Standing back in the original hall, both Raymond and Ellen had a massive ring of empty space around them.
Sometimes, Raymond didn't like his own enhanced stats. With it came better hearing which allowed him to overhear a decent amount of the conversations going on around them.
"A score over 100? No way he must have cheated!"
"But its the principal himself who said it!"
"Is it just me or does he look really handsome?"
"I know right? Does the Grace family only allow hotties?"
Raymond would have felt flattered at the last two if it weren't for the fact that he was technically way older then how he actually looked which made it weird.
'Does Ellen ever feel weird about how she's technically way older then everyone here right now?'
But being complimented on your looks was a nice thing after all. This disguise simply reverted his body to what he looked like when he was younger which meant they were complimenting on how he looked when he was younger.
That was his only source of joy. Right now he wanted more then nothing else but to shrink into some dark corner and just hide.
"The next part of the examination will be a battle royale held in the academy's arena. You will be dropped into a random location somewhere throughout the arena. There will be a border that slowly closes in around the arena, staying outside the border for longer then two and a half minutes will immediately have you eliminated. There will be several chests throughout the map with equipment and items inside. The closer to the middle you are, the better the loot."
Raymond desperately tried to act as indifferent to all of the staring and whispering. But considering practically everyone in their half was talking about him, it was really starting to affect him.
I mean if you're gonna whisper about someone in their vicinity at least don't point or stare at them so much!
"The border will close in onto the center until it reaches a certain size, then it will stop shrinking until only one person is left. Outside equipment is not allowed to be used. Outside help is not allowed. Any foul play will be detected and if caught you will immediately be eliminated and you will not be allowed to join the academy. Do I make myself clear?"
Lucius said that last sentence particularly louder. Although he also tried not to show it, Raymond could feel his eyes on him every once in a while.
"That is all, good luck everybody."
With that, he descended from where he was previously floating in the air again.
Honestly Raymond was pretty sure he only did that just to look cool.
Yawning slightly, he felt a massive surge of mana underneath him.
Looking down, he could see the previous marble flooring glowing brightly. Patterns he had previously assumed to be a stylistic choice shined with a brilliant blue light.
Quickly analyzing the spell, Raymond determined that it was just a teleportation spell.
He let his guard down slightly. Although it was unlikely for any demon attacks now. The main gang, Zachary in particular faced attacks from the demons basically every month sometimes even weekly.
They aimed to kill or cripple any potential threats in advance. Something which they luckily failed at most of the time.
Feeling the teleportation spell brush against him. He let it grasp ahold of him and teleport him into the arena.
Opening his eyes, he found himself surrounded by thick forest in every direction.
He instinctively almost manifested his staff but stopped himself. Outside equipment wasn't allowed.
Sighing, he raised his right hand in front of him and with a quick hand incantation. Cast a float spell on himself.
To think there would be a day where he would go back to doing hand incantations. Such a beginner technique which was suitable only for newbies and mages who lost their staffs, wands or whatever else they used.
A mage losing their staff was something that should never happen in the first place, Raymond had been taught from his numerous teachers to always value his staff like a child.
Slowly ascending, he stopped himself by grabbing a branch near the top of one of the trees and cancelled his float spell.
Looking around, the arena was as expected. A massive circular forest, in the middle was a large mountain with a flat top. Likely made for a fair dueling ground between the candidates.
Mentally marking the direction of the mountain, he jumped down the tree. Stopping himself at the last minute with another float spell and proceeded in the direction of the mountain.
Since he and Ellen already knew the layout roughly. Their plan was to meet up at the base of the mountain and team up. Something the rules allowed and even slightly encouraged.
His hands were tense, Raymond didn't want to cast a mana shield yet due to concerns about running out of mana. Even with his increased mana reserves from recently regaining his race bonuses, he was saving it in case of emergencies.
Luckily although he was a mage, his high level meant that his stats in everything else were above average.
Sensing a presence following him to his right, he acted as if he hadn't noticed them yet. While pretending to scratch an itch. He did an incantation with his hands in a spot they wouldn't be able to see.
'Ice Ray.'
Immediately he turned and held his palm out in the direction of the presence. Sending a beam of pure frost straight at them!
With his mana sense, he could detect the individual hastily jumping out of the way. Seeing them now out of hiding, Raymond could see a young black haired guy holding a simple wooden sword.
Looking at his appearance. Raymond nearly fell back out of sheer surprise.
'Holy f*ck! Why is Zachary here!'
The main protagonist himself. The one whom his entire novel 'The Hero Building System' had been based off of.
Seeing his messy black hair, gold eyes and handsome face. Raymond could tell instantly that he was the real deal.
His wooden sword now had a slight golden glow to it. A sign that he was already practicing his Sword Hero Arts from the system.
With his defensive stance and his gaze. He looked at Raymond with a look of pure bliss.
"How did you find me?"
He answered instinctively, "You were so loud and so not hidden dude. I could literally hear you step on so many dead leaves."
Taking a deep breath, he shifted his stance slightly. Holding his wooden sword in a two handed grip with the tip pointed at Raymond.
"You're strong."
"Yeah."
"I heard your potential score was over 100."
"Yeah."
He grinned like crazy. His hands holding the sword were trembling slightly in excitement.
This was the problem with battle maniacs and Zachary was the epitome of a battle maniac. His only hobbies were literally just training and fighting!
Digging through his memory, he recalled Zachary's current state. Right after awakening his system, he had gotten his revenge on all of his middle school bullies (because of course he did).
Afterwards however, he had essentially been in a bit of a limbo for a few months practicing and growing stronger for the academy entrance exam.
Basically, he was intensely starved of any real fighting. Discovering how strong Raymond was, he honestly wouldn't be surprised if his little junior brother was standing up from the excitement.
"Dude, I'm gonna be honest man. You really don't wanna fight me. Being eliminated too early isn't a good thing"
"I don't care."
...Battle maniacs.
Zachary had gotten a score of 379/ 512 in the original. Meaning he had just barely gotten the cut and made it into the academy.
This put him into the the lowest class. Class D, filled with basically the worst of the worst.
Looking at his current determined eyes, Raymond sighed to himself.
Was this the fate of a protagonist?
To carelessly disregard your future just for a temporary pleasure. Entering the lowest worst of the worst class in order to rise to the top and prove everyone wrong!
If Raymond wasn't aware that Zachary had a system, he might have shed a few tears seeing how hard of a life Zachary lived.
Not! This guy's system was even more busted then Raymond's!
Zachary's system had quests that would give rewards, a shop that sold skills, techniques and even had a hud showing his own status!
Raymond's system was much simpler on the other hand. He didn't have any system issued quests, system shop and he definitely didn't have a hud.
If he did have one though, how convenient it would be! Although he could always roughly tell how injured and how much mana was in his mana reserves. Having a bar which showed it exactly that was easily visible would be a massive convenience.
Despite the better system however, Raymond was still way stronger then Zachary at both their peak strengths.
To be fair, it wasn't really Zachary's fault for being weaker even with the better system.
To equate it into video game terms, the world of Terra they were in right now would be the same as a level 1-200 area.
Raymond's home dimension would be equivalent to a level 600+ area.
Raymond descending into this world was like a high level player going back to the starter regions in order to terrorize the new players.
As for Earth, it would be like the trade hub that any level player could go to. It wasn't exactly a high level dimension like Raymond's home dimension but it definitely wasn't a low level dimension like Terra.
'I miss my life on Earth. '
Everytime he thought of Earth he felt his heart pang with longing.
Feeling his own mood sour, he wanted nothing more right now then to just lay down with his eyes closed.
Looking at Zachary with his eyes full of battle spirit, Raymond knew he definitely wasn't going to leave him alone.
But if he eliminated Zachary now there was a chance he might not get into the academy from being eliminated too early.
Thinking of this dilemma, he quietly cast a spell on the ground in front of Zachary.
"Okay then, come at me. "
Zachary wasted no time upon hearing those words and charged at Raymond with his sword.
A slight golden sheen could be seen around Zachary, likely some sort of skill he had. His feet thundered towards Raymond, running at him with everything he had.
...and stepped right into the spell Raymond had casted earlier.
Instantly, a ring formed on the ground. Ice crawled up Zachary's legs and reached until his thighs. Along with his feet which were stuck frozen solid to the ground, Zachary was effectively immobilized.
Turning around, Raymond cast fleet footed on himself and ran away as fast as he could.
"Come back here and fight me Raymond! Dont run away like a coward! "
'Is this guy stupid?'
Hearing Zachary shout at him to stop running, Raymond almost wanted to turn around.
Turn around to give him a slap on the face!
Zachary should have felt grateful that Raymond didn't eliminate him right off the bat!
Raymond had even modified the trap he set to release him after an hour or so!
In the past 4 years since he was weakened he had been improving his ice magic skills. Dimension magic was more of a support magic discipline and time magic was difficult to explain to others.
Not to mention, in his current weakened state he could barely cast any magic other then a few basic spells for both.
So he brushed up the dust on his admittedly rusty ice magic and also tried to improve his skills in other magic disciplines like engraving and summoning magic but mainly focused on ice magic.
Seeing Zachary still stuck in the ice, desperately using his wooden sword to try and break free. He laughed at him for a little.
All of the effort he had put into ice magic had really paid off!