"Excuse me, are you Junior Holland?"
Just as Brand was waiting somewhat irritably for the long line to slowly inch forward, a young, melodious voice called out from behind him.
Brand turned his head and saw a female student lined up behind him. She had a slightly mature face, waist-length chestnut hair, and wore a silver Mage Robe. Judging strictly from her appearance, she seemed a few years older than Brand. Although she knew him, Brand didn’t recognize her. Of course, whether they knew each other or not wasn’t a very important matter.
Since the long line was moving at a snail’s pace and he had nothing better to do, Brand struck up a conversation with the senior student.
Smiling faintly, he said, "Hello. I’m very glad to meet such a beautiful lady in this boring queue. I’m Brand Holland. May I ask how I should address you?"
Seeing Brand’s gentle, friendly, and strikingly handsome smile, the girl blushed shyly before quickly returning the smile.
"I’m Jenny Cross. I’m currently one year ahead of you."
Upon hearing the name of the Cross family, Brand formed a rough guess about this senior’s identity. In the Kaya Empire, Brand clearly remembered the names of any noble family with even a shred of reputation. That was one of the few strict requirements imposed by Elder Master Holland. Brand and his older brother, Yelsen, had known them by heart since they were children.
Brand was especially familiar with the Cross family, as the Holland Viscount’s Domain and the Cross Viscount’s Domain were separated by only a single territory. Although his memories were a bit hazy, he was quite certain that he had played in the Cross family’s domain when he was little. If he remembered correctly, their main industry was animal husbandry. Next to their castle was a massive pasture; in fact, the Beast Milk Brand drank every morning was mostly purchased from the Cross family.
Though many thoughts raced through his mind, only a split second had passed in reality. Knowing that this senior was from the Cross family, Brand asked curiously, "If I may ask, what is your relationship with Viscount Edman Cross?"
Jenny replied, "He is my father."
Hearing Jenny Cross state that she was Edman Cross’s daughter, Brand feigned a look of surprise. He said, "Although it’s been a while since I last saw Viscount Cross, I still remember his majestic appearance as he galloped on his warhorse during last year’s hunt. However, I don’t think I saw you there at the Time."
"I was still at the academy then. It’s truly a pity that I didn’t get to see you."
Hearing Brand praise her father’s "heroic bearing," Jenny Cross’s face grew even redder. If Brand had possessed a system interface, he probably would have heard a notification chime indicating that this senior’s approval rating was skyrocketing.
"Seeing as you don’t look like you’re here to study today, are you planning to borrow some reference materials? Tell me about it; maybe I can help."
Because Brand was empty-handed—unlike her, who was holding two textbooks—it was easy to assume he wasn’t there for self-study. This left Jenny feeling slightly puzzled. Brand had no intention of hiding anything, so he explained his plan to borrow past exam papers for the elective courses. Get faster updates on novelping dot com.
Hearing this, Jenny Cross nodded in understanding. She, too, had once searched the Library for past final exam questions just like him. However, her search had been highly targeted, unlike Brand, who was prepared to browse through the exam papers of every single elective.
She offered, "My main focus back then was Magical Beast Taming. If you’re planning to take that exam, I could certainly tutor you a bit."
Jenny Cross quickly recalled the contents of the Magical Beast Taming exam she had taken at the end of her first semester and shared her personal experiences regarding the test.
Upon learning that the exam required attempting to tame a Low Level Magical Beast, Brand frowned deeply. He immediately crossed the Magical Beast Taming elective off his mental list.
There was absolutely no shortcut for that!
Just as Brand was frowning, a senior female student in front of him happened to glance back. Seeing his furrowed brows made her heart clench, and she subconsciously felt the urge to solve any problem this handsome junior might have.
"Are you discussing the final elective exams for the first semester? My main focus back then was Alchemy and Potion Making!"
This senior was very outgoing and immediately began explaining what she had seen and experienced during her own Alchemy Potion elective exam.
After a harmonious and pleasant conversation, Brand learned that the Alchemy and Potion Making exam was a practical test on Potion preparation techniques. Deep down, he crossed that elective off his list as well.
Time always flew by during pleasant moments. Since it was finally his turn in line, Brand regretfully brought the lively chats to an end. He noted down the contact addresses of both seniors and promised to visit them for a chat whenever he had free Time.
Entering the Library, Brand saw it was quite crowded. Not wanting to waste any Time, he headed straight for the section housing the "Past Years’ Authentic Exams." After spending a staggering two Magic Gold Coins to have the academy’s Magic reference duplication area copy a set of past exam papers, he hurriedly left the bustling Library.
Potion preparation techniques? Already ruled out.
Magic Potion harvesting techniques? Ruled out!
Rune drawing? Didn’t know how.
Casting Magic Arrow? This one he could probably try to learn, but what if Magic Arrow wasn’t on the exam? Ruled out as well!
...
After a round of filtering, Brand regretfully found that every single one of these subjects had been eliminated.
It made sense when he thought about it. The Simulation World offered him limited help; right now, it functioned as little more than an oversized database, whereas the elective secondary profession exams tested practical application. At least for now, Brand hadn’t found any way to take an "open-book shortcut" on the elective exams.
He thought, "It looks like there’s no hope of doing it like the compulsory course exams. I’ll just have to see if there are any subjects that can be crash-coursed."
Although the remaining Time was only six short days, Brand was still prepared to try and quickly learn an elective subject. If that truly failed, he would resort to his last-ditch method of rapidly advancing his rank.
After conducting a more detailed screening among the past exam papers of the numerous elective courses, Rune Array Science finally entered his consideration. Not for any other reason, but simply because the scope of this elective’s exam was incredibly narrow.
After compiling and analyzing the exam questions from previous years, Brand was surprised to discover that the first semester’s Rune Array Science exam simply cycled repeatedly between drawing Rune No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3.
It was highly probable that this year’s Rune Array Science exam would once again be drawing one of these three Runes.
Compared to the broad and extensive scopes of other elective exams, Rune Array Science, with its pool of merely three possible questions, undoubtedly stood out.
Brand felt that his chances were excellent!