Looking at the small blue bottle in his hand, a complex expression flashed across Ryan's face.
Silver Deer Blood—the blood of the rare beast known as the Silver Deer. The blood of this rare beast was rich in Original Essence, which could directly improve the physical qualities of those below Rank 1 Blood Warrior, making it a precious medicine.
However, its price was extremely high, and it was often out of stock on the market. He had never expected Elias to go to such lengths for him.
Of course, he didn't need the bottle of Silver Deer Blood to save him right now, but Elias's actions weighed heavily on his heart. Although he knew that this "affection" had not originally been directed at him, there was no doubt that he was now the one receiving it.
"We must find a chance to return it."
Although Ryan didn't know what Elias had sacrificed to obtain this Silver Deer Blood, his intuition told him that Elias must have paid a heavy price for it. Therefore, this bottle of Silver Deer Blood had to be returned no matter what, but that would have to wait until after the assessment.
By then, he would have passed the test and naturally would no longer need the bottle of Silver Deer Blood. As for now, even if he returned it, Elias definitely wouldn't accept it.
At dawn, just as the sun was rising, a group of young men and women dressed in brigandine armor appeared in Aegis Martial Academy's testing hall. They were the students of Ryan's year.
Students in the other grades also had mid-year and year-end assessments, but theirs were scheduled separately from Ryan's group. Aegis Martial Academy had a six-year program with more than two hundred students in each grade, totaling over 1,200 students. It would be far too crowded for all of them to take their assessments together.
"Look, that guy is here."
When Ryan entered the testing facility, he immediately noticed that many eyes were fixed on him.
Ever since he had received guidance from Aurelia Voss, he had become something of a celebrity in his grade.
Some of them looked at him with curiosity, but most of their gazes were filled with jealousy.
Because of their hesitation, they had missed the opportunity to receive one-on-one guidance from Aurelia, yet they felt both envy and jealousy toward Ryan, who had seized that opportunity.
This was the psychology of ordinary people: if they couldn't have something, they didn't want anyone else to have it either. And if someone did obtain it, that person would naturally become the target of their jealousy.
"All of Lady Aurelia's guidance was wasted on him, yet he still couldn't pass the test. If I were him, I wouldn't even have the face to show up."
"It's a pity. If only I had gotten that opportunity, my spear technique would have improved a lot."
Ryan had already grown accustomed to people pointing at him and whispering behind his back these past few days. After all, people could say whatever they wanted, and there was little he could do about it.
Fight them?
Ryan knew he couldn't bring himself to fight a group of young people over a few words, so his strategy these days had simply been to ignore them.
"Hmph, just wait until you get expelled!"
Suddenly, Ryan felt a cold gaze fixed on him. He turned his head and saw Derek Holt staring at him with a sneer.
"This guy is really persistent!"
Ryan raised an eyebrow.
He could tolerate the others, but he truly wanted to teach this guy a lesson because he could see a wolf-like ruthlessness in Derek's eyes.
He was certain that, given the chance, Derek would kill him without hesitation. He even suspected that the incident that had led to the original Ryan's death and his own unexpected transmigration had not been an accident. The other party had probably acted with the intention of killing Ryan.
"Ryan."
A figure suddenly appeared and stood between Ryan and Derek.
It was Elias.
His intention was obvious. He was afraid that Ryan and Derek would start fighting again.
"Yeah, you're here."
Seeing Elias blocking his view, Ryan didn't mind and greeted him naturally.
Although he did want to teach Derek a lesson, he wouldn't act impulsively in a place like this. After all, today's assessment was the main event, and he would truly regret it if he missed it.
"Huh? What happened to your face?"
Suddenly, Ryan frowned.
He had noticed a large bruise on Elias's left cheek, one that definitely hadn't been there when they met yesterday afternoon.
"Yeah, it's nothing. I just tripped and fell."
Elias looked away, avoiding Ryan's gaze as he spoke in a calm tone.
"..."
Ryan didn't speak. He simply stared at Elias for a long moment.
If they had been ordinary people, that explanation might have made sense. However, as students of Aegis Martial Academy, their physical qualities were far superior to those of ordinary people.
To put it bluntly, they could fall from a height of two or three meters without necessarily being injured. How could someone with such physical qualities suffer a bruise like that simply from tripping?
Clearly, Elias was hiding something.
Still, Ryan didn't press him further because he knew that even if he did, Elias probably wouldn't tell him anything.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
As the bell rang, the more than two hundred students lined up in six groups, and their respective teachers appeared in front of them.
"Class One, follow me."
The year head, who was also the teacher of Class One, nodded toward the other five teachers before leading all the students of Class One into the testing area.
"Class One... I wonder if anyone will fail the test?"
"How could that happen? They'll definitely all pass again!"
"That's true. After all, it's the Elite Class."
Watching Class One enter the testing area, the students from the other classes couldn't help speaking enviously.
Aegis Martial Academy had six classes in each grade. The first class of every grade was personally led by the year head, and this class had a special title—the Elite Class.
In fact, not everyone in Class One had originally belonged to it. Many students had been selected from the other classes. Because its members were the elite chosen from the entire year, Class One became known as the Elite Class.
Half an hour later, as expected, every member of Class One passed the assessment, and almost all of them far exceeded the required standard.
Upon hearing the results, the students from the other classes, although they had expected something like this, were still somewhat taken aback.
Following the class order, the students from Class Two, Class Three, Class Four, and Class Five entered the testing area one after another.
When they came out, some were full of excitement, some were dejected, and others looked ashen-faced.
Those who were excited had passed the test. Those who were dejected had failed but had not yet reached their third failure. As for those who looked ashen-faced, they had failed the test for the third time.
Many students looked at those ashen-faced students with gloating expressions, while others cast meaningful glances toward Ryan, who had yet to take the test.
Clearly, in their eyes, Ryan would soon be joining the group being expelled.
"Class Six, come in with me."
The teacher of Class Six, which was also Ryan's class, was a square-faced man named Chaucer Joyce. He glanced over the students before leading them toward the testing area.
Soon, Class Six entered the testing grounds, which were almost as large as the waiting area outside.
Inside were two particularly prominent locations. One was a straight track marked with white lines, while the other contained a row of square iron blocks arranged from smallest to largest. Academy staff were already waiting at both locations.
As usual, the academy's assessment was divided into two parts: speed and strength.
It was the simplest method, but also the most difficult to deceive.
Strength and speed were the most basic manifestations of a Blood Warrior Apprentice's physical qualities, and neither could be faked.
The first test was speed.
Teacher Chaucer took out a roster and began calling students forward one by one.
The testing method was simple. The student stood at the starting point of the track while an academy staff member waited at the finish line.
The staff member held an hourglass designed to let grains of sand fall one at a time. Timing began the moment the student started running, and their result was determined by the number of grains that had fallen by the time they crossed the finish line.
"Jennock."
The first person called forward was a tall boy.
He was much more robust than most of his peers, but he didn't look fat. Instead, his build gave off a powerful impression.
"Start."
Whoosh!
The moment the teacher finished speaking, the boy burst forward.
His running movements were filled with explosive power, and his strides were long. With every step, the ground seemed to tremble slightly beneath him. Backed by such strength, his speed was naturally extraordinary, far surpassing that of Earth's sprint champions.
"Thirty-seven seconds."
By the time he reached the finish line, a total of thirty-seven grains of sand had fallen from the hourglass.
Teacher Chaucer quickly recorded the number before placing a checkmark beside Jennock's name, indicating that he had passed the speed test.
"40 seconds."
"39 seconds."
"41 seconds."
"38 seconds."
...
One by one, the students from Class Six stepped forward to take the test. Most of them recorded times below 40 seconds, while a few took more than 40 seconds. The expressions on the faces of those few students were particularly ugly.