"Ok, everyone, before I end class, I have one last thing to tell you all," McGaron announced after telling his students to gather. "As I'm sure you all should already know, next week is the official start of the mid-year exams." He looked around at his students, frowning at the sight of some of their confused and panicked expressions. Ignoring the murmurs and whining that had erupted from the group of students, McGaron continued talking. "Well, to the people who are just now learning about this. The mid-year exams, like the entrance exams, are divided into a written portion and a physical portion. I can't say much about the written portion of your exams, as your other teachers should have gone over them with you already. What I can tell you is the general outline of your physical exam." The student's discussion grew louder, slowly drowning out McGaron's voice.
"If you don't all quiet down, I'm leaving without telling you jack shit about the upcoming exam!" he yelled. The gymnasium fell silent. "Good. Ahem. Your physical exam starts a week after the written exam, which is exactly one month from now. The exam is divided into three parts. The first part is the survival test, where you'll enter a designated low-tier rift and have to survive in it. The length of this depends on which rift you're assigned to. You'll be graded on how well you survive in the rift and how long you last. You can bring anything you want into the rift and do whatever it takes to complete the test. However, I'm warning you that you're being monitored, and certain actions will be penalized with up to and including expulsion. I shouldn't need to tell you what actions will be penalized, right?" McGaron asked, pointing at Kor's outstretched hand.
"Do we get to keep anything we get in the Rifts?" Henodded.
"Yes, like previous tests, any materials you managed to harvest in the Rifts are yours to keep. Any other questions?" He looked around to see if anyone had any questions. Seeing none, McGaron continued. "The second part of the exam takes place a week after the first, and it's what I like to call the gauntlet. You'll be put into a room and have to fight a gradually increasing gauntlet of monsters. After each fight, you can either continue or take a thirty-minute break. Yes, Neomi?"
"Is there a limit to how many breaks we can take, or is it unlimited?"
"Good question, Neomi." He said with a smile, pleased with her question, while Neomi beamed at the compliment. "You only get a total of three breaks, after which you are forced to keep fighting either until you complete all twenty fights or you are unable to continue. For this portion of the exam, you are only graded on how many fights out of twenty you can complete. So, even though you can pull out at any time, I suggest you keep going, even if you're not sure you can win the next fight. As there is always a chance that you have the right set of skills to kill the next monster easily. Yes, Crystal?"
"Are the monsters we're going to fight random, or are they set beforehand?"
"Good question, Crystal. Each monster you are going to face is randomly chosen from a small pool of available options, with each subsequently one coming from a pool of slightly stronger options. Though to make things fair, every monster, even the twentieth one you fight, will never be impossible for you to kill. So if a fight seems impossible, take some time to think of your available courses of action, as you're most likely missing something. Any other questions about this portion of the exam?" When it was clear no one was going to speak up, he continued talking.
"The last portion of the physical exam is the colosseum test, or as the faculty likes to call it affectionately, the tournament arc. This test takes place a few days after the end of the second portion of the exam and during the academy's business festival. From the confused looks I'm seeing, I figured this is news to some of you. Which is understandable, as unless you're going into a career involving a craft like potion brewing, you probably don't know what the business festival is. To put it simply, it's an event designed to allow students working on a craft to showcase their skills to potential investors, employers, and customers. I recommended that during the event, if you don't have an upcoming fight, explore the festival and see what your fellow students have to offer. Though if that's not to your taste, there is always the option to watch the other students' matches while you wait. Yes, Sera?"
"Uhm, won't this interfere with the students participating in the business festival?"
"An understandable question. One that I can't answer." McGaron said with a what can you do shrug.
"W-w-what?" Sera muttered, shocked at his answer, along with his nonchalant tone.
"I'm not part of the group that organizes the business festival, and the way they do it is different every year. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, because they typically have everything planned out by the end of the first portion of the physical exam. Sorry, but that's pretty much all I can say about the subject."
"Oh, I-it's ok, sir. S-sorry to put you on the spot." He waved Sera's concerns away.
"Nah, it's fine. Though I do suggest asking one of your alchemy teachers for more information when you can."
"O-oh, o-ok, sir!"
"Does anyone else have any other questions about this topic? No? Ok, where was I? Oh yeah, the colosseum test. Ahem." He cleared his throat in his closed fist. "During the test, we'll use your combat abilities and your scores in the previous two portions of the exams to randomly assign you an opponent with similar scores to you. You'll then fight your opponent in one-on-one combat until either one of you surrenders or is unable to continue fighting. We'll continue pairing winners with each other until only one person emerges victorious. For this test, you are only scored based on how well you fight in your best match. Meaning even if you lose in the first round, you still can get full marks in this test." McGaron paused to let out a deep sigh. "I didn't really want to say this, but I'm forced to by the headmaster. The colosseum test holds very little weight in your overall grade for the physical exam, and your scores for the previous two portions will be given to you the day before this one starts." Confused murmurs filled the area. "Yes, Crystal?"
"Did the headmaster really tell you to say that?"
"Yup, if it were up to me, none of you would find out your final exam grade until after it's fully done. As for why the headmaster thinks it's a good idea to tell you ahead of time, I don't have the foggiest clue." The gym quickly quieted down after his confession. "Now that doesn't mean you should slack off if you managed to get a good score in the first two portions of the exam. I know what you might think. Why should I bother with this gladiatorial blood sport? Well, as an incentive to give it your all, the academy is handing out prizes for the top ten competitors." The students erupted into murmurs. McGarons waited for them to quiet down.
"The prizes are divided like this. Tenth to ninth place gets one thousand Credits, eighth to seventh gets five hundred Credits worth of potions or alchemic ingredients, in addition to the previous reward. Sixth to fifth place gets a luxury artifact that can be worth up to two thousand Credits from the Enchanter's Guild, in addition to the previous rewards. Ugh, you get the gist by now, so I'm just going to say the unique prizes from now on. Fourth gets a custom weapon from the academy's own weaponsmiths. Some terms and conditions apply." He quickly and silently coughed the last part into his fist. "Ahem, my bad, must be the cold air in here."
"Right, the cold air."
"For the top three," he continued, ignoring the student's comment. "I need to give you some context before I can tell you the rest of the prizes. You see, the academy has something we call the vault, a secure location where we store rare and valuable items. The items in the vault are graded on a scale of one to ten, with one being the most common item, while ten is the rarest. But don't misunderstand, even items graded one can be sold for a small fortune." He looked around and let out an amused chuckle, knowing he had his students' full attention. "Third place can select any grade one to four item in the vault. This can range from rare materials from Rifts that the academy had purchased from our students to expensive artifacts that the academy has acquired over the years, mostly donated by the Enchanters' Guild. Second place can select any items, grades five to nine. This range includes boss cores and loot from high-tier Rifts, legacy artifacts from past students, and potions brewed by our faculty. Yes, Alex?"
"Why is the vault a thing? Why would the acadamy choose to have one?"
"Ah, that's an interesting question, one that I can luckily answer. You see, the vault first started as a storage location, somewhere secure where the acadamy can store the things we buy from our students. Throughout the years, the number of items in the vault continued to grow at a faster rate than they were being removed. Eventually, it got to the point where the fault was too small to hold everything. It was around this time that the acadamy was being renovated, so the headmaster figured they might as well build a new, bigger and more secure vault. This is also when they finally organized and graded the items, making it easier for people to find what they are looking for. Of course, despite the issue of organization and space being resolved, a new vault didn't change the fact that more things are being put in than taken out. We tried many solutions, including selling some things, auctioning others, giving them to students to use in classes and even donating items to some of the guilds. This managed to make a decent dent in the number of items in the vault. However, it also resulted in the more valuable items being left behind. Items that we find wasteful to have just sitting around collecting dust. So the headmaster came up with a brilliant idea. Can any of you guess what it was?"
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"Giving them out as prizes?" Alex answered, skepticism and disbelief clear in his tone.
"Correct! The headmaster came up with the idea to use items in the vault as prizes for certain events, like the mid-year exams."
"Isn't that a bit wasteful?" Alex couldn't help but ask. McGaron shrugged.
"Any more wasteful than letting some of the items rot or collect dust in the vault? Who can say? It's not like the acadamy is strapped for Credits, so if anyone can afford to do this, it's us. And if anyone has any complaints or alternate ideas, they haven't brought them up yet."
"I...See." That was all Alex could say to McGarons' answer.
"Any other questions? No? Hmm, where was I? Oh yeah. Ahem, finally, for the first-place winner, they would get the honour of selecting any grade ten item from the vault. Some things you can get can range from some of the rarest Boss cores in the vault, potions that take decades to brew, and even items from the headmaster's personal collection that he managed to acquire throughout his years of exploring and conquering Rifts." McGaroned looked around and nodded, pleased to see the burning determination in his students' eyes. "Well, that's still some time away, so don't get too stressed worrying about the colosseum test. Just continue your training, and I'm sure you'll all ace this, no matter how many wins you manage to achieve. Now, I've taken enough of your time; you're all dismissed." He paused, remembering something he had almost forgotten. "Except for you, Alex." He said while pointing at the teen. "Stay behind for a little longer, I have something to discuss with you."
"Ooooooo, someone's in trouble." Mari teased with a mischievous grin. Alex rolled his eyes and flicked her on the forehead, causing her to yelp in surprise. "Hey! What was that for?"
"For being childish," Crystal answered for him. "Also, I doubt Alex is in any trouble; if he were, the instructor would have sounded a lot angrier when he told him to stay behind." The other students in their five-man group nodded in agreement.
"Should we wait up for you?" Asked Jack. Alex shook his head.
"We're still going to the arcade you showed us?" Jack nodded. "In that case, you guys can go ahead. I'll meet you all there once I'm done here. I doubt it will take that long." Bidding the other teens goodbye, Alex walked to McGarond, who was waiting for him. "You wanted to talk to me about something, instructor?" He nodded.
"Yes, and it pains me to say this, but we have to restrict your use of the trick you do with the safety encmements." Alex furrowed his brow in confusion, not completely sure he wasn't mishearing him.
"Can I ask why?" McGaron let out an anouyted sigh.
"Some of the faculty members and students raised some concerns about fairness," He said in a mocking tone while making air quotes. "And safety."
"Do they know about my regeneration and skills in healing magic?"
"Yeah, but that quietened a small handful of them. Which still left enough where the headmaster can't just wave their concerns away, despite how much he wants to."
"Why would they want to restrict me?"
"Can't really say for sure, but my best guess is jealousy."
"Jealousy?"
"You see, regeneration as strong as yours is quite rare, and many would consider it an unfair advantage that you can rely on it to bypass the losing condition that is the safety enchantments that other students have to worry about."
"Oh." McGaron patted his shoulder.
"On the bright side, you can still use your trick in the Rift survival portion of the physical exam if you want to. And I'm confident you're strong enough to ace the gauntlet with little to no hassle, even without your regeneration. As for the colosseum test, how well you do will depend on how reliant you are on your regeneration against another fellow student and how lucky you are when getting assigned an opponent. So what do you say? Think you can do well without relying on your regeneration? If not, I can talk to the headmaster and see if we can get something arranged." Alex shook his head.
"No need, I already have plans made in case my regeneration gets negated or weakened. Though, can I ask, why do you care if I can use my regeneration or not?"
"Because it's part of you." He answered with a smile. "You should have the right to use it. I also find it absurd to limit someone's abilities because others don't have it. With that logic, why don't we restrict the spell caster's ability to cast spells, because not everyone can do it? Or how much strength a brawler can use because not everyone is as strong as they are?" He let out a tired sigh. "The gist of what I'm trying to say is that in a real fight, your opponent isn't going to limit themselves for fairness, so you shouldn't train as if they would."
"Hmm, I can agree with that." Alex nodded in understanding.
"I knew you would," He chuckled. "Well, with you agreeing to forgo using your trick, there isn't much else for me to say. Besides this." McGaron took out his phone and texted something. "And sent."
"What did you do?"
"Sent you a list of the available Rifts for the upcoming exploration portion of the exam." Alex's eyes grew wide in surprise.
"They're using stable Rifts for the exams?" Stable Rifts, Rifts that have firmly secured onto a Realm, meaning they won't disappear even after the thing maintaining it is destroyed. Stable Rifts require a few conditions, meaning not all Rifts can become one. That, along with the fact that no one should know the requirements to create a Stable Rift, meant that Alex was quite surprised that the acadamy had more than one.
"Of course! We need to send people ahead of time to set up surveillance and other artifacts. How else do you expect us to monitor over a hundred students all at the same time?"
"By," Alex paused and thought it over. "Huh, you got me there."
"Well, anyway, as I was saying earlier. What I sent you was the list of the potential Rifts we would be sending students into. To compensate for the fact that we are limiting your abilities somewhat, the headmaster decided to let you choose which Rift you would go to for the exploration portion of the exam."
"I don't know what to say." McGaron let out a hearty laugh.
"Don't worry about it. We're just doing what we think is fair. Just reply with which Rift you want to go to a day before the exploration exams start at the latest, and we'll handle the rest." McGaron was about to dismiss Alex before something came to mind. "Oh, one more thing. Although the list may be of little help to anyone else, I still wouldn't suggest showing it to others. The headmaster is putting a lot of trust into you by giving you the list, and I wouldn't squander that if I were you." Alex nodded.
"I understand." McGaron nodded, pleased with his answer.
"Great! I don't want to take too much of your time. You may go now." Bidding his instructor goodbye, Alex quickly left to catch up with the others. Rushing to his house to freshen up, Alex thought about his discussion with McGaron.
'What do you think, Silk?' He thought out loud.
-Sci scri-
'Yeah, none of this was in the original TTRPG nor in the video game.' In the TTRPG, the mid-year exam was only briefly mentioned in lore books, along with tips on how GMs can implement it in their campaigns, while the novels would skim over the event, if they even mention it at all. Due to the lack of info on the mid-year exam in the source material, it was decided we would implement a PvP-like event in Rifts for this portion of the story for the video game. So saying Alex was caught off guard when McGaron started explaining what the mid-year exam would entail would be a major understatement.
-Sri Scir?-
'I'm not sure what it means, especially with the next game event scheduled to occur around the time the mid-year exams end.' The fact that the mid-year exams aren't originally a game event should mean that Alex has nothing to worry about them and can mostly ignore them, to better prepare for an actual game event. The problem Alex is facing is that the mid-year exams, or more specifically, the physical portion of them, are clearly grand enough that Alex can't dismiss them altogether as something not worth focusing on.
-Sri Sch Sca?-
'The possible game events that could occur in chapter one are infiltration, riot, or slaughter.' Infiltration is a game event where a low-level enemy organization or group sneaks into the acadamy to accomplish a goal. This could include the kidnapping of a valuable student, which typically is an NPC you added to your party, an assassination of a faculty member to prevent certain information from leaking or being made public, or the smuggling of an artifact for a future, higher-level game event.
Riot is a game event where a large-scale battle occurs in the acadamy. This can happen in three ways. The first is that a Rift opens up, and the students have to fight the monsters spewing out of it long enough for the teachers to close it. The second is that a powerful monster with the ability to manipulate minds takes control of the majority of the student body, forcing the remaining to fight their former classmates until the acadamy can find and deal with the monster. Lastly, similar to infiltration, a low-level enemy organization or group sneaks into the acadamy to accomplish a goal that involves them attacking the students.
The last possible game event that can occur in chapter one is slaughter. Slaughter is the simplest and most sadistic game event the GM can choose from the three. To put it simply, slaughter involves the mass death of either the enemy or the students. Unlike with infiltration or riot, which have multiple ways to win, the only way a slaughter game event ends is if one side is annihilated. Funny enough, with how it works, GMs typically only use slaughter game events in easy, mostly story-driven campaigns or hardcore ones. Meaning they are rarely used for any campaigns between the two extremes.
-Scin Src?-
Silk's comments caused Alex's pace to slow down. 'I'm not sure what it would mean if we do encounter a slaughter game event.' He admitted with a mental tilt of his head. First off, Alex doubted whether encountering a slughaugher game event or not would indicate how difficult future events would be. It's clear at this point that the reality he is living in differs from the TTRPG and video game that he remembers, and that relying solely on his older self's knowledge can have dire consequences. Also, unlike in the TTRPG, his fellow students aren't just nameless NPCs made to fill numbers, but instead actual people who are trained to and strong enough to fight monsters. Along with how strong the teachers are, from what he can tell, Alex really doubts that even if he encounters a slaughter game event, the academy would be on the losing side.
-Sca Sca-
'You're right, there isn't much point in worrying about it right now. All I need to do is prepare for the worst-case scenario, and I should be able to live long enough to get to the next chapter.'
-Scre Scra?-
'Yeah, I have a few Traits in mind once my Trait limit finally does increase. However, I'm unsure if I should focus on offensive, survivability or utility Traits. What do you think?' Reaching his house, Alex took the time to freshen up while he gave Silk some time to think.
-Schra-
Silk finally answered right as Alex left his house and started making his way to the arcade. 'You have a point there. I already have a Boss core that can upgrade my regeneration, so I might as well prioritize that once I reach chapter two.'
-Scir Cris Scir-
That could work, but it has some issues. How about this? I upgraded my regeneration as soon as possible. Then I'll use the upcoming exams and game event, if there is one, to see what kind of Trait I need, based on the types of issues I struggle with.'
-Scri Scra!-
'Good, it seems we've got a rough plan in place.' As the duo arrived at the arcade, they decided to put off refining their plans until later. Entering the arcade, Alex found the others at the dance machine. Joining his friends, Alex was happy to let his worries fade away and enjoy the brief rest when he could.
REALMS GM Online Guide written by HappyHappy(Banned)
Game Events
