Author's Reincarnation in a Fantasy Setting

I woke up the next day a little earlier than usual, specifically because I didn't want to be late. I followed my daily routines, dressed up in the academy uniform, and left my dorm room.

On my way, I stopped at the cafeteria to grab a quick breakfast and then headed over to the Mains.

Entering the class I saw that most of the students had already arrived and only a handful of seats were empty even though a whole fifteen minutes were remaining before the start of the exam.

I guess everyone was more serious about this than I thought.

Moving quietly I went to my seat and helped myself down. I sat there with nothing to do, unlike the other students who carried notes with them and were doing last-minute revisions right now.

I wouldn't have done this even if I did have notes. I was against this technique in my previous life too, as I believed doing last-minute revision made you forget what you knew beforehand due to the force-feeding of information.

Thus I looked out of the minute and glanced at the wall clock then and now as I waited for the exam to start.

A while later when the clock ticked 10, Ryfin entered the classroom with a stack of papers in his hands. He walked up to the teacher's table before the podium and dumped the papers there.

Afterward, he called the students according to the pattern they were sitting in and distributed the question papers and answer sheets, thus marking the start of the written exam.

It was two hours before the exam came to an end and Ryfin took the answer sheets back from the students, indifferent to whether they were done writing or not. When he stopped to take my sheet I'd say he had a rather disappointed look when he looked at it. Maybe he was expecting too much from me.

Along with the other students, I left the class and walked in the corridor as I headed toward the hall for the practical exam.

My written exam went fairly well, and I was satisfied with it. The question paper was divided into three parts; the first continued discussion of theories related to magic and incantations, the second one had questions and formulas regarding runes and magic circles, and the third part was based on mathematics.

Keeping in mind that I had perfect zero notes and skipped a lot of classes, my exam had done better than I expected. There were no regrets lingering inside of me.

I was walking in the corridor among the crowd of students who were also headed to the same destination. It was when I was going through a garden that stood midway when I heard someone call my name and felt a hand on my shoulder.

Turning back to look I saw it was a girl, a girl I didn't know.

***

Standing inside the hall I was waiting for Mr. Halls to come and for the exam to begin, and so were the rest of the students. Since I had no friends to talk to, I was standing still at my place, but then I noticed Anya.

She was alone as of now, which was rather unusual since these days she was spending most of her time with Ellyn and Leon. I guess the main cast had to come together even if I prevented her from forming a romantic relationship with Leon.

'The power of plot is terrifying,' I thought as I approached her.

"How did your exam go?" I asked, standing beside her.

"Ah, Zero,' she turned to look at me. "It was good I think. What about you?"

"Eh, I'll say well too, although I think I'll be falling below average."

"But you are good at studying, aren't you?"

"You can say I got careless and messed up. Leave that, so you have decided to take the practical exam too?" I asked, even though I knew the answer.

"Yeah. I thought what reason did I have to not go?"

"Well, there are monsters."

"Are you mocking me?" she said, then burst into a small laugh. I knew better than anyone else that she had nothing to worry about the monsters. Still, I wanted to make sure she was confident.

"I know you won't have any trouble. But if a situation did occur, choose your life over points," I said.

[Hmm, someone's getting worried about their sister?] Req, a voice resounded in my head, she had a teasing tone to it.

'Shut up.'

We would have talked for a bit longer, but it was the time when Mr. Halls stepped inside the hall. He walked up to the mic and tapped on it to gather the attention of all the students.

"Now, we will be commencing the practical exam. You will be teleported to an uninhabited island. For the next three days, you will have to survive there on your own and try to find and complete the hidden tasks. Once the exam is over, we will teleport you back here. That's all, if anyone wants to ask something, raise your hand."

No one did. "Good. Stand still, we will be teleporting you now," he said and stepped backward.

A few seconds later a magic circle, big enough to cover the entire floor of the hall, appeared below our feet and shone bright pink. The rays coming from the circle enveloped my body, completely bleaching my vision.

I felt nauseous for a split second as if I had lost and regained consciousness at the same time, then the scenery before my eyes changed and I found myself standing below the vast, clear blue sky.

I looked around to get a clear understanding of my surroundings. There was sand below my feet and it covered the outskirts of the island we were on. After that started the greenery and a forest that covered the entire island. At the center of the forest, the land rose, and there were three mountains each a bit smaller than the other.

'Well, this certainly is an uninhabited island. The scenery matches the description given in the novel,' I thought to myself.

By this time the other students were also done assessing their surroundings and were starting to run off into the forest. Since there was no use waiting here, I also followed the lead and headed off within the shadow of the trees.