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A short while later, having thoroughly vented her frustration at last, Moira withdrew her hands in satisfaction, though a thread of doubt lingered on her face. "Head, by your account, you came on a passing whim. But why did even you come along this time?" Her gaze shifted to Selene. "As I recall, in years past, even when members of your own family entered the Academy, you rarely bothered to show yourself."
"Coralie is different from the others. She is, at the very least, my niece. If I, her own aunt, failed to appear, that would hardly be excusable." Rubbing the small face Moira had pinched red, Selene shot her a reproachful look. "Sister Moira, you were far too rough."
"Is that so?" Moira didn't entirely buy Selene's explanation, but the reasoning, as stated, held together well enough.
"The Trial Road has begun, and you two mean to keep chattering until when, exactly?" By Tobias's side, countless light screens had already unfurled, each one corresponding to a single new student, an omnidirectional, blind-spot-free watch over every entrant's movements.
An ordinary person would have gone dizzy at a single glance, but for Tobias of the Undying Realm, a spectacle like this couldn't so much as faze him.
At Tobias's reminder, Moira and Selene abandoned their squabbling and turned their eyes to that expanse of countless screens. Their strength fell a step short of Tobias's, but they could still see each new student's situation with perfect clarity.
And among them all, Luke, positioned at the very center, was without question the most eye-catching.
"If I remember right, that's this cohort's exam champion, Luke. I wonder how he'll perform on this Trial Road." Moira's tone carried open interest. Going by the exam's results, Luke had indeed stood a full cut above Elise. "A pity that under the exam's rules back then, we had no way of reviewing the process itself."
In her impression, Elise had been standing right beside Luke a moment ago. Did those two know each other? Then again, it made sense. Both hailed from the Capital's territory, so the odds of their being acquainted were high indeed.
"Then you can look forward to Luke's performance." Selene's voice brimmed with confidence in Luke. Where her junior brother's strength was concerned, she had a thorough understanding indeed.
"Is that right?" Catching the strangely assured note in Selene's tone, a flicker of doubt crossed Moira's eyes. "Why do I get the feeling you're awfully familiar with this Luke?"
"Am I? That would be your imagination." Selene answered with perfect calm. "Although, I did make use of my teacher's authority to review Luke's performance in the exam."
I could swear this girl just humblebragged straight to my face. Hearing Selene's answer, Moira rolled her eyes. Must be nice, having a Region Governor for a teacher.
"You can indeed look forward to Luke's performance. After all, this is my first time seeing a new student participate in the Academy's Trial Road with the strength of the Monarch Realm." Tobias cut in at just the right moment, heading off Moira's urge to keep probing, but his words made both women's eyes narrow sharply, Selene not excepted.
"The Monarch Realm? Head, you haven't made some mistake?" Once the shock passed, Moira was the first to push back. She genuinely struggled to believe that a new student, only just enrolling, could stand at a realm that high.
One had to understand: even within Celestial Academy, packed with geniuses as it was, the Monarch Realm was enough to place a student within the top fifty, and students holding that position were, as a rule, third-years at the very least.
The Academy ranked its students by credits, true, but that still couldn't erase the advantage time conferred. Every student here was a genius, so the upperclassmen held a real edge over the lower years.
"This little junior brother is far too ruthless. Why do I suddenly feel a bit of pressure myself?" Unlike Moira, who'd pushed back on the spot, Selene leaned toward believing Tobias's words, and that only pressed on her the harder.
After all, even she, back when she'd enrolled and walked the Trial Road herself, had not yet broken through to the Monarch Realm.
Hard as it was to credit, Tobias had never once deceived the two of them, and he had no reason to start now.
Ever since his talk with Selene, Tobias had studied Luke's files in detail, and had even traveled personally to the Capital to learn what he could from Aldric and Edmund. Being taken in as Lilith's student, and being a crafter of Original Cards besides, was more than enough reason for Tobias to place this much weight on him.
What even Tobias hadn't expected was that the first time he laid eyes on Luke in the flesh, the young man would already have broken through to the Monarch Realm. "This has already shattered the record for the highest realm ever held by an entering Celestial Academy student."
Receiving Tobias's confirmation once more, Moira drew in a breath of cold air. This Luke seemed a touch fierce!
---
*「 This Trial Road's theme: Survival Game! 」*
*「 Upon entering the Trial Road, each new student automatically generates a stronghold centered on their own position, along with a Trial Crystal. The Trial Crystal holds 100 base points. While within the stronghold, the Trial Crystal gains 1 additional point per hour. 」*
*「 The Trial Road deploys a fresh batch of mimic fierce beasts every thirty minutes. Slaying beasts of higher grades yields more points. Mimic fierce beasts left unslain within thirty minutes will rise one grade when the next batch is deployed. 」*
*「 Every two hours, the two new students positioned nearest to one another will be randomly teleported into a battle space. The victor may continue the Trial Road. The defeated loses all qualification to continue. 」*
*「 Each new student eliminated grants additional points. 」*
*「 Final results are ranked by points. Points earned on the Trial Road may be converted corresponding credits upon formal enrollment. This applies to all new students. 」*
*「 Countdown: 20 minutes! 」*
Luke spent several minutes digesting the assessment's key points. In that span, the ground centered on his position, radiating out a hundred-odd meters, had already formed into a special stronghold, and a faintly dim, lozenge-shaped crystal of water-light drifted at his side.
"A survival game, is it? Still, by the sound of it, earning high points and a good ranking won't be any easy feat." At that, a rather odd expression crept onto Luke's face. "Come to think of it, eliminating every other participant, that would seem to be a viable way of scoring points too."
Every two hours, the two new students nearest each other would be transported into the battle space, where the winner carried on and the loser was eliminated.
But that hardly meant opponents could only be eliminated inside the battle space. As things stood, every last one of them occupied the Trial Road itself, which meant that even while they were busy cutting down mimic fierce beasts, nothing stopped them from raising a hand against one another as well.
Which spelled it out plainly for everyone: only the strongest would survive the Trial Road to the very end. A fitting match for this iteration's theme.