Shane couldn't help but feel that the knowledge exam was a bad joke. The questions barely asked about the basic information for each subject, even if there were several dozen for each topic.

'Is that some sort of present for all first-year students?' Shane began to wonder. He didn't doubt that many students would be able to reach 100% for this exam, as long as they had studied at least a little in their childhood.

Considering that the 200,000 students accepted as first-year students had to be at least a little bit ambitious and determined in order to be even eligible to join an academy, Shane estimated that 5,000 students would pass the exam. This would mean that the academy will give out 10,000 hours of access to the Dimensional spheres, which astonished him.

'They're generous huh? Or does the academy just want us to taste blood in order to become addicted?'

Shane didn't know, but with time, he noticed that the knowledge test was not as simple as it seemed, with a few slightly more complex questions.

Three hours later Shane finished the exam. His score was displayed in a bright shining color, causing him to smile lightly.

Standing up, Mr. Larka noticed him and was about to stop Shane in his tracks when he received a notification.

Shane's exam result was immediately sent to him, and the same went for the ranking.

With him being the first to finish answering all the questions, he was the first in the knowledge exam ranking. A golden [1] was written in front of his name followed by the time in which he had finished the exam.

Mr.Larka was astonished to see his result. He rubbed his eyes to check if it was an illusion because he had assumed that Shane had given up on the exam as he had submitted the answers barely within three hours. But, what surprised him more was that Shane had scored a 100% in half of the assigned time, which was 6 hours.

Shane noticed Mr.Larka's confused expression and smiled slightly at him. He walked past him and spoke in a polite whisper

"See you tomorrow, teacher!"

Not knowing what to think, Mr.Larka just followed Shane with his gaze, as he thought

'Calm, knowledgeable and he knows how to behave...at least he acts as if he does!

Furthermore, he doesn't seem to be scared of the Shirai academy's teacher...or is it just me?...Is he from an influential family?'

Thinking about this, the headteacher didn't even notice the other several hundred students in the lecture hall, staring daggers at Shane and his presumptuous behavior, pressuring all of them to the extreme.

If their classmate was able to receive 100%, with half the time, how could they do less?

Every student accepted in one of the big academies was proud of their feat and some were even arrogant, causing them to hate feeling inferior to others, which happened right now.

Shane was oblivious to the hate he received, as he rushed towards the tranquil forest, once again, without celebrating or even bothering about his result.

It would be embarrassing for him if he couldn't even answer such simple questions. If he had failed in the test, his aunt Kia would either beat him up or tell his other aunts and uncles.

Then, they would come over and beat him up or even worse….drag him back to his father's mansion…

Shuddering at this thought, Shane shook his head. He decided to focus on satiating his curiosity about something when he finally arrived in front of the tranquil forest.

Paying one gold coin, he couldn't help but lament about the price.

Apparently, the system would give him a discount, if he were to purchase a monthly ticket for 20 gold coins or a ticket for the whole year which would 'only' cost him 150 gold coins.

However, Shane neither knew how often he would enter the tranquil forest nor how often he would be forced to leave, once inside.

In the end, it would be useless for him to pay either a monthly or annual ticket, and Shane continued his run towards the lake inside the forest's core.

Arriving at the lake, he took out a basin and filled it with warm water, which he purchased directly from the system for two bronze coins a liter.

Then he pulled out a [Tier-1 (Trash)] nutrition solution from his spatial ring, which he dissolved within the warm water, with five fist-sized [Tier-1 (Trash)] mana stones surrounding the basin.

Not only was Shane impatient to finally achieve a perfect mortal physique, but he also wanted to know if the peace in his mind caused by the tranquil forest was able to increase his body refining process.

Maybe he could even reach the [Zone], at least that was what Shane hoped, as he took off his clothes within the forest, only to dive into the warm nutrition bath.

If his assumption was even barely correct, the price of one gold coin in order to enter the tranquil forest was definitely worth it.

Even if Shane was one of the stingiest humans he knew, his curiosity and desire to become stronger were much more terrifying in comparison.

Exerting his perfect mortal body refining technique, Shane felt a humongous surge of nutrition flooding into his body, while the mana inside the mana stones and his surroundings gushed towards him.

He felt a little overwhelmed but his passive [Hunter's mind] helped him to stay calm, while the tranquil aura in his surroundings seemed to help out too, as he circulated the mana inside him with ease.

There was not a single problem, and to Shane, it felt as if he was playing with the mana inside him, instead of practicing a [Mythic] quality refining technique.

Smiling lightly, it was as if Shane was at peace and four hours passed in a breeze when the nutrition and mana stones were finally used up.

Noticing the lack of mandatory resources to refine his body, Shane was astonished, as he praised the forest and whoever built it inwardly.

Stepping out of the basin, he took out ten [Tier-1 (Trash)] mana stones and two [Tier-1 (Trash)] nutrition solutions, as he mumbled

"It's time to reach the next rank!"

Shane was eager to reach a perfect mortal physique in order to break into the Apprentice stage, even if he could have already done so according to his mana purity.

Somehow, he wanted to do one step after another, with his priority being his physique, at least for now.

Dissolving the two Tier-1 trash quality nutrition solutions in the already cooled down water, Shane dived in it yet again.

This time, he was infiltrated by a ravaging storm of nutrition, instead of a flood. But his body accepted everything, as if it was an endless pit, while Shane subconsciously loosened faint threads out of the mana within the mana stones in order to absorb it.

With an astronomical amount of nutrition and mana within him, Shane was unable to play around with the mana inside his body like he did before. Thus, he was forced to take the whole body refining process seriously and stop fooling around.

More than eight hours passed and it was already midnight when he finally opened his eyes. His eyes fell upon the huge mass of black, reeking impurities swimming on the water surface.

Moving out of the basin, he stored the basin away, while the water within and purities within were just thrown into the system, selling it for a total of a few bronze coins.

Shane didn't know what use impurities or dirty water could have, but apparently, the system required it for something.

Maybe the system recycled the water by throwing it into a sewage plant, or something similar, but Shane couldn't care less.

Standing naked in front of the lake, he opened and closed his fist, jumped a few times, and charged from one tree to another in order to check his current strength.

'I should be able to fight my roommates at the apprentice stage, if I utilize my mana and whole combat experience, huh?'

Smiling lightly, this also meant that he was able to fight Elite stage beasts head-on, without having to retort to measly tricks, which caused him to smile brightly.

Looking at the time, Shane figured out that there was still more than enough left in order to adjust to his newly acquired strength.

As such, he cleansed himself, by jumping into the lake, after carefully reading through the rules provided by the 'kind' system.

In the end, the tranquil forest was claimed by someone else, and he couldn't do whatever he wanted to.

Shane had to follow the set rules or he would alarm others, which he didn't want to do.

'Maybe I shouldn't have run around naked?' He thought while reading through the rules, still naked.

In the end, there was no rule prohibiting him from bathing in the lake, which he did.

Shane still wanted to work out and hone his martial art techniques in order to put on a magnificent show. However, in order to do the first two, Shane had to be cleansed.

The stench from impurities was just too distracting to him.

As such, Shane cleansed himself, before working out and honing his martial art techniques, before he jumped a second time into the lake before he was finally done.

With a clean set of clothes, he left the tranquil forest, without knowing that someone had been watching him, since the moment he took off his clothes for the first time.

According to the rules the system provided, he wouldn't cause an alarm, if he were to be naked.

However, what he didn't know was that the system informed the individual that claimed the forest, about such things, because they could be seen as profanity by some races.

How should he know that Aunt Kia had sent Aisha to the tranquil forest, only for her to see everything Shane did, over the last few hours?

She didn't move a single inch and had imprinted everything into her mind, not knowing what or why exactly she did so.

Only when Shane finally left the lake, she could move again, with her fair cheeks turning beet-red, as she blushed.

'What am I even thinking about?!' She started to wonder and was shocked about herself. She then opened the system to tell the principal that it was only a student, practicing his body refining technique.

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