In the stands, Seraphina and Theodore occupied the best seats.
Watching John being targeted, their brows furrowed in concern.
Theodore sighed, "This news was spread by House Carter, aid at both promoting and undermining John. Despite House Fairfax's efforts to control the narrative, it's challenging to completely contain it over ti."
Seraphina pursed her lips, worry evident in her gaze towards John.
She whispered, "Can't we do sothing to help him?"
They were well aware of John's talent and strength, and so were the people from House Carter.
They wouldn't allow John to grow unobstructed, especially since he was not one to hide his capabilities.
Seraphina feared that escalating conflicts might lead House Carter to resort to unscrupulous asures against John.
Hearing this, Theodore paused montarily, then turned to look at his daughter, only to find her gaze still fixed on John.
He sighed internally.
After a mont of contemplation, he said, "To resolve this issue, the only option would be to seek your grandfather's intervention."
Seraphina's grandfather, the head of House Harris, held significant influence.
Seraphina remained silent for a long while, not responding.
Her grandfather was very kind to her, but asking him to help John seed almost impossible.
On the other side of the sports field, Silver Tear and Dark Fox had also arrived at the scene.
They had arrived early, only to receive news upon reaching the Imperial Capital that John had assisted Hidden Stars in taking down a branch of the Immortality Organization.
However, because he had forcibly used the Godslayer Blade, he nearly lost his own life.
This made Silver Tear feel sowhat guilty, thinking that if it hadn't been for her stomach issues delaying them, this situation might have been avoided.
Now, seeing John being targeted and even verbally attacked by so, Silver Tear was fuming, her face flushed with anger.
If not for Dark Fox holding her back, she might have already charged forward to set the record straight.
Wiping away her tears, Silver Tear said, "These people are just too despicable. Do they even know how many people John has saved? And yet, they slander him like this..."
Dark Fox remained silent, her heart seething with anger as well.
But she knew that the real issue lay with House Carter, and that arguing with these people would be futile.
The crowd buzzed with discussion and anger, hurling insults.
With John's strong mind power, he heard every word clearly.
He glanced at the most vociferous detractors, committing their faces to mory.
Once the assessnt began, he planned to teach them a lesson on how to behave properly.
By this ti, John and his companions had approached the instructor responsible for the assessnt.
The instructor, a stern-faced middle-aged man, gave John a brief look and said without emotion, "Assessnt card."
John nodded, handing over the black card to the middle-aged instructor.
After receiving it, the instructor tapped the card lightly.
Instantly, John's information appeared on it.
Upon seeing the information on the card, the middle-aged instructor's face revealed a hint of surprise.
Besides the na, the card was blank, not even a realm was listed.
He scrutinized John from top to bottom, frowning, "So, you're the one who blew up eight test Crystal Balls?"
This remark instantly changed the way others looked at John, their eyes filled with bewildernt.
What kind of anomaly was this, destroying eight test Crystal Balls during an examination?
John's expression stiffened a bit.
He wanted to deny it, but it was the truth.
All he could say was, "Yes, that was , but it was just an accident. I really don't know what caused it."
John felt a pang of injustice.
After all, he was a victim too.
Who could tell why those Crystal Balls exploded?
The crowd burst into an uproar once again.
Soone sneered, "What kind of accident happens eight tis in a row? Not even a kindergarten child would believe such an excuse."
Another voice joined in, mocking, "He doesn't think that just passing the preliminary test will earn him a spot, does he?"
Soone else scoffed, "The assessnts at Star Cluster Academy are notoriously stringent. Without sufficient strength, it's impossible to secure a spot. Opportunists like him get eliminated first thing."
John remained silent, simply taking ntal note of a few more people.
The assessing instructor handed the card back to John, giving him a deep look, and said, "Whether it was an accident or not doesn't matter. Assessnts are about results. If you can achieve a good score in the assessnt, everyone else will naturally fall silent."
John was sowhat surprised; he hadn't expected the instructor to say sothing like that.
Noticing John's puzzled look, the assessing instructor's expressionless face cracked into a slight smile as he transmitted a ssage, "Victor ntioned you to . He told you're the most talented individual he's ever encountered. I've known him for over a decade, and it's the first ti I've heard him praise soone so highly."
John was montarily taken aback, then rembered that Victor indeed had connections with soone from Star Cluster Academy, ostensibly to register him for the assessnt.
He hadn't realized, however, that Victor's contact was the assessing instructor himself.
John responded earnestly, "Thank you for the reminder, teacher. I understand."
The instructor nodded and transmitted back, "Go ahead then. My na is Benedict. Should you encounter any issues within the academy, feel free to seek out, provided you pass the assessnt, of course."
With that, Benedict turned his attention away from John to verify the identities of other candidates.
John nodded and stepped into the crowd.
In John's presence, the people around him restrained themselves, not voicing any further comnts.
John, expressionless, swept the crowd with his mind power, identifying those few individuals.
He also noticed that those who had passed the preliminary tests were no weaklings.
The majority were silver-tier awakeners, with not a few being of the gold-tier.
So presences were incredibly formidable and conspicuous.
For instance, there was Isabella, whose aura was as fiery as flas.
Under the detection of mind power, she seed like a blazing fire, her entire being enveloped in bright red energy.
Then, there was a handso young man whose presence was surrounded by what seed like a halo of sacred light.
Through the lens of mind power, this young man shone as brightly as the sun in the night sky.
Another notable figure was a black-haired girl carrying a long, slender package, her presence as sharp as a sword.
When John's mind power brushed over her, she seed to detect it imdiately, her gaze eting his.
Their eyes locked, and within her brown irises, John glimpsed the flicker of sword light.
In that mont, he even saw a reflection of Victor in her.
The girl showed a hint of surprise in her gaze.
She had heard the discussions and judgnts about John, initially thinking he must have cheated to pass the preliminary test.
To her astonishnt, she found him to be a true expert.
The vastness of his mind power, the likes of which she had never seen in soone their age, took her by surprise.
John, realizing he had been noticed, didn't feel embarrassed.
Instead, he smiled and nodded, offering a greeting.
The black-haired girl responded with a shy smile in return.
Besides these three, John sensed several other strong presences, only slightly less formidable than the trio, including one who had mocked him.
John committed their auras to mory, anticipating they might cross paths during the assessnt.
Ti swiftly passed, and soon it was noon.
The preliminary test at Star Cluster Academy officially ca to an end.
By then, the number of individuals who had passed exceeded ten thousand.
The surrounding stands were densely packed with spectators, their noise soaring to the skies, creating a fervent atmosphere.
Apart from a few, most of those who had participated in the preliminary test felt the pressure.
Beads of sweat ford on their foreheads, their eyes filled with nervousness, aware that the mont to determine their fate was imminent.
"Dong! Dong! Dong!"
At twelve o'clock, the grand and majestic bells echoed throughout the entire Star Cluster Academy.
Benedict stepped forward, addressing the over ten thousand young n and won with a grave tone, "The assessnt is about to begin. I will introduce the rules now. Listen carefully, as I will not repeat them."
Benedict's voice, though not loud, overpowered the din of the sports field, reaching every listener's ears.
Many powerful individuals in the audience showed surprise.
The technique Benedict used was not a skill or mystical technique, but an advanced technique of power usage.
Even many transcendent-tier powerhouses could not achieve this, as it required a level of control over one's power akin to moving one's own limbs, a difficulty comparable to mastering a mystical technique.
Many were inwardly impressed.
It seed that even a random instructor at Star Cluster Academy possessed such formidable strength; the reputation of the Federal's top educational institution was indeed well-deserved.
Seeing that all the students were prepared, Benedict nodded and began, "This year's assessnt format remains unchanged, still taking place within Headmistress Sophia's domain. Headmistress Sophia will create a dungeon within her domain. You will earn points by killing the monsters inside, and your assessnt card will record your score.
Moreover, you cannot use any items within the dungeon, but you are allowed to seize points from others. And within the domain, you will not truly die."
Casting his gaze over the attendees, Benedict's tone was calm as he added, "In other words, you can fight to your heart's content."
Reviews
All reviews (0)