61 Chapter 61
Eliana wasn't stupid enough to not understand what Rem was trying to say after he explained this much.
With so much explanation, she realized why the Lord of Light sent this kid here as well.
"If they knew about Lelin, they would try to take him out, possibly through schemes, so they aren't caught."
She gazed at Lelin, who appeared to be surprised at their explanation. It was as if even he didn't know about all this.
"That's right." Rem nodded. "So it's not just that the Lord of Light wants us to train him. He wants us to protect him while also training him, so he is ready when it's time..."
"You mean I am on the Target of Head Priests?" Lelin scratched the back of his head as if he was just realizing it.
"It's quite likely," Rem responded. "I would really advise you to stay under the radar for now. And don't leave the Academy alone if possible."
For now, they had two high-profile students, and both needed to be kept under wraps. They understood how complicated this was going to get. Then again, this was also a massive opportunity for them.
One of the reasons they didn't want the Church of Light to find out about Gabriel was because they wanted Gabriel to graduate from their Academy so he could be considered their student instead of training at the Church of Light. Training the next Lord of Light wasn't a small thing.
However, now they didn't have just one candidate who was capable of becoming the next Lord of Light... They had two, and both were going to be students at the academy. Even though both of them had different circumstances and different problems to be concerned about, at the crux of it, they were on the same boat.
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"Alright. It appears that the Mirror of Measurement is not working properly today. It is quite common with old artifacts. That's why the score suddenly jumped so high after stopping near mid-thirties."
As soon as Lishen entered the hall, he gave a short explanation to all the youngsters present there so they could drop this matter.
Tap~
Only Lishen's footsteps could be heard as he walked on the tiled floor. He stopped right before Gabriel.
The entire hall returned to silence as everyone was still trying to understand this explanation.
"Based on our assumption, your real score is 35 for Talent and 42 for Soul Strength, which is quite good," Lishen further explained before patting Gabriel's shoulders. "Not bad, kid. It's quite a decent score. Then again, I would like to apologize from the Academy for getting your hopes up for no reason at all."
Gabriel didn't respond right away. He was still trying to understand if these people really believed that the mirror was defective or if they were lying to make sure this news didn't reach the Church of Light.
He believed there was a higher chance of it being the latter option since there was no way he could have such an average Talent and Soul Strength.
In any case, it was good for him since both options worked in his favor. As long as the Church of Light was kept out of the equation, his mission here was going to be comparatively easier.
Lishen observed Gabriel's expressions, surprised that he didn't see any sadness or anger. He was just told that he had an average Talent instead of the score he received, and he didn't even react.
"Hahahaha!"
The momentary silence was broken by a burst of loud laughter. Everyone couldn't help but turn to the source of the laughter, noticing Ray laughing so heartily that there were tears in his eyes.
"Hahahaha!" He held his stomach, unable to control his laughter. It was after a long time that he had laughed so much.
"Is there something funny?" Gabriel frowned, feeling as if that mocking tone was being directed at him.
"Hahahaha, a talent of thirty-five?!" The young summoner asked, trying to control his laughter.
Initially, he was slightly jealous to see his high scores, but now he finally felt relieved.
Once again, he didn't bother to keep his voice down.
"As expected, he's trash. And we thought he was some Prodigy! Hahahaha! No talent yet possesses the arrogance of the entire world. As soon as there was such a high score, I knew the mirror was defective. Even teachers confirmed it."
Even though Summoners weren't considered to be the strongest mage class, they were still near the top. Ray didn't believe he was less than anyone. When he arrived here, he had decided to shine brighter than anyone here, becoming a top student at the academy. He had the talent and the confidence to achieve that feat.
Unfortunately, before he could even start his journey at the academy, he saw someone like Gabriel, who was shown to have a monstrous talent. Seeing those numbers, Ray was shocked to his core. He could feel his dream of graduating as the top student of the academy fleeting away, which made him angry.
Now that he realized that it was just a false flag, he couldn't control his laughter.
He wasn't the only one who was relieved. Such a high score was nothing to laugh at. If this score was true, it was a signal of chaotic times ahead since an ordinary person possessing Talent like that of Lord of Light wasn't heard before. Now that it turned out to be a rumor, there were some sighs of relief.
Even though many were relieved, not many were mocking like Ray, who still hadn't stopped laughing. He appeared to be the only one in the hall, showing such unkempt behavior.
Gabriel rubbed his temple, not knowing if he should laugh or cry at the stupidity of this naive man. Ray was certainly talented enough since he was able to reach this far, even with harsh selection criteria, but he was still like a frog at the bottom of the well for him.