(Rodova Military Academy – Exam Hall, Mid-Term Examination Begins)
The moment David uttered those dreaded words—"Shall we begin?"—a suffocating tension settled over the exam hall like a thick fog.
Students hunched over their desks, gripping their pens with white-knuckled intensity, as if bracing for battle.
The rustle of test papers being distributed was the only sound breaking the oppressive silence, followed by the slow, hesitant flipping of pages and the sharp scratches of pens desperately attempting to conquer the impossible.
Then—the first groans of despair were heard. Soft, barely restrained sounds from students who had flipped to the first page and already knew they were doomed.
And it was at this point that Leo finally received his exam sheet and turned it over.
His eyes sweeping across the questions, scanning for familiar topics.
And, just as he expected—David wasn’t pulling any punches with this one.
—-------
Question 1: Explain the fundamental principles behind mana convergence and dispersion during high-density spellcasting. (7 marks)
Question 2: In what scenarios does metal-bending magic become less effective, and how can a mage compensate for these inefficiencies? (4 marks)
Question 3: Calculate the mana consumption required to sustain a mid-tier defensive barrier for 3 minutes if the caster’s peak mana capacity is 2200 units and his core operates at 62% efficiency. (3 marks)
—--------
Leo nearly clicked his tongue in annoyance when he read the paper.
David wasn’t playing around. These weren’t just theory questions—they were designed to be absolute nightmares.
Even if someone knew the concepts, they still had to execute them perfectly to receive any marks, which made this paper very tough to pass, especially for students like him who had not attended most of his lectures and had to rely on external books to supplement their knowledge of the subject.
However, despite how bad the paper looked, Leo identified at least 3 questions on the entire paper that he was confident of answering on his own, totalling 13 marks, which he began answering first—
But just fifteen minutes in, when he reached the truly brutal questions—the ones where a single misstep meant zero marks, and he lacked full confidence in his answers—he didn’t hesitate.
Without a flicker of hesitation, he activated [Absolute Vision], seamlessly shifting into his enhanced perception.
And then, the real game began.
—---------
Jim Choo sat two rows ahead, already furiously writing, completely in his element.
Leo didn’t need to see his paper.
He just needed his hands.
With Absolute Vision cycling at 0.2 seconds, Leo effortlessly traced Jim’s pencil movements, mirroring every stroke down to the most minute details.
His pen glided over the paper in sync—an echo of Jim’s work, but with subtle modifications Leo made on the fly to avoid detection.
And for the first half an hour?
Everything was going perfectly.
Then—
David moved.
Leo felt it before he saw it.
A subtle shift in the air. The quiet footsteps padding against the polished floor.
Maybe David found it suspicious that he was writing non-stop?
However, Leo did not glance over to look at him…. Instead he relied on [Absolute Vision] to track his movement, as he felt the entire hall turn even more oppressive as if it had literally shrunk.
As David passed beside students, they visibly tensed, their hands trembling ever so slightly as they avoided eye contact with the professor’s looming figure.
Leo, however, didn’t stop writing.
Didn’t pause. Didn’t hesitate.
Because the key to cheating wasn’t just being smart—it was acting like you weren’t cheating at all.
He kept his body loose. His breathing even. His gaze firmly locked onto his paper, never once flickering toward Jim Choo, or anyone else for that matter.
And yet—
David stopped right beside him, peering deeply into his paper, as he tried to apply extra psychological pressure on Leo.
He was looking for any chits, any materials Leo might be using to cheat.
However, despite the Professor being beside him, Leo kept writing, as minutes started to tick by.
Initially, Leo thought that David would start to move-on after standing beside him for a couple minutes. However, David, ever the sadistic overseer, lingered there for far too long—longer than he had for anyone else, as he read every answer that Leo wrote, every stroke of pen that he made.
David’s eyes flicked between Leo’s handwriting and his face, clearly searching for something. A tell. A crack. Any sign of guilt.
However, Leo gave him nothing.
’You can stand there all day, old man, you still won’t catch me lacking.’ Leo thought, as his hand remained steady and his movements controlled.
"I see you’re confident in your answers Skyshard…. You’re writing awfully lot for someone who has not attended many lectures," David mused, as he tried to break Leo’s rhythm, however, it did not work.
With [Monarch’s Indifference] active, Leo’s focus was absolute.
He did not feel panicked, nor did his character break, as without missing a beat, he replied to David as if his words meant nothing to him.
"It’s not a difficult subject in the first place, professor…. I understood everything I needed to from the books at the library—-
I guess, I didn’t need to attend your lectures afterall" Leo replied cockily, as David’s face soured.
Naturally, David wasn’t amused with Leo’s answer, however, there was nothing he could do about it for now, and hence after what felt like an eternity, David let out a soft hum and walked away.
Causing Leo’s lips to curve up in the smallest of smirks.
’Checkmate, asshole.’ Leo thought, as he continued to write at full speed.
—----------
For the next one hour the test stretched on.
Minutes blurred together as Leo continued his flawless execution, carefully balancing real answers with disguised copied ones.
He paraphrased just enough, changed the structure just slightly, never once allowing an exact replica of Jim Choo’s work to appear on his paper.
As by the time the final five minutes were announced, Leo found himself already done with his answers, as he reviewed his sheet once again.
For now— everything looked perfect.
No suspicious patterns. No questionable word-for-word plagiarism.
No obvious errors. As Leo seemed to have done a fine job copying.
And it was at that moment that David walked to the front of the class, checking the clock.
"All pens down." he announced, as a collective sigh of relief—mixed with dread—swept through the hall.
Some students were visibly happy to get the test behind them, while the others were disappointed in having failed.
Leo, belonging to the first group, leaned back with a smile, stretching his fingers.
While Su Yang, belonging to the second, clutched his head in despair as David collected his paper by snatching it from under his elbow.
"You haven’t even written half the sheet Yang…. What happened? Did not study enough?" David mocked as he walked on, before arriving on Leo’s desk, whose paper he collected without making any snarky comments.
However, for the briefest moments as he collected Leo’s paper, David paused to observe his answer sheet.
And at that moment, Leo definitely felt it.
The unspoken suspicion.
A silent challenge.
But, Leo just smiled to himself, knowing there was no way he could be caught.
’Nice try, Professor. But good luck proving I cheated’ Leo thought, as no matter how much David doubted him—
He wasn’t catching him today.