I looked at my closet, which was open in front of , glanced at each outfit, and sighed deeply.
Today is the last day of the academy's break and there will be an award ceremony for those who played a big role in the preliminary. Before the ceremony, they wanted to do a final assessnt and now I'm going to the testing grounds.
The only problem is... I have no idea what to wear.
Why do I think about it so much, though? It's not that big a deal. If I keep staring at the closet, I won't be able to go out.
So I put on a plain navy blue sweater and a pair of plain black slacks, and then a dark gray cardigan, which is thick enough to be considered thick even if it doesn't make much sense since I'm a wiera.
I took one last look in the mirror, smiled, and finally walked out of my room, satisfied.
As soon as I opened the door, a security guard appeared in front of .
"I have been assigned to take you to the statistics asurent area, please follow ."
So they sent soone, huh... How thoughtful.
I nodded to the security guard and started to walk down the stairs with him.
Students were giving strange looks from all sides. Up until now, I hadn't attracted this much attention because I had been pretty incognito in the academy and everyone had gone back to their families for the break, but now most of them were back.
On top of that, I wasn't hiding my face now, I was out in the open and everyone watching the news knew my face.
It was not very common to see soone who had saved the lives of dozens of students. They were jealous, curious, and admiring, but it didn't change the fact that they were annoying.
Ignoring each and every one of them, I followed the security in front of to the training building, and when I entered, they didn't keep waiting and started down the stairs.
Since we were heading to places that were off-limits without permission from the academy, I was no longer surrounded by students staring at . Of course, this was good for , I was relieved.
We went down a few floors in this way, then we entered a corridor with increased security and then we ca out into a huge area.
"Aiden! We're here."
There were other students standing just across the field, about seven or eight ters away from .
Adrian was the one who called out to , and apart from him, the other four people involved were all there.
Apparently, I was the last to arrive.
"Go and wait with them, please."
That's what the guard said before leaving and heading toward another door, leaving us alone.
I took a deep breath, then went to the group.
"Did you get your work done last ti?"
Adrian asked, trying to smile. It was still more awkward, but still successful.
It's a good thing he was smiling, it ans his psychology has improved a lot, but...
"Yes... Yes, I got it done."
After what I've been through, can I really say that I 'got things done'?
I don't know.
No, I know.
I ssed up a lot, but I'm not going to make myself look 'troubled' in plain sight.
So I smiled back at him.
Just then, Julian glanced at from behind Adrian.
It was the first ti we had t since the battle at the preliminary, and now... he had a look on his face that I couldn't quite put my finger on.
Well... excited, I guess?
"Why did you hide yourself? And... how did you manage?"
When those words finally ca out of his mouth, I understood.
"Circumstances demanded it, let's say."
I smiled slightly and Julian responded in kind, yet he didn't back down.
"Then how strong are you really?"
At this question, the three girls waiting behind them, Celine, Lucia, and Alice, turned to curiously.
"You'll find out after the asurent."
I couldn't hide myself even if I wanted to, because the asurent of statistics is not a straight test. It's a test that takes information directly from the system. That's why it's close to impossible to fool it.
Not impossible, just 'close' to it.
Although, when thinking about it like this, there is a possibility that things like I'm a wiera might co out, but since the only information received is the 'Statistics' section and the ranks of the skills, I don't need to worry too much.
"h, you're boring."
Julian spoke with a pout, and I kept my smile.
"On the contrary, I make it even more fun by piquing your curiosity."
Julian fell silent without saying anything else. This ti Adrian was about to say sothing behind him, but before he could, a man in a suit entered our field of vision.
"Follow ."
The ti had co.
So, without any further dialogue between us, the six of us started to follow the man. We walked to the far wall of the huge space and entered a room there, and that's how we found ourselves in what seed to be a very 'technological' place.
In front of us were holographic screens with a lot of paraters, and changeable values. Behind these screens was a very thick glass and behind this glass was another large room that seed to be isolated from the outside.
The room behind the glass was huge, but empty except for the device in the center, which stood like a closet the size of a grown man.
The room looked like one of those cube-shaped experintal rooms from the movies, and there were even two employees in lab coats sitting on this side of the glass.
"First of all, Adrian Caleo, go to the room behind the glass."
One of the seeming researchers spoke nonchalantly and pointed to the door on the left side of the room. Adrian did as he was told and headed for the door. Once inside, the door slowly closed on its own and after a few seconds, Adrian appeared in the room behind the thick glass.
"Put your hand on the glowing gap in the center of the device and wait. So mana will drain from your body and you will get a system notification, then you will know what to do."
Adrian nodded and put his hand inside the device. Imdiately afterward, sothing started to change on the holographic screens on our side of the glass.
When those numbers appeared on the screen, everyone in the room who had been watching what was happening just stood there stunned.
Adrian's stats were really trendous for soone his age.
It's not very difficult to get the stats up to E , but once a person becos a D-, it becos much more difficult.
Because once soone reaches D-, they're starting to exceed the limits of humanity, even with the passive support of mana. Naturally, every step they take has a bigger impact than before and it becos a lot harder.
In Adrian's case, there are four statistics that not only reached D- grade, but surpassed it. So much so that even his general level has risen to a D.
Well, he's not ranked first in the academy for nothing, but as students seeing each other's stats for the first ti, it's a shocking fact for everyone except .
"Whoa..."
Julian, for example, looks at the numbers with widened eyes, even though he expects Adrian to be strong.
Unlike Julian, Celine and Lucia look surprised but don't react to the numbers. Alice, on the other hand...
I frowned when I saw Alice's mouth slightly open, her eyes widening and her gaze frozen on the screen.
She was not a character who cared much about her surroundings. In fact, she was always cold and calm as long as it didn't concern her.
Why did she react like this now?
"O- okay, you can go upstairs..."
The researcher in charge of the asurent stamred in surprise. Adrian gently removed his hand from the device and then ca to us through the door on the left side of the room.
The mont he entered the room, a strange, heavy silence fell over the room.
If even the staff reacted this way despite knowing his previous statistics, then he must have gotten stronger since the last asurent...
"Teach , Adrian..."
Julian grabbed Adrian's collar as soon as he ca up to us.
"Teach ..."
His eyes sparkled with excitent, and Adrian, annoyed by this reaction, took a step back.
"I'm just training, nothing else."
He said this so seriously that Julian's brow furrowed.
"You're talented huh..."
Adrian frowned in response, but before he could say anything, another voice echoed in the room.
"Aiden Tenebra, you're next."
I guess they go in alphabetical order...
I calmly made my way to the door Adrian had just left.
"Good luck."
Adrian said this with a smile on his face, followed by Julian absentmindedly saying the sa thing and I smiled back.
"Thanks."
As we walked down the stairs I was struck by the intensity of the mana in the room.
Was it the results of the asurent or sothing special because of Adrian's high stats?
Anyway...
When I arrived in front of the device, I simply placed my hand inside the shimring cavity. Then I felt a rapid drain of mana from my body and a notification appeared in front of .
Here we go...
*******
After Aiden put his hand on the gap in the center of the device, I looked curiously at the holographic screen. Maybe I could get so information about the reason for the strange feeling he gave .
Three E grade mastery, no active skills, and two A grade passive skills.
Other than that, statistically there wasn't much difference between us, unless he was in a state of disguise.
It was scary. If the previous statistic asurent was correct, he had a frightening pace of developnt. The sight made understand even better why my father had equated him with Adrian Caleo.
I swallowed and looked at the boy who had removed his hand from the device, he was calm with a slight smile on his face. It was hard to guess what he was thinking.
When Aiden finally went upstairs, the others didn't react to the results as much as they had with Adrian Caleo. After what he had shown in the preliminary, everyone expected sothing like this from him.
In fact, we expected more than that. For example, I had predicted his general level to be E , I was surprised that it was E. Still, it didn't change the fact that his growth speed was frightening.
"Next, Alice Liate."
When the girl nad Alice did her asurents, I saw that she had the lowest stats of all of us.
It was normal, probably. If Aiden hadn't supported her, she wouldn't have made that last shot in the preliminary. Still, she did a good job overall, so I wasn't going to underestimate her.
So it was my turn.
"Next, Celine Potenbea."
Just like the others, I went down and put my hand inside the device, and then, just like those watching from above, a screen appeared in front of .
The fact that I had a passive skill of grade S was the most prominent thing here. That was the reason for the surprise, the curiosity on their faces when I went upstairs.
And yet...
I looked at Aiden. He was just staring at the screen, but he wasn't focused on it. He didn't even make a gesture, didn't even raise his eyebrows. It was like he knew that from the beginning.
I clicked my tongue and watched him through the next asurents.
He was never surprised by anyone's stats, he kept a straight face in all of them, and the more I saw this, the more puzzled I beca.
"You are all done with your asurents. The ceremony will start soon, you will go there now."
Everyone nodded to the researcher, and then the man in the suit, who had been standing in the room until now, told us to follow him and led us out of the room.
Our next destination was the academy's conference building, which was really huge, but I didn't focus too much on that.
Because I was almost certain that Aiden had sothing to hide from us, from everyone. In my eyes, he seed even more mysterious than Adrian.
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