Chapter 82: The Day of the Screening

[All Previous Chapters fixed]

...

Evelyn already possessed an Epic weapon, and her potential was A rank. This investment merely compensated for a weakness in her profession rather than changing her fate entirely.

Therefore, there was no absurd hundred times multiplier like Noah’s previous investment.

[Investment Return Multiplier: 74x.]

[Equivalent Return Value: 9,472,000 Gold Coins.]

[Please Select Return Reward.]

[1: 9,472,000 Gold Coins.]

[2: Permanent Spirit +18.]

[3: Rare Perception Skill: Mana Hearing.]

[4: Epic Reconnaissance Equipment: Trailless Cloak.]

Victor swept his gaze across the options.

He naturally skipped the money and eighteen points of Spirit.

His gaze settled briefly on Mana Hearing.

But he had only recently obtained [Combat Intuition], and in the future, his perception could still continue evolving through [Infinite Evolution].

Moreover, Mana Hearing also overlapped somewhat with the function of Combat Intuition, if not even more so.

That left...

[Trailless Cloak]

[Quality: Epic]

[Effect: Greatly suppresses the mana traces, scent, and environmental disturbances produced by the wearer while moving.]

[Attached Ability: Trailless.]

[While stationary, further reduces the probability of being detected by external perception type skills.]

Victor only needed to read it once before making his decision.

"Four."

[Selection Successful.]

A folded dark gray cloak, so light it almost seemed weightless, appeared inside the System space.

Evelyn was still examining the earring. She had absolutely no idea that the 128,000 gold piece of equipment she had just received had already returned an Epic reconnaissance item worth nearly ten million to Victor.

Victor watched her for a few seconds. Then he took out the cloak as well.

Evelyn: "?"

Leah: "?"

Even the equipment vault manager was visibly stunned.

"Young Master, this..."

Victor simply tossed it toward Evelyn.

"This too."

She caught it instinctively, and when she saw its attributes, she fell silent for a full five seconds.

"Victor."

"Mm?"

"Do you have a fever today?"

"If you don’t want it, give it back."

Evelyn instantly shoved the cloak into her storage ring. Her movements were absurdly fast.

"Who said I didn’t want it?"

[Continuous High Compatibility Investment Detected.]

[Return Reward from Current Investment has been reinvested into the original target.]

[Investment Cycle Formed.]

[Evelyn’s Profession Development Path has become clearer: Stealth Reconnaissance / High Mobility Assassination.]

[Target Loyalty slightly increased.]

The corner of Victor’s mouth rose slightly.

Whenever he obtained something good, there was no rule saying he had to pile everything onto himself. If he gave it to the person most suited to use it, then once they grew stronger, the System would continue bringing returns back to him.

Evelyn put on the Trailless Cloak and merely took a few steps backward before Victor could clearly feel her presence rapidly diminishing.

Although she was not invincible and was obviously still standing right there, the moment someone’s attention shifted even slightly, their eyes would naturally begin overlooking her.

Combined with [Shadow Assault Step] and [Night Raven], she was finally beginning to resemble a truly dangerous assassin, one that would strike fear into the hearts of kings and lords.

Evelyn was clearly quite satisfied as well. She turned in place once before suddenly looking toward Leah.

"You’re going to the screening tomorrow."

Leah nodded. "Mm."

"Remember today’s training."

"I know."

"If you come back and tell me you let another speed type profession get in your face..."

Evelyn smiled while lightly waving Night Raven.

"I’ll train with you again."

Leah fell silent for a moment. "No need."

"Then don’t let them get close."

The two stared at each other. In the end, even Leah could not stop herself from laughing.

Victor did not interrupt them. For some reason, he was enjoying the scene as well.

Moreover, he had also realized something.

He hated investigating.

...

The next day, outside the Third Enclosed Ecological Zone.

The atmosphere felt heavier than usual from the moment morning began. Not because of the weather, nor because of the barrier, but because all four hundred and twenty seven first year students had already gathered in the enormous entrance plaza.

Some were checking their weapons. Some were making one final inspection of their recovery potions. Others gathered in groups of two or three, quietly discussing which direction they would take once they entered the ecological zone. Several temporary teams had even begun redistributing their positions and responsibilities.

And above all of them, a massive magical countdown slowly continued ticking downward.

[00:17:42]

Just as the timer indicated, the screening would officially begin in seventeen minutes.

For the overwhelming majority of first year students, this was likely the first genuine opportunity they had encountered since entering the academy that could change how resources were distributed to them in the future. So even though the academy had republished the Third Enclosed Ecological Zone’s map boundaries, dangerous areas, and emergency withdrawal procedures yesterday, now that they were actually standing here, some students still could not suppress their nervousness.

Near the front of the crowd, Leah wore a black and silver combat outfit.

Compared with the students around her who repeatedly checked their equipment, she seemed unusually calm.

After making one final confirmation of her casting medium, she raised her head and glanced toward the elevated monitoring area.

The distance was too great. Naturally, she could not see exactly where Victor was standing, yet she still instinctively looked in that direction.

At the same time, high above, Victor was indeed watching her with a calm look on his face.

Although he could not actively enter the official examination zone, Victor was content merely being an observer. After all, it was only by observing the screening that he could determine whether he needed to enter or not.

Cecilia stood beside him.

Today, she was not wearing a princess’s dress, but rather a far more practical academy inspection uniform. Her silver white hair was tied behind her, while her identity card had already been connected to the main monitoring system.

Mind you, the only person invited to be an observer had been Victor. As for how she was here with him, he could only attribute it to her status.

"You’ve been staring at Leah. Is something wrong?" she said.

"It’s her first time participating in this kind of screening, so it’s normal."

"I thought you weren’t nervous."

Victor glanced at her. "What do I have to be nervous about?"

"Isn’t the girl down there one of your ’investments’?"

"That makes it even less necessary to worry." Victor’s tone remained calm. "If, after all the training she’s received until now, she still can’t handle a first year screening at all, then it means there was something wrong with my previous investments."

Cecilia raised an eyebrow slightly. "You’d better make sure she doesn’t hear you say that."

"It wouldn’t matter even if she did."

Just then, Victor’s gaze suddenly moved away from Leah, because she was not the only thing he wanted to confirm today. Four hundred and twenty seven people, almost the entire first year, were gathered below, and Investment Scan had refreshed today.

Victor’s thoughts moved.

[Investment Scan.]

An invisible wave rapidly spread outward with him at its center, covering five hundred meters and bringing almost the entire entrance plaza within range. One target after another appeared within the System’s vision, white and blue occasionally mixed with purple.

Several possessed decent potential, but none had yet reached the level that would make Victor immediately invest large amounts of resources into them.

He continued, finding nothing on the left or in the center, but when his gaze reached the right, it suddenly stopped.

An extremely conspicuous golden light was slowly appearing at the outermost edge of the crowd.