Chapter 145: Mysterious Prize, Points Assessment

    Starlight Calendar 1257, Summer Dragon Month (June).

    Shining Light City, Dragonheart Knights Academy.

    The weather was hot, a gentle breeze blowing.

    The academy was equally filled with a fiery atmosphere.

    Today was the first graduation assessment for the Dragonheart Knights Academy.

    Early in the morning, many fourth-year students about to graduate gathered in the training ground, discussing the upcoming graduation assessment.

    “I wonder what form the graduation assessment will take?”

    “The academy is keeping things pretty secretive. They only tell us the specific assessment content when we reach the assessment location.”

    “No matter what it is, the assessment location is in the Underworld. It’s not going to be easy.”

    “I heard the Underworld is very dangerous, full of monsters everywhere. I hope the academy doesn’t make the assessment too difficult.”

    The students gathered in groups of three or two, their voices buzzing.

    Outside the training ground, students from the other three grades were also curiously watching, trying to see if they could get some information, after all, they would also be going through the same assessment in the future.

    “Shien!”

    Shien had finally squeezed through the crowd of lower-grade students to enter the training ground and was looking around for his friends. He heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

    Turning his head, he saw Rug and Sorano waving at him.

    “You’re so late, kid?”

    Walking closer, Rug good-naturedly punched Shien on the shoulder.

    Shien scratched his cheek and smiled, “The dean called me over to talk about something.”

    Rug’s eyes lit up and he leaned over, putting an arm around Shien’s shoulder, whispering mysteriously, “Did the dean tell you about the graduation assessment? Share some inside information with me, we’re brothers, after all!”

    Shien shook his head, “Don’t overthink it. You know how strict the academy rules are. The dean wouldn’t possibly lead the way in breaking the rules. He just encouraged me a few words.”

    Rug was disappointed.

    “What? The dean is too rigid. You’re the top student in the fourth year, at least give us some information, what’s the big deal?”

    “Exactly because Shien is the top student in the fourth year, the dean believes he can achieve good results, so he won’t break the rules and help him privately.” Sorano smiled and revealed two small dimples, turning to Shien, “Shien, how are your preparations?”

    “No problem!”

    Shien raised his right hand, confidently making a muscle-flexing gesture.

    “I’m definitely going to get first place this time!”

    Rug said enviously, “I heard the top five students in the assessment will get a third-grade Dragonblood Fruit and a mysterious prize.”

    The higher the grade of the Dragonblood Fruit, the stronger the effect.

    The lowest-grade, first-grade Dragonblood Fruit, was specifically for probationary knights.

    The first and second-year students in the academy, as well as some third-year students who hadn’t yet been promoted to knights, usually ate first-grade Dragonblood Fruit.

    Second-grade Dragonblood Fruit was specifically for knights.

    Only those who had been promoted to knights were eligible to eat this grade of Dragonblood Fruit.

    As for third-grade Dragonblood Fruit, it was said that one could allow a mid-level knight to break through to a high-level knight.

    There were a total of eighteen mid-level knights among this year’s graduating class, including Shien.

    If they could get a third-grade Dragonblood Fruit, they could immediately break through to high-level knights.

    How could this not be envied?

    “That’s great, I want a third-grade Dragonblood Fruit too.” Rug looked envious.

    Sorano laughed softly, “The top five will definitely be taken by those mid-level knight students. Let’s aim for the top fifty. The top fifty will still get a second-grade Dragonblood Fruit.”

    “A second-grade Dragonblood Fruit is a lot less effective.” Rug muttered.

    But this guy was an optimist, and he quickly forgot about it, turning the conversation to the mysterious prize.

    “What do you think the so-called mysterious prize is?”

    “I guess it’s something from the base.” Sorano’s eyes flashed with anticipation, “I heard there are many amazing things there. The Dragonblood Fruit came from there too.”

    “Could it be the legendary magical artifact?”

    “Not likely. I heard that only wizards can use magical artifacts, knights can’t.”

    “Then could it be a potion?”

    Rug and Sorano discussed eagerly. Shien stood by, silent, with a strange expression on his face.

    Earlier, the dean had called him over. Besides encouragement, he had also told him what the so-called mysterious prize was.

    Rug had actually guessed right. It was a magical artifact.

    The name was ‘Magic Emblem Construct’, a powerful magical artifact that even knights could use.

    The dean also said that all graduates would be assigned a set of first-grade Magic Emblem Constructs, but only the top five students who scored the highest would be assigned a set of more powerful second-grade Magic Emblem Constructs.

    It was said that high-level knights equipped with a second-grade Magic Emblem Construct could directly have the battle strength of a Great Knight!

    “Now everyone takes the photosensitivity potion, rest here for ten minutes, and then the assessment will begin.”

    Moritz waved his hand, and immediately instructors stepped forward to distribute the photosensitivity potion.

    After taking the potion, the students immediately felt their vision become clearer, no longer as dark as before.

    “So magical!”

    “This is the wizard’s potion? Awesome!”

    “Finally, I can see my surroundings clearly.”

    Many students exclaimed in wonder, while others began to prepare for battle.

    Shien also began to check his weapons and equipment, making final preparations.

    Although he was confident in his own strength, there were many elites in the fourth year, and there were still many strong opponents. He wouldn’t be careless.

    Ten minutes passed quickly.

    As Moritz announced the start of the assessment, the students entered the cave one after another.

    “Good luck!”

    “You too!”

    After encouraging each other, Shien, Rug, and Sorano separated at the fork near the entrance, each entering a different tunnel.

    As they went deeper, they encountered more and more forks, and the students gradually dispersed.

    Before long, all the students around Shien had disappeared, leaving him alone.

    In the dark underground tunnel, it was dead silent, only the faint sound of footsteps echoed.

    Shien cautiously observed his surroundings, unconsciously tightening his grip on the hilt of his sword.

    The air was cold and damp, with a bone-chilling coldness that made Shien, who was entering the Underworld for the first time, extremely uncomfortable.

    Fortunately, he had taken the photosensitivity potion beforehand, so he didn’t have to worry about not being able to see his surroundings.

    After walking for a while, Shien keenly noticed that every few distances, there was a raven hanging upside down from the top of the cave. Its eyes were a rare blood-red color, and its body was covered with hard scales.

    “Is this the red-eyed raven the dean mentioned?”

    After cautiously testing a few times, Shien found that these red-eyed ravens were motionless, only staring fixedly at him. He immediately confirmed his guess and ignored them, continuing to walk under them.

    After walking more than a hundred meters, he came to a fork in the road, with a total of three tunnels.

    There was a strange rustling sound coming from the leftmost tunnel.

    Shien hesitated for a moment, but still chose the leftmost tunnel.

    Where there were monsters, there was a greater chance of finding crystal balls.

    Not far away, a dense mass of blood-red light spots suddenly lit up in the darkness ahead.

    Taking a closer look, he realized that they were pairs of glowing red, cold animal eyes.

    Squeek! Squeek! Squeek!

    Accompanied by a series of sharp cries, a group of rats suddenly burst out of the darkness, like wild beasts gone mad, charging towards Shien at high speed.

    Shien’s expression tightened, but he was not alarmed. He quickly retreated to the corner, leaned against the rock wall, and prepared to meet the enemy.

    Dragonheart Knights Academy didn’t only teach how to cultivate, it also taught practical skills.

    Besides daily sparring and practice among students, practical courses in fighting and killing beasts and monsters in the wild were also not uncommon.

    In terms of fighting and killing, Shien was no longer a novice who was just starting out.

    He slashed a rat in two with his sword, then shoulder-charged another rat that was trying to sneak attack him, and the blade of his sword trembled violently, tearing through the air and slashing forcefully towards the front.

    Ripple Slash!

    Buzz!

    A low buzz suddenly erupted in the void.

    A powerful force suddenly erupted, tearing apart more than ten rats in front of him. A clear gap suddenly appeared in the dense rat swarm!

    Such a powerful attack momentarily stopped the onslaught of the crazed rat swarm.

    Seizing this opportunity, Shien quickly adjusted his breath and slashed two more rats with his sword.

    He could see that the combat power of these monsters was not much stronger than ordinary people. They were just more numerous. As long as they didn’t get trapped in an encirclement, any knight could easily solve them.

    A moment later, Shien successfully wiped out the rat swarm.

    He stepped over the dense rat corpses on the ground and hurried towards the direction from which the rat swarm had come. He soon saw a stone pillar standing in the middle of the tunnel. On top of the pillar was a crystal ball.

    Inside, three light points shimmered.

    “Three points in hand!”

    Shien picked up the crystal ball, a look of excitement on his face.

    Taking a deep breath, he continued walking forward.

    After getting his first reward, he was even more motivated.