"Are you sure heâs not in some idol group?" one girl asked, whispering like they were in the presence of royalty. "Like... maybe heâs undercover."
Lily rolled her eyes. "
Lily turned to go. She didnât want the attention, didnât care for the half-joking questions or the speculative glances. Michael was family. And while she didnât go around singing his praises, she didnât talk behind his back either.
He was... hers. In a way.
Not in the weird possessive sense.
Justâhe was the only person in her life who made her feel like her future didnât have to follow someone elseâs script.
And right now, everyone was looking at him like he was some shiny prize.
Not the guy who made sure she had never lacked anything. Not the guy who stood up against numerous monsters in a sea of blood just so she and her mother were fine. Not the guy who once carried her home when she scraped her knee when they were younger when he was under the weather as well.
They didnât know that Michael.
They just saw a fantasy.
She turned her head slightly, catching one last glimpse of him as he disappeared into the hall.
Her chest tightened a little.
He looked like he belonged to a different world now.
And maybe... he did.
Lily inhaled sharply, then squared her shoulders.
But so what?
She wasnât planning on being left behind.
Michael stepped toward the hall, briefly scanning the crowd.
He frowned.
He didnât recognize anyone.
Not a single familiar face from the Bright College Awakeners chat. None of the profile pictures matched the people here, and not one of the few awakeners heâd seen during his earlier visits to campus stood out.
But before he could dwell on it, a stern voice echoed through the schoolâs public address system.
"All examinees are to line up outside the designated testing hall.*
Michaelâs thoughts settled as students around him began moving into formation, assembling in rows as instructed.
He didnât hesitate and joined a line.
Just as expected, General Knowledge was the first test.
Michael exhaled.
This wasnât combat.
No monstrous skill or high-tier evolution would help him here.
Michael soon walked into the Hall and found his seat. The room was sleek and spacious, designed like a modern lecture hall with individual learning pods instead of shared desks. Each one had privacy barriers, light dampening tech, and anti-cheat wards.
Michael took a seat.
A moment later, the room dimmed slightly, and a calm synthetic voice sounded through the hidden speakers:
"Welcome to Day One of the Universal College Practical Entrance Exams. As of now, together with students from the 20 countries under the Federation rule, todayâs assessment will begin with a 3 hour General Knowledge Evaluation. Subjects include world history, political dynamics, supernatural affairs, logic, and core mathematics. Please log in with your mail and click on the link sent to you."
Michael tilted his head, slightly amused.
His Intelligence stat gave him fast comprehension and excellent memoryâbut it wasnât magic. It was still
his
mind, just enhanced.
The tablet lit up with a soft chime.
He signed it.
START
.
Michaelâs fingers moved quickly.He read each question once and already had the answer forming in his head.
Even if some of the historical context was different from Earth, heâd done his reading. Most of the core knowledgeâphysics, politics, logicâwas universal, just layered with extra supernatural elements.
He moved smoothly from question to question.
There were some particularly disgusting questions though.
Physics:
A bead of mass
m
slides on a frictionless circular wire of radius
R
, which rotates vertically with angular velocity Ď. A vertical electric field
E
acts on it, and the bead has charge
q
. At equilibrium, it rests at an angle θ. Derive θ in terms of m, q, E, R, and Ď; determine when this equilibrium is stable; and if it starts at θ = Ď/3 with a small push, calculate time to reach Ď/2âthough small-angle approximation wonât help.
Mathematics:
From the set {1 to 20}, how many 7-element subsets exist where no elements are consecutive and the sum is divisible by 5? Then, generalize a formula for n-element sets avoiding consecutive picks with k elements, and prove the maximum occurs when k â (n+1)/3.
Economics:
Given a utility function U(x,y,z) = (x^0.3 + y^0.3)^0.5 Ă z^0.4, with Px = 2, Py = 3, Pz = 4, and income = 100, find demand functions using the Lagrangian method. Then, prove diminishing MRS only under a specific inequality involving x, y, z. Finally, with a 50% tax on z, analyze how demand shifts, showing both substitution and income effects.
Any of this could cripple most students and there were still 997 more questions to answer.
Michael wasnât fazed.
These werenât easy questions by any means. Most werenât even questionsâthey were intellectual gauntlets.
Michaelâs fingers moved quickly across the digital interface, formulas and structured reasoning unfolding with practiced ease. His high Intelligence stat didnât just boost memoryâit sharpened his analytical ability, letting him see through complexity with unnerving clarity.
He was already deep into the test by the time most others were still getting through their first dozen questions.
This wasnât to say the test was unfairâquite the opposite.
In Aurora, education had evolved alongside humanity. Since the body had improved due to advances in medicine and supernatural exposure, so too had the mind. Children were stronger, healthier, and smarter on average than their Earth counterparts. And as a result, their curriculum was far more demanding.
Unlike Earth, where reaching ninety years of age in good health was rare, in Aurora, even a weak civilian with access to basic treatments could achieve it. Supernatural advancements in prenatal care meant a childâs brain had already developed beyond earth normal standards by the time they were born.
As for education? It kept up.
Specialized subjects like art, science, and engineering werenât locked into departments until university. Before then, everything was modular and broad.
******
A/N: Sorry for the late update guys.