Surviving the Magic Academy With Just Intelligence Stats-Chapter 68: Redoing The Exam

Ambrose stared at the status screens in silence, he was completely at a loss for words. The so-called spatial ring he’d been using wasn’t a storage device at all, but rather an elaborate monitoring tool that transmitted all his information directly to his mother every instant. The sheer scope of surveillance was staggering – even information he didn’t know about himself was being tracked. Was there really no privacy in this world?

"No privacy indeed," he muttered, a mix of exasperation and grudging admiration coloring his tone. Yet something still nagged at his mind. If this ring was purely for monitoring, how had he been accessing his possessions all this time? Even the letter and new rings he’d just discovered had to come from somewhere.

With methodical precision, he attempted to remove the ring from his finger. He wanted to try and see if he could still access the items even without the spatial ring but the band remained stubbornly in place, fused to his skin as if it had become part of his very being. He guessed his mother was probably the only person who could remove it.

"Let’s try something else," he mused, his mind already formulating another experiment. He remembered the feeling he always had when taking things from the spatial ring, he focused on that feeling. But rather than focusing on the ring as he usually did when retrieving items, he concentrated on a book lying on his desk. To his satisfaction, a small portal materialized exactly where he’d envisioned it. With practiced ease, he retrieved his walking stick through this improvised gateway.

As the portal sealed itself, a smile of understanding crossed his features. There had never been a spatial ring – he’d been accessing his items through some other means entirely. He theorized that his mother possessed a powerful inventory or spatial storage ability, one she’d granted him access to while cleverly disguising her monitoring tool as the means of that access. This explained why spatial treasures like the rings could be stored inside.

But this revelation sparked another question: why provide him with ten genuine spatial rings if he could already access this inventory system? The answer crystallized as he considered his mother’s departure to the spirit world. She must have feared the possibility of their connection being severed, potentially cutting off his access to the shared storage space.

Ambrose smiled, his mom was really caring, even though she was a bit excessive sometimes. Still, her foresight demanded action on his part. Since his mother, a spatial mage, was worried that the connection might break, he had to be careful as well:

With efficient movements, he began redistributing his possessions. The bulk of his mother’s medical supplies and what he deemed unnecessary items went into nine of the spatial rings. The tenth he reserved for items he considered genuinely useful, though he did maintain a reasonable supply of medicine – he wasn’t foolish enough to completely disregard his mother’s concerns.

After securing the chosen ring on the index finger of his left hand, he contemplated what to do with the others. The safest option seemed to be keeping them in his room rather than risking them in the possibly unstable inventory space. Though this meant sacrificing easy access, it ensured their contents wouldn’t vanish if the connection to his mother’s storage was interrupted.

His organizational task complete, Ambrose decided to pen a response to his mother’s letter. This would serve a dual purpose – expressing his gratitude while testing his theory about the inventory system. However, when he attempted to access the familiar storage space to deposit his letter, he encountered an unexpected obstacle – the inventory space remained stubbornly closed to his probing. He couldn’t access the inventory space...

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…

Ambrose made several more attempts to access the inventory space, each ending in failure. Though he’d anticipated losing the connection eventually, its sudden severance caught him off guard. With a resigned sigh, he tucked his response letter into his new spatial ring instead. It could wait.

Moving on to more important matters: Ambrose felt that he’d been in his room for too long, it was the second day since he’d woken up and he felt that he should walk around to stretch a bit. He walked up to the door and slowly opened it.

As he pulled open his chamber door, he found Hualing standing directly outside, as if she’d been rooted to that spot for hours. "Master, I was just about to come find you!" she exclaimed with suspicious timing. Ambrose’s keen perception had not heard the sound of approaching footsteps or any recent movement in the hallway. She’d clearly been maintaining this vigil for quite some time, though he chose not to comment on this peculiar behavior.

"What did you want to talk about?" he asked instead, beginning a leisurely walk with Hualing falling into step beside him.

"Actually, the principal said that the entrance exam will be redone," she reported. The news caught Ambrose’s attention immediately.

"Redone? Did they find another dungeon?" he questioned, his mind already calculating possibilities.

"No, they said that everyone who survived has already passed the test. But since there wasn’t any surveillance in the last minutes of the test, they couldn’t determine the ranks and which classes to assign."

Ambrose nodded thoughtfully. The logic seemed sound – they needed some way to properly evaluate and sort the students. "Then how are they going to assign the ranks?"

"Well, they said that people will fight for it," Hualing explained.

The directness of this solution surprised Ambrose, though he had to admit its effectiveness. Still, one crucial concern remained. "What about the support and intelligence types?" He couldn’t imagine the academy overlooking such a significant portion of their student body.

"They said that people will compete in parties of five, so I’m guessing they’ll be graded from their contribution to the party," she clarified.

Feeling genuinely appreciative of her information gathering, Ambrose reached out to pat Hualing’s head. "Thanks for telling me."

"Of course, master!" she beamed, practically glowing from the simple gesture.

Her shift in address suddenly registered in his mind. "By the way, you’re not calling me ’young master’ anymore," he observed, noting her consistent use of just ’master.’

Hualing’s demeanor turned slightly nervous. "Ah! That’s - that’s because I’m the master’s knight now," she explained, fidgeting slightly.

Ambrose looked at her in bewilderment, until the blood knight talent flashed through Ambrose’s mind. "Ah, so that’s it," he thought, wondering if she’d been reading some questionable materials about master-knight relationships that prompted her door vigil.

His musings were interrupted by a familiar voice echoing down the hallway: "I told you, I’m not interested in joining your party." Marcus’s tone carried clear frustration.

"Stop being difficult! The young master saw your fight earlier and is impressed by your skills, you should appreciate this chance!" a female voice insisted.

Ambrose’s expression darkened as he observed the scene. "Who’s this bitch trying to take my regressor from me?"