcane energy is blue while mine is golden. That means that the arcane arts we can learn and use are different. While arcane skills are the same regardless of your arcane color." Elaine continues
"So, arcane skills can be used by every archhuman, but arcane arts cannot?" Nala asks
"Not exactly." Kenzo answers. "While it's true that arcane arts can't be used by every arch human, it is possible for multiple arch humans having the same arcane color to learn the same Art."
"Enough about Arts." Elaine says. "We can't teach you any after all."
"Why?" Selph asks
"It's better for you to discover and learn an Art that you believe will be a good match for you." Kenzo says. "As for you, you don't have to worry about it too much since your arcane color is red."
"Hm?" Seleph makes with confusion
"Anyway, back to the matter at hand." Elaine says. "There are a lot of arcane skills that exist, but they are not all useful. So, we will teach you the theory behind one of the most useful ones. The arcane skill known as Sensus."
The memory ends, and Adam opens his eyes to the present. He lowers his head and, in his head, remembers how Elaine and Kenzo explained the skill to him
"Sensus is a skill that allows one to use their arcane energy as a sense." He remembers Elaine's teachings from back then. "By deploying your arcane energy around, you will be able to tell and sense everything that has touched your deployed arcane energy. There are two things you need to be careful of while using this skill. One is the amount of arcane energy you must use while using Sensus. Sensus is a skill that sends arcane energy within the body outside of the body to sense things; therefore, the farther you expand Sensus, the more arcane energy you use. The second thing is the amount of arcane energy you have left after using Sensus. Sensus is a skill that works in waves. In other words, you send waves of arcane energy outside of your body to sense things. This means that after using it once, you need to keep on using it, and that also means that you need to be careful of the amount of arcane energy you have left after each use.
There are two ways to use Sensus." He remembers Kenzo's teachings from back then. "The first one is to send a single wave to figure out and know your surroundings. While the second one is to continually use it so that you can tell when something or someone is entering the deployed area. When using Sensus, I recommend being in contact with something, for example, a tree or even the ground. It makes it easier to sense and tell apart what's from what.
Adam lowers himself and puts his hand on the ground. He then closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
"I need to control my arcane energy and use a suitable amount of it." Adam thought with his eyes closed. "First of all, since I am only using it to know the surrounding terrain. A single wave should be more than enough."
Adam opens his eyes
"Sensus; Single wave." He uses
Adam unleashes a slow wave of arcane energy to analyze the environment around him
"It's nothing but trees and leaves." He thought as he analyzed his surroundings. "I've sensed a few animals and fruits, but still no water... Oh! Found it! A small pond."
He opens his eyes
"I didn't feel anything suspicious in a 50 km (about 31.07 mi) radius." He says. "It should be safe to head there."
Adam starts to move towards the pond
"Just in case, I should keep using Sensus around me." He says while walking forward. "Sensus; Continuous Wave."
Adam starts sending continuous waves of arcane energy in a 200 m (about 656.17 ft) radius from him
"This should help keep me alerted and wary of my surroundings." He says as he starts to jump from tree to tree
In another place, still within the forest, Seleph was walking around while using Sensus, Continuous Wave in a 50 m radius
"This is harder than I thought." He says with a smile while staying focused on keeping up Sensus around him
Seleph keeps walking while looking around
"Still, this forest looks like the ones in the tower." He says
Seleph's eyes widen, and he turns around quickly
"Something entered my Sensus radius." He thought as he put his guard up
Seleph puts his hand up, forming fists, a sign that he is ready to fight. A rabbit comes out of a bush near him. When Seleph sees it, he exhales quickly
"It closed in quickly between the waves." Seleph says. "Still, my mastery over Sensus is pretty weak. I couldn't even tell that it was an animal that entered the Sensus area."
From the bushes, someone jumps out and tries to attack Seleph, but he dodges and makes the person fall by tripping them up, then stabs them with his sword. Light surrounds the Squire and teleports him away
"Are you not going to come out?" Seleph says while staring at some trees with a cocky smile
Behind the trees were a few other Squires hidden in wait to strike. Since Seleph had already noticed them, the three Squires come out of their hiding places
"So, mind explaining why you're jumping me?" Seleph says with his sword on his shoulder and the same cocky smile
"I guess you don't know, but everyone knows about the Arcanet that was conducted at the Leoneo's estate. It was even on the news after all." One of them says. "Seleph Leoneo received an A-Rank in quantity and awakened red arcane energy. It's better to eliminate someone like you quickly."
"So, you think that the three of you can beat me?" Seleph asks with a smirk
He takes his sword off his shoulder and points it at them
"Come on." He says with a cocky smile while waving his finger forward and backward
In another place, still within the forest, Eve is walking forward while maintaining her Sensus. She suddenly turns around and throws her sword into a bush. She walks toward it, opens the bush, and sees a white rabbit. She picks it up and sits down on a rock. After starting a fire and cooking the rabbit, she starts to eat
"It doesn't taste good." She says after swallowing a bite
Elaine grabs the handle of her sword and points it toward a tree
"Who's there?" She says while staring at the tree
Someone comes out of hiding. It was a blond-haired girl with golden eyes. She was a little taller than Eve, and her hair was long and tied up in a ponytail. Her facial features and the way she looked made her status as a noble more than obvious. Her body was slim, but was tailored for combat
"You were able to tell that I was here." The girl says with a smile. "That means that you're able to use Sensus, right?"
Eve gets up with her sword in her hand
*GROWL*
Eve raises her sword quickly
"What was that? A beast? No way, I didn't feel anything." She thought as she looked around. "When did it enter my Sensus? Or could it be that it isn't in my Sensus zone?"
*GROOOWL*
"That was close! What is going on?"
She then stops and looks at the girl who's giggling
"No way...." Eve says while staring at the girl. "Could it be that you came here because..."
Eve looks at the rabbit meat, then turns and looks at the girl
"You risked elimination for food?" Eve asks with an expression of disbelief
The girl smirks
"You? Eliminate me?" The girl asks with a smirk
Eve frowns with anger
"What are you trying to say?" Eve asks with anger
Eve blinks, and as soon as she does, the girl appears in front of her with her sword pointed at Eve's throat. The girl stares at Eve with a smile while she stares back at the girl with widened, surprised eyes
"Ho- How?" Eve says with widened eyes
The girl lowers her sword and sits down on a log that is next to the rock
"You can use Sensus but not Roboro." The girl says while staring at the rabbit meat. "And I didn't do anything amazing. I just moved quickly as soon as you blinked. If you hadn't blinked, you would have been able to see me. All I did was dash forward, after all."
Eve looks at the girl.
"Roboro? What's that?" Eve asks
"Can I have some?" The girl asks while looking at the rabbit meat on the stick near the fire
Eve sits down on the rock she was sitting on before
"She is weird." She thought as she looked at the young girl. "If she wanted to, she could easily overpower me and take it. Food and points at the same time. Why isn't she attacking me?"
"Why didn't you just eliminate me and take the food?" Eve asks while staring at the fire."I honestly thought that I was one of the strongest Squires. I was careless and arrogant."
"To be honest, I don't know how to cook." The girl says while keeping her eyes on the rabbit meat cooking. "Each time I tried, I ended up burning the food, and half of the first day has already passed."
The girl looks at Eve
"Which is why I need a cook." The girl says with a smile
"I don't have the time to cook for you. Eve says while looking at the girl with an angry smile."Is she stupid?" She thought
"I also need to gather points." Eve finishes
The girl smirks
"I see that you noticed, huh?" The girl says with a smile
In another place, back at the academy, people were gathered in a room and watching a multitude of screens from which they could see what was happening in the forest.
"We have a few impressive kids this year." A person with brown short hair says with a smile
" A few of them have noticed." A woman with short orange hair and glasses says
At the end of the table, someone speaks, drawing the attention of everyone in the room
"Who is that child?" The person says
They all look at the screen on which the person is watching. On the screen, Adam was building a house with some wood he picked up after chopping some trees down.
"Is he building a house?" Another person says
"I guess he's one of those who haven't noticed." The woman with orange hair says. "The direction in which this exam is going."