Nekomata's Will (Beta)

Chapter 7/ Evaluation Exam

[Xin Pov]

After we entered through the portal, we were now standing in front of a large dome. There were some people in front of it and I knew immediately that they were the Knights that graduated from the academy.

The Knights was a security system of sorts comprised of the academy's graduates. Most people who graduated either decided to help protect the sanctuary or live their lives in the sanctuary.

We walk up to them and one of them, a male teenager, turns to us and asks us to show our ID cards. We did and then he asked us to follow him to white sheds that layed beside the entrance of the dome. We had to be in different sheds which Ash reluctantly agreed to.

As I walked into the shed I saw Ash having his head down and whimpering before he entered as well.

When I went into shed I saw a white table in front of me. I saw a chair as well and then went to sit down. A tall black haired woman who had caramel coloured skin walked in and then sat across from me. Unlike the Knights who wore the usual armours or robes, she wore more of a military like outfit, ya know the ones that had that iconic camouflage pattern

"Hi there, the names Lia. I'm here to make sure that you indeed have an artifact on you, of course if you didn't then you can't even go into the academy."

I nodded while she started to take out a piece of paper and placed it on the table. I looked at it and then examined what was drawn. It had the pattern of a star in a circle, I've read about these before. It was a pentagram. An old generation practice developed by human mages.

"Just put your hand on it and then channel mana through it. In case you don't know how I'll explain it to the best of my capabilities," she said it with a hint of excitement. Who would get excited about this though? I knew artifacts and a bit of the academy from books but they never revealed what the evaluation exam was or what type of artifacts they are.

I stuck out my hand and then sent mana flowing from my index finger and onto the paper. Her eyes were wide with shock. But before she could say anything the pentagram glowed and then runes started to appear on each point of the star. All with a different colour.

"Oh my... you have mana in you AND you are an all-rounder. This is going to be great! I can't believe I might be the first to discover the birth of a living legend!"

I was a bit confused about what she meant at all but then I realized that me having mana was very odd since I was a beast-kin. A race that can't use any mana. But the all-rounder part was equally confusing to me. What is an all-rounder?

"Due to special circumstances, I have decided to endorse you and therefore is able to skip the exam and head straight to the class immediately. Any questions?"

Skip the exam? I mean it would save me the hassle but I need to ask something important first.

"Uh Lia, what about Ash?" I can't just up and leave him. I don't think I could survive without him there.

"Ah- right are you two mates?". I nodded my head and she headed out of the shed. A few minutes later she returned with a look of pure excitement. Seriously is this girl that happy about new students being here?

"The other tester also endorsed your friend and that wasn't from my influence either. Ah, I can't wait to see it. Two legends before our very eyes."

Before I could get another word in she held up her hand and asked me the follow her. We went out of the shed and then I saw Ash, waving frantically at me while I saw someone else beside him.

That someone was a man, a werewolf even with the ears and tail. He wore a winter outfit, even though it's so hot here. The outfit was green in colour, not puke green but more of a matcha vibe. Reminds me a lot of a doctor or a librarian.

Ash came over and started to hug me. I hugged him back and patted his head. He started to sniff me and then I realised it wasn't Ash.

"Alex, I know you're excited but please don't sniff me in public."

I heard a soft whimper and then Alex backing out and his eyes changed colour. We heard a 'ahem' and saw that both testers were standing in front of us.

"I know you kids are mates and all but you are both underaged please don't do anything inappropriate in public," the guy said with a hand over his face.

"Anyways, time for you guys to go, since you guys are both endorsed we have to teleport you there. I know we said you both could skip the exam but showing off what you can do is a must. Basically you guys skip the unnecessary parts and go straight to the main performance."

I felt very confused and anxious about what would happen but the the Lia was holding her right hand to her chest. She gathered mana into her palm and then started to write something in the air.

Oh I get it now. She was a human enchantress. Many humans have different ways of using magic and an enchantress is one of the most powerful. Using runes and using a magic circle or just conjuring something all have their ups and downs.

Runes were powerful but can't be used immediately. Magic circles have the same problem as runes but multiple can't take effect at the same time. Conjuring doesn't have a cool down however the power is lacking if you don't have enough concentration.

After a few seconds the runes started to float around us and then then paused as if time had stopped. Suddenly a blinding light appeared beneath us and our scenery started to change.

What was a giant door attached to the dome was now an giant room filled with people and pillar at the centre of the room. There must be a lot of people here. I saw some demons, angels and spirits too. Beast-kins were talking and some undead as well as mermaids and sirens.

Then I realised that they were all looking at us. I being self-conscious as is, hid behind Ash. Which I have deemed to be my meat shield in case worse comes to worse.

There were some murmurs here and there but all of them had the same question in mind.

'Who the hell are they?'

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I decided to try and publish once every week maybe more if I feel inspired.

This story is gonna be a long one so please sit tight and enjoy the ride.

In any case goodbye for now.