The Mage of Primordial Chaos

Chapter 578 – The Test Begins

Mere moments after I felt my consciousness fade, I was reawakened in an area of pure white void. It was very bright all around me, and seemed to extend infinitely in all directions—other than the ground, of course, which I could feel myself standing on.

What took me surprise, however, was my outfit. I wasn't in the uniform I was wearing today, sent by the academy ahead of time as soon as I was determined as part of the 'Elite'. Instead, I was in my usual clothes—the Yharnav armor set, obtained from the Death Realm. I even had my hood and mask on and everything.

"… Huh. Interesting," I noted to myself, before summoning my Chaos katanas and swinging them around. They felt just like as if I were using them in real life. Neat.

Suddenly, a female announcer's gentle voice entered the virtual space, and a series of text was displayed on screen to caption what she was saying.

"Welcome, examinee. An analysis of your body and the identification process have both now completed. You have been verified as an Elite. The aptitude test will now begin."

Huh… so they have this verification process too, as a double security measure… although I doubt it's necessary, it just goes to show how careful they are.

"Part 1: Agility," the female voice said gently, as various obstacles suddenly faded into view in front of me, along with a bold red line on the white ground that marked the finish. "Make it to the finish line as fast as possible without using magic while passing through all the obstacles. Hitting them is okay—no need to restart. However, trying to bypass the obstacles on purpose will result in teleporting you back to the start. The time will begin when you take your first step forward."

That was nice—they gave us time to prepare, instead of starting the timer on their count. However, I was conflicted. Should I hold back in this test, or give it my all? If I revealed my powers, no doubt I would attract lots of unwanted attention from higher ups. This school, unlike the former University of Fragment, was directly managed by the IMF and not by a school council. Personally, I did not want to become a research specimen for them regarding the power of Chaos and whatnot, so holding back a bit was seemingly the obvious choice.

But was it? I didn't know how good my acting skills were—or rather, I didn't know how good they were at discerning acts. If I was caught and exposed to be holding back, that would only bring even more attention to myself, thus rendering the entire process pointless.

I gave a sigh. It was a dilemma for sure, but… at least for the agility test, they shouldn't be able to tell anything. Sure, I was far faster and nimbler than the normal person thanks to my mixture of vampire and angelic blood, but I had no doubt there were plenty of other Elites here able to match my speed if not surpass it, even if I tried.

As such, I took a deep breath, prepared myself, and launched myself forward. The obstacles were simple—some required me to jump, some required me to slide underneath, while others required me to wait for the perfect moment before going through. 

In the end, I managed to finish the course in 8.7 seconds, flawlessly without touching any of the obstacles. The female announcer reported this to me, and moved on to the next stage.

"Part 2: Reaction time," she continued, as several tennis ball launcher-like machines rolled into view all around me. I counted eight in total, one covering each of the eight cardinal and ordinal directions. "In a moment, these machines will begin launching baseballs at you. Only one will be active at first, and as you progress, more will join in. The speed at which the balls are fired will also increase. Do your best to dodge them—the test is over when you are hit by one. No magic is allowed. When you are ready, say so, and the test will initiate."

Glancing around at the baseball launchers, I noticed they were pretty widely spread apart. If I played this right, I could last pretty long, and in all honesty, Feng Mian could probably last even longer if magic use wasn't prohibited. I had no doubt some of the other Elites would be able to beat this challenge with ease, so once again, I decided to put some effort into it. Not trying my absolute best, but making it seem like I'm at least putting in some effort.

I adjusted my cloak, then gave a nod to no one, really.

"I'm ready."

"Very well. The test begins in 3… 2… 1… start."

Instantly, I heard the sound of a baseball shooting out of the launcher behind me, and I evaded with ease. It was quite slow, just as expected. Right after, however, another one shot out of a different launcher this time, and I dodged that one as well.

In this manner, I steadily progressed this test, with more and more launchers simultaneously firing at once, thus increasing the difficulty. Just like the female announcer stated, the speed at which the balls were fired increased as well, making it even harder to avoid.

Strangely, even as I kept dodging without rest, I didn't feel tired whatsoever. It may be because I was in a virtual space, but stamina didn't bother me. I could keep doing this forever—that is, if the challenge didn't at one point become literally impossible to avoid without the help of magic.

I felt something hit my back painfully, and I crumpled to the floor, rubbing it in ache.

"Agh… you guys couldn't have made pain non-existent in this test too?"

"Unfortunately, no," the female announcer said, replying to my question like she was a sentient being. "It is certainly possible for us to do that, but we chose not to. Endurance is part of training as well. This pain will help prepare you for the future."

"Yeah, yeah… what's next?" I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"Part 3," the female announcer said, carrying on.. "Strength."