[Comprehensive] Every exam must be passed

(Scholar with dark circles)

Two months of exam preparation time is fleeting.

The first test was the written test that Bilika was least good at, and the location was arranged in a small lecture hall in the Eastern Command.

Three rows of twelve long wooden tables were placed neatly in the middle, and there were only eight examinees sitting in front of the tables. Two invigilators in military uniform walked around with their hands behind their backs, staring at them intently.

While waiting for the papers to be handed out, Bilika bit her thumb and tapped her toes on the ground unconsciously, unable to relieve her nervousness at all.

Suddenly someone poked her back with a pencil, Bilika carefully glanced at the examiner who turned to the front, and looked back at the person sitting behind her suspiciously.

He is a big, muscular man with no hair on his back and a curly golden fringe on his forehead. He is even more nervous than her. His face is covered with oil and sweat, and his small eyes are wandering around. He begs in a low voice: "This lady, beautiful Miss, when I take the exam later, can you push, push the paper forward."

Billika understood immediately.

But the big man really overestimated her, and Bilika scratched the corner of the table nervously: "You, are you also afraid of the written test?"

The big man seemed to have found a bosom friend, and he gritted his teeth with the pen holder in his mouth: "It's not that I don't read books, it's that those things refuse to be printed in my mind! The formulas, theories, treatises, and hypotheses about alchemy are too..."

"Ahem." Another examiner came in with the paper in his arms, stood on the podium and cleared his throat, and Bilika and the big man stopped at the same time.

These two months of preparation for the exam are of great significance to Bilika.

At home, there were a lot of content about alchemy in Dad's study, but she always only chose the fun and immediately usable alchemy.If you encounter a question that you don't understand, ask Tiqi, and Tiqi will be happy to answer it, but if you don't ask, Tiqi will never take the initiative to teach.

So, it wasn't until two months ago, when she got a long list of exam reference books dragged on the floor from Admiral Mustang, that she realized for the first time that her knowledge base was insufficient.Ah, it turns out that alchemy is such a systematic, complex, and profound subject.

...If it wasn't for the bet with my mother, I really want to give up.

***

three hours later.

Bilika walked out of the lecture hall dejectedly, closed her eyes and hugged her head as soon as she got out, and squatted down, muttering incessantly: "It's over, it's over, it's over..."

Nana, who was squatting at the door watching the joke, laughed loudly, jumping up and down like a flea: "Idiot! I said it earlier, it's impossible to rush for two months before the exam!"

The voice of the big man sounded from the side, the volume was very low, for fear that others would hear: "Hey, why did you only do half of the questions?"

"Because it's only half of it." She pointed to her head: "The graphics are okay, but I can't remember the text and data."

"Hmph, this kind of relationship, of course..."

"Hey, be quiet!"

"Go, go, go."

Other examinees passed by them whispering and chattering, looking at Bilika and the big man with fear and contempt.

The big man blushed, and he didn't know how to place his hands and feet in embarrassment, so he shrank behind Bilika.Bilika wondered: "Is there any difference between us and them?"

The big man glanced at her and stammered, "Didn't you participate in the preliminaries, too?"

"Preliminary selection?" Bilika pointed to the lecture hall behind her and asked, "Isn't this the first exam just now?"

The big man shook his head: "Only if you have a letter of recommendation from a major or above officer can you not participate in the pre-selection, and go directly to the written test and the subsequent practical test." He introduced himself coyly: "My name is Louis, How about you, the Bonnevilles?"

"Bilika." She probably understood that she should have come in through the back door of Admiral Mustang.Nana squatted on Bilika's shoulders with her hind legs, put her front paws on top of her ears, stood upright, and stretched her head to look at the backs of other candidates: "It's strange, since you know that the candidates who are exempted from the pre-selection have backgrounds, don't hurry up to curry favor. Instead, he looked contemptuous, could it be that people in this country have a lot of backbone?"

Bilika slapped Nana's little butt in a warning way: "Don't speak ill of others behind your back!" Nana bared her teeth, jumped down and stepped on the Qin Yerong in the corner, and walked along the wall .

Bilika didn't care about her, and asked Louis who was walking next to him familiarly: "I'm purely combat-oriented, what direction do you focus on?"

This is what she learned during the exam preparation process. Alchemy is divided into two branches: research and combat.For example, Admiral Mustang is a pure combat alchemist. He has never invented any alchemy formations or alchemy products, but he can use the flame generation formations in battle with proficiency, and even won the title of "flame".

As for Tiqi, although Bilika is not aware of his past affairs, it can be judged from the few words revealed by General Mustang that he has a solid theoretical foundation and almost perfect operation. Many early research materials are still sealed in the archives. In the National Central Library.

Amistoris is bordered by four countries, and has tense relations with Arlugo in the south and Dorakhma in the north. Therefore, combat-type alchemists who can be put on the battlefield are often valued more than researchers.

"Research..." Louis' answer didn't match his figure at all, and Bilika didn't hide it, pointing at his chest in surprise: "I thought you must be from the combat department!"

Louis clenched his fists and flexed his biceps, and smiled sheepishly: "These are... uh, in my mother's words, these are all decorative muscles. My fighting skills are very poor."

I don't know how many blows I have suffered before I can say my bad comments with a smile.

Bilika bypassed this topic and asked: "Then what are you studying? To be honest, I have never seen a second researcher except my father." At this point, she couldn't help but look at Louis carefully. Louie looked much cleaner and tidier than her father.

Louis seemed to hesitate for a moment, but looked at Bilika's calm and clear eyes, and said: "...the damage is transferred."

"Wow, that sounds amazing."

"No, I didn't invent it." Louis waved his hand modestly: "Someone used to invent a set of refining formations, which can be engraved on the skins of two people to achieve one-way damage transfer. I, I want to try Try to improve it, if you can transfer the damage to things like stones... Ah, big sister!"

A black car slammed on the brakes and stopped at the entrance of the headquarters. The driver opened the door respectfully, and a blonde beauty walked out from inside, holding a stack of thick information books in her hands, and looked down intently as she walked.He didn't look up when he heard Louis' voice, and asked lightly: "Finished the exam?" After speaking, before Louis could answer, he hurried away, obviously asking casually, and didn't expect him to answer at all.

Louis stood where he was, watched her leave, and said sadly, "My family... has always wanted me to become a real soldier..."

Bilika's parents have never asked her very much, and she couldn't understand Louis' mood, so she just said naively: "A real researcher is also good. If the research is successful, isn't it better than any protective gear?"

Louis smiled honestly: "Yeah."

***

A week later, early in the morning.

"Bilika, there is your letter." Mrs. Hughes thanked the postman, closed the door, looked at the signature, and said, "It's from the headquarters, maybe it's the notice of the next exam!"

"Ahhh! Really? Really? Where is the letter?" Before I saw anyone, I heard the voice of surprise first. Bilika blew into the living room from the bathroom like a gust of wind. She had just woken up and was washing her hair. It was disheveled, with white toothpaste foam on the corner of her mouth. Mrs. Hughes handed her the envelope and said with a smile: "Don't be so anxious."

Bilika pulled out the letter paper from inside, took a deep breath, but didn't have the courage to unfold it immediately, paused, pressed the thin piece of paper to her chest, and asked Mrs. Hughes nervously: "If... if not If it is passed, will there be a notice?"

"Open it and have a look." Mrs. Hughes turned back to the kitchen, lifted the lid of the ceramic soup pot, and took a deep breath: "It smells so good."

Bilika walked from the entrance to the kitchen door and then back to the sofa, and circled the living room for an unknown number of times before finally making up her mind.She stood by the window, closed her eyes tightly, pinched the edge of the letter paper with both hands, stretched her arms suddenly, and then slowly opened her right eye a crack.

"Dear Miss Bilika Sinken, congratulations..." Congratulations?Bilika breathed a sigh of relief, took the letter paper closer, read the ten lines at a glance for the first time, and then read it carefully for the second time, finally confirming that she passed the written test.

"Long live!!!"

When Mrs. Hughes came to the dining room with long bread and blueberry jam, she just saw Bilika rushing into Alicia's room excitedly, lifting Alicia high and circling around. Licia rubbed her eyes and was kissed several times by Bilika.

Mrs. Hughes smiled and shook her head, opened the refrigerator, and looked through the ingredients inside: "Well, let's add a few dishes tonight, to celebrate Bilika's passing the written test."

***

The location of the combat department's practical exam is also arranged in the headquarters. There is a spacious two-story auditorium surrounded by viewing stands. Because of the certain danger, a company of soldiers with guns was specially dispatched to guard the surrounding area.

Beside the fence on the second floor, the old man with two white beards turned his head slightly and asked, "That child is Tiqi's daughter? She looks alike."

Admiral Mustang stood a little behind him and nodded: "Yes, although the basic knowledge is weaker, the selection and drawing of the formation formation are very precise, and the formation speed is also very fast."

"Hehe, basic knowledge." This old man is the current President Gulaman. He remembered the black and white test paper of Bilika. One third of the questions were blank, but the other two thirds were blank. No points were deducted.Can't help but shook his head, said with a smile: "It's also 12 years old."

Admiral Mustang immediately followed suit with a smile: "Did you think of Brother Elric?"

President Gulaman curled his lips, nodded to General Mustang, and then to the candidates below with emotion: "Young people today are amazing."

The assessment of combat direction and research direction is separate. Bilika did not see Louis, but met two candidates who despised them at the beginning.

She leaned over to say hello, but the two of them moved away as if avoiding something dirty.

"What, why do you reject me?" Bilika puffed up her cheeks and snorted.She was just talking to herself, but she didn't expect someone to answer: "Of course. The coup d'etat just ended a year and a half ago, and the new president is busy purging the family that was attached to the previous president, and they This kind of low-level civilians are trying their best to avoid standing in line and wholeheartedly show their loyalty to the new president, how dare they associate with you people casually."

Bilika was startled, and hurriedly turned her head to look.The person who spoke was a shriveled, ghostly little old man, a little shorter than Bilika, with two huge dark circles under his eyes, and he walked without making any sound.Behind him was a red-haired boy with a very bright smile. He didn't know where he got Bilika's name, and he greeted him familiarly: "Yo, Bilichan."