Whipping winds howled around Theron. Each gust felt like a lash against his skin, a streaking blade just barely grazing him.
This might have been a sanctuary for Wind Mancers, but to him, and probably most others, it was a hell house.
Standing tall on a pillar, looking ahead to the others littered around, and down toward the endless abyss below, Theron was quite calm.
The so-called abyss was nothing but a trick of the mind. In reality, the drop was maybe ten meters at most. At their cultivation level, it was nothing. With the harsh winds, a few broken bones were possible.
Death was a remote possibility if you hit your head on the way down in the right way, but it was so unlikely that it wasn’t worth considering.
The reason it looked as though an abyss swallowed the bottom of the thin, swaying pillars was a formation designed to trick the eyes.
Theron didn’t have Third Eye, so he couldn’t sense it clearly. But he knew it was there for only one reason…
He was always prepared.
It was why he had never failed a Class Exam, and why he would never.
Theron took a step.
For a moment, it looked as though he was about to fall into the abyss below. There was no momentum to his movement at all, as if he were here to commit suicide rather than clear a credit requirement.
But then his pillar violently swayed.
A particularly strong gust of wind caught it.
Theron was taking a step forward, and yet it had bent back so far that the foot that looked as though it were about to fall into endless darkness fell onto the body of the thin pillar instead.
With a flex of his calf, Theron balanced himself.
And then the pillar sprang back up.
BANG!
Theron shot forward under a power that wasn’t his own.
The timer for the Exam began the moment you moved. In order to get an S-grade, you had to cross the obstacle course within three minutes. For an A-grade, you needed to do it within ten minutes. As for just a PASS, so long as you made it without falling, it was enough.
Theron didn’t have the speed to make it in ten minutes, let alone a fraction of that. In fact, of those that passed with an S, over 90% were Wind Mancers and Flux Mancers that specialized in speed rather than brute strength. Another 7% were probably Lightning Mancers and unique Variant Mancers and the like.
Of the remaining 3%, there was a sliver of absolute geniuses who specialized in all regions, having Mancy Paths that clashed with the obstacle course, and yet overwhelmed it with their own methods, techniques, and bloodlines regardless.
Theron planned to be in this 3%.
Using the pillar as a spring, he launched himself like a rocket.
…
Observing outside, a certain Sergeant Dulcow stood with his arms crossed. To his side, there was a female teacher with whom Theron hardly interacted—a Ninth Resonance Silver Wind Mancer, Teacher Jadebri.
Sergeant Dulcow rushed over the moment he heard of the change. Something like what Theron was attempting now had never happened before in the history of the Imperial Academy…
At least not until three weeks ago.
And now there was suddenly someone else doing the same thing? Was it a coincidence?
Plus, Sergeant Dulcow was unofficially one of the second in command of the military stream. Beneath Dean Thistle, his word carried a great amount of power. He didn’t have to oversee an Exam of a First Year, since Teacher Jadebri was already here, her green eyes sharply watching every action ahead.
But his last interaction with Theron had left a bad taste in his mouth. He could almost feel that the child had been looking down on him, and the fact he had cause and reason to do so left him feeling even more uncomfortable.
It could be said, then, that both were watching Theron intently, and when they saw his actions, they both shook their heads.
Overestimating himself.
If he were a Wind Mancer, this strategy might work. He could catch a current in the air and ride it, shooting over a great distance.
But even for Wind Mancers, this was a great risk. If you caught the wrong current, you could be blown off course. In addition, controlling extremely fast streams of wind was difficult.
Theron was an anomaly. Among Water Mancers, maybe he was the only one in the world who would prefer rain to a solid source of water like a lake or a stream.
This was the case for most Mancers.
In this case, though, as someone who wasn’t even a Wind Mancer, he was going to get himself hurt.
And because this was the first of the Exams he challenged, getting injured here meant a FAIL on all the others.
This was the most foolish decision he could have made.
Until, that is, the pupils of both Teachers constricted.
…
Theron was blown right out of the air the moment he was launched forward, a current nearly slapping him off the course.
Slapping was right. It felt like a wall had suddenly and violently pressed into his body, sending him soaring.
And yet, though his cheeks wavered and collapsed against his bones, the look in his eyes was just the same.
His leg suddenly kicked out.
A whipping pillar met the strength of his toes, sending him flying to the side once more.
Theron bounced from pillar to pillar, somehow timing their spring action with his every step.
He soared across dozens of meters at a time, getting beaten and battered by the chaos of wind like an unrelenting leaf fluttering down from the skies.
And then his feet stuck the landing.
His body swayed with the final pillar, his cheeks flushed with sweat, and his skin pale of all color.
—
[Class One Movement Exam]
[Test Taker: Theron Galethunder]
[Result: 00:00:01:23]
[Grade: S]