Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

In the falling snow, on Friday, the third day of the Common Era Calendar in 1854, the group's year-end examination—a mix of anticipation and anxiety—arrived as scheduled.

Early in the morning, Priest Augustus, Dr. Schneider, Luviya, and Dorothy rushed to No. 6, Saint Delan Square. The five members retrieved spare tables and chairs from the basement, set up the examination room in No. 2 on the second floor, and then waited anxiously for the examination to begin.

Of course, since the examination venue was placed in No. 2 on the second floor, theoretically, Shard could cheat by entering the Hall of the Keeper of Secrets, but he didn't do such a wicked thing.

Compared to the summer examination, Shard had advanced from the Second Ring to the Fifth Ring, the doctor from the Fifth Ring to the Sixth Ring, Luviya from the Third Ring to the Fifth Ring, and Dorothy from the Fourth Ring to the Fifth Ring. All four needed to take the upgrade examinations, and Shard was skipping a grade to enter his fourth year. Although Luviya also upgraded two magician levels, she chose not to skip a grade.

Among the five in the group, Priest Augustus was the only one who didn't need to take an upgrade exam, making him relatively relaxed during this winter examination week. Coupled with the Old Cleric's consistently good attitude, he reassured the other four not to be too nervous before the academy's invigilating teachers arrived.

Shard originally wasn't very tense, but hearing the priest say this, he inexplicably started to feel nervous.

Like last time, Shard still didn't eat much breakfast before the exam, but he fed Mia in advance to prevent the cat from causing trouble at noon. Of course, this probability was quite low as little Mia was quite sensible.

The exam was scheduled to start at nine. Before that, everyone sat on the sofa in No. 1 on the second floor; no one wanted to enter the examination room early. During the wait, Shard thought again about Saint Byrons' anti-cheating measures and then about Dorothy and Lecia's issues.

Clearly, the academy failed to detect the bond between the souls of the two ladies. Thus, in theory, if not afraid of excessive spiritual power consumption or purposely choosing to swap on the "Day of the Red Butterfly," Dorothy could frequently soul swap with Lecia's body to find the answers during the exam.

After all, the Zaras Literary Academy scheduled exams for the local correspondence students this week, although not on the same day.

Thinking of this, he glanced at the Blonde Writer Miss, who tilted her head, looking at Luviya's divination result, not noticing Shard's gaze.

Amid silence and wild thoughts, time reached eight fifty. Dr. Schneider was the first to stand, and everyone else followed. The blue-eyed psychologist, wearing a formal white shirt and tie in the warm house, coughed—a sign that he had something to say:

"I need not explain the significance of this exam to you. Once we all pass, it means our group has acquired the qualification to go to Saint Byrons..."

The blue eyes looked at each person consecutively:

"Though we don't plan to set off in the next few years, it still has significant representative meaning... It's almost time, so I'll keep it brief. Let's go."

From the doctor's expression, it seemed he still lacked confidence in "Aether Mechanics."

Five tables were circularly spaced around, five chairs were placed in the empty center, each facing outward. In the middle of the chairs, a basin completed the academy's projection ceremony, and farther on the walls to the east, south, west, and north stood four chairs for the appearance of academy professors responsible for the exam.

Placed as a "lucky charm," Mia was left to bask in the sun on the windowsill by Shard. The cat lay on its soft cushion, although a bit upset as all rings had been "seized," but considering it seemed to see Shard all day, its peace and warmth returned.

At nine sharp, as the parchment for the projection ceremony was thrown into the basin, the tightly sealed room gradually filled with chilling winds. These winds blew through Shard and the doctor's shirts, through the priest's gray cleric robe and the two ladies' black dresses.

Amid the wind, four transparent figures appeared on the four chairs, and the five preparing for the exam stood to welcome them, as the invigilating professors smiled and nodded back.

As expected, Professor Garcia, the vice president of the History Academy, appeared again, seated on the east chair, with Associate Professor Sarah Horns from the Folklore Academy, where Dorothy belonged, and Professor Earl Griever from the Mechanical Academy, where the doctor belonged, seated south and north respectively.

The latter also appeared as the invigilator during the summer examination week.

As for the lady seated in the west chair, she wore a red female business jacket paired with a black skirt, looking not so aged. She was Secretary Miss Triss from the Student Affairs Office, who smiled and nodded at the five, then Professor Garcia continued speaking, indicating he would host this exam.

The group wasn't experiencing their first examination week and were quite familiar with the procedures. Professor Garcia took out a parchment, coughed, and announced:

"Sixth Era, Common Era Calendar 1854, Moon of Birth the third day, Friday. The academy has received Bill Schneider Group's examination application and will conduct the winter exam at nine o'clock sharp."

In the quiet among others, he announced each person's exam subjects one by one, and when it came to Shard, he wisely read only five subjects and said "await other subjects."

The five confirmed their respective exam items, and then the parchment rolls were distributed, officially starting the exam.

Everything proceeded systematically, starting at nine in the morning. Shard wrote busily, discussing with "her" while answering questions on the parchment test paper.

Priest Augustus was the first to finish. His second-year exam subjects were not many, so he earned the right to have lunch. Luviya was the second to finish; it was already one in the afternoon then, and the girl with purple eyes handed in the parchment roll written with answers while rubbing her wrist.

The doctor and Dorothy almost finished their exams simultaneously at two-thirty. Although he shouldn't be distracted, Shard still observed their expressions when they stood up.

Interestingly, Dr. Schneider, who was expected to encounter big trouble, appeared relaxed. On the contrary, Dorothy hesitated before handing in her test paper. Shard, now very familiar with the blonde writer, instantly noticed she was extremely apprehensive.

During summer, Shard took eighteen exams at once, writing from nine in the morning until four twenty-one in the afternoon. This time, despite being a grade-skipping exam, he only needed to take seventeen subjects, as first-year courses are mostly concentrated with foundational classes.

Nevertheless, he only finished around five in the afternoon when the sunset had already illuminated Mia's fur on the windowsill, and he sighed deeply, marking the last period, letting the ink spread on the parchment.

All exam answers had to be written on the same parchment roll, so Shard raised the parchment that had drooped to the ground, checking each subject's answers before submitting the test paper.

He knew he certainly didn't achieve perfection, that careful checking could reveal errors, but at that moment, he had completely lost the spirit:

"Finally over..."

The four invigilators temporarily left the room, disappearing from sight, and Shard stood up, picking up the well-behaved Mia, then opened the secret door by the wall and proceeded to room number one.

"It's over, rest for half an hour, then announce the exam results and the academic year-end evaluation for 1853."

Shard sighed deeply and spoke to the doctor, who was sitting alone on a small sofa, supporting his face with one hand, nodding slightly with a look of excessive spiritual exhaustion. Priest Augustus sat across from him, holding a small book. It wasn't a school exam script but a promotional brochure from the Dawn Chapel. Luviya and Dorothy sat together on the long sofa. The girl with purple eyes was seriously conducting a divination, while Miss Writer, somewhat listless, flipped through the stack of books on the coffee table, seemingly checking her answering status.

"Doctor, how does it feel?"

He pulled up a chair with the cat, sat before the fireplace, and yawned as he sat, prompting Mia to yawn as well, smacking Shard's wrist with its tail when he looked down at it. The doctor felt the urge to yawn too but managed to suppress it:

"It feels alright this time."

He said, with unmistakable joy on his face. Shard then looked at Luviya, who had already flipped the third card:

"Looks like our group's fortune is quite good today, but...someone might encounter a minor incident, though it's nothing serious."

This statement made Dorothy even more anxious; she seemed to want to ask more about Luviya's divination result but ultimately accepted it silently.

Timing precisely, they returned to the exam room, where the four professors had also returned when the five sat down.

Professor Garcia continued to announce the exam results, which would not be given as scores but rather rated as "Excellent," "Exceeding Expectations," "Pass," "Fail," and "Awful."

To everyone's relief, during the winter exam week, everyone passed all exams, including elective and compulsory ones, naturally including Dr. Schneider's "Aether Mechanics." Although rated only as "Pass," he did indeed pass the exam for this elective course, allowing further electives.

And Dorothy, as she expected, found that among the 9 required courses, a full three were rated as "Pass," proving her earlier worries were quite justified.

Miss Writer had indeed studied seriously and was not poor at exams; it appeared her luck was simply not as favorable.