Chapter 34: The Results!!

Chapter 34: Chapter 34: The Results!!

Question 100: According to the orthodoxy of the Imperial Scholar Council, what is the theoretical limit of a Grimoire’s rank, and why do unrecorded ’Black-Page’ or ’Origin-Class’ Grimoires violate the natural laws of the world?

?Aegon paused for two seconds, a dry chuckle escaping his throat inside the soundproof barrier.

?If he wrote the actual truth; that the world’s magic system was born from the primordial authority of Creation and Destruction, and that an SSS-Rank Grimoire like ATUM was sitting right inside his own soul, the twelve old scholars downstairs would probably have a heart attack before calling the Imperial Inquisition to dissect him.

?And thus, Aegon calmly wrote down the exact academic dogma that the arrogant graybeards of the Scholar Council loved to hear: that S-Rank was the absolute pinnacle blessed by the heavens, and any anomaly beyond it was merely a volatile mutation caused by corrupted mana veins that would inevitably destroy its host.

It was a complete lie, of course, but it was the exact textbook answer that would earn him full marks without drawing a shred of unwanted suspicion.

?Clack.

?Thirty-eight minutes into the two-hour examination, Aegon set his raven quill neatly in the groove of his oak desk, closed his parchment booklet, and folded his arms across his chest to close his eyes and rest.

?Down at the central podium, one of the twelve silver-robed scholars suddenly blinked, looking down at the master crystal board that tracked the movement of every enchanted quill in the auditorium.

?"Elder Vaelen, look at Sector Four. Desk 4,812 has already stopped writing. Did another country bumpkin give up and forfeit?"

?Curious, the Head Scholar tapped his staff against the podium, magnifying the live handwriting of Desk 14,802 onto a private water-mirror before the twelve elders.

?Soon, a razor-sharp script and flawless runic diagrams appeared on the mirror. All twelve grand scholars of the Beliath Empire leaned forward so fast their beards nearly tangled together.

As soon as they saw it, their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

?Page 1: complete. Page 4: complete. Page 8: complete.

?Every single line was filled with crisp handwriting, devoid of even a single ink smudge or corrected word.

?"Look at his answer to Question Forty-Two. To calculate the harmonic inversion between A-Rank Flame and B-Rank Frost, even our academy’s senior instructors require at least three pages of differential runic equations. Yet this child bypassed the redundant variables entirely and drew a twelve-node geometric shortcut! It is completely flawless!"

Elder Dimiscus whispered, who was the Council’s leading authority on elemental counter theory.

Another white bearded elder quickly joined in,

?"Forget Question 42, look at Question 17 on the ancient foundation of the Ashen Plains! He cited the exact spatial coordinates of the three collapsed northern nodes! And those coordinates are only recorded in the restricted archives of the Third Imperial Vault. How could a ten-year-old applicant possibly know them?"

?Elder Vaelen swallowed a mouthful of saliva as his eyes read the final essay on Question 100.

When he read Aegon’s textbook analysis defending the Scholar Council’s orthodoxy on S-Rank Grimoires, the old man let out a long, reverent sigh, his chest swelling with academic pride.

?"What magnificent foundational discipline. Not only does this youth possess the terrifying theoretical knowledge of an archmage, but his respect for the council’s orthodox doctrines is impeccable! Quickly, check the registration book for Desk 4,812. Which of the capital’s grand ducal heirs is sitting there?"

?An assistant scholar hurriedly tapped his staff against the identification crystal. A moment later, his expression froze in confusion.

?"Head Scholar... Desk 4,812 does not belong to any of the Grand Dukes’ families, nor is it Lady Aria Everlight."

?"What? Then who is it?"

?"According to the badge registry, his name is Aegon Noiré Delacroix, a 10 year-old applicant from a subordinate kingdom in the outer regions."

?After hearing thus, all twelve elders raised their heads in unison.

Their shocked gazes shot across the vast auditorium toward the fourth sector of the eastern tier.

?There, surrounded by thousands of pale-faced noble youths who were frantically scribbling calculations and pulling at their hair in agony, sat a small boy in a simple red scarf. With his arms folded neatly across his chest and his head tilted back against the stone chair, Aegon was sleeping soundly.

?DONG!

?More than an hour later, the bronze bell at the apex of the dome finally tolled, signaling the end of the two-hour examination.

?Instantly, all 30,000 enchanted quills vanished from the desks in a flash of silver light, and the sealed parchment booklets were teleported directly to the central podium’s grading array.

?All the young participants, seeing their quils disappearing, groaned. Even those young prodigies slumped over their stone desks like wilted cabbages.

Some applicants in the lower rows were openly crying into their sleeves. Their brains had been thoroughly fried by the Scholar Council’s tormenting questions.

?Aegon opened his eyes at the sound of the bell, then stretched his shoulders lightly as if waking from a pleasant afternoon nap.

When he stood up and walked over to his cousins a few rows away, he found Marcus staring blankly at the ceiling with dark circles under his eyes.

?"I saw my grandmother waving at me from the river of the dead... What the hell were those questions? Why would anyone need to calculate the four-dimensional curvature of a collapsing spatial pocket just to swing a sword?"

Zane, who was massaging his temple: "Be quiet, Marcus, my wrist is still cramping. I barely managed to finish the eighty-fifth question before the quill disappeared. If the grading is strict, we are both done for."

?Even Clara looked noticeably pale.

"I managed to answer 88 questions, though I had to guess on at least five of the historical essays. How did you fare, Aegon? Did you manage to reach the eighty-question mark?"

?"It went fine. The questions were straightforward enough once you saw through the wording." he answered.

?Before Clara could ask what on earth was "straightforward" about four-dimensional arcane geometry, a brilliant golden light flared above the central podium.

?The twelve elders of the Imperial Scholar Council channeled their mana simultaneously into the master grading crystal. And within moments, a colossal translucent screen, 50 meters wide, unfolded across the air in the center of the dome so that every examinee could see the results.

?"The automated runic grading is complete! Out of 30,000 applicants, 22,000 thousand have failed to reach the 80% threshold and are hereby eliminated! Only the 8,000 names listed in white light upon the projection screen have passed the Second Stage and will advance to the Physical Aptitude Test!"

?Every student gasped in unison, frantically searching for their names on the screen.

?Meanwhile, Marcus, Zane, and Clara craned their necks nervously, searching the bottom of the glowing projection screen first.

Not long after Marcus shouted aloud,

?"There! I see my name! [ Rank 7,891: Marcus Noiré — 80.5 Points ]. "God! Just jalf a point above the cutoff! Still, a pass is a pass! Thank you god!"

Zane sighed in relief as well.

?"I made it too. [ Rank 5,412: Zane Noiré — 83.0 Points ].

?Clara, greatly confident of her scores, scanned up toward the top thousand names until she found her own score: [ Rank 482: Clara Noiré — 88.5 Points ].

She let out a proud smile.

But soon, they realised that Aegon’s name had not appeared anywhere near theirs.

?"Wait.. Where is Aegon’s name? Did the array miss his booklet?"

?Suddenly, an explosive uproar broke out from the front tiers of the auditorium as thousands of examinees pointed straight at the very pinnacle of the giant projection screen, where the Top Five scores were displayed in blazing golden letters.

?Clara, Zane, and Marcus slowly tilted their heads all the way up. The moment their eyes read the top of the board, their jaws dropped unison:

?[ 1st Place: Aegon Noiré — 100.0 Points (Time: 38 Minutes) ]

[ 2nd Place: Aria Everlight — 98.5 Points (Time: 84 Minutes) ]

[ 3rd Place: Veera Von Anos — 98.0 Points (Time: 91 Minutes) ]

[ 4th Place: Prince Larsen Beliath — 96.5 Points (Time: 105 Minutes) ]

[ 5th Place: Julian Von Draken — 96.0 Points (Time: 112 Minutes) ]

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