by William Hill
Technical language was still far away from him but Jason would just take one step after another.
At least his secret was kept hidden and getting a full score for his theoretical exam was almost completely sure.
Hoping to achieve a nice feat with his soul awakening, Jason was still slightly hopeful.
Awakening his soul was even more important than his first soulbond as he could also reject an extremely bad soulbond if his soul was too extraordinary or his soul energy too high.
If that was the case Jason had to ponder if he should loan money to purchase a good beast cub or egg at the beast pagoda.
But after dreaming for a bit he realized, that it was very unlikely for his soul to be something special as the chances were marginal.
Awakening a better soul wasn´t directly dependent on the parent's genes but the chances to awaken a better soul were higher when one's parents had decent souls.
Jason didn´t know anything about his parent's souls and he had never seen his mother's soulbonds which was somewhat suspicious but every time the young Jason asked his mother about her soulbonds she seemed to be sad and deep in thoughts, so Jason didn´t ask her after some time.
Nevertheless, Jason was still happy about his eyes getting cured and it distracted him from frustratingly thinking about his exam scored.
He began to slowly understand what his eyes could do, even if it was still too complex for him to comprehend.
There was only a theory forming in his head.
After washing up and changing his clothes, Jason went the same way as every day.
He was a little bit nervous but looking at the flow of mana calmed around him, eased his tension.
Leaving the small apartment, Jason didn´t forget to put on the small bandage, before he took the cane with him.
Arriving at the school ground an hour later, Jason was surprised about the loud noises he could hear.
Most parents went to the school ground with their children to support them sincerely.
There were a few thousand children with their parents crowding the school ground and it wasn´t easy for Jason to squeeze through, without seeing anything except the mana fluctuations and outlines.
Looking at the outlines from the student's parents through the bandages, Jason figured out that the strengths of every one were completely different.
The mana flow Jason saw was also different from each adult and after thinking for a short moment he figured out why this was most likely the case.
Apparently, every soulbond amplified and modifies one's mana slightly, thus the stronger a soulbond beast is, the more distinct are the modifiers and the mana one can use.
Jason could also see the modified mana which surprised him, as he could differentiate the different colors perfectly.
He was able to see which adult had formed a contract with a wind ability beast, and so on.
This fascinated him and Jason noticed again that his eyes were extremely special.
Thinking about possible fights in the future, Jason would already know what his opponent's abilities were.
This thought delighted Jason and he kept looking through the crowd while walking towards the classroom.
Each adult Jason saw, had formed a soulbond with at least one beast and accomplished a certain mana core rank.
Thus these parents were extremely strong compared to their children, the middle-school graduates, and each adult without a soulbond.
Probably only after binding a beast, some prodigies would be able to beat weaker adults with weak souls and soul bounds.
But right now even a few hundred Jason's wouldn't be able to beat the weakest adult he saw throughout the crowd.
It was comparable to moths flying into a campfire… Useless and a waste of one's life.
Jason tried to ignore the parents and their cheering as he went into the empty classroom and sat down on his chair, slightly dejected.
He missed his mother even more in such situations.
A few minutes later the first classmates came into the classroom, hesitating.
For most students in the recent era, the theoretical part was the hardest for them as they trained their muscles and mana a lot more compared to the quality time they used to learn.
Jason was calm and composed as he waited for around 15 minutes until the classroom was filled.
The last one who came in was Greg, who surprisingly greeted Jason,
He even sincerely wished him good luck.
This shocked Jason a little bit and he wished Greg also good luck after a short moment of hesitation.
Jason had no time to think about Greg´s behavior, as the class teacher entered the room with a special appliance, he handed Jason.
Jason noticed that the teacher gave him a special VR helmet which he immediately put on.
The other students opened the holographic-screen on their tables and the exam papers appeared in front of them.
In front of Jason was now the exact same exam papers his classmates had in front of them as the helmet could send the data into his mind like they were his eyeballs.
It went directly into his mind, without the need of him to really see them, the data were enough to provide his brain with the rough pictures.
This appliance was extremely expensive and the exact data sent would only stay in the user's mind for a certain amount of time, before they slowly dissipated.
Jason could hear the question by thinking about the number and answering would go the same way, thinking about the answer would be enough and his thoughts would be written down.
It was as if the VR-device was only a translator for Jason who started his exam after putting it on.
The questions ranged from human cities, beast-rankings, habitats, strengths, weaknesses, permanent rifts, temporary rifts, foreign races, strength indicators, common herbs and ores, soul awakening, beast evolutions, and many more theories about the rifts, Cataclysm and so on.
While others struggled a lot answering the questions, Jason finished them one after another without thinking much.
The only thing Jason did in his free time for the last 9+ years was listening to books and gathering mana for his eyes so it wasn't that difficult for him to answer these simple questions.
Jason didn´t even actively learn anything as he was good at remembering things after hearing them once.
It wouldn't be surprising for him if he could answer some high-school graduation tests so Jason finished up the exam early.
While Jason already finished everything he needed until the afternoon, where the practical exam was scheduled, the other students clumsily answered all questions.
As such, Jason left the classroom under the threatening glares of his classmates.
Chapter 7: Breakthrough
Outside the school building, Jason searched for a good spot as he sat down between a flourishing grass field with a few trees surrounding it.
The reason he sat down there was, that Jason could see the slightly denser mana flow within the area.
This was also probably why it looked so beautiful through normal eyes, but Jason didn't care about the aesthetics right now as he felt that his mana core was close to breakthrough into the second level.
Right now he was at the 1st Novice rank which is extremely bad compared to the average 8th Novice rank.
Because his rank would also be tested and graded, Jason had to breakthrough until afternoon.
But this wasn't because he wanted to get more points, rather he wanted to get fewer points deducted.
His classroom teacher told him a few days ago that the worst grade to get points would be the 4th Novice rank and each grade less would deduct 20 points.
That meant Jason would get 60 points deducted because of his 1st Novice rank and that wasn't something to be proud of.
Each point more or rather less deducted were hundreds or even thousands of ranks up or down in the ranking and extremely important for him.
Furthermore, it would look e
ven worse for him as he wanted to apply for a decent high-school.
Jason had to calm down before gathering and infusing mana into his core in order to prevent any instability so he waited for five minutes before he started to gather mana.
Hours passed and unknowingly to Jason, Greg and many other students left the classroom to eat lunch and relax before the practical exam would begin.
Greg saw Jason from far away sitting between some bushes and he came closer to take a look.
It wondered him why Jason gathered mana so far away from the mana gathering platform but getting closer he noticed the reason
`This mana density is worse than at home but it´s still a lot better than what the mana gathering platform provides… How did he find this?`
Greg was curious but he was distracted by his classmates calling his name.
They weren´t his friends as Greg didn´t have any friends but his classmates still tried to befriend him for a long time since they found out about his parent's business and fortune.
Leaving Jason, Greg was still curious and he said to himself that he shouldn't underestimate Jason even if he was blind.
Jason meanwhile noticed someone getting closer to him but he didn't feel any animosity so he didn´t disconnect his mana flow gathering as he was getting closer and closer to the barrier of the second level.
He calculated that he had at least 2 hours left until the practical exam started and decided to abandon the practical examination if he wouldn't break through until then.
Having fewer points deducted was more important to him than getting a 0 in the practical exam or instead `not present` written down.
This would look slightly worse for his applications but he didn't care about that, as -60 points and 0 written down were even worse than -40 points and `not present` in his opinion.
Unfortunately, he would get his rank tested today and wasn't scheduled for a different day like the soul awakening, otherwise, he would have more time to break through his level.
Before the soul-awakening, every student would get their total score tomorrow as an AI-controlled every exam and their queue number for visiting the Beast Pagoda.
The Beast Pagoda was where the soul-awakening orbs stood which one had to use to properly awaken one's soul and it was also a shop verified by the government for beast cubs and eggs.
Almost everyone gets their soulbonds from the Beast Pagoda and working there gave many benefits including discounts, priority, and many more.
Jason heard that even Greg, whose parents were professional beast merchants and captors would get his first soulbond from the beast pagoda as it was the traditional way.
That was at least the rumor but Jason thought it was rather because Greg's soul-awakening was random and his parents couldn´t catch hundreds or thousand different beasts of each rank and elemental ability, only for Greg to pick a single one.
The beast pagoda was the easiest way with its big variety of beasts.
Two hours almost passed as Jason was fully enveloped with a white film of mana.
A crack appeared that began to spread slowly and grow in size as Jason exhaled black mist.
This black liquid-like mist he exhaled were his impurities and it looked extremely disgusting and reeked even worse.
Unfortunately, Jason had no time to take a shower or to change his clothes, as it was already time for his practical exam.
He stood up, took out his cane, and 'rushed' to the gym.
Meanwhile, the practical exam has already started as the students stood around a bunch of machines that would scan one's DNA and blood samples to discover one's health.
This was important for most high schools as it was useless to spend important resources on ill people.
Most people would see Jason as such a case but if his soul-awakening would be extremely good without further health issues, Jason could receive an invitation to some high-school with further help from high-personalities.
In reality, it was rare for blind students to receive such treatment as they would need to have special traits or a God's children soul, indicating one's uniqueness to be worth the price.
Also to receive such treatment one would have to sign a contract to work for the school or organization after finishing school for a certain number of years.
Concluding the facts, it wasn't worth it for Jason even if he was still blind.
He heard enough stories about such cases and most naive middle-school graduates who needed help from others were rather poor and after signing the contract they were cured which was positive but only to get exploited on the battlefield after getting nourished.
Jason wasn´t blind anymore so he didn´t even think about signing a contract if his soul would be unique.
Youth after youth finished getting blood drawn out and tested and most of them were happy as they knew that they were healthy but like every year there were some unfortunate ones who thought they were healthy, only to find out that they had some disease detected which would harm the body later on.
Almost every one of them was devastated and it looked like their soul left their body as they understood the meaning of this...kneeling on the ground, they cried out loud.
Today should have been their best day but it came out that they would not only get a bad score but also that they had to suffer in the future because of their detected disease.
While the students were tested Jason arrived at the door gasping for air.
The teacher noticed him and called his name.
"Jason you're late. Come to me and let your DNA and blood be tested.
If nothing is wrong you will get the full points even if you are blind."
Jason was used to him getting seen as a blind mole or something like that but it still annoyed him that everyone said something like `even if you are blind`
If he could, Jason would punch his teacher once or twice for each time such commentary came out of his mouth.
After taking a few deep breaths he straightened his back and went slowly to the teacher while swinging his cane gently in the ground in front of him.
Getting his blood tested it was found out that Jason was extremely healthy but slightly malnourished.
There was nothing else wrong and Jason passed the test without any issues as malnutrition wasn't seen as a disease.
Eating more would solve this issue easily.
Only a slight remark annoyed Jason slightly.
'Blind'
It was annoying but Jason could apply for a test in a few weeks to get his eyes tested.
With a certificate, he would have this remark removed easily.
Around half an hour later everyone finished the test while a handful of the few hundred students were soulless kneeling on the bottom with an open jaw.
After the blood test ended the real practical exam started.
Testing one's speed, stamina, strength, martial arts technique demonstration, and a real spar.
The average score would be the points for his practical exam.
Jason was sure that he would get some points for his stamina but he wasn't sure if his speed was fast enough to get points as he couldn't run 100 meters straight without external help.
Strength should be his worst field among these three while Jason wanted to try out if he could get some points with his martial arts technique show.
Getting zero points for his weak strength and sparring straight out because he surrendered these exams some students and even the teacher were displeased.
Jason however wanted to focus his mind on his stamina, speed, and martial arts technique right now.
Some students with slight conception noticed that Jason didn't forfeit the martial arts technique demonstration and wondered why this was the case.
A few hours passed and every exam except the martial arts technique demonstration finished.
Jason got two zeroes from the exams he forfeited, 40 points for his stamina and 10 points for his speed because he had to run like he was blind and
his bad physique.
Nevertheless, it was better than scoring zero points.
Most students demonstrated one of the two martial arts technique sequences they learned at school which were the foundational federation martial arts while the other one was the basic close combat technique from the military: Azure feisty Ape.
Many Students got average grades but their comprehension wasn't outstanding and they made many mistakes which Jason saw through the mana flow.
It was almost as if these students tried to mock martial arts but their score was still above 30 which wondered him.
Jason pondered if he should reveal everything he comprehended as he saw the demonstration of his peers.
Chapter 8: Exceeding expectations
Jason came to a decision as it was his turn.
Going up the stage with slow but steady steps, many students were displeased as most of them were exhausted and wanted to get home.
"Trash, it's useless. You can't even see, how should you be able to demonstrate a decent sequence of a martial arts technique"
"That's true… Don't waste our time and come down."
"Do you want to humiliate yourself, mole?!?"
Jason didn't care what they said and he waited for the examiner to give him the verbal signal to start.
There were many examiners all around the hall and at least ten other students were also demonstrating their martial art sequence.
Before the examiner could give the signal Jason lifted one of his hands into the direction of the students who insulted him with his middle finger up.
He would never meet them again, so Jason decided to cut ties, without any regret.
The whole gym was silent as it was kinda rude to do something like that and adding the situation Jason was currently in, directly in front of the teachers and the respectable examiners but Jason didn't mind other people thinking bad about him.
Flabbergasted the students who insulted Jason were flabbergasted.
'Wh-hat?? Who does he think he is??'
As these students wanted to throw a temper the examiner interrupted them with the starting signal as he ignored Jason's rude behavior.
