Chapter 167 - end of the exam

Then Luna’s battle ended, and the instructor heavily praised her.

"You are the most outstanding person your age I’ve met so far. What is your talent level?"

Luna nodded and said,

"It’s SS+."

Then she pointed at me.

"I’m still behind him, though, so I have to train more and catch up sooner or later."

The instructor looked at me, who was lazily watching Luna, and blinked.

"He...?"

Luna nodded.

"Yeah. He’s stronger than me."

The instructor nodded and let Luna go.

She came toward me, so I took out a bottle of cool water and gave it to her.

"Here. Drink up, Ice Princess."

Her eyes twitched.

"What’s with the new nickname?"

I grinned.

"Can’t help it. When I saw you with that Ice Aura and your whole presence practically screaming the name ’Ice Princess,’ I couldn’t resist calling you that."

She chuckled and thanked me for the compliment.

I nodded and went toward the instructor for my battle.

I was the last one to face her.

She studied me and asked,

"She told me you’re stronger than her. Is that true?"

I simply shrugged.

"Maybe. I have confidence that I could defeat her in a real battle, but in a normal sparring match, I’m not sure."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Because most of my moves are lethal. I don’t like hurting her, so in a normal fight, I might lose... or even win."

She looked amused.

"Oh? You care about her. Is she your friend or...?"

I nodded.

"Close. She’s my fiancée. We’re good friends."

She looked dumbfounded.

"Fiancée and still friends...?"

Then she thought about our age and nodded before signaling me to start attacking.

My eyes lit up.

After getting my power-up, I hadn’t had a chance to fully use it against anyone.

This was a good opportunity.

I could feel the Abyssal Energy flowing through my body.

I got Eclipse ready.

All the casualties went out the window.

I looked at her, my eyes narrowing.

It only took a moment.

I was beside her, attacking with Eclipse.

She reacted quickly and immediately blocked it.

But I didn’t back down.

I used Mana to augment myself alongside the Abyssal Energy, then used Gravity to make myself faster and attacked again.

She looked at that and commented,

"Space, huh? Now I can understand why that girl told me you’re more powerful. Let’s see what you’ve got."

I increased the Gravity around my sword at the last moment.

My Perception allowed me to do all of it with minimal waste.

I used a Space Barrier as a floor in the air to push myself forward and attack her.

Each attack carried my Aura, Abyssal augmentation, increased strength, and Gravity.

She blocked my attacks, and my grin widened with every blow.

I was enjoying every attack.

At the same time, I studied her swordsmanship.

I could feel my own swordsmanship improving with every exchange.

I could vaguely see the principles behind her swordsmanship.

A chill ran through me.

What kind of comprehension ability did I get from my class?

All of my augmentations were also far more powerful than before.

I felt like I could increase the speed of my attacks and raise their power even further.

So I did.

I unleashed my attacks with full power.

Her eyes widened with every exchange.

She couldn’t believe I could use this much power and still maintain this level of control over my attacks at my age.

She continued blocking and counterattacked me a few times, but she was careful not to use her full power.

She couldn’t let me win, so she used her experience and the massive power gap between us to create several traps with each blow.

I used an Ice Spear infused with Abyssal Energy to attack her and broke through her technique.

The Abyssal Energy stuck to her sword and began consuming everything it came into contact with—her Mana, energy, and stamina.

But its effects were much weaker against her, so it didn’t affect her much.

Her eyes widened at that.

She had never seen anything like it before.

She tried to burn it away, but it was useless.

She had to use her Mana to push it away.

Abyss is no joke.

I thought to myself.

After a few more exchanges of blows, she stopped me.

"Okay, that’s enough. I see your strength. It’s far beyond your age group. Why did you come here to become a knight?"

I tilted my head.

"Ah, I didn’t come here to become a knight. I was just walking around the training ground when you called me, so I decided to come along."

Her eyes twitched.

She remembered how Luna and I didn’t look like people who had actually come here to participate.

She probably had the urge to ask,

Then why did you even participate if you don’t want to become a knight?

Then she heard footsteps.

She looked toward the direction of the sound and saw Astrid.

She immediately composed herself and greeted her.

"Lady Astrid."

Astrid nodded and asked,

"Are the new candidates chosen?"

The instructor nodded.

"Yes, Lady Astrid. I just finished the examination."

Then she looked around for me.

But I was no longer there.

She looked toward Luna and saw me standing beside her, looking in another direction.

Astrid noticed the instructor’s actions and looked in the same direction.

She saw me deliberately avoiding her gaze.

Luna was doing the same.

Astrid’s eyes twitched.

"What are Gray and Luna doing here?"

The instructor panicked and explained,

"Ah, Lady Astrid, I saw them training in the training ground, so I thought they were candidates too. I told them that an examination was being held here, so they followed me and participated in the exam."

"Are they someone you know?"

Astrid looked at us.

I whistled into the air as if I hadn’t noticed her looking at me.

Luna also acted as if she hadn’t seen her.

Who would have thought Astrid would come here?

Astrid simply sighed and said,

"Yes, I know them. Don’t mind them, and don’t count them as candidates. They aren’t joining."

The instructor nodded in relief but then asked,

"But, Lady Astrid, they are extremely talented."

Astrid nodded.

"Of course they’re extremely talented. That boy is like a son to me. He’s Seraphina’s son."

The instructor’s brain froze.

She could see the resemblance, but who in their right mind would think the family head’s son would come here to participate in a recruitment examination?

Astrid called out,

"Gray..."

I flinched slightly and looked at her with a bright smile.

"Hello, Astrid. Long time no see."

Her mouth twitched.

"Long time..."

I went to her side, and Luna followed me as well.

Then Astrid asked,

"So, do you mind telling me what you’re doing here?"

I looked at her, and an idea lit up in my mind.

"Ah, Amy told me to show Luna around the house, so I did that. When I was showing her the training ground, I remembered my new application, so I showed it to her. Then we heard about this, so we decided to take a look at it."

She listened to the whole explanation with a straight face.

She completely believed it because she knew I was the kind of person who would actually do something like that.

She sighed and asked,

"So, are you satisfied with it?"

I nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes. I haven’t had a chance to use my physique and class in battle, so I used this opportunity to use all of my powers and test them. The results are good."

I said it with a cheerful smile.

Then the instructor chimed in and asked,

"So, you’re the family head’s son?"

I nodded.

"Yes. That’s why I told you I wasn’t joining."

I grinned.

Then she pointed at Luna.

I nodded.

"She is my fiancée."

Astrid added,

"She is the third princess of the royal family."

The instructor simply sighed.

She was numb at this point.

Before anything else could happen, I looked at Astrid and said,

"Then we won’t bother you anymore. Goodbye, Astrid. See you later."

I grabbed Luna and practically evaporated from the training ground.

Astrid looked at my retreating back and sighed.

"Don’t mind him. He’s a little mischievous. He won’t cause trouble."

The instructor nodded and followed Astrid to choose the best candidates for the ranks.

Once selected, the Starlight Family would train them, provide them with resources, and give them opportunities for the future.

That’s why so many people dreamed of earning a position within the family.

But to me, this was nothing special.

I went outside the training room with Luna.

I looked back, and then I heard her soft laughter.

"You should have seen your face at that time."

I just looked at her and rebutted,

"You go and look at your own face at that time."

I got flustered at the sight of Astrid, and when I thought about it, I had no reason to be flustered.

"I was just in the middle of doing something sneaky. That’s why I got flustered when I saw her."

She nodded but still laughed.