Chapter 75: First Monthly Test

The fourth week came to an end. Right on Monday of the second month of the semester, the first monthly exam commenced.

Theoretical classes administered written tests, while practical courses held physical assessments. As for the Resonance class, there was only a single evaluation: the beast energy measurement.

The energy measurement wasn’t something anyone particularly dreaded. After only a month at the academy, even those whose energy had grown would see only minor increases.

What truly cast a gloom over the students was the cold reality that anyone whose egg had yet to hatch would be automatically expelled after this first evaluation.

The day before, several students had read the writing on the wall and voluntarily packed their bags before being ousted.

Class 5 was left with a mere six students. The room felt completely deserted, leaving Shani as the only student not seated in the front row.

The exams stretched on for the entire day. The final segment was the beast energy measurement held in Panther Hall, bringing together both first and second-year students.

"Shani Rowan, first-year, Class 5," called out the second-year instructor overseeing the energy measurement session.

The results wouldn’t be announced immediately, but Shani still stepped forward with a tight chest.

’Hopefully, the instructor logging the numbers doesn’t get shocked and raise suspicion.’

Alongside Shani, the remaining five Class 5 students and four Class 4 students were called up, including Jeryon.

They took their seats, and transparent glass pods descended to enclose each of them.

A small panel on the front of each pod displayed a bar that steadily filled upward. The progress bars for Shani and the other eight students came to a halt around the same time, and the glass pods retracted back up.

The assistants signaled for them to step down. Shani glanced toward her panel, but the bar vanished the moment she looked.

’Turns out the measurement results are automatically synced to the internal system. At least no one will find out right away,’ Shani thought, letting out a quiet sigh of relief.

As she stepped down from the platform, she stole a quick glance at Jeryon, who was still seated inside his pod.

A sudden pang of worry hit her. ’What’s going to happen if people find out Jeryon’s real rank?’

Before witnessing the King’s true colors, Shani might have felt a bit smug about it.

But knowing the King’s temperament and Jeryon’s own desires, she realized it was far better if his true rank remained under wraps for now.

Shani exhaled in resignation and continued walking toward her seat.

Kiran flashed her a thumbs-up as she passed by. Shani went to reply with a tired pout, but suddenly, a loud BOOM echoed across the stage.

The sound had come from Jeryon’s pod.

Dense smoke billowed from beneath his seat, trickling upward until it filled the entire glass cylinder.

The nearby assistant reacted instantly, slapping the emergency button to manually force the pod open.

Jeryon, who had been resting his eyes, opened them at the pungent smell of burning wire and the panicked clamor of students as his pod swung open.

He stood up unhurriedly and stepped out. The assistant in front of him nearly had a heart attack seeing Jeryon’s laid-back demeanor. Unfortunately, he was the Prince, so scolding him was out of the question.

Jeryon’s calm facade shattered into panic, however, when he caught sight of Shani crouching beside another student’s chair, covering her head.

In a single fluid motion, he leaped off the stage and rushed straight to her side. "Shan, are you okay?"

Shani turned to him in surprise before glancing back up at the platform, where technicians were already covering the smoking pod with a containment box.

Standing up with a relieved sigh, she said, "Thank goodness you’re alright, Jer. I thought you blew up with it."

She spoke with utter seriousness, but Jeryon merely chuckled. "Blow up? I’m not a balloon."

Shani knitted her brows. ’How can he treat this like a joke at a time like this!’

Still, she chose to be magnanimous and refrained from arguing with someone who had almost been blown sky-high.

High up in the dimly lit back corner of the auditorium, Damon and a middle-aged man sat watching the chaos unfold below.

"That measuring pod didn’t malfunction, it just couldn’t handle the load. Compared to your girl, the Second Prince is far more fascinating," the man chuckled.

"Come on, old man, this is no time for jokes," Damon whined in exasperation. "Like I told you, Shani has immense potential. There’s no telling how far she’ll grow."

The man shook his head. "Kid, you’re asking me for a favor and you still call me ’old man’?"

"Well, you keep calling me ’kid,’ old man!" Damon shot back, pouting like a child.

The man chuckled at their banter. "Let me observe them a bit longer first."

"Them?" Damon gave him a troubled look, knowing full well this wasn’t going to be simple.

...

The next morning, the exam results were published on the academy forum. Students could check the overall rankings, beast energy rankings, and subject-by-subject breakdowns.

"I bet Noella swept first place in everything," Kiran said, completely ignoring the food in front of her as she waited for Sonny to check his smartwatch.

Shani quietly watched her friends, though internally she was convinced that Jeryon would claim first place in beast energy.

"Noella took first place overall," Sonny reported, staring in awe at Noella, who offered a humble smile in return.

"What about the other rankings?" Shani asked.

Sonny refreshed the forum page. They could have easily checked it on their own devices, but having someone read it out added a thrill of anticipation.

"Noella swept first place across the board, except..." Sonny looked up, intentionally building suspense.

Shani was dead certain of the answer. "Beast en—"

"Practical Essence Combat class," Sonny cut in before Shani could finish.

"What about the beast energy rank?!" Shani blurted out, stunned.

Her friends exchanged bewildered looks at her intense reaction. To them, wasn’t the ranking completely expected?

"Jeryon took second place, same as his previous rank. Oh, right! They used his enrollment baseline for his beast energy because the pod he used yesterday broke. But it shouldn’t really matter—"

"That’s totally unfair!"

...