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 even 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.
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