Chapter 119: 119. “…Count the score.”

When class A was ready to undergo the test, the three disciples left Cekrad's side and stepped up on the stage.

"Ready yourselves. We'll start with the lowest intensity we can achieve, the seventh level, and then we'll gradually increase it," Mandus explained and the students nodded in understanding. "Good, now cast your magic to begin the trial."

The students then conjured a blue sphere the size of a basketball and maintained it above their palms. At the same time, the children’s eyes faintly glowed but no one noticed.

The three disciples looked at each other and concurred before freeing their aura.

The students were rapidly struck by the pressure and their expression suffered a drastic change. The intensity was correctly at the seventh level, but it was more than just that. They felt oddly powerless under that aura. It came from individuals hundreds of times stronger than them after all.

Every student immediately resonated and prepared themselves to cope with anything that would come at them.

Cekrad noticed that none of the students’ magic had wearied down. He thought this was strange since they should have at least been a bit surprised when the pressure fell on them and lost their focus.

The three disciples shared the same though. They looked at each other again and elevated the intensity by one level a bit earlier than planned. This time around, although some of the students were showing obvious signs of weakness, their magics were not dispelled at all.

"What did you teach them exactly?" Chulainn observed the scene and asked Arima.

"Hm… isn't that parallel thought?" Lanya remarked and Chulainn looked at her in surprise then back to Arima in shock.

"Did you teach them parallel thought in twenty hours?"

"More or less," Arima shrugged. "I could only teach them how to create a single overlaying thought. But that should be sufficient. Right now, they’re using this newly created second mind to maintain the magic whilst they concentrate to resist the aura’s pressure."

Chulainn's eyes widened. "Parallel thought sounds like an uncomplicated theory at first, but it's actually hard to use. And you're telling me you taught some kids how to use it in merely twenty hours?"

"Yeah," Arima smirked. "Some of them were even capable of using after the first seven hours."

Chulainn groaned. "…I want to ask you what theory you used but I don't want to lower myself to that."

Arima snickered. “To be fair, they don’t need to move right now. So, it makes things easier. And you seriously have no use for it anyway. You biologically have three heads and so you have naturally three separate minds. And all of them are as potent as the 'principal' one. There's no division of processing power like classic parallel thoughts. In my opinion, you’re the one cheating the system," He uttered and Chulainn covered his ears with his paws, feigning ignorance.

Five minutes in, the disciples raised the pressure to the ninth level and some students finally fell unconscious and their magic was dispersed.

When the first seven students fainted, Arima immediately teleported them away with a single glance and healed them at the same time. Cekrad was about to do the same but the speed and efficiency Arima presented made him speechless.

When the trial’s difficulty reached the tenth level, most of the remaining students instantly lost and were retrieved by Arima within a second. Now, there were only ten students left standing; the ones that Arima was the most confident in. He also believed that those ten students could have resisted until now even without the parallel thought. Especially Ofia and Lena.

The three disciples were quite impressed that ten people were still holding on. Before going further, they looked toward their master. When they got his permission, their aura mutated to correspond to the semi-Earthen Realm.

This time, everyone's countenance sunk by being under the influence, even partially, of the energy of a totally different Realm.

Most of them fell on their knees and the aura was so intrusive that it even perturbed their second minds as their magic wavered for the first time. The three disciples didn't need to do anything else for five of them to faint.

The last five were now Lena, Ofia, Ferzia, Gaodu, and Airon. The latter's performance was fairly impressive since his level wasn't that high compared to the others. But he had great mind power and still withstood the pressure even if he had to be on all fours to do it.

The three disciples sighed and agreed with each other before releasing an aura at the first sky of the Earthen Realm. The result was to be expected, the children lost control over their mana in the blink of an eye.

The only ones who managed to resist longer, albeit just a few seconds, were Lena and Ofia since they could basically share their willpower through their connection.

But they ultimately had to surrender in front of this pressure. Even Arima never showed them pressure so powerful since he was relatively soft on them.

"That's it!" The older disciple, Kuin, shouted and the aura regressed until there was no trace of it.

"Seven of you lasted until the ninth level and twenty-three of you lasted until the tenth level," He announced. "Then five of you managed to endure the pressure of the semi-Earthen Realm."

The term ‘Earthen Realm’ was something that Arima shared in his books and since then, everyone started using it to refer to what was above the tenth level.

"And finally, five of you resisted until the first sky. Naturally, the points attributed to those who lasted until that point will subsequently be high. Thus, class A amassed a total of 448 points," Kuin declared and the same number appeared in the sky under the letter ‘A’.

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"Next group," Mandus immediately called the next class and Velvet's students stepped forward a bit nervously. All of them knew that they were not going to do better than the previous class.

Even Velvet had to admit that as she sighed and glanced at Arima. She also looked warily at Olien and his student, Yrion. She was extremely cautious against this kid. She honestly wondered if she should make her students abandon if they ever had to fight him. Not because of humility, but simply for the sake of their wellbeing.

The examination for group B went smoothly and without surprise. The first ones lost control at the eighth level and there was only one student who managed to stay until the semi-Earthen Realm and it was evidently Mila.

"Group B’s score is 364."

Velvet wryly smiled and shook her head as she heard the score. She knew that this test wasn't for her class.

"Group C, it's time," Kuin said and Olien's class took place in the arena with Yrion being the center of attention.

The moment the students conjured their magic, the disciples released their auras for the third time. Nobody lost control at first so the three disciples rapidly raised the pressure to the eighth level.

Surprisingly, only three students couldn't take the pressure. After that, at the ninth level, thirteen of them stepped down. It was only at the tenth level that most of them lost control. But there were still three of them that remained until the semi-Earthen Realm, including Yrion who appeared to be unfazed by the pressure he was faced with until now.

Once the aura of the first sky was released, only Yrion managed to resist. He gritted his teeth and his body transformed as he triggered his resonance, which he had never used before in this competition.

His silhouette slowly morphed and his skin became covered in red scales. He grew a pair of wings and a tail emerged from his lower back. Night frowned and stood up.

Yrion actually possessed a resonance that could change him into a dragon. But unlike Arima or Lanya, his appearance was closer to the actual beast than a human. In this form, he shockingly confronted the pressure of the first sky.

"This…" Lanya murmured with a surprised look.

Night nodded grimly. "This kid killed a dragon to get that soul contract," he sighed and sat down. "It's not like I feel bad for all dragons but…" He paused. "I can hear the dragon's soul screaming in anguish as we speak," he snarled and a cold light flashed through his eyes.

Even Arima had a rather unpleasant feeling whilst eyeing Yrion. Usually, no one could irritate him so easily, particularly if that same person did nothing to him personally. But that kid displayed a clear and absolute disregard for any form of life.

Arima clicked his tongue. He disliked that kind of attitude since it remembered him of his past-self. He glanced at Yrion’s teacher with a probing expression. Olien seemed to be totally unperturbed by what was happening and Arima would even say that he didn’t seem to care.

Kuin beckoned his two comrades and they all increased their auras to the maximum. Mandus and the third disciple could only go until the first sky but Kuin’s life force was at the second sky.

Yrion finally revealed a struggling expression as he slowly fell on his knees. There was sweat flowing down on his draconic figure and some of his scales were cracking loudly. He was actually at his limit even before he was struck Kuin’s full aura but he appeared to be adamant in continuing. His eyes were unfocused and indifferent. He didn’t display any obvious sign of pain or fear, his face was devoid of emotion as he struggled to maintain his magic and consciousness.

The three disciples looked at each other with a strange look. They didn't know what to do anymore. They couldn't muster a pressure higher than this one. To release more aura, they would need to actually cast magic.

Even Arima was impressed. To persevere under the pressure of three individuals in the Earthen Realm was admirable. And the fact that Yrion was still preserving the ball of mana although he was on the brink of mental collapse was even more remarkable.

"Restrain your auras," Arima instructed. The three disciples who were called so unexpectedly looked for their master's opinion.

When Cekrad nodded, they stopped releasing their aura. Yrion weakly gazed at Arima and was barely able to see his sigil glow before he experienced the strongest pressure he ever felt and fell unconscious.

Arima blinked and his aura disappeared. "He resisted until the third sky," He stated. The three disciples gulped. They knew that the aura he employed was truly in the third sky but the complexity and magnitude were simply horrifying compared to theirs. They even thought it was far stronger than their master’s.

"…Count the score," Cekrad ordered and the three disciples were jolted from their stupor.

After a moment of silence, Kuin opened his mouth. "Class C's final score is… 453."

"This signs the end of this examination. The points are now; A: 10, B: 7, C: 9," Karia announced once Cekrad’s three pupils had walked away.

"And now," Raal smirked and addressed everyone excitedly. "It's finally time for the battles!"

As he was about to continue speaking, Karia abruptly cut him along with his overflowing enthusiasm.

"The first round will be group A against group B," She said. "It will then be B vs C and A vs C. Between each round, the students will be fully healed by Sir. Cekrad. Each victory will provide two points. That is why it's an opportunity to catch up. Good luck," she explained everything in one go and Raal's expression twitched.

"Now, teachers; please send your students in groups of ten. Class C will be asked to leave to not have any advantage on their next opponents’ strategies and abilities," Karia announced and smiled impishly at the sulking Raal.