Chapter 51: True exam begins

Karl, Leon and Mira headed straight toward the candidate dining area after leaving the preliminary assessments.

Leon ordered enough food for several people and started eating before the others had even properly settled around the table.

Karl looked at everything in front of him.

"You ate enough this morning."

Leon barely stopped chewing.

"That was breakfast."

He gestured toward the food.

"This is examination food."

Mira quietly picked up her own meal.

"Stop asking him."

Karl thought about it for a moment.

"Fair."

He started eating as well.

The attribute assessments still remained somewhere in the back of his mind.

Even Karl had been somewhat surprised by how high his numbers had become after using Harvest continuously throughout the past month.

His base attributes were already ridiculous, and Harvest had only pushed them even further.

There was nothing he could do about the results now, however.

If the examiners wanted to verify them repeatedly, they could take their time.

---

Inside the control room, most of the earlier chaos had finally settled.

Karl’s results had already been checked several times, yet his name remained firmly at the top of the Human Alliance preliminary attribute ranking.

Edwin stared at the screen for a while before looking toward Arthur.

"Arthur."

Arthur glanced at him.

"What?"

"You know what this means."

Arthur said nothing.

"Before today, Karl was mostly famous inside Ardent City. After this examination, that’s not going to remain the case."

Edwin’s expression became more serious.

"And with everything you told me earlier, this much attention isn’t exactly safe."

Victor also looked toward Arthur.

Arthur remained calm.

"I know."

Edwin frowned.

"Then why do you look so relaxed?"

Arthur casually took another sip of tea.

"Because I already dealt with what needed to be dealt with."

Victor’s eyes shifted slightly.

Arthur had disappeared for almost the entire previous six days and had only returned late last night.

Edwin noticed the reaction.

"So that’s what you were doing?"

Arthur gave him a brief look.

"Don’t worry about it."

Edwin snorted.

"That usually means I should worry more."

Arthur ignored him and returned his attention to the screens.

---

Karl, Leon and Mira still had nearly two hours before the next stage began.

Their own preliminary assessments were already finished, so there was nothing left for them to do except wait while the remaining candidates across Ardent City completed theirs.

Most of the examination centre gradually became quieter.

Some candidates nervously discussed their results, others rested, while a few were still rushing between the final testing sections.

Karl and the others found a relatively quiet place and simply waited.

Leon spent part of the time complaining that two hours was far too long, while Mira rested with her eyes closed.

Karl occasionally looked toward the large screens as the examination system continued processing results.

Eventually, the final candidates finished and a deep chime spread throughout the Awakeners Association.

Every major screen inside the building changed at once.

Similar displays throughout Ardent City updated moments later.

The detailed Levels and attributes remained private.

Only the overall preliminary rankings appeared.

[Ardent City Preliminary Examination Ranking]

[1. Karl Reed]

[2. Adrian Holt]

[3. Leon Wood]

[4. Mira Vayne]

[5. Seraphina Vale]

Leon stopped.

"Third?"

Mira opened her eyes.

"You were the one who said we’d take first, second and third."

"I didn’t mean I would be third."

Around them, the reaction was much stronger.

Karl Reed.

The supposedly F-rank Necromancer had taken the first place.

Above Adrian Holt, an SSS-rank Level 99 genius from a Primary City.

Whispers spread through the examination centre almost immediately, and the crowds outside reacted just as quickly.

Karl’s name had already been famous throughout Ardent City since the awakening ceremony.

Now that name sat at the top of the preliminary rankings.

Seraphina stood farther away staring at the screen.

Fifth.

Adrian was second.

Karl was first.

Her expression slowly hardened.

"How is that possible?"

Adrian continued looking at the ranking.

"Levels alone wouldn’t decide it."

"I know."

Seraphina looked toward Karl’s name again.

"Then his other results had to be higher too."

Her face became uglier.

"There’s no way that trash surpassed you."

Adrian did not answer immediately, he knew exactly how strong his own attributes were.

That alone made Karl’s position much more interesting.

His gaze moved across the candidate area until it settled on Karl.

For the first time since meeting him, Adrian was genuinely paying attention.

Seraphina noticed.

"Adrian?"

Adrian finally looked back toward her.

"Maybe his profession has some unusual growth ability."

Seraphina visibly relaxed.

"Exactly."

Adrian gave a slight nod, though his eyes soon moved toward Karl again.

Whatever the reason, Karl was clearly not ordinary.

Another deep chime spread through the Association.

The screens changed once more.

[Preliminary Examination concluded.]

[Primary Combat Examination beginning shortly.]

Association staff immediately began directing candidates toward the underground examination facility.

The lower sections beneath the Awakeners Association were far larger than the halls above.

Rows of artificial dungeon portals stretched throughout the massive chamber, each surrounded by control formations and monitoring equipment.

Unlike natural dungeons, these were built specifically for training and examinations.

Their environments, monsters, Levels and wave structures could all be controlled, while the entire dungeon remained connected to the Association’s monitoring system.

Every candidate would enter alone.

Enemies would appear in waves and every cleared wave awarded examination points.

The higher the difficulty, the stronger the enemies and the greater the score multiplier.

Five options appeared across the selection terminals.

[Easy]

[Medium]

[Hard]

[Insane]

[Nightmare]

Most candidates selected Easy or Medium, the stronger ones generally chose Hard.

Only a small number selected Insane.

Then the first Nightmare choices appeared.

[Adrian Holt — Nightmare]

A few nearby candidates immediately began whispering.

Not long afterward Seraphina chose the same.

[Seraphina Vale — Nightmare]

Then another name appeared.

[Leon Wood — Nightmare]

Mira looked toward him.

"You didn’t even read the description."

Leon pointed toward the terminal.

"It’s done by the weak."

Mira stared at him briefly before making her own selection.

[Mira Vayne — Nightmare]

Leon grinned.

"You didn’t read it either."

Mira ignored him.

Karl soon reached his own terminal, he quickly read through the main rules before selecting the final option.

[Karl Reed — Nightmare]

Unlike the preliminary attribute tests, the combat examination could be watched publicly.

Large screens throughout the Awakeners Association and across Ardent City would display selected difficulties, current waves, scores and rankings.

Important dungeon feeds could also be shown directly.

Families watched from the Association.

Academy representatives had their own observation areas.

Ordinary citizens across Ardent City could follow the strongest candidates through public displays.

For many people, this was the real examination.

Attributes were useful but actually knowing how to fight was another matter.

Candidates were gradually directed toward their assigned portals.

Leon looked toward Karl before leaving.

"Try not to fall behind."

Karl glanced at him.

"You were third two hours ago."

Leon immediately turned away.

"Didn’t hear you."

Mira shook her head and headed toward her own section.

Karl followed the markings until he reached his assigned artificial dungeon.

An examiner checked his information.

"Karl Reed."

Karl nodded.

"Nightmare difficulty confirmed."

"Yes."

The examiner looked at him for another moment before stepping aside.

"You may enter."

Karl walked through the portal and the underground examination facility disappeared instantly.

Cold wind brushed across his face, he had appeared inside a large forest clearing surrounded by dense trees.

The environment was almost indistinguishable from a real dungeon.

Grey clouds covered the sky while branches moved softly in the wind, and the forest extended far enough that Karl could not see any obvious boundary.

A translucent panel appeared before him.

[Candidate verified: Karl Reed.]

[Difficulty: Nightmare.]

[Combat Examination beginning.]