Chapter 125- The Positions

Chapter 125: Chapter 125- The Positions

Chapter 125- The Positions

The entire crowd fell silent as they heard the last words. The moment of truth finally came, and everyone was ready for it.

"To avoid taking too much time to announce every name, we shall only announce the top 100 spots as of now. After all, there are many of you, and the ones that stand out the most are those who got the first positions."

"Woah... We will know who the first 100 are?"

"Being exposed to millions of people like that... I don’t know if I want it, to be honest."

The reactions to that revelation were mixed, as naturally, nobody wanted to be the focus of the interest of that many people, especially when they know that you could be a potential prize in future tests.

However, at the same time, having such a high position was the dream of many, as it meant that you’re one in a 100 million talents, and only a handful few got that privilege in this entire world.

"As for the rest, you will receive your current position in your watch," Ereze said as he snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the clock above his head that was floating in the air disappeared, and instead of it, a large screen, at least a hundred feet long, manifested in the blink of an eye, garnering many gasps of awe.

"What the heck?!"

"Can he just create anything he wants to create?"

"That sounds... terrifying..."

"What even is that power?"

Nobody truly knew how Ereze was able to create these structures with the snap of a finger. That screen wasn’t even the most impressive feat he had done so far, as he still created this massive dome that spanned hundreds of kilometers in every direction without batting an eye.

"This is the power of a Test supervisor... I wonder what the true big heads of the academy are like." Rose said with a cold look on her face.

"They’re freaks of nature; that’s what they are," Rize said. "They have a disgusting amount of power."

"Can’t even call them humans anymore," Venera added as she looked at the screen with a calm expression.

’I wonder at what point an awakener becomes more of a different entity than a human, and I really wonder what that would feel like if I ever get to it.’

A part of Rize naturally wanted that power and that feeling, but at the same time, he was terrified he would lose his humanity and become something... unrecognizable. Something that he perhaps wouldn’t like.

Sadly, Rize wasn’t able to reach the point in the story where the protagonist reaches that level of strength, so he didn’t truly know what to expect. It was all bound to be a whole new experience that he had to navigate on his own.

As those thoughts were going through his mind, Ereze spoke again, taking everyone’s attention back to the main topic they were there for in the first place.

"We will start from position 100 and go down." He said. "Coming in at position number 100, Candidate Siliar Barren."

The moment that name was said, the entire crowd started looking around for this person. It didn’t take long for someone to locate them. It was a girl, and she herself was a bit surprised that she was in that position.

"What? Me?"

"Candidate Siliar had gathered 103 badges. Congratulations." Ereze said.

"Wow... 103?!"

"That’s insane! I was barely able to get 4!"

"I got 6, and I thought I did better than most!"

The reactions were naturally those of shock. After all, how could someone fight 100 different people and come out victorious? That could only be done by a truly terrifying talent.

"At number 99 is Candidate Sivirus Oris with 104 badges. Congratulations."

Then, slowly, Ereze started naming every candidate. The positions were very close, with the numbers often being one or two badges’ difference. As the positions got higher, however, the number leaped from the 100s to the 200s and then to the 400s.

By the time they reached the 40th position, the candidates had over 500 badges each, which only seemed to increase rapidly.

Many of these candidates were people Rize remembers from the story as they gained popularity in the world with their talent. Some were even allies of the protagonist in the future, but at that point, none of them knew one another.

What was more important than that, however, was that neither he, Rose, nor Venera had been mentioned so far.

’I haven’t really counted our badges, but we definitely have gathered more than that... I wonder when we will be mentioned.’

A part of Rize expected them to be in the top 10 positions, but considering the kind of individuals present there, he didn’t think they would be the top three. At least for now, as the numbers kept rising rapidly.

Then, they passed the 30s, into the 20s, and yet their names didn’t pop out yet. Then... they got into the top 10.

Everyone listened carefully, taking every name to heart. Each name mentioned from that point was someone that Rize certainly knew because their presence in the story was great for the most part.

Names that Rize knew were bound to shake that entire world in the future and leave their marks on it forever. Yet, their names weren’t mentioned yet, and Rize then realized...

’We’re in the top 4, aren’t we?’ He thought to himself, with a deadpan expression. At that point, he wasn’t even shocked, since they really did perform very well in the test, but it was still a rather insane idea to even imagine.

He could’ve never imagined it would be this easy, or perhaps he was simply that talented.

"In position 4, Candidate Rose Witherfield with 1125 badges."

"Well, that’s not too bad," Rose said with a calm tone, appearing rather unbothered by that revelation.

"That is pretty good, Miss Rose," Rize said.

"Eh, it’s good considering what we did. But maybe I could’ve done better." She said as she looked at the screen and her name high on top. "And I lost in the challenge that I just joined. Great."

"In position 3, Venera Silversoul with 1129 badges."

"Hm." Venera hummed coldly. "That’s a bit disappointing."

Rize looked at her with a small smirk without saying a word. However, Venera lifted her index finger and put it against his lips.

"Don’t even."

"Mmmm, I didn’t say anything." He said as he tried to hold back his laugh. Meanwhile, Venera could only sigh, knowing she also lost the challenge.

’Well, that is pretty nice. I will finally see Venera cooking. That will be a sight worth all this effort.’ He thought to himself. ’But, hm, if there are two positions left and his name wasn’t mentioned...’

As the realization hit Rize, the announcer spoke again.

"The last two positions are rather special since both candidates have gotten the same number of badges exactly. So, we decided that they will share these positions even if one of them appears before the other. In the second position is Candidate Rize, with 1532 badges."

"Woah?!!!!"

"400 badges difference?!"

"What the hell?!!"

"Are they sure about that?"

"This is crazy... Who is this guy?"

"Rize? No last name."

The reactions were very strong, and naturally, all the people there kept looking around them, searching for this mysterious rank 2. However, since Rize didn’t know anyone else besides Venera and Rose, nobody could recognize who he was.

’400 difference, huh? I didn’t think it was that much. I guess I did get a bit lucky with my targets, as many of them had more than one badge, but it is still quite a lot more than I expected.’

Rize stared at the screen with wide eyes, taken aback by the number.

"Congratulations, Rize," Rose said. "You really did an amazing job."

"Uhm, thank you," Rize replied. "It’s a lot more than I expected."

Venera looked at her friend and nodded. "It’s definitely what I expected." ℯℯ𝑙.

"Eh, I’m not that amazing." Rize laughed awkwardly.

’Say that to your position.’ Rose and Venera thought to themselves with cold expressions.

"But, if I’m second then... I guess the first..."

"And in the first position is Candidate Fate Thorinn with 1532 badges. Congratulations."

The name, as Rize expected, was none other than Fate himself. Rize had already expected him to get a high position considering how powerful he was. However, it still confused him... How was he able to gather that many badges? On top of the ones he gathered for his group of twelve, and the fact that he even gave 100 away to Rize.

That idea made Rize frown. He couldn’t tell what method Fate used. It was clearly very effective, and it could’ve easily gotten him the first position if he didn’t give Rize 100 badges like that.

The entire place erupted with reactions to the name. Many of them knew Fate’s name as much as Venera’s and Rose’s.

The true Rank 1 was finally born.