The beginning of Aria's journey began with the harshness of life in the Slum District. He works early in the morning until he comes home late at night, apart from being tired, on the other hand there are also a lot of disturbances from thugs in this district. Almost every night, Aria meets several thugs, the thugs almost forcefully take Aria's hard-earned money for several days, luckily Aria is a smart person, every time he goes home, he always goes through a very narrow road, while passing through several fairly high walls, so that the thugs don't keep chasing his. Aria also does this as his physical exercise. Every time he finishes work and returns home, Aria doesn't forget to make time for physical exercise, such as push-ups and jogging in the morning.
Apart from that, Aria also bought an old wooden sword which was sold in the Slum District for 10 Cuprum. He used it to learn how to use a sword. Even though Aria didn't know the basics of swordsmanship, he still studied it to get used to holding a sword, even though he didn't know the basics of swordsmanship.
"I continue to practice every day, even though I don't know the basics of swordsmanship... the most important thing for me is how often a person holds and uses a sword."
Aria continues to swing the sword and is a little tired because there are no days off for him, he does this routine every day; from going to work to practicing using a sword. Even though time is running so fast, Aria's life routine has not changed as he continues to work hard to earn savings of up to 1000 Aurum or around million Cuprum in the Slum District.
Time passed so quickly… until 5 years later.
The morning atmosphere in the Slum District is still the same, even though 5 years have passed. Aria, who had worked hard in the slum district for 5 years, was finally able to collect the savings of 1200 Aurum that he had brought with him. Then he hurried quickly through a narrow alley, until he slipped past the crowd of people busy with their own activities, because in two days it was registration day for the entrance exam to Vakenholt Academy. Aria, with the preparations he had made, headed straight to the city of Valkenholt, which is near the city center where the Vakenholt academy is located.
"Ugh... I have to quickly get to where the academy exams are, these two days should be more than enough for me to get there."
Aria while running was confident and his breathing was very stable even while running.
With the savings he brought, it should be enough for Aria to be able to take the academy exam, because the cost to take the exam is only 110 Aurum or around 10,000 Cuprum. During the two-day journey, Aria boarded a shabby horse-drawn carriage that usually delivered goods to the city center, and coincidentally, the destination was the same as Aria's. Apart from that, he also encountered a few obstacles, but there were also incidents that made him happy.
Finally, after a journey that took quite some time, Aria arrived in front of the Vakenholt academy gate, with a building that was as majestic as a medieval one made of black stone with glowing runes carved into it and also contained a symbol of a magic flag and swordsmanship. This academy has two fields taught, namely magic and swordsmanship. Not only that, but Aria was also surprised by the number of people who arrived in front of the academy gate.
"Woah… that's amazing! This academy is so grand, even though I look so small." Aria's awe is relentless and full of passion.
In front of the gate, there were around hundreds of participants who were gathering to take the academy exams, most of them came from famous noble families, but some people came from ordinary families. However, Aria took a deep breath, and remained confident that she could pass his test. This entrance exam will be carried out individually or in groups, so all prospective students must use their own method or work together.
Then, a man came with a firm attitude, short black hair, wearing black armor. The man was in front of the gate and climbed to the podium.
"Welcome to the Vakenholt Academy admissions exam."
The sound echoed throughout the surrounding area and made all the participants silent.
"Only they are the ones who truly deserve to be able to enter Vakenholt Academy, but if you think that this exam is easy, you'd better just go home!"
All the participants who heard this were silent and felt a little hesitant about taking the exam. But several noble families were very enthusiastic about being able to enter Vakenholt Academy.
Suddenly a portal with blue light appeared at the gate of the Academy. All the participants were surprised that in order to enter the door they had to go through the portal where no one knew what kind of danger would arise.
"Okay! The first exam is about to begin! All of you enter this portal."
"This portal is your entrance test to the next stage, there will be many traps and you have to be able to get through the traps in it, if you are successful you can find your way to the second stage of this test which is a big labyrinth, in that big labyrinth you will be faced with lots of monsters, defeat the monster boss or find the exit door around the monster boss area."
"But if you fail then you will return to this gate again."
All the participants were a little doubtful and afraid to hear this, because they had never fought directly, let alone against monsters. Aria was the same as the other participants, he was a little afraid but that wasn't an obstacle for him.
"You all don't need to be afraid, in this portal you won't actually get hurt or die, if you fail or die then you will return to this real world, but the pain you feel will still be there. The goal is for you to also experience this world filled with monsters."
Hearing this made the other participants calm down a little and they got ready to enter the portal. However, there are some who feel afraid and withdraw from taking this exam.
"Ugh, why is this test so scary." The whispering voices from the participants even made the participants from ordinary families even more afraid.
Unlike the participants from noble families, they already had thorough preparations, all the necessary equipment had been brought, and they entered the portal one by one.
Meanwhile, Aria also has thorough preparations but is slightly different from the noble families. The weapon that Aria carries is just an old wooden weapon that is often used for training. But that didn't make Aria back down, he with sharp eyes full of enthusiasm, entered the portal.
"Okay, now is my time to change my miserable life."
"I must be able to complete all these exams, I must!"
This aria's words are filled with burning passion, because he has struggled for 5 years to survive while training in the slum district and saving up to be able to take this exam.
Without thinking, Aria entered the exam portal.
Once through the portal, Aria was shown a long hallway with many traps around it. All the participants ran to avoid the trap but had difficulty, and there were some who were hit by the trap and made them immediately disappear, like in a teleport. Finally, all the students realized that if they were caught in a trap and seriously injured themselves, they would fail the exam.
Therefore, as much as possible, avoid traps so as not to suffer serious injuries. Aria immediately ran while avoiding the trap. According to him, this looked familiar from when he was in the Slum District.
"Hmph… this looks familiar to me, avoiding this trap is the same as when I avoided the thugs in the Slum District and looked for another way to avoid getting caught by them."
"Looks like I should use my wits, hehe."
Aria, who was laughing a little, tried to use his clever sense to get past the trap. He tried to run faster to avoid an arrow that was shot randomly, not only that; He also nimbly jumped over the large rock in front of him blocking his path. After going through so many obstacles, finally several participants including Aria found a bright light in front of the hallway which indicated that it was the exit from this hallway.
Whispers from several participants could be heard.
"Ugh damn! Why are there so many traps thrown into our exams!"
Aria, who heard this, laughed a little in her heart, because he had already experienced something a little similar in the Slum District, while the other participants were mostly from noble families, and they had never experienced it.
After that, Aria and the other participants who managed to pass were a little surprised that the second stage of the test, which was called the Great Labyrinth, looked majestic and spacious. Without thinking, some of them formed a group to find the exit, while some moved alone, including Aria, who immediately ran to try to find a way out of this maze.
Will Aria be able to pass this huge labyrinth test?
Aria's challenge to change his life has just begun.