Chapter 131 Conflict
Irkan Qinrie received a D-Talent but frightened Bozig and Miss Kiwi when they discovered that he was already a full-fledged Body Master Sorcerer specializing in brute strength and endurance. Although the black man was just an ordinary human with no unique Bloodline he was stronger than anyone else in that room.
Talent was assessed based on many factors, with age and Sorcerer Realm having a significant impact on the final rating. Generally, the talent of Sorcerers with a high realm tended to decrease because as they matured, many wasted their potential through laziness or mistakes.
If, for example, an ultra-talented Sorcerer devoted most of his life to creating a Secondary Spark that would allow him to deliver the most breathtaking colored farts, he might reach the Master Sorcerer Realm in his lifetime. Yet, not having trained his body and mind sufficiently, nor created the Secondary Sparks that could bolster and support his growth, the radiation from his Divine Spark would end up depleting what was left of his lifespan at an early stage.
A D-Talent at the Master Sorcerer Realm was actually not bad. Since his Talent had never changed since his first contact with a Talent-Probe as a child, this meant that Irkan had always trained hard and had not made any major mistakes along the way. He could still improve.
Charlotte received a D-Talent rating too, but at 17 she was already an adept Sorceress in the Arcana of Destruction and Body. Toby was unsurprisingly a C-Talent like all Earthlings with a Soul Strength two to five times higher than average.
Lennart and Stefan surprised everyone with a B-Talent. Their Soul Strength was 11.3 and 11.4 respectively. Even Asselin, their Lord, was stumped when he read the two Talent-Probe reports.
Asselin himself received a B-Talent but that was the only information he cared to share. His Soul Strength was nothing special compared to Ellie's and his rating came mainly from his Bloodline and the fact that he had been training hard since childhood.
The Solostar clan was also known to be Wenx, High Humans with the Bloodline of Sylph, a Minor Saint known for his healing skills. While his potential was not that of a Nephilim, his bloodline gave him some inborn abilities and attributes above the average human of his age.
Needless to say, Bozig and Miss Kiwi had long been rendered speechless. At this point, the ogre froze, thinking of all the tests he had been running since the beginning of the morning and began to smell a plot.
"Has anything happened recently in the Forsaken Lands?" He wondered out loud.
Miss Kiwi rolled her eyes. "If you were a little more interested in what's going on around you instead of staying immersed in your books, you'd know that the Great Wall was breached south of Hadrakin by a Narvath over 5000 years old. Dozens of kingdoms and duchies have fallen like dominoes in the past week."
Bozig's eyes widened to the brim, slackjawed.
"Holy shit... That explains a lot."
Since early morning he had tested tens, hundreds of new applicants. Besides the fact that the number of new students was historically high, the proportion of prodigies was also incomparable to previous graduating classes.
The ogre dropped his laid-back attitude and sternly questioned the middle-aged Fae.
"Why are you still here? Who's manning the admissions desk in your absence?"
Miss Kiwi opened her mouth, but closed it again just after, finding nothing to answer. In the end, she just glared at the ogre and left with a snort. It was hard to believe it was the same woman.
Ironically, she returned less than thirty seconds later with a sardonic smile on her face. She had not attended a single test the entire morning because of the long line of students waiting to register and only now did she realize she had missed a crucial opportunity to gather information.
"Back so soon?" Bozig squinted at her, his voice a little harsher than before.
" They were the last ones. Just to be sure, I asked Amatha to take over for me. You don't mind my presence, do you?" Miss Kiwi grinned defiantly.
The ogre snorted back and retorted, his teeth bared,
"What if I told you I mind?"
"Haha, as always you're quite the joker." The female Fae giggled in her hand, both her eyes narrowing into two thin crescents.
"Hehe..." Bozig snickered grimly, the clashing of their gazes almost forming an invisible lightning bolt because of their mutual palpable animosity. They looked ready to pounce on each other at any moment. All that was missing was a spark.
Ikaris and the others were stunned. At first, they had thought the ogre was the placid type, a tad brash, loving his peace and quiet, but the proof was that he could also show his fangs. Now he was more in keeping with his species' reputation for unmatched ferocity.
In the end, it was Bozig who stood his ground.
"I'm sorry Miss Kiwi, but you are not allowed to attend these confidential tests. The risk of leakage is too high. I will give you their final rating and you will assign them to their classes and dorms. Even if you don't have access to their detailed reports, one look at their Talent-Probe while it's activated can expose most of their secrets."
"You think I don't know that you want to collect their information for your Nezug House?" The Fae scowled. "I'm from House Maplemoon, and the Scholar District belongs to them. If I insist on watching you, I'm sure that not only will the Principal not punish me, I might even be rewarded."
It was Bozig's turn to flinch and a dilemma began to twist his face. When he was about to compromise reluctantly he stiffened and suddenly stared at her with a comical expression.
"I'm afraid this time Miss Kiwi, my back-up is stronger than yours."
"You're lying." She calmly refuted. "No one is above Iannaril on this campus."
The ogre smiled and shook his head.
"But he owes a few favors to my dad." An angelic and soothing, yet chilling voice sounded from behind them at the doorway.
Ikaris and the others turned and saw a tall, nation-toppling black-haired beauty wearing a long sleeveless black dress revealing a low-cut neckline. Her diaphanous skin and shimmering emerald irises were unforgettable.
Anaphiel Morgunis.
Miss Kiwi had recognized her too and her hair stood on end like a prey before its supreme predator. Her pupils narrowed and she spat out with a hint of hatred in her voice,
"I see... Only your House would accept a Crawling-Thrall."
"Hmm. So you noticed."
"Of course I did!"
The Fae woman gave a barely veiled look of disgust and loathing towards Ikaris, then turning to Asselin and his retinue she instructed,
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"All of you, follow me back to the front desk. I'll help you with the rest of the registration."
She already knew their final rating so it couldn't really be considered overstepping her bounds. Asselin gave Ikaris a worried look as Toby gloated at him, then they followed her out of the room. The door closed with a squeak behind them.
The testing room instantly became much emptier and quieter.
"I'm sorry I could only join you now." Anaphiel apologized, nonplussed and formal sounding. "House Morgunis has recruited several dozen Lords over the past week and they will no doubt become your most valuable allies. Try to get along."
She then turned to the ogre and nodded,
"Thank you Bozig. I'm taking over from here."
The ogre clearly wanted to stay, but having no solid argument to bring forward he picked up his book and left the room with a sigh. When the clatter of his footsteps moving away became completely inaudible, Anaphiel broke the silence.
"There are many factions and alliances that coexist and compete here, both within and beyond these Academies. You must not only be wary of the other Lords, but also of your future teachers. Even a sweeper or a secretary like Miss Kiwi should be treated with caution. If someone asks you to show them your Talent-Probe report or to take a test, refuse. There are traitors in my family too. If you have any doubts, ask that these tests be done in my presence unless it is from Iannaril. Iannaril is the principal of this campus, but also the House Maplemoon leader. He is known to be entirely neutral, but this is not necessarily true of his subordinates.
"The test that Bozig gave you measures your Talent but not your fighting ability. A second, more thorough test normally determines where you stand in comparison to other Sorcerers in the same Realm. Bozig offered it to Ellie but Miss Kiwi interfered. Although this was meant to harm you, in the current context we should rather thank her because it is to our advantage. If your Talent assessment leaks, some will want to cull you, but most will be wary of you or will attempt to recruit you. This is a good thing. Talent takes a myriad of forms and it doesn't reveal that much about you.
"The test that measures your Combat Prowess is different. If your score turns out to be too high, all your enemies will go out of their way to instigate your death, especially if your Sorcerer Realm is still low."