The day of the Agrice entrance exams.

I woke up at around 6 AM and did some light stretching before taking a bath and changing into some comfortable clothes. I took some cereal for a simple light breakfast.

{You nervous, host?}

"Not really... Ok, a tiny bit."

I think I heard the system laugh again, but that must be my imagination, right? After taking care of my dishes, I picked up my bags and got ready to leave. Stuffed under my shoes was a small sheet of folded paper.

I flipped it open and read the contents.

[All the best]

That was all that was written on it. Mom had already left for work, so that must be why she left this under my shoes. With a sigh, I folded the paper again and kept it in my bag. I can keep it if it's something this small.

"You ready, system?"

{Of course, let's go nail those exams and then take over the world!}

Giggling alongside my friend, I left my home.

***

After taking a tram and then a long walk, I had come up to the portal station in Ternet. The station was an enormous dome-shaped building stretching to over 15 thousand square feet in area. Hundreds of portals were opened up in each station leading to all parts of the world, and facilities of all kinds from simple billboards to premium lounges were present inside for the thousands of people coming in and going out each day. All kinds of establishments set up shops inside the stations like premium alcohol brands, fashion giants, and even fast food.

According to some old books, when portals connecting two different places on earth were first discovered and set up with the help of spatial-type awakeners and then further developed with the help of scientists and researchers 170 years ago, many airports of the time were converted into portal stations and since then the same trend has been followed with the set up all over the world.

The first step was to enter the station after a rigorous check-up by the security. I just had my one bag on hand, so it didn't take long for them to check it and return it to me.

I slung the bag over my shoulder and reached another facility desk where people usually purchased their entry passes. I stood in the line and my turn soon came up.

I took out the letter from Agriche from my pockets and placed it on the desk.

"Oh! Another student going for the Agriche Entrance Exams?" the lady employee said. Going for the registration was different, but Agriche covered these costs for people going for the entrance examinations.

This was definitely the charm of that institution. It held no bars to getting a chance to cultivate the talents that came up. Even the fees that looked like a behemoth to me and normal people like myself were not too high for the rich and the powerful like Mr. Teumessian. And as the world would have it, the talent that they went after was easy to find in the rich and the powerful.

The lady did some stuff, asked me for my ID, and then gave me the pass I needed.

"There are two more kids going to Agriche City, you can only use the portal on set times so you'll get to meet them. Take care and all the best!"

"Thank you very much! You take care too!"

With those words, I left towards the portal. It was all the way on the other end of the station, actually, it was just halfway through that way, but the walk was still too long. I was about to take a turn towards gate 28B when a familiar sight entered my eyes.

A beautiful face with long black hair cascading down the back and sparkling emerald eyes fluttering around. The shining green eyes turned toward me and widened.

"Ralph!" Ilya, the lady I had helped escape that circus came rushing towards me and grabbed my hands. "You! I thought we'll never meet again! Why didn't you text me?"

A very tall and muscular yet lean hunk of a man in black overalls and a black coat on top came behind her in surprise himself. He stopped right behind Ilya and looked at me.

"Who's this?"

"Oh, uncle! He's the one who saved me."

The man had green eyes similar to Ilya's, except his were much more subdued and sharp as compared to Ilya's innocent eyes. I assumed Ilya was in her twenties, but her uncle looked that way too. Were my assumptions that off?

"You're the guy who saved her. I wanted to thank you personally," he said.

"Oh, no no! I didn't do anything big," This was annoying.

{He's staring at your pass, Host} System let me know.

"Why didn't you text me, hm?" Ilya asked again with a pout.

I averted my gaze a little and answered back. "I just don't have anything to contact you with. I do have your email and number with me..."

Ilya and her uncle looked at me with widened eyes, as if they had seen a rainbow deer with headlights on its antlers.

"You don't have a watch or a holopen?" Ilya asked.

"Uhm... nope."

"Ok." Her uncle suddenly interrupted. "Wait here."

He said his words and rushed away, without giving either of us the chance to understand what he was up to. That was a very weird thing to do. Ilya and I looked at each other in confusion before smiling it away.

She then placed a hand on the top of my head and ruffled my hair. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"Agriche City," I answered.

"Really?! You're a student in Agriche?"

"No, no! I am going to take the entrance exams. What about you, where are you going?"

Ilya smiled at me and said, "I only came to visit my uncle, so I'm going back home to Polish Lithuania."

Oh, so she was from Eastern Europe? Her features didn't match people from that part of the world. Especially her black hair.

Before we could say anything else, though, her uncle came running back toward us with a white box in his hands. He stopped next to Ilya, who quickly pulled her hand back from my head, and extended the box towards me.

"Here. It's a watch. It's not much, but take it as a token of my gratitude for helping Ilya."

"What! I can't accept this, sir. I did nothing of the sort—"

The man put a hand on my shoulder and pushed the box against me once more. Faint, very faint, a small streak of mana left his hands and entered my body.

The sudden movement stunned me enough for me to stop speaking. What did he do? What was this about? He used a skill of some sort. My eyes quickly shifted to Ilya who was innocently smiling at her uncle's actions.

She didn't know about it.

I gazed back into the emerald eyes of her uncle, only to be met with a smirk on his face.

"I insist, please..." he said. His eyes were stuck on me, but I could tell.

This man wasn't looking at me.

I quietly took the box in my hands and bowed down. "Thank you very much. I truly don't think I deserve this but if you insist, I won't refuse." I bowed in thanks, but it was truly so I could hide my face from them.

"System, that man did something," I whispered under my breath. "Look into it."

{He did? I'll see what I can do}

I was very sensitive to mana. Whatever he did, it wasn't anything dangerous to me.

When I raised my head again, the man was looking at me with slight surprise in his eyes.

"Good! Now you can text me, right?" Ilya said, unaware of what had passed. No, even that man seemed to be thinking I didn't know that he used a skill on me.

"I hope you like the gift, it is nothing much, but I would be happy if you could stay in touch with our Ilya," he said.

"Certainly. Please don't say it's not much. I'm in your debt."

[All travelers going to the Polish-Lithuanian Kingdom, please align at the gate. The portal is opening.] The announcement rang out from the speakers.

"It seems we should leave now," Ilya's uncle said. "Take care, Ralph. All the best for your examinations."

There.

Ilya too smiled and wrapped her arms around me. "All the best, Ralph! We'll meet again soon. Thank you for everything."

I softly hugged Ilya back before she broke the embrace. "Thank you too, both of you. Travel safely."

With those words, the two of them walked away.

I stared at their leaving backs and spoke to the system.

"He came too late to hear my name, right? He didn't look like he knew it, and it's not on the pass either."

{Right. He definitely didn't know it before}

I gazed at the box of the watch that man had just left me. This would not be the last I'll see of him, I was sure of that.

Soon, an announcement for the Agriche City rang out from the speakers too. I placed the watch in my bag and left towards gate 28B.

The entrance exams were now just 3 hours away.