novelraw Chapter 133 134: Mid-Terms [I]
Chapter 133 134: Mid-Terms [I]
"Professor Saki, we've checked everyone." The young Class 2 woman leading the Disciplinary Committee reported to Saki while standing with her fellow members. "Nobody has any implicating material on them so Class 5 is officially clear for the Mid-terms."
Koya sighed in relief, he was almost certainly sure that they would pull some dumb shit like in the manga but it seems they were much smarter here thankfully.
The Disciplinary Committee had someone that used Sensory magic to look for all these and back in the manga, they had apprehended one of the commoner girls who hid something in her panties.
The girl had cried the whole way out and he did not want a repeat of that in his class.
"Thank you." Saki said with a nod. "You may leave now."
The Disciplinary Committee members nodded and walked off with the last of them closing the door behind him, leaving Class 5 and their Class Professor alone.
"Alright, I was tired of using a poker face." Saki said with a laugh and several students let out sighs of relief.
The entire class visibly deflated at once. Someone a few seats over had been gripping their desk so hard their knuckles had gone pale, they slowly let go.
"Now welcome Class 5 to the Mid-terms, like I said a few minutes ago, This is the first time you'll be writing your Mid-terms so I'll explain what goes on here."
Someone raised their hands and Saki raised an eyebrow.
"Yes?"
"Saki-sensei, are we going to be using paper like regular Mid-terms? I noticed we haven't dropped our ALI phones after all." She said and Saki smiled.
"Oh right, I want all of you to drop your phones on your table." She said and there were sounds of shuffling as everyone placed their ALI phones on the table then she cleared her throat. "Initiate Command: Exam Mode."
Each phone let out a single beep as it turned completely black and had a single camera where the screen was supposed to be.
"Huh??" A lot of students let out surprised gasps.
"That is Exam Mode and it will only be deployed during an exam, once Exam Mode is activated, you will lose your ability to do the regular things you normally use your ALI phone to do as it essentially becomes a projector." Saki explained. "Once the exam starts, it'll hover over your head and project the questions down to you with even a pen as well. Please note that the questions are shuffled per person and your Number 1 could be your seatmate's Number 22. Each subject has about 50 Objective Questions and 5 Theory Questions which give 10 marks each so your goal should be scoring 100."
It was much different from the Exams back on Earth but it was still the same base idea, Koya wasn't worried however, he had a bet with Saki on whether he could score the highest in the Written exams within Class 5 and if he did, she owed him a date.
Again, it was going to be hard especially since everyone studied with the questions that he leaked.
He sighed.
"Alright then, I'll now explain the major thing for today which is why all of us are gathered here and aren't doing classes." Saki said while taking her holo-cane and palming it with her other hand. "These are the ALI Mid-terms, usually Mid-terms are taken to check the capabilities of students as a whole within Education Establishments but over here in ALI, it is simply a way to determine what students are no longer needed within this Academy as well as a competition where classes can be pushed up."
Koya nodded, it was the same as the manga… The Mid-terms were a way whereby lower classes could push up while higher classes could push down by gathering Class Points throughout the whole thing.
"Now who remembers what I.P and C.P are?" Saki asked and several students raised up their hands but she picked Koichi. "Answer."
"I.P are known as Individual Points and these are the points that Individuals are free to use to purchase anything within ALI as long as it's being sold." Koichi said. "On the other hand C.P are known as Class Points which are held by a class as a whole, they can't be used like Individual Points but they're shown in the Class Ranking app and a Class with higher Class points can apply for a class change."
"Amazingly said." She nodded her head. "That's what Individual Points and Class Points are. And the Mid-terms is split into 6 days stretching from Monday to Saturday which features a set of events that will earn you Class Points and who knows? At the end of the Mid-terms, if you have higher Class Points than Class 4, you can overthrow them and send them down to Class 5. Also Class Points can be deducted if you cause trouble within the exams, instructors within these periods will no longer attack your IP but your CP instead and if the whole class points of your class drop below 40. It will trigger an automatic expulsion of the whole class."
"Wha?!"
"No way…"
"But I've been blabbing on and on about things you already should know as an ALI Student, let's get to start with the timetable." She tapped on the Holo-board and it lit up with the timetable as Saki smiled. "Monday starts with the Written Exam which will go from the Morning to Afternoon dealing with several subjects that you have been taught with questions set by the Professors themselves, On Tuesday is the Applied Theory which are scenario-based questions that are scored based on reasoning, Wednesday is known as the Buffer Day, you don't do anything related to exams here but it is still a very important part of the week where Class Points can be wagered on challenges between classes and lots more, Thursday is the Practical Combat assessment, Friday is the Familiar Bond Assessment, Saturday is the Class Collaboration Task and finally Sunday is the Results and Rankings Day."
Someone raised up their hand and Saki sighed.
"The others aren't being explained as the exams change every year, you'll be alerted of it on the day itself, not an hour before." She said and the hand dropped, which meant what actual tests they were doing for the Physical Assessment, Familiar Bonding and Class Collaboration Task was unknown until the actual days. "Now sit down properly… the Board will tell us your morning exams, the afternoon list will come after lunch."
The Holoboard flashed and several subjects wrote themselves on it.
[Morning: Math, Mana Theory, Monster Studies, Awakened Biology, Economics]
"There you have it." Saki said and there were several groans, even Koya's eyes twitched.
'What kind of hellish subject combination is this? Math, Biology and Economics in the same morning? The person that designed this needs to die.' Koya thought.
"Aww~ Your expressions are so cute." She said, "The questions will last from now until lunch time so there's a lot of time to do the best you can do. Your exam starts within 10 minutes, if you want to review the knowledge you've read in your head, you're free to do so within this time and if you want to start the exams, Say 'Start' t–"
"Start." Misora said and her Exam Mode ALI phone floated above her head, projecting a blue light down to her table but there was nothing in the light.
Misora picked up air and started using it on the air as well, honestly it looked like she was crazy.
"Uh… Class Rep, are you even writing?" Her seat-mate asked and Misora looked up.
"Can't you see the pen and paper?" Misora asked because she felt it.
"They can't." Saki said. "The Projections are only physical to the owner of the ALI phone, others can't see it. Also from this moment, if you look up from your exam paper, you will get a 10 mark deduction from the total."
There were several groans in the class… the exam was harsh.
"Start." Mio was the one that spoke next and her own materialized as well in front of her eyes. Slowly everyone else began doing the same including Ichinose and Koya let out a sigh.
'Alright System, I hope you're ready.' Koya thought.
「Affirmative, 1 FP per answer」
Normally he would insult the System about it being greedy but today he really didn't mind the prices, Saving Ichinose gave him about 100k points which was then multiplied by his Fate Points Multiplier, he had 200k extra and for the total amount of FP he had, he had enough to trace ? but he wanted to spend them on skills instead.
'Question Mark can wait.' He thought, more skills meant a broader set of abilities, maybe he would act like that lustful system store user and buy something to help out in sex.
Possibly a skill that would help him overwhelm Hakai easily. 'I shouldn't be thinking about this during Mid-terms.'
"Start." He said and his own phone soared ahead as the singular camera glowed and a pen and paper appeared on his table, he took hold of the pen and wrote his name at the Name section.
It wasn't a singular paper like he thought, it was a whole booklet with several pages and the ALI Logo up front along with the name tab.
After writing his name, he turned the booklet to see the first questions and it was Math.
…
Question 1. A student completes 3 missions per week earning 1,200 crowns per mission. After 8 weeks they spend 40% of their total earnings on equipment. How many crowns remain?
(a) 14,420 (b) 17,280 (c) 15,800 (d) 12,960
Question 2. A circular training arena has a radius of 35 meters. A student runs 4 full laps around the perimeter. What is the total distance covered? (Use π = 3.14)
(a) 879.2m (b) 912.4m (c) 956.8m (d) 843.6m
Question 3. An Awakened user has a mana pool of 4,500 units. Each spell activation costs 120 units and their passive regeneration rate is 15 units per second. If they activate 12 spells consecutively with 8 seconds between each activation, how many mana units remain after the final activation?
(a) 2,820 (b) 3,060 (c) 2,460 (d) 3,180
Question 4. A mana-enhanced blade is launched from a construct at 340 meters per second. The target is 1,275 meters away. A second blade is launched 1.5 seconds later at 510 meters per second. Which blade strikes the target first and by how many seconds?
(a) First blade, 0.75 seconds earlier (b) Second blade, 0.25 seconds earlier (c) Both blades strike simultaneously (d) First blade, 0.25 seconds earlier
Question 5. In a class of 28 students, the average Individual Point score is 94. If the top 4 students each scored 160 points, what is the average score of the remaining 24 students?
(a) 79.3 (b) 83.7 (c) 71.6 (d) 77.5
…
'Nice.' Koya thought, these are pretty tame compared to what they were taught and based on the fact that everyone was moving their hands in the class, he could guess that they all knew it. 'Maybe that sadist of a math teacher really decided to spare us this time…'
He looked in the theory and his eyes turned dark.
…
ALI Mid-Terms, Class 5 Advanced Math: Full working required. Marks will not be awarded for answers without complete derivation. Minimum 5 pages of working expected.
Question:
An Awakened user with a single Fire affinity has a base mana pool of 6,200 units and a passive regeneration rate of 20 units per second. They are participating in a Mana Convergence as the Convergence Point with two external Fire-affinity channelers.
Channeler A has a mana pool of 4,800 units and contributes at 88% transfer efficiency due to mana pathway resistance between users.
Channeler B has a mana pool of 3,600 units and contributes at 72% transfer efficiency due to greater physical distance from the Convergence Point during channeling.
The Convergence Point multiplies all received mana according to the formula:
M(total) = (M_self + M_A + M_B)² × C ÷ D
Where: C = compatibility coefficient. For a fully compatible single-affinity Convergence, C = 1.25 D = physical strain coefficient, calculated as: 1.0 + (0.04 × number of seconds the Convergence has been active at time of output calculation) The Convergence is held for exactly 35 seconds before output is released
During the Convergence, the Convergence Point's passive regeneration is reduced to 30% of its normal rate. The channelers cannot regenerate at all while channeling.
After the Convergence releases its output, the Convergence Point must distribute the total mana across four sequential spell activations in the following order:
Spell 1 — Flame Burst: Base cost of 1,800 units. Cost increases by 6% for every full 5,000 units present in the mana pool at time of activation above a threshold of 8,000 units.
Spell 2 — Heat Armour: Costs exactly 22% of the remaining mana pool after Spell 1 is activated, but is reduced by a flat 400 units if the pool at time of activation exceeds 50,000 units.
Spell 3 — Blaze Construct: Base cost of 3,200 units. However if the remaining pool after Spell 2 is between 30,000 and 60,000 units, an instability surcharge of 18% is added to the base cost. If the pool is above 60,000, no surcharge applies. If below 30,000, a discount of 10% applies instead.
Spell 4 — Inferno Release: Costs the square root of the remaining mana pool after Spell 3, rounded to the nearest whole unit, multiplied by 12.
After all four spells are activated, the Convergence Point must sustain a passive flame barrier for 60 seconds at a drain rate of 85 units per second, while their regeneration returns to full rate.
You are required to find:
(i) The effective mana contributed by each party after efficiency losses. Show all working.
(ii) The total mana entering the Convergence formula. Show full substitution.
(iii) The physical strain coefficient D at 35 seconds. Show derivation.
(iv) The full Convergence output M(total). Show complete substitution and simplification to the nearest whole unit.
(v) The mana regenerated by the Convergence Point during the 35-second Convergence window at reduced rate. Add this to the output and state the adjusted starting pool before spell activations begin.
(vi) The cost of each spell in sequence; Spell 1 through Spell 4, showing the pool state before and after each activation. Identify which surcharge or discount bracket applies at Spell 3 and justify your answer.
(vii) After all four spells are activated, calculate the mana remaining. Then calculate whether the Convergence Point survives the 60-second passive flame barrier, accounting for full regeneration returning. State the exact mana remaining or deficit at the end of the barrier.
(viii) If the Convergence Point requires a minimum emergency reserve of 2,000 units after the flame barrier ends, did they meet it? If not, by how much did they fall short and at what point during the barrier did the pool hit zero?
(ix) Essay component; minimum 400 words: A fellow student argues that a Convergence Point should always release output as early as possible to minimize the physical strain coefficient D and therefore maximize total output. Using your calculations above, construct a detailed argument either supporting or refuting this claim.
Your answer must reference the specific numerical impact of D on the output in this question, explain the biological cost to the Convergence Point of sustaining a longer Convergence, and discuss at least two strategic scenarios where a longer Convergence despite higher D would be tactically justified.
…
What kind of psychopath would set 6 whole pages worth of questions? Regardless, he focused on the objective questions and sighed.
'Alright then, let's begin.' He thought.
…
"Haahhhh… these Professors are evil." Ichinose said as she kicked her legs under the Cafeteria table. "If those were the mid-terms, then the exams will be a lot harder."
Everyone had been giving the Math Professor glares from the moment they saw him, Math had the most pages out of the Morning subjects which was crazy honestly but all in all, the Cafeteria was lively.
"I'm much more interested in the fact that the leaks were correct." Mio sighed at the same table. "I didn't trust them at first but all of the questions were exactly as they were in the tests."
"Right…" Ichinose said, pulling her face up. "If I didn't study them, I would have surely failed."
"That's because you're dumb." Mio shot back without looking at her, and the girls continued nagging each other… Koya was glad that Ichinose was able to nag around with Mio especially after trying to off herself yesterday.
"What do you think about this whole thing, Koya-kun?" Mio asked while looking at him.
"I think we should progress how we normally did." Koya replied. "Though I have to admit the site made it a lot easier."
"I wonder, how much did that person make? I think it's a student but it could be a Professor too." Ichinose said.
Just then a platter dropped on the table as well and it was Misora who sat down and sighed.
"I'm very sure that it's a student." Misora pointed out. "A Professor wouldn't go out of their way to steal the work of other Professors just to sell it for such a small number of IP, I have a feeling that it's a plan made by a student to be able to gather trust and perhaps fuck everyone over later."
Koya hid his surprise well, she had figured him out easily. She had essentially described his entire business model in two sentences over lunch.
He picked up his drink and said nothing.
"But that could never be my Koya-kun." She lifted up her chicken wing and extended it to his mouth. "He's a very good boy."
What were these girls doing with their obsessions at calling him a good boy? First it was Hakai, next it was Misora… who next? Miyuki?
"Class Rep, we have some news…" A girl suddenly arrived at the table. "I heard two top-tier nobles transferred from Omni Academy A class over to ALI today, they took the Mid-terms as their Entrance exams and the Professors are saying they aced it."
"Ah?" Koya blinked, it couldn't be who he thought right?
Suddenly the doors of the Cafeteria opened and Kagutsuchi Ryouma as well as Kurohane Takeru stepped in wearing Class 2 uniforms.
Every head in the Cafeteria turned.
It was Ryouma walking in like he owned the building and already scanning the room for a specific person and behind him was Takeru who was saying nothing.
"Amagi Koyaaaaaa~" Ryouma said as if he was singing. "I've come for you~"