Thankfully, the three sections of the end-of-year examinations were split into three separate days and squandered only nine hours of the students' lives. This was not to mention that the literacy and history exams were so simple for everyone except Nathan that all they needed to revise was common sense, and that the field test mainly revolved around waiting for your turn in line.
The exam had different implications for the two groups of students in the Imperial Rune Arts Academy. For the ordinary ones, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that determined their future. For the Representative ones, a waste of time that they only attended for the sake of attending. This kind of spite was especially prominent when their professor forced them to score the highest in the year level despite the number meaning little to the bigger picture. Not to mention, nobody really cared about the first-year's exam results anyway.
However, only Nathan Modernson and the few people in history who did these examinations with all the model answers memorised in their brains would understand how fun this process really was: to take your sweet time and pretend like you were contemplating the question deeply and fool the supervisors into believing you were doing them properly. In their teaching careers, the professors had seen the most absurd methods of cheating, but a student getting their hands on the answers was not even an option to appear in their minds.
Ordinary or Representative, all the students in the same year level did the literacy and history exams in the same big hall. More than half put their pens down before the second hour had passed. Jennifer Lumendra left first, followed by the other Representative Students right after. Nathan, however, took some time to read over the answers on his paper. This was like a learning opportunity for him, for he didn't really pay attention to the context of the answers when he lazily memorised them word by word. His wrist was still hurting. After a year of living outside of Lostburg, he still wasn't used to writing so many words. His handwriting was barely legible, especially towards the end, but knowing the professors weren't really that bothered to mark this insignificant exam anyway and would probably give him a pass if he just attempted all the questions, he couldn't be bothered to care.
He turned around when the supervisors weren't looking towards Daniel Whitedawn sitting behind him, who made a silly face and began packing his stationery, signalling Nathan he was going to leave as well. Nathan stretched and followed suit.
As Nathan and Daniel walked out of the exam hall, Nathan caught a glimpse of John Krymer at the very corner of the room. It seemed like he was writing his answers word by word, taking time to evaluate his response before continuing, and making the most of the allocated time.
"How is John still not finished?" Daniel whispered in a perfectly controlled volume. "You just need to pass this exam anyway; why bother trying so hard?"
"That's why we are not ranked top 1 in the academy," Nathan replied only after they had fully exited the h.ll, "And will never be considered as a candidate for the Supreme Seven Seats."
"That's different," Daniel pointed out. "We lack the most fundamental talent in Rune Arts. No matter how hard we try, we can never reach that level."
Nathan stared back at the hall in silence. His thoughts flooded over Daniel's argument. As his classmate for a whole semester, Nathan knew that John Krymer was never the prodigy everyone hypothesised. He couldn't hold the thought that if someone with moderate talent could achieve such, why couldn't he?
But this notion was immediately abandoned as Nathan tried to fabricate a future where he actually worked hard. A week of intense training was tiring enough for him. He could endure something like that once in a while, but keeping that lifestyle for months and even years? Even a great liar like him couldn't lie to himself.
Nathan never lacked passion for Rune Arts. He couldn't even impartially state what was stopping him from being immersed in it as John did. Probably because he started too late, but even that sounded like an excuse.
Daniel sighed after a moment of silence. "It's not like you need Rune Arts to thrive. You being you is successful enough. As for me… At least I've discovered my strength."
Yeah, it wasn't like Nathan needed Rune Arts to lead a prosperous life. Even disregarding his parents' identities, there was literally a prophecy that preordained his greatness. Thinking about that, Nathan suddenly felt a warm stream of comfort. There must be another way to achieve his dream. No matter what it was, his fate would sort it out for him.
"We are both quite fortunate, ay?" Nathan turned around and stretched again. "Let's go meet up with the others in the headquarters. When John comes, the final revision for the Rune Arts Theory Exams could begin."
"Fortunate? You are the most fortunate person in Runalond." Daniel smiled mellowly. "You don't even have to study for the exams. Just need to memorise the answers."
As much as the claim disconcerted Nathan, he wrapped his arm around Daniel's shoulder and flattered, "And you are the best friend of the most fortunate person in Runalond, making you a close second."
Is being the objectively most fortunate person in the world actually a good thing? Nathan couldn't make up his mind on that. After watching his father's life at the Imperial Academy and listening to the indisputable theory Jennifer alleged, he doubted whether anyone is ever more fortunate than another. It felt to him like all the fortunate people in other people's eyes had their own shackles and suffering, and the only thing that blinded the crowd was the distance shrouding the misery deep within them.
When Nathan and Daniel reached the Salvation Club headquarters, the pillar was already populated with members across all year levels. Some flipped through textbooks and glued their eyes to the pages. Some were vigorously writing. Some lifted their heads towards the ceiling and chanted under their breath. Some were debating whether a question would come up or not. The rest were lined up towards the North and prayed to the Divine Beings on Mount Mirra. It seemed like the literacy and history exam was as easy as breathing to most students, to the point that they didn't even need a slight bit of rest before beginning the revision for the real ordeal. Especially for the Third Year students, who seemed like they hadn't slept for a whole week.
Monica Gladius snapped her pen in half with the sheer force of her fingers after realising she got a question wrong. She looked up and asked Nathan desperately, "Where is Professor Krymer? Please… We need him…"
"We need him…" The other members of the club mourned like they had passed away for quite some time.
"Still doing the exam," Daniel sighed. "Don't worry, guys. We still have a whole night and tomorrow morning."
"I'm pulling an all-nighter for sure…" Jay mumbled unconsciously.
"Yeah, me too."
"How about we sleep now and begin studying when Professor Krymer comes?"
Nathan watched as frowns of jealousy shot towards him and shrugged bitterly. He would happily share the answers if Henry allowed. Thinking about it, he still needed to go to Henry's office to retrieve them. Memorising fifty pages of answers was easier said than done. It wasn't like he could just lie around doing nothing.
He waited until John Krymer finally arrived after the three hours had fully ended, and only then headed towards the principal's office. The entire Salvation Club stormed towards him like a flock of birds. John brought the cat Tina with him, who was the unanimous club mascot at this point. This made the owners, John and his roommate Ryan, honorary members of the club, though they only attended meetings on an ad hoc basis and were not part of the Justice Knights.
John was surprisingly keen on teaching. Perhaps he felt a sense of pride in educating the barbarians, but Nathan was more convinced that he simply found sharing his knowledge pleasurable. It was probably the same feeling he had when he was a storyteller in Lostburg, the joy of sharing with others what you were most zealous about.
Nathan spent the rest of the evening in Henry's office, memorising the answers while inquiring of Henry about anything he didn't understand. Henry's expression when he did so came across as somewhat disappointed, but it wasn't like Nathan could hide his incompetence or ever reach the heights his mother had reached, so he might as well not be overly ashamed of it.
To save Principal Nox some time from monitoring whether he shared the answers or not, he suggested that he would just sleep in his office. Henry appreciated that idea but reminded him that time didn't really flow in the room at all. This was something that the body could not get used to unless it was modified. If Nathan were to stay in this room for too long, it wasn't guaranteed that there wouldn't be any underlying problems.
"Also, it's particularly difficult to sleep in a white room unless your body is thoroughly drained," he added. "I trust that you will keep the promise between us."
"Of course. I might be a scumbag, but I keep promises, especially when the person I promised is you." Nathan reassured.
"Scumbag? You flatter yourself too much. You are way too kind for that." Henry laughed.
And with that, when the Rune Arts Theory Examination finally began the next day, Nathan Modernson had the knowledge stored safely in his brain. But even with that, the tense atmosphere was still unsettling.
Each class did their papers separately, and the Representative Students' class supervisor was none other than their professor, Clara Marshall, whose eyes scrutinised their every action like an eagle. That was rather unnecessary, in Nathan's viewpoint. It wasn't like they sat close enough to see each other's answers.
The three tedious hours that skimmed by felt faster than they usually did, but when Nathan looked around in the final ten minutes, everyone except John Krymer seemed to have already finished. Jennifer Lumendra and Joseph Gravekin spun their pens while lying back comfortably, clearly confident in their Rune Arts Mastery, but the others, especially Monica and David, wore dreadful expressions. Before Nathan could check on the others, Clara Marshall slammed on his table emphatically, forcing him to turn around.
"And… Time's up! Put your pens down, please." Professor Marshall announced as the timer reached zero. She brushed her wand over the blackboard to dispel it completely.
"I will finish marking them by tomorrow," she declared. "The results better be pleasing."
The students looked at each other as their papers were collected. No one seemed to care about her warning. No matter what their results could be, at least this exam was finally out of the way.
"What did you guys get for question 61? The rune has a radius of 32.5 centimetres, right?" Joseph asked as they walked out.
"Really? I got half of that!" Charlotte sighed and shook her head.
"John? So what's the answer?"
"The radius does not matter," John said with a perfectly calm voice. "Even though those targets are only vulnerable to lightning, that question didn't have requirements on what elements you can use. If you just pair a simple Water Rune with the Lightning Rune, all the targets could be theoretically destroyed at once."
"Oh wait, that's true!" Joseph lifted his glasses. "Then that point was free! Why didn't I think of that?"
"It's not like a well-calculated Lightning Rune by itself couldn't solve the problem," John reassured. "There could be multiple solutions to a question. Don't limit yourself to having to a model answer."
"Talking about model answers," William sighed. "So what are you supposed to draw, Nathan?"
Nathan shrugged. "I don't know. I just drew the exact Rune I remember on the answer sheet."
"Can we stop talking about that accursed exam?" Monica concluded the debate.
"Still one more to go tomorrow."
"All good. We are free after that, at least."