The followers of the intangible God all worship his first priest, the Saint Zoran. While it was once controversial to do so, Zoran, or its modern form Soran is a common middle name to grant to firstborn children. It is uncommonly granted to second or third-born children who are destined to join the clergy as they age.

Why is it accepted amongst the clergy now?

As Saint Zoran once said; 

"I guide you, in the name of god, to a land that has no name. The one who guides is not a Shepherd, but a lamb, a lamb is nothing special. So walk with me, brother."

14:1 Saint Zoran 

The thought was not to name the child Zoran but to give the child a middle name Zoran as to not defile the name, as Zoran's name is attached to the intangible God. If one speaks Zoran's name they do not refer to the others, and as a middle name, Zoran is in all of us. 

There is another of Zoran's teachings.

"Do not trust everything the wolf tells you."

18:1 Saint Braham.

[…]

It's cold.

The sky is gray, and snow falls gently on the carriage, the interior is dark and the windows have started to fog up a bit. 

I only hear the crunching of snow beneath the wheels and the clomping sounds of hooves.

I take my mask off to breathe in peace and quiet, the mask is similar in design to that of the leper king, only with the face cut out to match mine.

I lean against the side of the carriage, my face against the window, and my eyes peering outside.

"Hooo…"

My breath comes out as visible vapor, clinging to the window.

I hear birds singing, I listen to them with my eyes focused on the snowflakes. I listen until the sun starts to peek out from under the horizon, realization now dawns upon me.

It's the dawn of the third day.

I knocked on the door twice.

"Coachman."

He opens the small flap in front.

"Young Master, we've reached our destination."

As it rolls through the gates, I see the city for the first time.

Arkesster, the city of light.

People are out there, poor beggars who are eating hard bread, children playing in the snow, knights who patrol the area, and mothers who are buying new gloves for the children to use.

The flap opens again.

"Young Master, there will be a slight delay, the carriage needs to have the lantern relit to keep with the winter policy of Arkesster."

I nod.

The flap shuts and he walks over to the lantern hanging above the right door.

I hear a sound from the left, a bumping noise.

I peer out from the window and see a child, our carriage stopped quite abruptly so he may have run into it.

The child looks around to his friends who came to help him, he rubs his head as they express their worry. 

The child looks up for the first time since he hit his head and meets my eyes.

I saw his eyes dilate. 

The pupils shrank to a pea size, and his face contorted as his mouth opened.

"AHHHHHHH!"

Why? 

"Monster! It's a monster!"

Ah…it's me…

I meet the eyes of my reflection.

Hideous. Hideously ugly.

To be rejected by another human, if that world was truly simulated every single time, did I cause this feeling to come to them over 11,000 times?

I put my mask back on, and I feel the carriage move again.

My feelings have become far too vivid, and my memories have become altered. Every second that I've spent in this world makes me think of myself as Duri Noctum more and more.

My goal has become all mixed up, my emotions are becoming real.

"Haha…"

This…is real.

The carriage door opens as I ponder.

"Young Master, we've arrived."

I step out of the carriage and come face to face with it; The Academy, named after its sponsor from so long ago, is renowned as one of the top 4, and undisputed as the very best.

I hear the voices of others who arrived, the voices of the nobles stand out the most.

"Is that him?"

"It must be, with that mask, it's him."

"Duri Noctum, the Eldest son."

"He's infected with leprosy right?"

It's suffocating to hear in person.

In the game it came out in pixels and text during social events, calling the avatar ugly, or whatever it was that he was lacking. The only time they didn't say anything was when I used the only preset in the game. 

You could say he was the only canon avatar.

Speak of the devil, there he is.

Callus von Afrecht, from the Marquis House of Afrecht. Distinguished by his red hair, blue eyes, and an insane amount of mana.

He was an irregularity in that family of mages, born with mana rivaling that of the Archmage Braham. 

If you didn't play as Callus, he'd be in the game without a doubt.

The hero destined to save the world.

The snow beneath me takes on the shape of my footprint, the cold air presses down on me like wet wool.

Ah, right, in the time I took to get to the Academy, I tested quite a few things. 

Due to the composition of my blood, I'm unable to use mana, aura, or spiritual abilities. It's really a failure of combinations, the leprosy, Noctum blood, and this body of mine.

"All students, please make your way to the examination hall."

There was a man dressed in the scholar's uniform, guiding everyone inside. 

Inside, the examination hall has the floor covered in a magic circle. Let's see…the formula is six-sided, and the tangent points connected by a ray are pointed at negative on the right and positive on the left.

It's a healing circle.

It's probably being maintained by a magic crystal, they become exhausted in minutes for the smaller crystals and years for the larger ones.

Around us, there are ciphers.

You prick your hand with its needle and it's accepted into the cipher where it then deciphers your lineage. 

It's used for fraud protection and to ascertain that they don't miss out on recruiting highborn children.

The most important part of the cipher, however, is that it's the first save point.

Once it registers my blood, I'll be able to form a contract with a god.

I pressed my fingertip into the needle, and when I felt a sharp pain, I jolted back. 

Slipping my gloves back on, I read the results.

[33.33% Hessian, 66.66% Noctum, 0.01% Zoran.]

[33.33% Ferriam, 66.66% Imperial, 0.01% Alaric Royalty.]

[Marginal Errors of 10% possible.]

I see…my father didn't marry a noblewoman, he married a commoner from Ferriam. 

Next, the physical examination.

I overheard the measurements of some others, and I focused on the more important people.

"Alicia Arden, 165cm, around 20% body fat."

"Callus von Afrecht, 188cm, around 14% body fat."

"Dietrich Endrin, 180cm, around 12% body fat."

"Sara Soran Alaric, 170cm, around 21% body fat."

"Duri Noctum, 193cm, around 23% body fat."

"Felix Argus, 175cm, around…"

I zoned out after hearing my measurements.

They used a grip monitor test to determine our body fat percentages to see what kind of physiques we had, the height was used for student identification.

That way someone couldn't recklessly claim to be another student if accused by a witness.

These ciphers are also commonly used in war to distinguish enemy combatants, if there's total annihilation on one side but they can't find who did it, they'll register the mana or aura signature to the enemy combatant and use a cipher for when they find a sample of the enemies blood. They usually only do this for exceptionally dangerous or valuable targets though.

I'll have to learn to use a mobile one soon since going to war is an academy exercise at this time.

The third and final exam.

The skill test.

The Academy was once a world-class institution for students all around the world has temporarily turned into a military academy.

That's why the skill test is being emphasized more than ever because we'll be sent to the frontlines on the Western front of the Empire. If we don't have the skills, there's a chance we'll die, even if it isn't high since we're likely to receive rear deployment, it's still important since right when we graduate we'll be sent to war. 

"First, Dietrich Endrin."

Dietrich walks up onto the platform.

"You have a prior achievement of slaying barbarians on a trip to the East, show us your skill against Instructor Benedict."

Dietrich readies his weapon, a greatsword, and replies dismissively, "Understood."

"Begin."

Dietrich thrusts out from his left shoulder, aiming for the neck.

The instructor parries with his spear and flourishes it while charging in.

Dietrich attempts to take space to adjust to the sheer range of the spear but fails since the instructor is much faster. 

Using the pommel of the spear he powerfully thrusts it into Dietrich's stomach.

"Uuhhh…ugh…"

Dietrich struggles to breathe on the floor, and the Instructor turns to the judges.

"I'd pass him, he has the basics down but I went a little too hard on him, I'll adjust for the rest of the test."

The judges nod in agreement and read the next name.

I know who it's going to be, after such an overwhelming defeat, it's time for the protagonist to shine.

"Next, Callus von Afrecht."