Chapter 48: Adrian Holt(Castle bonus chap)

Six days passed quickly.

On the morning of the Human Alliance National College Entrance Examination, Karl sat around the dining table with Leon and Mira while Arthur and Victor ate with them.

After everything that had happened over the past month, the last week was considerably boring.

Arthur casually took another sip of tea.

"I’ll be coming with you today."

Karl looked toward him in slight surprise.

Arthur had rarely appeared at large public events for years, especially after his condition had worsened.

Even before that, he had never been someone who enjoyed unnecessarily showing himself in front of crowds.

There was also another matter, Arthur had disappeared for almost the entire six days after saying he needed to meet someone and had only returned late last night.

Karl still had no idea where he had gone or who he had met. Still, he had no reason to object.

After watching his grandfather remain trapped inside the Reed estate for so many years, Karl was simply glad Arthur was doing things.

Before he could think much more about it, a loud slurping sound came from beside him.

Leon swallowed another mouthful of noodles before leaning back happily.

"Ahh... best food of my life."

Karl looked toward him.

"You say that every single time you eat."

Leon barely raised his head.

"You need to respect and love food properly."

Mira continued eating without involving herself, while Victor had long since learned to ignore Leon whenever food was involved.

Not long afterward, everyone finished breakfast and prepared to leave.

The first stage of the entrance examination for Ardent City’s candidates was being held at the Awakeners Association, so Victor drove all five of them there.

The roads became increasingly crowded as they approached the Association district.

Candidates from throughout Ardent City had arrived with their families, while guards and Association workers continuously moved through the surrounding streets to keep the growing crowds under control.

Eventually, even Victor could not drive any closer.

He found a place to stop some distance from the main building, but the Reed family insignia on the vehicle had already attracted attention before anyone stepped outside.

Whispers began spreading almost immediately.

More than a month had passed since the awakening ceremony, yet Karl Reed had hardly disappeared from public discussion.

The F-rank Necromancer with twenty-one-star compatibility.

The enormous undead phenomenon during his awakening.

The broken engagement with Seraphina Vale.

And then Karl himself disappearing from public sight for almost the entire month afterward.

Karl ignored most of it as he stepped out alongside Leon and Mira.

Victor followed them and then Arthur left the vehicle.

The nearby voices gradually disappeared.

For several seconds, most of the people around them simply stared.

Some clearly recognised Arthur immediately, while others seemed to recognise something familiar without being able to connect it with the man standing before them.

The Arthur Reed Ardent City remembered was an old and visibly weakened man whose condition had deteriorated for years.

The man standing beside Karl now looked barely in his forties.

His back was straight, his complexion was healthy and none of the exhaustion that had once followed him everywhere remained.

Before the crowd could properly recover, an older man walked out from the direction of the Awakeners Association.

He looked toward Arthur for several seconds before laughing.

"So you really weren’t exaggerating."

Arthur glanced toward him.

"About what?"

The man stopped in front of him and looked him over again.

"You."

He shook his head slightly.

"If you hadn’t told me over the call, I genuinely wouldn’t have recognised you."

Arthur shrugged.

"Nothing much, it seems the heavens finally decided to show me a little mercy."

The old man snorted.

"Mercy? You bastard, you look younger than your own son now."

Karl recognised him immediately.

Edwin Wood.

Leon’s grandfather and one of Arthur’s oldest friends, as well as an important senior figure within Ardent City’s Awakeners Association.

Karl glanced toward Leon, who was suddenly standing considerably straighter.

Edwin’s gaze eventually moved toward him.

"Leon."

"Grandpa."

Edwin looked him over slowly.

"You better perform properly today."

Leon nodded immediately.

"Of course."

"If I hear that you embarrassed yourself after disappearing for an entire month, I’ll personally whip your ass when we get home."

"Understood."

Karl looked at Leon with genuine interest. It was possibly the most obedient he had seen him since returning ten years into the past.

Mira leaned slightly toward Karl.

"So this is what it takes."

Leon glared at her but wisely kept his mouth shut.

Edwin eventually looked toward Karl and Mira as well before checking the time, the preliminary testing was about to begin.

Arthur pointed toward the candidate entrance.

"You three go ahead."

Karl glanced toward him.

"What about you?"

"I’ll go with Edwin."

Arthur then looked toward Victor.

"Victor too."

Edwin nodded toward another entrance farther along the building.

"There’s a separate observation section, you three should worry about your own examination."

The candidate area was even more crowded.

Association professionals stood throughout the passages directing groups toward their assigned sections, while relatives and anyone unrelated to the examination were stopped before entering any farther.

Karl looked around as they moved.

Most candidates were somewhere around Level 50 to 60.

The more talented students and those backed by stronger families had generally reached the Level 60 to 80 range, while anyone approaching Level 80 already attracted considerable attention from the surrounding candidates.

For Ardent City, that was already excellent progress within a single month.

Candidates reaching the First Transition limit before the national examination appeared far more frequently within Primary Cities and the Capital, while those who actually completed their First Transition beforehand were rarer even there.

Karl glanced toward Leon and Mira.

Both were Level 99 and so was he.

At least in Ardent City, our levels should be the highest.

The first stage of the examination itself was not particularly complicated.

Every candidate would have their level, attributes and basic professional information measured first, creating a standardized record of their current state before the actual examination began.

The real tests would come afterward.

Karl and the others continued toward their assigned section until Leon suddenly slowed beside him.

Karl followed his gaze, someone familiar stood farther ahead.

Seraphina Vale.

She noticed them at almost the same moment, but Karl’s attention quickly shifted toward the young man standing beside her.

He looked around their age.

Karl had never seen him before, and judging from Leon and Mira’s expressions, neither had they.

His clothing and general bearing were enough to show that he was probably not from an ordinary Ardent City family.

Karl casually used Perception on Seraphina first.

[Seraphina Vale]

[Level: 86]

Karl’s eyebrows rose slightly.

Level 86?

That was genuinely impressive.

With her S-rank Lightning Mage talent and the resources of the Vale family, Karl had expected Seraphina to progress quickly, but Level 86 was still considerably higher than he had predicted.

Karl shifted Perception toward the young man beside her but nothing appeared.

Before he could examine him any further, Seraphina’s voice reached them.

"You can stop staring."

Karl looked toward her.

"What?"

Seraphina’s expression became colder as she moved slightly closer to the young man beside her.

"You made your decision during the awakening ceremony, don’t start regretting it now."

Karl remained silent for several seconds. He genuinely had no idea what she was talking about.

Seraphina apparently understood his silence differently.

She lightly held the young man’s arm.

"This is Adrian Holt."

Karl’s gaze returned toward him, seraphina continued with obvious pride.

"He’s from a Primary City and only came to Ardent City for the examination and some other business."

She paused slightly.

"And Adrian possesses an SSS-rank talent."

Karl froze, not because of the talent but cause the name had finally registered.

Adrian Holt?

Karl looked at the young man’s face again and a completely different image appeared inside his memories.

A massive middle-aged man with an enormous beard, a gigantic body and a personality almost as large as his body.

Karl had met that man several times much later in his previous life.

No fucking way.

He nearly laughed.

This is Adrian Holt?

Karl genuinely would never have recognised him.

The difference between the young man standing beside Seraphina and the huge bearded bastard Karl remembered was ridiculous.

But there was no mistake.

Adrian Holt possessed an SSS-rank talent and later became an extremely powerful professional.

Karl’s amusement slowly gave way to confusion.

His engagement with Seraphina had ended barely over a month ago, yet she had somehow already become close enough to an SSS-rank genius from a Primary City that she was standing here holding his arm.

How the hell did she manage that so quickly?

Karl knew Adrian from his previous life. The man certainly had never seemed like a complete idiot.

This woman really is strange.

Seraphina noticed the change in Karl’s expression and immediately frowned.

"What’s so funny?"

Karl shook his head.

"Nothing, I just remembered something."

Her expression darkened further.

Then she turned toward Adrian and the change in her face was almost immediate.

"Just ignore him."

Her hand tightened slightly around Adrian’s arm.

"He’s been bothering me ever since our engagement ended."

Karl, Leon and Mira stared at her shockingly.

Adrian’s expression, however, changed almost immediately as the casual look he had been giving Karl disappeared.

"If your engagement has already ended, then a peice of trash like you you should leave her alone."

Karl blinked.

What?

He had barely . processed it but Leon finally failed to hold himself back.

"Tch, you’re really proud for someone showing off an engagement my brother already threw away."

Seraphina’s face immediately reddened.

"Leon Wood!"

Leon shrugged.

"What? You’re acting like Karl is chasing after you, I’m just clearing things up."

Adrian stepped slightly forward.

"Watch your mouth."

Leon raised an eyebrow.

"Why? It’s not yours."

Adrian’s expression became considerably darker, while Seraphina looked ready to explode.

Karl finally moved slightly between them.

"Enough."

Leon looked toward him.

"He started it."

"I know."

Karl gave Adrian one more look before shifting his attention toward Seraphina.

He had no interest in starting a fight before the examination had even begun.

Still, something about the situation bothered him.

The Adrian Holt Karl remembered had never seemed like someone who simply believed whatever he was told without questioning it.

Yet Seraphina had said Karl was bothering her, and Adrian had accepted it immediately despite knowing absolutely nothing about what had happened.

Karl looked at him for another moment.

Was he always this stupid when he was young?

He eventually dismissed the thought, Ten years could change someone considerably.

Karl himself was proof enough of that.

Before the argument could continue, one of the Association staff members called and candidates begun moving toward the testing area.