Chapter 138: Fighting on Two Fronts
Everything was different from her past life; back then, the test venues mostly consisted of classrooms. However, at Coleman Academy, the examination rooms weren’t confined to just the Divine Son or Sacred Maiden classrooms—they had their own dedicated spaces.
Divine Sons had one examination hall, Sacred Maidens another. Alchemists and Mages each had their own separate examination areas, with the exam contents being wildly different, catering specifically to each group.
The location and internal facilities of the exam venues were fully equipped, offering candidates the best possible conditions to achieve their optimal state, minimizing any external interference, ensuring that the scores accurately reflected their true abilities.
It was somewhat similar to the college entrance exams from her past life; if there was a barely noticeable hole in your desk, you could ask the teacher to switch it out for you.
The hourglass on the table was already halfway drained, signaling that only half of the examination time was left.
The quiet solemnity of the exam halls was permeated with a little tension, as all the students were meticulously focused on their answer sheets.
Just as some students began flipping to the second side of the exam paper, Tillysha had already reviewed her paper three times.
A draft sheet lay by her side, only a few numbers were jotted down on it, no working process evident at all.
After several checks, confirming there were no omissions or careless mistakes, Tillysha put her paper down, her attention shifting towards the adjacent Divine Sons’ examination room.
Right at this moment, the exam paper in front of the mannequin Dillin still remained a blank sheet.
Even Tillysha couldn’t guarantee the ability to think about one question while answering another without mistakes, so she hadn’t tried to tackle both papers simultaneously.
Now that the Sacred Maiden paper was done, it was the Divine Sons’ turn.
Ultimately, the team’s average score counted, so she had to devise ways to raise her team’s overall score.
So hard…so hard…
In stark contrast to Tillysha, Wenfu, the pink-haired kitty who’d been paired with her in the same examination hall, was sweating and looking quite frazzled.
Even after receiving personal tutoring from three distinguished instructors before the exam, Wenfu’s aptitude for learning was quite lacking, and time was too short for significant improvement.
Imagine spending years for what others have learned overnight; is that even possible?
Tillysha could only do a last-minute patch-up job, trying her best to help Wenfu score a couple more points; beyond that, there was nothing much she could do.
For instance, Wenfu was stuck on this particular question. She thought she could solve it, but again, after staring at it half-heartedly, her little kitty brain overloaded, and she forgot all the preceding steps.
After wasting more than ten minutes, the tough problem remained unsolved.
If it were Tillysha, what would she do? ….
Lifting her head, Wenfu noticed Tillysha sitting nonchalantly in the front row, already having finished her exam. She gasped in surprise.
Had Tillysha already finished?!
And only half the time was over… Impressive, Tillysha’s indeed incredible, she thought.
No, how could she possibly be such a burden to Tillysha?
With renewed determination, Wenfu picked up her pen. She remembered what Tillysha had told her: When you’re stuck on a question, don’t dwell on it; instead, check the other questions to see if there are any where you can earn points.
Realizing this, Wenfu let go of her current question and moved on.
“Huh?..” The invigilator, who was making rounds through the hall, paused momentarily as he passed Dillin.
He wondered if he had made a mistake; with half the time already gone, all he could see on this student’s paper was a name, nothing else.
To avoid disturbing Dillin, the teacher pretended to keep walking but kept his eyes fixed on him.
The teacher soon noticed that the male student was staring unblinkingly at the paper, unmoving like a statue. At first, it wasn’t unusual, but the longer he watched, the more strange it seemed – like he might as well be a wooden figure, lacking any sense of autonomy.
What’s wrong with this student? Not sleepy, but just sitting there doing nothing?
Unable to solve even a single question? Ridiculous! Even the first question was known to someone who wasn’t a Divine Son!
As the invigilator contemplated giving him a little hint to speed things up, suddenly the student came to life with energy. His formerly vacant eyes now brimmed with spirit, and he picked up his pen, writing furiously on the exam sheet as though a whirlwind had entered him.
The teacher watched in astonishment.
What exactly happened? Even after looking through the questions once, it shouldn’t have taken that long, right? Why has he suddenly started answering with this much fluency?
Did he deliberately choose to spend half the time thinking it through, feeling that it’d be unfair to other candidates to start too early?
Not only the invigilator but even John, who occasionally glanced in his direction, was shocked by Dillin’s sudden burst of enthusiasm.
By fate or sheer good luck, John and Dillin ended up in the same exam hall, but ever since entering, John had noticed that this young man had been behaving strangely.
Firstly, he outright ignored John’s greeting and sat down without a word, then he stared blankly at the question paper like a wooden statue, perplexing John on what could have gotten into him.
Had it not been for his sudden activity, John would have suspected that he’d been rejected by some girl again.
Soon, with only a sixth of the exam time left, the supervisor announced the fifteen-minute warning.
Dillin having finished his last question, set down his pen, and started going through his paper.
As the ringing bell announced the end of the exam, all the papers were collected.
There would be more exams later in the afternoon, so John closely observed Dillin throughout. He noticed an odd pattern in Dillin’s behavior—he remained silent and motionless during the first half of every exam, and then when half the time had passed, he would suddenly come to life and write furiously. This pattern was repeating itself.
Could this be the guy’s exam-taking habit? Spending half the time ‘charging up’ before starting?
Or does he intentionally let the other candidates have a thirty-minute head start since he feels his abilities are too overpowering?
John was starting to see through Dillin less and less.
With the exam period over, in a team-oriented setup, the students discussed the day’s papers among themselves in groups defined by their professions, a system conveniently avoiding the tension of comparing answers as everyone had taken different exams.
Except for the Brilliant Sun and Moon team.
“We’re back?” Tillysha and Dillin returned to Crown Villa in the evening, finding a forlorn kitty girl slumped on the sofa.
“Miss Wenfu?” After changing into slippers, Tillysha instructed her mannequin to head silently upstairs. Coming closer to Wenfu, she lightly poked her fluffy head with her fingers.
“Blubber… Blubber…” Wenfu emitted a pitiful sound, raising her tear-streaked, vacant eyes.
“Miss Tillysha, I’m sorry. I’ll probably drag everyone down…” Wenfu wept.
“Never mind, you can always try harder next time. We’ll help you come up with a study plan to boost your performance,” Tillysha said, soothingly rubbing Wenfu’s hair like a kitten.
“But… this time, my scores are likely to be very low…”
“How do you know?”
“Just now, Miss Filisia and Miss Aistride were comparing answers here…”
Ah… Tillysha understood.
Another victim of answer comparison.
After consoling Wenfu, Tillysha headed upstairs and just then bumped into Aistride coming down.
“Miss Aistride, are you satisfied with your performance?” Tillysha greeted her warmly.
“Yes, fair enough, how about you, Miss Tillysha?” Aistride nodded.
“As for me, I did only decently well. I’m not sure what exactly my marks will be, I just hope I’ll meet the team’s average score.”
“…” Listening to this conversation from the couch, the defeated Wenfu felt a pang of envy that almost made her cry again.
Tillysha finished her paper and reviewed it three times within half the exam time, and it was likely no different for Aistride.
For the first time in her life, Wenfu experienced what it was like to be academically bullied by top-tier students.
In that moment, Wenfu was curled up on the couch, hugging a cushion, her little white-socked feet gripping the cushion, her mouth nibbling at its corner, looking utterly dejected.
“By the way, Miss Tillysha,” Aistride hesitated for a moment, “My sister plans to visit our dormitory this afternoon, is that alright?”
“Ah, Miss Aistride’s younger sister? She must be a very adorable child,” guessed Tillysha.
“Yes, she’s quite a good child, usually well-behaved, but in certain aspects… If she says something out of line, please bear with her.”
“Of course.” As long as she didn’t break the rules or become overly boisterous and impolite, Tillysha felt she could tolerate a lot.
Today was the day of exams; though Wenfu might have gotten a bit muddled in her answers, she decided to celebrate the successes of her teammates by tying her special apron and cooking dinner.
After dinner, the doorbell rang. Tillysha, who was reading a book on the sofa, looked up.
Wenfu was washing dishes in the kitchen, Filisia was helping, and Aistride was in the upstairs library; thus, only Tillysha was available to answer.
“Coming, who is it?” she unlocked the gate using her identity card, a small figure appearing outside.
“Uh? Are you Miss Sophia?” Tillysha said, observing the hesitating figure outside.
Recognizing Tillysha, the silver-haired Elf girl with two ponytails, wearing white knee-high stockings and sandals, also seemed surprised. She double-checked the address on the card, the door number, then reassured herself before directing her hesitant gaze toward Tillysha, who greeted her with a smile.
“Why would the Champion be here?”
“Sophia’s question sounds a bit peculiar, doesn’t it? Without the Champion, could it still be called the Crown Villa?” Tillysha joked with a smile.
“Is this the Crown Villa?” She compared the address with the magnificent building located centrally in the residential area.
“Sorry, I guess I must be at the wrong place.”
“No, I believe you’re at the right place. You’re here to see Miss Aistride, correct?”
“Sister, is she here?”
“Ah, Miss Aistride didn’t mention it to you?” Tillysha pressed her hands against her knees and bent forward. “Your sister is now my teammate!”
“Don’t…get so close…” Sophia stepped back, showing slight panic as the doll-like golden hair and emerald green eyes came so near.
“Please come in,” Tillysha took a step back. “Miss Aistride told me that her sister would be visiting.”
Though, Sophia still hesitated to enter.
Tillysha tilted her head, observing the girl’s expression, realizing that she must be quite shy.
This child unexpectedly seems quite timid, Tillysha thought.
“Come on.” She extended her hand.
Sophia, for some unknown reason, recalled the golden figure who had saved her a month ago in Coleman Forest.
The Gold Elf…
Her eyes shifted to Tillysha’s clearly human ears, lowering her gaze slightly.
Elves have a strong intuition; she had felt the presence of the Gold Elf girl who had saved her from then on Tillysha multiple times.
But…
Tillysha definitely looks human, and the Gold Elf who saved her back was just a girl about her age, how could she become an adult in just a month?
Despite this, Sophia felt a peculiar sense of familiarity coming from Tillysha…
Shelving her doubts, Sophia reached out her hand and held Tillysha’s, stepping through the gate.
Feeling the faint warmth from Tillysha’s hand, walking behind her, Sophia unconsciously lifted her gaze to look at Tillysha’s sleek golden hair.
“Sophia has arrived, Miss Aistride,” Tillysha gently called out upstairs, ensuring the sound reached Aistride’s ears after finding a pair of slippers for Sophia that matched Aistride’s.
“Sophia…” Aistride descended from the second floor with a flash of surprise in her eyes upon seeing Sophia holding Tillysha’s hand.
“Miss Tillysha, it seems Sofia really likes you.”
“Huh?”
“Um…”
“Sophia, from young, never gets close to anyone except me.” Aistride gently observed Sophia, who lowered her head.
“To see her hand held by you at the very first meeting, this is the first time. It appears she really likes you.”
“Big sister, stop saying random things…” The Elven girl quickly withdrew her hand from Tillysha and turned her head away.
“Eh? So this is Miss Aistride’s younger sister?” Wenfu and Filisia in the kitchen also came out, greeting upon seeing this cute silver-haired Elven girl.
“……….” But Sophia completely ignored them. Seeing two strangers, Sophia immediately hid behind Aistride, not even glancing at them.
“Sophia, that behavior is quite impolite,” Aistride’s eyes showed a hint of helplessness.
Indeed, just as Aistride said, Sophia was truly shy.
The Sophia hidden behind Aistride quietly watched the golden-haired girl next to her, her face filled with a contemplative expression.
