One day before the Practical Exam

Astra sitting in class in boredom turns to Sylvie"Sylvie," Sylvie turns to Astra, "Why don't you talk and only react?"

She looks at him, blushing, and takes her pen to write on a piece of paper:

"I'm too shy to talk and don't want people to hear my voice."

"Oh, okay, that's fine. I am happy that you're my friend." Sylvie blushes when Astra says that.

"Okay, class is dismissed. Tomorrow, meet at the school ground, and good luck on the exam."

"Ma'am, what is the exam about? Can we get some details?"

"Don't worry. Everything will be told tomorrow."

Astra goes to his dorm. "So today, my legs are supposed to break." He looks around. "Why not set a trap?"

The next day—

"Looks like we are missing some students, but we can't wait, so we will leave without them."

"Heh, looks like sleeping in the school barn worked, and putting a sleeping potion in my dorm would have kept them asleep for two whole days. Sadly, no exam for them."

He turns to the shopkeeper who gave him the potion and bows his head in thanks.

"I, Richard, will supervise this exam. Now, let me tell you what the exam is. The exam is one hour long. All of you will be sent to a forest full of monsters—don't worry, they are not real but rather illusions. All of you will be wearing vests. If your vest's light turns red, you will stop the exam with as many points as you have. We have also left three orbs, each worth ten points.

Each of your Arcadium watches will have a point sheet on them. You can check it whenever you want, and it will also tell you how many points you have. Finally, fighting each other is allowed, but if you go too far, the punishment will be severe."

He clicks his fingers, and four assistants appear with a pile of vests.

"All of you, take one vest."

After everyone took their vest, Richard continues, "The spirit ball checked your invisible power capacity. That means you still haven't unlocked it yet, and you won’t unlock it at your current age, so don’t get cocky. Be careful—except for you, Hito. You already have Mana, and to make it fair, you are banned from using it. Understood?"

"Yes, sir, I understand."

"Okay, now that all of you understand the rules, enter the forest."

All the students ran into the forest to earn points.

"Hito, why aren't you going?"

"Sir, I need to give them a head start, or else it will be boring." He smiled.

After ten minutes— "Okay, looks like it's time to go."

In another part of the forest, Astra looks at his points.

"Only 24? That's bad. I need to kill more than just slimes, which give only three points. I should either kill an eight-point orc or find an orb."

"Hey, that's mine!"

"I found it first, so it's mine!"

Astra runs toward the voices and finds Davier and Grato fighting.

"What are they fighting for?" Then he notices an orb. "So that's what they're fighting for. I'll swoop in when they start fighting and hopefully escape without anyone noticing."

Grato shoots an arrow at Davier, but he responds by making the grass below him rise as a shield. They continue to fight.

"Now it's time for me to enter."

Astra jumps down and grabs the orb. 'I got the orb, now time to run.'

An arrow rushes toward him. He dodges, but his skin gets grazed, making blood drip.

"Where do you think you're going, you little thief?"

"Me little? I'm the same age as you."

A ball of water rushes toward him. He takes out his sword, cuts it in half, and makes his opponent wet.

"Was that necessary?" while Astra is dripping wet

"You've got fast reactions, Vontrea."

"Why you calling me that. My name is Astra."

Now Astra finds himself against two Class S students in front of him.

In another part of the jungle, Hito, who has already accumulated 56 points, sees Sylvie in danger, getting attacked by an orc. He sends a water needle that explodes the orc's head and leaves without speaking to Sylvie. Sylvie sits on the ground, confused about what just happened.

Astra is running through the forest as Davier and Gravo chase him.

"Stop running, little prince!"

Astra ends up at a dead end and turns around.

"Nowhere to run now."

"Hey, you guys might be in Class S, but without invisible power, my strength is better than yours."

'What's this sudden pressure?' Both of them think.

Astra jumps to attack Grato but gets pushed back by a water ball, making him crash into the trees.

"Hey, you elf, let's team up against him."

Grato hesitates'"Fine."

Both of them stand cautiously, waiting for the smoke to clear. When it disappears, Astra is nowhere to be found.

"Looks like I got away from them. Ha, I got ten points for free."

Astra looks to his left and gets scared. Then, suddenly, a monster sends him flying into a rock with immense force.

"Sir Richard!"

"What's the matter?"

"We got a B-rank monster loose in the forest! It was hiding in a den and has now come out!"

"What?! Why didn't the team check the dens?"

"They didn't think monsters would be there."

"You guys can't do anything right. Go locate it right now and tell me where it is. I'll subdue it fast, so find it before it finds a student!"

"Yes, Sir!"

Astra wakes up, slightly injured, to see a dog-like monster in front of him.

"Why is a monster like that in an exam?"

Narrator-What will happen next?