Chapter 426: The Broken Crown

"This year’s final-term tests begin from this moment." The Academy Principal’s voice spread across the huge hall and silenced even the last scattered whispers.

Thousands of pairs of eyes were fixed on the central stage.

The students who had been talking about rankings, Rodrick, the return of the people from the Special Area, or even Lian’s Level 23 only a few moments ago, were now almost all silent.

Even the representatives of guilds and families who were sitting in the higher seats turned their attention toward the stage.

The Academy Principal himself had come to manage the final-term tests, of course, this was something he did every year.

The final-term tests were very important to the academy and his presence was necessary.

He looked at the crowd for a few seconds.

Then, contrary to expectations, he did not start explaining the rules himself.

"This year, the design and direct supervision of the test have been given to one of the academy’s senior professors, Professor Silas Wern."

For a moment, the silence continued, and then whispers started in several parts of the hall.

"Oh... this is not good." Kain, who was sitting beside Lian, showed a change in his expression for a moment.

"Why? Do you know him?" He had never heard this professor’s name before, he had not spent enough time in the academy to know all the professors.

But with one look around, he could see that he was very well known among the other students.

"Of course I know him, I have also had a few encounters with him and they were not good at all, he is extremely strict, unlike Professor Aldric who is kind inside, this man is like a stone even on the inside! You may not believe it, but during the time you were gone, he got three students expelled."

Lian raised an eyebrow and then the corner of his lips rose slightly.

In general, and at least from what he had seen, all the academy professors had serious appearances and behavior and always kept a certain distance from the students.

Some of them were kind and helpful inside, but there were also people who were cold and serious both inside and outside.

And according to his friend’s explanation, this man seemed to be both.

"Then why are you worried? At least we won’t get bored and we don’t need to worry about the test being easy." But he had no problem with a strict professor.

The harder the test was, the better he could crush Rodrick’s face into the ground, that bastard would not leave him alone and sooner or later he would cause trouble for him.

So as long as he had the chance, he would take his throne in the academy.

Then he suddenly felt a gaze from far away and his attention returned to the Academy Principal, the old man who was looking at him with eyes that did not even hide his hostility.

’Does this old man still not want to let go of his hatred toward me?’ He did not know whether to laugh or cry, he had expected him to let go of it after all this time.

But it seemed that Seraphina’s father still did not have positive feelings toward him ...who knew? Maybe he would use this final-term test to give him a warning.

"You are really happy to hear this?" Kain gave him a short look, he also did not mind working hard.

But there was a difference between working hard because of normal difficulty and working hard for something that had been deliberately designed to make you suffer.

And from what he knew about the person who designed this year’s final-term test, it was definitely the second one.

Lian wanted to answer but did not get the chance, and a man walked out from the teachers’ section without any hurry.

He looked about forty years old.

His dark gray hair was neatly combed back and several white strands could be seen among it.

He wore thin glasses and the academy’s formal teacher uniform.

Even his facial expression did not have Aldric’s dry seriousness and there was a very faint smile at the corner of his lips, as if the presence of thousands of students, dozens of important people, and all the pressure of the test were nothing more than daily entertainment to him.

However, almost all the students immediately sat up straighter when they saw him.

There was something strange about the man, unlike the other professors, he was not trying to hide his presence at all, instead, he used his heavy presence to make sure that all the students felt the pressure.

And this pressure coming from him was enough for Lian to realize that this man had completed at least three Evolutions!

A true Enlightened One, just like Professor Aldric, people who had permission and the ability to enter the Heavenly Realm.

"An Enlightened One is designing this year’s test?" This thought appeared in all of their minds.

Enlightened One.

A title given to Awakened after their Third Evolution.

The First and Second Evolutions could change the body, class, talents, and capacity of an Awakened, but it was said that the Third Evolution was the point where the nature of a person’s perception also changed.

Mana was no longer only energy to be used, skills were no longer only something that could be activated.

And the battle environment was no longer considered something separate from the person.

People who had passed their Third Evolution saw the world differently from everyone else.

That was why they were called Enlightened Ones, and the number of such people in the entire country was not large at all.

The presence of one of them as the direct designer of the first-year test alone showed that the academy had no intention of making things easy this year.

Normally, ordinary professors were always the ones who designed the tests and sometimes discussed them with senior professors as well.

But it seemed that this year was going to be different.

Silas reached the center of the stage and the Academy Principal stepped aside without saying anything else, and the professor looked at the hall for a few seconds.

He did not take any device to increase his voice and did not even change his standing position, yet when he spoke, his voice could be heard throughout the entire hall without the slightest effort.

"Probably half of you expected to stand in front of a device today, punch it, have your level recorded, and then have several one-on-one fights."

Several students instinctively looked at each other, this was almost exactly what most of them had expected.

Silas paused for a moment.

"I’m sorry, my time is worth more than something this cheap."

"Level is important, raw power is important, speed, mana, skills, and equipment are also important, but if the final-term test only measures these things, we could buy a machine and all the professors could stay home today." His smile slowly disappeared.

"What I want to see today is what you do when things do not go as you expected."

"Survival, decision-making, adaptation, combat, resource management, leadership, choosing a target, and the ability to move under pressure; the level number alone cannot show any of these things." He raised his hand slightly and the huge screen behind him turned on.

"That is why this year, you will have something different."

The image was completely dark at first, then light slowly appeared and showed a gray sky with an endless sea of dark clouds and lightning moving deep inside the clouds.

Among them, islands could be seen, dozens of huge islands were floating in the sky.

Some were covered in thick forests, some were white and frozen, and some were only huge masses of rock with waterfalls falling from their edges into the sea of clouds.

Ruins of stone and old temples could be seen on several islands.

Broken stone bridges connected some areas, and chains as thick as towers hung between several islands.

But the thing that almost immediately attracted everyone’s attention was the center of the image.

A huge upside-down mountain whose peak pointed down toward the sea of clouds while its wide part floated in the sky.

And on its highest point, a golden crown was floating, the crown’s weak light could even be seen from this distance in the image.

Silas turned toward the screen.

"The name of this year’s test... is Broken Crown."

The students looked at each other, if that screen was showing the test environment, then this no longer looked like an exam, it looked more like a real operation.