Chapter 98 - Entrance Exam

As we walked through a gate which held crowds of people waiting for those in front of them to get to their seats so they could do the same thing. While I could not see much from the place I was due to almost everyone being taller than me, I could see the furnished marble walls glistening with the reflection of sunlight on it's smooth white surface.

Right now, I was walking side by side with my father and Olivia while holding the hand of my father and the arm of Olivia to make sure we aren't split up. If anyone was to take a glance, they would think we are just a random happy family walking around, but on closer look, they would realise that I did not have any of the Asian characteristics of Olivia, nor her black hair.

'Knowing my mom, she might get a bit suspicious of these two. I'm sure my father would never do that to her, but my mom can go coocoo sometimes' I inwardly grimaced

My brothers had already split with us around 10 minutes ago and were probably getting ready for the event in the waiting rooms for the contestants. This was the first time in this life that i was actually looking forward to seeing my brothers fight. After seeing the kind of state they put that Supreme rank assassin in, I had gotten curious on how strong they were. After using analysis on the area they battled in, I could tell the gist of things that had happened, but it's different seeing it with my own eyes.

After eventually getting through the crowd, I expected my father to move us towards the seats that were empty, but instead, we found ourselves following him upstairs, garnering us a few envious stares.

Eventually, we found ourselves in what i could only describe as, the VIP lounge, where all important people would stay and watch the fights while drinking a cup of wine. The moment we walked in, everyone looked at me before staring at Olivia for a prolonged amount of time. When they realised they were getting glares from me and my father, they looked away and towards my father.

"HOHOHO! If it isn't my very own Brigadier." A old man with grey hair and a short grey beard announced before walking towards my father and hugging him tightly.

"It is a pleasure to meet you too Major General Galibiur." My father saluted him after being let go of the bear hug.

"No need to be so formal Deros. Just address me as Jack when we are outside the military. Also, don't be so tense all the time! Have a drink and sit down" The Major General encouraged

"But sir-!"

"No buts! Now sit down and don't call me sir" The Major General chuckled

"Okay si- I mean J-Jack." My father stuttered causing the Jack to laugh heartily

"Are you not going to introduce me to there lovely young ladies? Don't tell me you are being unfaithful to your wife!" The major general exaggeratedly gasped while winking at my father.

"Nothing like that, J-Jack. This one is Pandora, my daughter, and the other one is our servant." My father introduced.

"Fascinating! I thought your daughter was 6 years old though, or was I wrong?" Jack inquired

"No sir, you are right. She is 6 years old. However, due to her developing an Enhanced Constitution, she had grown much faster than most of the peers. She not only had the body of at least a 12 year old, but the mind of someone beyond her age." My father explained

'All of that is wrong, but they don't need to know that' I chucked inwardly

"I see." The Major General spoke with a dazed expression as the whole room went silent before bursting into whispers

-"An enhanced constitution?"-

-"No way right?"-

-"Man, I wish my son was lucky enough to develop one"-

-"Aren't enhanced constitutions inherited through blood? and her father doesn't have one, nor do her brother's."-

-"Do you think his wife was unfaithful? She doesn't have any of their eyes"-

"SILENCE!" The Major General Bellowed causing the room to go completely silent.

"Sorry about that" Jack rubbed his neck before turning to me and kneeling a little before asking "Since you're six, you must have awakened. Mind telling me what elements you have awakened"

'Sly bastard. He is nice and all, but he is curious too. Maybe he thinks my mother was unfaithful too. If I answer fire and earth, we are bound to have problems. If I reply, water and fire, it would be more plausible but it would still bring about rumours while also making problems between me and my father. The same thing would happen if I say water and earth, while saying air and fire might fix the situation a little, but people will ask where the fire heritage had come from. Basically, if I say anything other than water and air, I am fucked. What if I say light? It would explain why my eyes aren't cyan, blue or green. But then people while light magic have silver eyes. Ugh. What should I do?'

While this conversation within my mind would seem to have taken a long time, less than half a second had passed and I was still racking my brain for Ideas.

"Why do you want to know?" I asked with a raised brow, trying to gain time

"Oi! Pandora! That is no way to talk to a Majo-"

"It is fine Deros" The Major General comforted.

"I am simply curious. Not many gain an enhanced constitution, so I wanted to know what your elements are, just in case you have an element I can train you in." Jack said while patting my shoulder

Signalling him to come closer so I could whisper in his ear, he complied and came closer. Many huffs and puffs came from the people around us due to their curiosities being unfulfilled.

'Saying I have the light element is like spelling disaster. No way am I going to say that. Wait, I think I've read somewhere that they have this device the nobles use to find out who the child's father is. I can just say that my elements are earth and fire, and no one will know except the Major General. If he doesn't believe I am my father's child, we can simply use that device and find out for real.' I inwardly smiled, praising myself for being an absolute genius

"I have the fire and earth elements" I whispered

"And what constitution do you have?" He asked with a slightly empathetic tone

"Mana and soul eyes. I can see fiery energy inside people and brown, emerald green, red and blue lights everywhere" I bragged a little. I knew that to be able to join the army at my current age, I had to show that I would be useful, so instead of saying I have the light element, which might have caused me to get attention from a lot of people, including the king or even the emperor, I can just say I have mana and soul eyes.

I knew my father was just saying things when he said he would get me in the army if I were to pass his training, due to him not believing I could actually do it, but now, with the training I had received from Juilam, my mana aptitude and my control over my fire and earth elements, combined with my 2 years of battle experience, it was a no brainer that he would allow me in if I were to ask. It might take a little bit of bargaining on his side though.

'Why is he silent' I asked myself while looking at him

'I think you broke him... What did you tell him?' Asked Olivia through the mind link.

'Nothing. Just what my constitution is' I said simply

Letting her curiosity take over, Olivia asked 'and that is?'

'Mana and soul eyes.'

'...'

'hello? You there?'

'I understand his bewilderment now' She replied

After a few seconds, he looked towards my father with an expectant look, before going to him and whispering something. After a little while, my father nodded and they moved away from each other with serious expressions.

"What is happening here?" A male voice spoke, drawing out attention to him.

"Oh, Paul! You're finally here. Let me introduce you all. This is Paul, my eldest son. I am training and raising him to become a Major general just like me, maybe even a Lieutenant General in the future!" Jack announced while giving a hearty laugh. "Oh, and this is Deros, Pandora, and what was your name again young lady? Sorry my memory is a littl-

"Her name is Olivia" I interrupted

"Pandora!" My father tried to reprimand before being stopped by another laugh

"Thank you Pandora! Your attitude around me is quite refreshing! Many simply bow down with respect, but I like the lenient 'I don't care' kind of aura you give."

"Thanks" I simply replied

"Hello Pandora. I'm Paul" Paul, the black haired boy with aqua blue eyes and tender figure, extended his arm for what looked like a hand shake, which I respectably took. However, I was wrong.

The moment I moved my hand in to grasp him, his warm smile did not change, however, instead of giving me a firm handshake, he grasped on to my fingers and pulled my hand up closer to his face. At this moment, I could see many emotions within the soul flames of those around me, but the most prominent were envy, anger and... worry?

Looking around me, not literally of course since I can see in all directions, I saw Olivia, who usually had a deadpan expression turn worried, while my father's one had turned into ones of panic.

Realising what was happening, I released the grasp on my fingers like a slithery snake escaping through holes in the rubble of a collapsed building.