"Are you sure he’s not in so idol group?" one girl asked, whispering like they were in the presence of royalty. "Like... maybe he’s undercover."
Lily rolled her eyes. "
Lily turned to go. She didn’t want the attention, didn’t care for the half-joking questions or the speculative glances. Michael was family. And while she didn’t go around singing his praises, she didn’t talk behind his back either.
He was... hers. In a way.
Not in the weird possessive sense.
Just—he was the only person in her life who made her feel like her future didn’t have to follow soone else’s script.
And right now, everyone was looking at him like he was so shiny prize.
Not the guy who made sure she had never lacked anything. Not the guy who stood up against nurous monsters in a sea of blood just so she and her mother were fine. Not the guy who once carried her ho when she scraped her knee when they were younger when he was under the weather as well.
They didn’t 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 wasn’t planning on being left behind.
Michael stepped toward the hall, briefly scanning the crowd.
He frowned.
He didn’t 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 he’d seen during his earlier visits to campus stood out.
But before he could dwell on it, a stern voice echoed through the school’s public address system.
"All examinees are to line up outside the designated testing hall.*
Michael’s thoughts settled as students around him began moving into formation, assembling in rows as instructed.
He didn’t hesitate and joined a line.
Just as expected, General Knowledge was the first test.
Michael exhaled.
This wasn’t 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 mont later, the room dimd slightly, and a calm synthetic voice sounded through the hidden speakers:
"Welco to Day One of the Universal College Practical Entrance Exams. As of now, together with students from the 20 countries under the Federation rule, today’s assessnt 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 mory—but it wasn’t magic. It was still his mind, just enhanced.
The tablet lit up with a soft chi.
He signed it.
START.
Michael’s fingers moved quickly.He read each question once and already had the answer forming in his head.
Even if so of the historical context was different from Earth, he’d done his reading. Most of the core knowledge—physics, politics, logic—was universal, just layered with extra supernatural elents.
He moved smoothly from question to question.
There were so 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 ω. 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 ω; determine when this equilibrium is stable; and if it starts at θ = π/3 with a small push, calculate ti to reach π/2—though small-angle approximation won’t help.
Mathematics: From the set {1 to 20}, how many 7-elent subsets exist where no elents are consecutive and the sum is divisible by 5? Then, generalize a formula for n-elent sets avoiding consecutive picks with k elents, and prove the maximum occurs when k ≈ (n 1)/3.
Economics: Given a utility function U(x,y,z) = (x^0.3 y^0.3)^0.5 × z^0.4, with Px = 2, Py = 3, Pz = 4, and inco = 100, find demand functions using the Lagrangian thod. 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 inco effects.
Any of this could cripple most students and there were still 997 more questions to answer.
Michael wasn’t fazed.
These weren’t easy questions by any ans. Most weren’t even questions—they were intellectual gauntlets.
Michael’s fingers moved quickly across the digital interface, formulas and structured reasoning unfolding with practiced ease. His high Intelligence stat didn’t just boost mory—it sharpened his analytical ability, letting him see through complexity with unnerving clarity.
He was already deep into the test by the ti most others were still getting through their first dozen questions.
This wasn’t to say the test was unfair—quite the opposite.
In Aurora, education had evolved alongside humanity. Since the body had improved due to advances in dicine 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 treatnts could achieve it. Supernatural advancents in prenatal care ant a child’s brain had already developed beyond earth normal standards by the ti they were born.
As for education? It kept up.
Specialized subjects like art, science, and engineering weren’t locked into departnts until university. Before then, everything was modular and broad.
******
A/N: Sorry for the late update guys.
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