Chapter 4: The Exam (Part One)

Legend says that in the beginning, there was Chaos. Before Chaos, all was invisible, unknowable, unspeakable, and untouchable. Kaya was born from Chaos, and from then on, all became visible, knowable, speakable, and touchable.

Kaya was born and died immediately, being both the beginning and the end, creation and destruction, one and ten thousand.

After Kaya’s death, its body transformed into all things in the world, and its soul transformed into the world’s first Deities, the Titan Gods. The last born of the Titans, the Thirteenth Titan, was the essence of the soul. The gods called him Kronos, meaning “born King.”

The thirteen Titans established the order of all things in the world, were favored by the world, and became the natural rulers of the world. They were called the Chief Gods by the subsequently born gods, and Kronos became the God-King.

They moved the mountain range formed from Kaya’s skull into a realm invisible and unknowable to non-gods, the outer layer of the world, to serve as the Deities’ residence.

Beneath the mountain range formed from the skull, Kaya’s malice and wicked thoughts were suppressed. When the suppression was lost, the malice and wicked thoughts surged out.

The gods worked together to expel them to the outer layer of the world. In the outer layer, malice evolved into the Endless Abyss , and wicked thoughts evolved into the Nine Hells. Since they could not be separated, the Abyss and the Hells became entangled, locked in eternal blood war.

However, the Demons of the Abyss and the Devils of the Hells coveted the world. They breached the outer layer through various methods, causing great destruction.

In order to suppress the Abyss and the Hells, and to atone for sins, the first-born Titan God, Yegu, came to the junction of the Hells and the Abyss. He was the master of night and death. He established his kingdom at the junction, which evolved into the Underworld, sealing the Abyss and the Hells. He eventually died of exhaustion, transforming into the Eternal Walls of Sighs.

Throughout the changes of eras, a new master of night and death, Lamor, was born from the Walls of Sighs. God-King Kronos specifically allowed him to rule as King in the Underworld, and the gods called him Lamor, the ruler of the Underworld.

God-King Kronos married his older sister, Linas: Goddess of Life and Creation. The Goddess, imitating the appearance of the gods, created humans out of clay, and the world entered the chapter of humanity.

The gods, like humans, experienced joy, anger, sorrow, and developed various emotions. Intercourse between gods and humans gave birth to many Heroes. The Heroes led the people to defeat Monsters, establishing countless city-states, and the entire continent entered the age of civilization.

The Myths roughly ends here, while the Epic Tales narrates the history of rise and fall over the nearly one hundred thousand years after the birth of the Heroes. The final book, Medimus Founding Chronicle , is the history of Medimus City-State written by the royal scribes, which can be considered an otherworldly version of a thought class.

Ace looked at his three fully written handwritten copies. Marina had sewn them together with a needle and thread, the stitches dense and fine.

These three books almost used up all the remaining parchment in the house, but Romon said not to worry, as the family would soon no longer be short of money.

Ace guessed that he might have sold some family heirloom. He held this gratitude in his heart. No matter what, Romon ultimately fulfilled his duty as a father.

Over nearly a hundred thousand years, countless Heroes shed blood and tears, and city-states rose and fell. Ordinary people were almost always the background, while Heroes were the protagonists.

With the absolute suppression of supernatural power, natural and man-made disasters often destroyed civilizations. Each time, the gods would select a Hero to lead the surviving humans to rebuild civilization, making the cycle of civilization in this world continuous.

In such a world, relying purely on industrial development has no future; the supernatural can easily destroy any budding development.

Moreover, at a more microscopic level, the laws of physics may be fundamentally different, and many technology trees are likely invalid.

The only way out is to base oneself on this world of mythology, employ an objective and neutral research spirit, and seek the secrets of the supernatural.

Morton learned that Ace had finished transcribing the three books.

“I must once again praise your diligence. With this one quality alone, you will sooner or later secure your Citizenship.

The remaining curriculum is memorization and comprehension. The examination scope for the Unified Literacy Exam is these three books, which virtually cover the commonly used characters. The key is to apply what you have learned flexibly.

You can ask me any questions at any time. I will explain these three books in more detail when the other students catch up.

Next month is the annual exam. You can try your hand at it first. Do not fear failure. Normally, it takes nearly three years to study these three books. I myself passed on my third attempt.”

“Respected Mr. Morton, thank you for your help. Besides these three books, may I borrow other books in the library?” Ace’s eyes sparkled, looking exactly like an ordinary child eager for knowledge.

“Ace, you must take one step at a time to complete the journey. You now need to repeatedly study these three books. Once you pass the Unified Literacy Exam and obtain the Excellent Qualification Badge, I will take you to see Teacher Peter.”

Morton smiled and patted Ace’s head, then continued: “Teacher will teach you more profound and specialized knowledge, enabling you to be competent for mid-to-low-level public office in the city-state when you come of age. At that time, you will be able to borrow the teacher’s collection at any time, just like the senior students in the library.”

“Alright, Mr. Morton. Thank you again for your help. I will work hard and strive to pass the Unified Literacy Exam.”

Ace seemed to have his fighting spirit ignited, stating with sparkling eyes.

“Good, I await your good news.”

Morton replied gently, thinking to himself: He is just a boy, after all. Although clever and diligent, he hasn’t experienced the terror of the exam and needs to be educated.

It seems he needs to step up his game for next month’s exam. Peter the Polymath has so many students; it will be hard to stand out just with the image of being clever and diligent.

After passing the exam, he needs to think about how to quickly distinguish himself among the many disciples so he can leverage Peter to gain more resources.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month passed. During this time, Ace continued his two-point-on-a-line life.

Every day, he asked Morton about the key points for the three books that would be tested. The city-state currently had no past papers or mock exams for the Unified Literacy Exam, which made Ace, who was used to the “sea of questions” study tactic, feel a little unaccustomed.

Based on Morton’s memory of the test question types and his advice from a few previous exams, Ace created some similar practice questions and diligently practiced his writing.

The question types were roughly fill-in-the-blank, true or false, word definition, paragraph dictation, reading comprehension, and a major essay. As long as he practiced the essay types and formats and wrote neatly and beautifully, he should feel very confident about this exam.

City Hall Square , the Fiftieth Unified Literacy Exam in the one hundredth year of the founding of Medimus City-State, began.

The city-state founder, Ronamos, was an enlightened ruler in city-state governance. He boldly adopted the examination system proposed by the second regent and promoted its application across many areas of city-state life. The Unified Literacy Exam was one of them.

Romon and Marina waited at the edge of the City Hall Square. The entire square had been cordoned off by city-state militiamen. Inside, nearly two hundred tables and chairs had been set up, and hundreds of candidates were taking the tense examination.

(End of this chapter)