Leo and Avril's moment was cut short when a voice boomed across the proving field, sharp and commanding enough to silence the entire crowd in an instant.
"Line up, brats!"
Heads snapped toward the source. Striding forward with mechanical precision was a bald man clad in a sharp black suit. His polished shoes clicked against the reinforced tiles of the field, each step radiating authority. He wore dark shades that concealed his eyes, but even without them, the weight of his presence pressed heavily on every student. His hands were clasped neatly behind his back, giving him the air of a soldier or executioner rather than a teacher.
When he stopped, the silence was absolute.
"My name is Void. I am your proctor, and I will be overseeing your evaluation today."
His lips curled into something that might have been a smile—or perhaps a warning.
"You will be tested in four aspects: Agility. Strength. Magic Power. Endurance. Fail to show worth in these, and your path in this academy will end before it even begins."
A ripple of unease passed through the students, though no one dared to speak.
Void's head tilted slightly, the lenses of his shades catching the glow of the mana-crystals that lit the field. "Consider this your first lesson: the world beyond these walls will not care for excuses. Only results."
The weight of his words settled like iron chains around their shoulders. Leo swallowed hard, feeling his heart pound in his chest. This was no ordinary test—it was the line between mediocrity and survival.---
A hand shot up from the crowd. It belonged to a tall boy with messy green hair and a smug grin plastered across his face. Without waiting for permission, he spoke out loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Sir," he drawled, "why bother with all this? We already have the system panels, don't we? Stats, levels, attributes—they're all right there. Why not just make us show those instead of wasting time with these… tests?"
Murmurs rippled through the students, some nodding in agreement. It wasn't an unreasonable question.
Void turned his head slowly toward the boy. His shades glinted, reflecting the nervous faces around him, but his expression was unreadable. For a moment, the silence stretched, heavy and suffocating.
Then—
Bang!
Void's foot stomped down, and a web of cracks splintered the reinforced tiles beneath him. The sound echoed like a gunshot, silencing every murmur.
---
Void's voice cut like a blade, low and cold, yet it carried across the entire proving field with unnatural weight. "Fools. The system panel is not some toy you flaunt in public."
He straightened, his hands folding neatly behind his back again as if the cracks in the tiles at his feet weren't even worth noticing.
"Listen well, brats. Your panel is absolute. Its numbers cannot lie, cannot be altered, cannot be bent by wishful thinking. But that is exactly why it must remain hidden. To reveal your panel is to reveal everything—your limits, your strengths, and your weaknesses. Show it to the wrong person, and you give them the perfect blueprint to defeat you."
His shades gleamed as he swept his gaze across the rows of students.
"That is why the Academy forbids open display of panels. Not to classmates. Not to strangers. Not to anyone outside those you would entrust with your life. If your panel is exposed, so is your fate."
The murmurs from earlier had died entirely. The green-haired boy who'd spoken out shrank under the weight of Void's words, his earlier arrogance crumbling into silence.
Void's tone sharpened further. "Understand this: the tests we use are not to replace your panel. They exist to provide us with a measurable glimpse of your foundation—your agility, your strength, your endurance, your magical capacity. They give us an estimate of how your absolute numbers translate into real, practical performance."
He began pacing slowly in front of the assembled youths.
"The system panel tells us who you are. These tests will tell us who you can become."
His voice thundered on the last words, making the very mana in the air seem to vibrate.
"Now—prepare yourselves."
---
The students stiffened at his command, the tension so thick it could be cut with a blade. Around Leo, he could hear the sharp intakes of breath, the shuffle of nervous feet, and the faint hum of mana as some unconsciously summoned their strength in anticipation.
Void clasped his hands behind his back again and tilted his head, as though measuring their resolve.
"Your results will decide your place here. Remember that well."
With a sharp snap of his fingers, the testing grounds flared to life. Crystal pylons lit up in sequence, runes crawling across their surfaces like veins of molten light. Combat dummies stiffened as if waking from slumber, while glowing lines carved themselves into the tiles, marking out tracks and arenas.
The sheer scale of the field, now fully awakened, stole the breath of many students.
---
Gasps rippled through the crowd. Some students leaned forward eagerly, their eyes gleaming with ambition, while others shrank back, their knuckles white around their staffs or blades.
Leo felt his pulse quicken, the weight of Void's words pressing on his chest like a mountain. Tests meant competition—and competition meant a chance to prove himself.
Beside him, Avril's lips curved into a small, knowing smile.
Void let the silence stretch just long enough to taste the tension before his voice thundered again.
"Step forward. The trial begins now."