Chapter 13: The Ring of the Eternal Shade! An Anomaly!

Chapter 13: Chapter 13: The Ring of the Eternal Shade! An Anomaly!

The principal paused, allowing the crowd to settle.

"This year’s assessment has witnessed the birth of a miracle at Westmere No. 1 Academy!"

"A miracle worthy of being recorded in the history of the Federation!"

Everyone immediately perked up.

The principal’s face carried an unmistakably proud smile. He raised his voice until it rang through the gymnasium like a mighty bell.

"Student Nathaniel Beaumont cleared all fifteen waves!"

"Final Rating: SSS!"

He paused dramatically, raising the results sheet in his hand.

"And his total completion time was..."

His voice suddenly rose.

"ONE MINUTE AND SEVENTEEN SECONDS!!!"

BOOM!!!

If the SSS-Rank announcement had been a nuclear explosion, the revelation of this completion time was a cosmic catastrophe.

The already excited gymnasium erupted.

"One minute and seventeen seconds?!"

"Holy crap! Did I hear that correctly?"

"Fifteen waves in seventy-seven seconds? That’s an average of five seconds per wave! Was he fighting monsters or running a hundred-meter sprint?!"

"Even running straight through without fighting wouldn’t be that fast! Unless..."

One student suddenly stopped speaking.

His eyes widened.

"Unless he killed everything instantly!"

The realization spread through the crowd.

Cheers, screams, and astonished shouts erupted like a tsunami, threatening to lift the roof off the gymnasium.

In the rest area, Daniel’s mineral water bottle slipped from his hand.

SPLASH!

Water scattered across the floor.

His mouth opened wider than before as he stared at Nathaniel as though he were looking at an alien.

"Br... Brother Nathan..."

His voice sounded distant, as though his soul had temporarily left his body.

"One minute and seventeen seconds... You... what you said earlier was actually true?"

Nathaniel bent down, picked up Daniel’s bottle, and brushed the dust from its surface.

He handed it back with a faint smile.

"When have I ever joked with you?"

Daniel stared at him.

Then at the leaderboard.

Then back at him.

He slowly accepted the bottle without saying another word.

His friend had just made the entire concept of dungeon rankings look ridiculous.

What was he supposed to say to that?

...

On the other side of the gymnasium, Caleb’s Thunder Sword slipped from his hand.

CLANG!

The crisp sound cut through the surrounding commotion.

Caleb stood motionless.

The color had drained from his face, and his body swayed as though someone had pulled the ground out from beneath his feet.

One minute and seventeen seconds.

That number was a blade cutting through every shred of pride he possessed.

His own completion time had been two hours and eight minutes.

He had fought desperately, endured injuries, and risked his life to clear twelve waves.

He had believed that breaking the school record would establish him as the greatest genius of his generation.

Yet Nathaniel had cleared all fifteen waves in barely more than a minute.

The difference between them was no longer something that could be measured with ordinary words.

It was a chasm.

"What Thunder Swordsman..."

Caleb muttered, his voice barely audible.

"What genius... what record..."

Everything he had been proud of suddenly seemed meaningless.

"I... lost..."

His knees weakened.

He sank onto the cold floor, staring blankly at the ground.

Something inside him had shattered.

His arrogance.

His confidence.

His belief that nobody of his generation could stand above him.

For the first time, Caleb Rowan had experienced what it meant to be completely surpassed.

And the worst part was that Nathaniel hadn’t even seemed to try.

...

On the high platform, the principal was practically glowing with excitement.

He solemnly handed Nathaniel a sealed black container.

"Student Beaumont, this honor belongs to you. It also represents the school’s expectations for your future."

His voice echoed throughout the gymnasium through the microphone.

"I hope this exclusive equipment will help you achieve even greater results in the college entrance examination next month!"

Nathaniel accepted the container.

It felt slightly cool and surprisingly heavy in his hands.

He nodded politely.

"Thank you, Principal."

He didn’t say much more before stepping down from the platform.

As soon as he returned to the students, Daniel leaned toward him, staring at the container with undisguised curiosity.

"Brother Nathan, open it! Hurry!"

He swallowed.

"I’ve never seen an Exclusive Equipment Blind Box in person before!"

Nathaniel examined the sealed container.

He was curious, too.

Unlike people who might bathe, burn incense, and pray for good luck before opening a mystery box, he simply waited for a moment when the principal was busy praising other outstanding students and the crowd’s attention had shifted elsewhere.

Then he quietly opened it.

Click.

The black container dissolved into countless points of light.

A steady, dark-purple glow appeared in its place.

An antique-looking ring dropped into Nathaniel’s palm.

It was black with a dark-silver finish, and no decorative gemstones adorned its surface. A series of intricate markings resembling curling shadows had been engraved around its band, giving it a mysterious, understated appearance.

Nathaniel focused on it.

An attribute panel appeared before his eyes.

[Item: Ring of the Eternal Shade]

[Grade: Gold]

[Equipment Slot: Finger]

[Attributes: None]

[Active Skill: Umbral Aegis]

[Effect: Consumes 10,000 Shadow Energy to generate an absolute shadow barrier lasting 1 second. The barrier has 1,000,000 defense.]

[Cooldown: 24 hours]

Nathaniel’s heartbeat quickened slightly.

Ten thousand Shadow Energy.

He checked his own status panel.

His current Shadow Energy reserves weren’t sufficient to activate the skill yet.

Still, the potential was incredible.

A barrier with one million defense.

He immediately thought of the Level 50 Hell Demon General he’d defeated in the hidden dungeon. That boss had possessed two million HP.

This barrier’s defense value was equivalent to half that amount, although HP and barrier defense weren’t necessarily interchangeable in every situation.

More importantly, the skill described the barrier as absolute.

Its duration was only one second, but Nathaniel understood that it wasn’t designed to withstand endless attacks.

It was designed for the most dangerous moment of a battle.

A fatal strike.

An unavoidable attack.

One instant when survival depended on whether he could withstand the blow.

If he timed it correctly, this ring could save his life.

Nathaniel studied the description again.

"An excellent defensive skill."

He slipped the ring onto his left index finger.

It fit perfectly.

A faint dark-purple glimmer passed over its surface before fading, leaving it looking like an ordinary antique ring.

Nobody looking at it casually would guess that it concealed such a powerful defensive ability.

The surrounding students had been watching Nathaniel’s unboxing with barely concealed envy.

When they saw the ring appear and watched him equip it, several faces fell.

An Exclusive Equipment Blind Box was already a valuable reward.

Receiving a Gold-Grade item from it was even better.

And Nathaniel had earned it on top of an SSS-Rank dungeon clear.

The gap between him and everyone else was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

...

The commendation ceremony continued, with students taking turns going onto the platform to receive their rewards.

But the atmosphere had changed.

No matter how impressive another student’s results might have been, the memory of Nathaniel’s fifteen-wave clear in one minute and seventeen seconds hung over the gymnasium.

His achievement had become the standard against which everything else was being measured.

And almost nobody could come close.

...

Finally, the award ceremony came to an end.

The principal straightened his clothes, returned to the microphone, and prepared to deliver his concluding remarks.

"Students, the awakening ceremony has ended, but this is only the beginning of your lives."

"I hope none of you will become discouraged by today’s results. At the same time, those who performed well must not become arrogant or complacent."

He swept his gaze across the crowd.

"Take this experience seriously. Use the coming month to prepare yourselves for the college entrance examination!"

His voice echoed through the gymnasium.

"With that, I officially announce that this year’s awakening ceremony at Westmere No. 1 Academy has concluded successfully!"

The moment his final words fell...

RUMBLE!!!

A violent vibration suddenly erupted above the gymnasium.

The smiles on everyone’s faces vanished.

They looked upward in confusion.

The transparent protective barrier covering the dome was shaking violently, as though an enormous hammer were striking it from the other side.

Cracks of light flickered across its surface.

A horrible creaking sound rang out, sharp enough to make people’s teeth ache.

Then the sunlight streaming through the dome disappeared.

The bright sky was swallowed by darkness.

It was as though an enormous black curtain had been dragged across the heavens, extinguishing every trace of light.

The gymnasium plunged into shadow.

For a brief moment, nobody moved.

Then Nathaniel felt the darkness around his feet stir.

His expression changed.

Something was wrong.

And whatever was happening above them had nothing to do with an ordinary school ceremony.