CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 49 - ELEVENTH PLACE

Murmurs spread among the 15 teenagers as they glanced at each other in confusion.

"Special mode?" one of the students who hadn’t done the assessment yet asked.

Letting out a sigh, the female hunter started explaining. "Many of you who have already been through the test already know about the increase in difficulty at the three-minute mark."

"Logan triggered that increase at the two-minute mark, and right after that the difficulty increased once again at the three-minute mark."

The teenagers in the room looked at each other, remaining silent to avoid angering the female hunter.

’Figured,’ Logan thought, nodding as he put the glaive back on the weapons rack.

’Almost thought I would get a low score since I barely made it over the four-minute mark.’

If Logan was right, the second increase in difficulty put the sentinel in the high D-rank, maybe even C-rank in terms of speed and strength.

’I’m glad it didn’t have mana abilities,’ he thought. ’I wouldn’t have lasted this long if it had.’

"We’ll take a 10-minute break to clean up the assessment arena," the female hunter said, glancing at the mess Logan had left behind.

’The Sentinel robot determined the only way to get rid of the flames was by detaching the burnt pieces,’ she thought. ’SSS-ranks really do have amazing affinity properties.’

Calling in other hunters to help her clean up, she glanced at her wristband.

’The director seems interested as well,’ she thought, having reported Logan’s affinity immediately. ’A pretty big raise might be coming my way soon.’

Meanwhile, Logan glanced at the scoreboard.

"I managed to get to fourth place," he mumbled, staring at the board.

Three other students were placed above him, beating him by roughly 100 points.

He recognized two of them. One owned a massive company that dominated most of Mexico, and the other was a major competitor he was very familiar with.

’It doesn’t matter for now,’ Logan thought, taking his mind off the issue. ’Eventually, I’ll surpass all of them.’

He had to make up for the two-year gap that his F-rank affinity had created first.

As time passed, a few more names popped above his, all around 1800–1900 points.

For Logan, it made perfect sense. These kids had been training since they were sixteen and were likely on the verge of breaking through to a Silver Core, he couldn’t compete with only a few months of actual training.

As they were approaching the end, something shocking happened.

’Someone reached 2000 points,’ Logan thought, surprised. ’That means she is a silver core, right?’

"Livia," Logan read, raising an eyebrow. "No surname? Strange."

That’s when his attention was grabbed by the mechanical voice.

"All examinees have been examined," it announced. "Scores will be reviewed by university personnel before the public announcement."

"Everyone," the female hunter called for attention. "As you just heard, the examination is over."

"Follow me back to the main lobby."

Everyone in the room remained silent, following the female hunter.

Some who had passed wore large smiles, while those who hadn’t looked dejected.

Arriving back at the main lobby, Logan met back up with Grant and the others.

"What a fun test," Grant remarked, grinning as they sat down.

"The third phase was really difficult," Robert remarked, shaking his head. "If it wasn’t for my shadow escape, I wouldn’t have made it that long."

Logan nodded, agreeing. Without his Flaming Body technique, he would’ve struggled to hold up.

"I don’t know how you guys managed to last so long," Layla said quietly. "Halfway through its second phase I was knocked away and gave up."

Thomas nodded, also remaining quiet.

All of them had passed—Logan, Grant, and Robert scored far above the average rich kid, while Layla and Thomas landed somewhere in the middle.

After half an hour of Grant explaining his fight in great detail, Logan couldn’t help but shake his head.

’This guy really used his metal element to carry off half the training weapons,’ he thought with a wry smile. ’The university hunters were forced to pause their examination temporarily to get new weapons.’

Logan turned his head slightly, noticing a sudden light coming from the ranking projectors.

"All scores have been reviewed," the mechanical voice rang out. "The permanent rankings are now displayed on the lobby screen."

"All examinees with scores above 1000 points are considered qualified for the Global Arcane University," the voice continued. "You are expected at the academy within five days. A formal notice will provide further details.’’

Murmurs broke out among students, celebrating their qualification with friends.

"Congratulations everyone," Logan said, smiling.

He was very satisfied, having finished in eleventh place overall.

All of them smiled happily, congratulating each other.

Before they could continue their conversation from before, more people approached Logan to shake his hand and offer congratulations.

Flashing an apologetic smile to his new friends, Logan shook everyone’s hand, congratulating them too.

Hearing soft clicks, Logan noticed the large door leading to the reception area opening slowly, revealing many parents and attendants.

Grant and the others had already stood up, waiting for Logan before walking through the open doors.

"I’ll see you all in a bit," Logan said, bidding his farewell as he spotted Silas and Edric.

Walking over, he was met by their smiles.

"You did well, kid," Silas said, smiling. "Eleventh place isn’t bad at all."

"I see you also made some friends," Edric said, smiling softly.

"I would say so, yeah," Logan nodded, also smiling.

He hadn’t expected it to be like this. He’d only spoken with them for an hour or two, yet it just felt right.

’It was too short to fully judge them,’ Logan thought. ’But so far, they don’t seem like bad people at all.’

They made their way over to Grant and his father, continuing earlier conversations.

After a while, Layla and Thomas also joined in with their families.

Finally, Robert excitedly pulled his father over to greet the others.

"It’s an honor to meet you," Robert’s father said, reaching out for a handshake with excitement radiating off his face.

Logan smiled. "No, the honor is all mine," he said, shaking his hand. "Robert’s told me a lot of great things about you."