It's been two months since Thomas arrived in this world. He thanked his 'lucky star' that WcDonald was actively recruiting new staff since he didn't even have to pass an interview. He may have looked like a bum but he got the job. These two months were mentally hard, his coworkers were a mix of good and toxic people. Apparently, his 'situation' was shared to the others and caused some tensions. Something about him freeloading on the government and taking people's jobs. He also had to do mandatory check ups with the police since he became part of the reintegration program or whatever they call it. But it's thanks to this program that he got a roof over his head and an access to education.
Thomas didn't have the energy or time to care about what his coworker thinks of him. He needed money and access to the Internet since in a few days, he was going to pass an exam at the local school.He saved up his paycheck by splitting it in 3. The first 400€ went to get a smartphone and a phone subscription. The next 400€ went into clothes and basic necessities. The last 400 and the rest of the other parts went into savings. He was lucky he didn't need to worry about bills and rent for those two months but he had to quickly find a place to stay and the only place he could think of was the "Academy for Future Adventurer". It was the biggest and most popular Academy of the world and the central place of the plot for the 3 first volumes.
It wasn't ideal since this place was about to get very chaotic in the couple of next years but the chaos should only affect the "Adventurer" promotion, the others promotions were never truly affected by whatever happened since they really didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. Thomas planned to get into the first year for general education and transfer at the end of the first year.
Who would blame a student trying to get away from a place that keeps getting hit with terrorist attacks ? thought Thomas as he was laying in his bed.
He was currently scrolling on the different programs and opportunities the Academy offered. For an entire month, Thomas had to cram every subject he could for the upcoming exam. Thankfully, math and physics didn't change much, he had to learn new concepts since magic now is a thing and could make things go crazy. History had to be brushed up a bit since a couple of events happened in 150 years. Funnily enough, COVID happened in this world too. He was not 100% ready but he believed he could pass at least at the very bottom. It's been years since he had to truly study.
During his study time, the Internet was going crazy about some kind of world wide conspiracy but thankfully, the admins of the networks quickly shut it down and blocked the trolls.
No matter the world and era, people still believed in strange things, chuckled Thomas before laying down his phone and tucked himself in his bed.
For the past two months, he kept having these strange 'hallucinations,' if you could call them that, every time he was about to fall asleep. Thomas believed it was just the stress since he does remember having those when he was sick in the past or very tired but their frequency was alarming. A quick research on the Internet didn't yield any result and the waiting list to get a doctor was practically full, he did sign up for one but he has to wait for the next year. He grimaced and shut his eyes thigh, he put his arm over his ear and used the cushion to shut the other one. Whatever was happening was not normal and it scared him. He took a deep breath and exhaled. Slowly but surely, he ignored whatever was happening around him and lured himself into slumber.
Today was the day that determined his future and he was not ready. Since he woke up, his stomach chose this day to make itself known, the coffee tasted weird and he could barely walk straight without having the sole of his foot dragged itself against the floor, nearly making him stumble.
At least he arrived on time in front of the gate of the "Academy for Future Adventurer", in a corner of his mind he was slapping himself for having named it that way. In his story, the Academy was described as a huge palace, its walls were made of white bricks with rows of big windows on the side, giving a clear view of its halls. The roof was made of red tiles contrasting sharply with the walls. The entire premises was closed by a brick wall and the only access was a metal gate. It looks like a stereotypical romcom school at first glance but the entire place was covered in enchantment and barriers.Thus making it 'one of the safest palaces in the world". Seeing it in real life felt strange, he felt all kinds of emotions that he couldn't explain.
It was 8:00 AM and the front gate was buzzing with people. The exam started at 8:30 so Thomas, being the 'calm' person he is, power walked toward his classroom but not before checking out a nearby map. He had to go to the 3rd floor in the East Wing. This reassured him because the exam with the main characters was in the West Wing where the Main Character, the Hero, Luke Evans was going to showcase his power in front of his peers, the main heroines and the teachers. Nothing special really.
The walk took him 10 minutes, he had to weave between people and force himself to move forward because he was about to gawk at people around him. It was his first time seeing dwarves and elves. Where he lived and worked, he only saw other humans but here he got the opportunity to finally see more of his creations. Dwarves were smaller than humans but sturdier. Elves were leaner and slightly taller than humans.The air around them was also different. Maybe it was his impression but he could feel like something was wrong, they gave off strange vibes around them.
"Welcome everyone ! Today is the day !" shouted a teacher. He was standing on his podium, overlooking the class. He didn't look special. He wore a white shirt with a red tie. He had black square glasses on his face, his beard was trimmed and his hairs combed back.
"Each of you will have 4 hours to complete the exam ! I hope you came prepared because there is no bathroom break ! If you need more paper just raise your hand and wait !"
This caused him to double take. He looked around and saw that everyone came prepared which meant they had drinks and sweets. He wanted to slap himself for forgetting such a basic thing.The exam subject was being passed around by his assistant and Thomas was one of the last to get the papers because he was sitting at the very back of the classroom.
"It's 8:30. You can turn your paper around and read the subject," he didn't even finish his sentence when every other student turned the paper and started the exam, " at 12:30 you will have to put down your pen."
Slightly later than the others, he turned his paper around and discovered the subject of the exam. He turned it back once, twice and thrice. It didn't change. It was a dissertation. Thomas looked up at the other participants and saw them writing. He turned back to his paper.
This plan was stupid, he complained.
"3! 2 ! 1 ! Put down your pen and one by one please put your paper on the desk and exit the classroom."
Thomas let his pen drop on the table. He barely had time to finish it. His hands were sweating and his brain hurt. He swore at himself for participating in this. At the moment, it truly felt like a good idea but now Thomas was reconsidering his entire life. He leaned back against his chair and breathed. He heard a couple of snickers from the other participants but he ignored them. What could he do in this situation ? He put himself in it and now he had to pray. He couldn't even remember what he wrote or the subject but he knew it was something stupid. At least to him.
As the person in front of him put down their papers, signed the form and left, Thomas compared his stack of paper to the others.
They are not human ! Who can write 20 pages on that !! he thought loudly
His stack of paper was made of 5 meager pages. The bare minimum asked by the exam. He saw his chances to get into the school dropping so low that even a miracle wouldn't save him. He hoped that his ancestors didn't follow him in this world and stayed where they were. When he saw it was his turn, he stood up and put his papers on top of the others and signed. As he was about to leave, the teacher's voice stopped him.
"Number 186. Don't worry too much. Your special situation will be taken into account." said the teacher with a soft smile, " you are evaluated differently from the others so they will be more lenient with you."
He knew it was said to reassure him but a part of him was hurt. Did he fail so hard that a teacher needed to reassure him ? He didn't want to know. He muttered a thank you and left the classroom then the Academy in the direction of his motel room.
2 weeks after the exam, Thomas received his results in his mail box. He was ranked 300 out of 300 in the general course and 500/500 in the Academy. Funnily enough, he was entitled to a scholarship