The Examination (Part Two)

"I wonder how our son did on the exam. Registration alone cost ten Silver Talers. I really hope Ace passes on his first try." Marina spoke softly to Romon, worried about Ace's exam and pained by the expense.

Romon remained silent, seeming lost in thought. He had taken the exam more than ten times here, but failed every time. Until his parents passed away, they had never seen any hope of him inheriting Citizenship.

After a long while, he said, "The literacy exam isn't easy. The questions are difficult, and it lasts a full three hours. Ace hasn't studied for long, so don't expect too much or put pressure on him. This time, he's just getting a feel for it. He's smarter and more diligent than I was. He should have no trouble passing in another two or three years."

Ace was not nervous inside the examination hall. The Unified General Literacy Examination was not much different from exams in his previous life. The proctoring was strict, but the questions were essentially language arts questions.

Given how seriously he had prepared, even though his preparation time had been short, claiming first place would be bragging—but passing was certainly no problem, and even an excellent score was well within reach.

After the exam papers were handed out, Ace quickly skimmed through them. There were twenty fill-in-the-blank questions, twenty word-definition questions, two dictation questions, five comprehension questions, and one major essay: "Write an article based on the legendary deeds of Rhonamuth, founder of the city." Clearly, they wanted a hymn of praise.

Ace swiftly finished every question except the major essay. Only an hour had passed when he wrote the title, "Notes on Leaving Sander Plateau," in elegant Flying Bird Script.

After collecting the final candidate's paper, the City-State Education Officer announced that the exam was over. Results would be posted at City Hall Plaza three days later, and successful candidates could collect their badges with their registration receipts. The examinees filed out in a stream.

Some were drenched in sweat and looked anxious. Some remained calm and composed. Others loudly complained that the questions had been difficult. It was no different from the end of an exam in his previous life.

Ace was one of the younger candidates, but he was not unusual. Many parents sent their children early to experience the difficulty of examinations, hoping it would make them study more diligently.

Most people needed three years or even longer to study before they could pass the exam successfully.

When Romon and Marina saw Ace, they went up to him.

Marina wiped the nonexistent sweat from Ace's forehead with her clothes. She wanted to ask something, but Romon gave her a look, so she did not dare ask anything. Ace did not say much either. The results in three days would speak better than any words could.

Early the next morning, Ace arrived at Peter's villa again. Morton was unexpectedly talkative that day, lecturing the eight students.

"Yesterday, our Ace took the city-state's Unified General Literacy Examination. This is the foremost goal for all of you. Although passing on the first attempt is difficult, I believe that with Ace's diligence, he'll definitely make it next year or the year after."

"You still aren't working hard enough. Some of you haven't even memorized the alphabet properly. You should reflect on yourselves."

Ace became the teacher's example student once again. A few classmates looked at him with admiration, while several others became unhappy.

Ace understood them well enough. Those who admired him wanted to work as hard as he did, while those who resented him had been forced to study. Looking closer, he found that all the unhappy ones were children from noble families.

They were Divine Bloodline Descendants. No one knew how many generations removed they were, or whether their divine blood could be successfully awakened, but they were indeed descendants of gods—nobles by birth. With no pressure, they naturally lacked motivation.

If it had been an examination for awakening one's bloodline, every one of them would surely have admired and envied him. One's position often determined one's view of things.

Although the noble children were somewhat displeased, they had received basic upbringing. No tedious stunt like blocking the door after class and ganging up on him occurred.

Three days passed quickly. Ace and his mother Marina went to City Hall Plaza. The results list had just been posted on the notice board. The scoring system was out of one hundred; scores above ninety were excellent, and scores above seventy-five were passing.

Ace looked from the top down. The first place was Daina, with one hundred points. He continued reading and found his own name and receipt number in second place, with ninety-eight points.

Using the receipt from his registration payment, Ace collected his badge from an education official. It had a white background, an embossed image of Medimoth City, and a red character for "Excellent." A line of small text above read: Literacy Proficiency Qualified.

Marina happily pinned the badge onto Ace's clothes, then ran home at once to bring the good news to Romon.

Ace, meanwhile, hurried toward Scholar Peter's home. He had finally passed the examination. He was qualified to learn deeper knowledge now, and also qualified to borrow books from Scholar Peter's private collection.

When Ace reached Scholar Peter's villa, three of the other seven students had already begun copying myths, while the others were still miserably memorizing grammatical sentence structures.

Morton leaned against the courtyard wall with a scroll in hand, reading with relish and occasionally glancing at the students.

When he looked up and saw Ace entering, he muttered inwardly that the young man had finally learned his lesson from the exam. He would have to comfort Ace; after all, he was such a promising student.

Just as he was thinking this, Morton suddenly noticed the metallic gleam on Ace's chest in the sunlight. It was a badge!

Morton rushed over in a few strides and carefully examined the badge on Ace's chest. It had a white background, an embossed image of Medimoth City, and a red character for "Excellent." A line of small text above read: Literacy Proficiency Qualified.

"You passed on your first attempt, and you even got an 'Excellent'?"

Morton asked in astonishment.

"It was all thanks to your teaching, sir. I only passed by luck."

Ace answered shyly, though there was a hint of mischief in his eyes.

"You truly have a gift for learning. Teacher has gone out to attend the citizens' assembly and will probably return this afternoon. I'll take you to meet him then. From now on, you can call me Senior Morton directly."

Morton looked both delighted and somewhat disappointed. He turned to look at the other students again, especially those hopeless ones who could not even learn grammar, and felt more strongly than ever that people simply could not be compared.

That afternoon, Morton brought Ace to the east-facing study on the third floor of the villa and cautioned him, "Teacher places great importance on manners. Once you go in, you must be respectful and courteous." He then knocked lightly on the door, led Ace two steps back, and waited respectfully.

After a while, the door opened. Peter wore a white robe with a red sash, his expression solemn as though he were considering some problem. Several different badges hung on his chest, one of them identical to the Decapitation of Ten Men military merit medal Romon treasured.

It seemed that Peter was not only learned, but also highly capable in actual combat. That fit the city-state's overall spirit as well: open, martial, and intensely expansionist.

They entered the study one after another. Morton led Ace in a slight bow toward Peter and said, "Teacher, this is Ace, who came here to study last month. He is a hardworking and intelligent child. With almost no foundation, he became literate in just over a month and passed the literacy examination. He hopes to study under you and learn deeper, more specialized knowledge."

"Teacher Peter, I very much wish to study under you and learn deeper, more specialized knowledge." Ace immediately stated his desire after Morton finished speaking.

"Ace, the gates of knowledge are open to everyone who longs for it. Welcome as my disciple. Knowledge has value. After becoming my disciple, you must pay fifty Silver Talers in tuition to my servant Joan each month. If you do not have the money for now, you may put it on credit and repay me gradually after you begin working. No interest will be charged."