3. Spectacle
Such precision and control — she must be one of those geniuses. Instead of cheers, I heard boos.
"Isn't she the daughter of the fallen Ascot family?" a guy whispers to another aspirant behind me.
"You can't forget her due to her killer looks, even if you want to. She's the Princess of Ruin — Amber Ascot," the other aspirant replies.
She doesn't seem like the type that cares about what people think of her. Despite the mockeries she receives, she doesn't even flinch. She sits on her chair, unmoved by their trivial words.
[No. 2]
The crowd cheers immediately as he stands up. He grins and waves at them. He must be quite a popular figure.
He steps onto the stage and draws his sword. Upon holding it, mana gathers around his blade.
"Sever," he grunts, slashing the menalium without making a sound.
"As expected of the Silent Blade," a girl whispers.
[7000 points — No. 2 passes]
I can see the slight displeasure on his face. He isn't satisfied with the result.
"I don't think—"
The dean cuts him off. "It is quite accurate, young man."
The cheers reduce.
"I can't believe he got lower points than the Princess of Ruin," an aspirant whispers softly.
[No. 3]
From the way he is shaking, I can already predict the outcome. He shoots some stone rocks at it and barely makes any dent.
[0 points — No. 3 fails]
They continue to call more aspirants' numbers. I am the last person, so I have quite enough time to observe.
[300 points — No. 79 passes]
Up until now, no one has managed to beat Amber's score. The highest after the Silent Blade was 2000 points by a noble's son.
[No. 80]
WAAAAAAHH!
Extremely loud cheers erupt — far louder than the rest.
"We love you!! Prince Liam!" a girl screams at the top of her voice.
"Go! Beat that ruined genius's score!" another person shouts.
He sure carries himself with a lot of pride. Well, he is the crowned prince after all.
He steps onto the stage.
"Soaring thunderbolts from the heavens, I call on thee!"
Dark clouds cover the bright blue sky, and I can even hear thunder roaring. He is probably in the late stage of the 3rd Grade now, given the level of mana he has. He's just a stage above Amber, who is in the mid stage of the 3rd Grade.
"Azure Bolt!"
A huge bolt of lightning strikes the menalium.
[15,000 points — No. 80 passes. Outstanding.]
WAAAAAAHH!
"As expected from Prince Liam!" a girl shouts.
He is impressive, I'm not going to lie. But that spell drained him quite a bit — I can tell from the slight deviation in his walking steps.
A few more numbers are called.
[0 points — No. 160 fails]
Yet another failure. I'm not sure up to 40 candidates have passed — it's mostly nobles. All the commoners so far have failed.
[No. 161]
"Look, it's the Natural Disaster!" a boy from behind shouts.
Woohoo!
The crowd cheers as an overly energetic girl walks toward the stage.
"Are you ready for a spectacle?" she screams, facing the crowd.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! We are so pumped, Queen Freya!" the males in the arena reply energetically.
She has a cocky attitude, but that aside, she's probably around the late stage of the 2nd Grade or the early stage of the 3rd Grade — the same as the Silent Blade.
"Fuck calmness. I invite CHAOS!" she chants.
Darkness gathers in her hand.
"Chaotic Boom!"
She throws it at the menalium.
[7200 points — No. 161 passes]
"As expected of our Queen!" her fans cheer.
[No. 162]
Thud… thud…
Her steps echo as she walks to the stage.
WAAAAAAHH!
The crowd cheers.
"Glacier, emerge and pierce it all," she chants.
The whole arena gets colder. It was just warm — now it's freezing. That girl is quite strong, stronger than all the others before her. She's either mid 4th Grade or early 5th Grade. There's no other way to explain this amount of mana.
"Frostbite."
It pierces the menalium to the point I can see an ice mark at the back.
[Absolutely splendid! No. 162 — 18,000 points]
Woohoo!
"As expected of the Blizzard Witch — she's even stronger than the Crown Prince," a voice echoes.
Unlike the Prince, who got drained easily, she still has a lot of mana left.
[No. 163]
"Hahaha, it's another commoner. I'm sure he's going to fail like the rest," a girl whispers.
This guy… I can't say, but something feels off. Just look at his cheery demeanor and that huge smile on his face.
"Here I go," he says as he steps onto the stage.
"Winds of the far east and near west, collide and tumble!" he chants.
The wind current in the arena instantly becomes stronger due to the influence of his mana. Could he be one of those rare commoner prodigies?
"Wind Blast!"
He shoots a ball of wind at the menalium, creating a hole in it.
[10,000 points — No. 163 passes. I have spotted yet another amazing talent.]
This is unexpected. Judging from that display, he must also be in the mid stage of the 3rd Grade. He must have quite the stamina — not collapsing after expending almost all his mana at once.
Murmurs of displeasure echo through the arena.
After numerous displays, it's finally my turn.
[No. 204]
"He doesn't look like anything special, and his mana is so super low. He's probably in the early stage of the 1st Grade," a boy in the crowd whispers.
I step onto the stage. I can see how uninterested the dean and the crowd are — they aren't even paying attention.
"Hurry up with it, or have you decided to chicken out?" a boy laughs.
"I call upon the inferno."
Flames gather violently at the tip of my finger.
"It's just another flame bullet — but why are the flames blue?" a girl exclaims.
"Flame Bullet Maxima!"
I shoot it into the menalium, and it creates a huge hole through it.
The whole arena falls silent from shock.
The dean stands from her seat in sheer amazement.
"20,000 points. No aspirant has gotten that score since Drago Belvadin. Behold — this is the birth of a genius among geniuses!" she exclaims, flying from where she stood toward me at the center of the stage.
"You have gained the benefits of being ranked No. 1. Will you be my disciple?"